2011 audi a4 apr stage 1

Hi All

Just had my B8 A4 flashed with the APR Stage 1 ECU upgrade. Given that I couldn't find much in the way of reviews I thought I would put one out there with my initial impressions.

The stock car I got upgraded is an '09 A4 (B8) 2.0T Quattro Tiptronic. I have the Prestige and S-Line packages giving me some power hungry gadgets and some big chunky tyres to get the power down. Whilst I wasn't disappointed with the performance of my A4, a friend of mine was getting the ECU upgraded on an 08 (B7) and given the APR special deal on the B8 models currently, I thought I would give it a go.

The upgrade itself was a special promotion form APR giving me a fully loaded ECU with 4 programs as well as anti-theft, security lockout, and fault code reset options for the price of a standard ECU upgrade. This was a saving of about 50% on the normal price for a fully loaded ECU. I opted for the following programs:

Stock
91 Octane
93 Octane
Valet

I chose not to have the 100 Octane program, primarily because of the difficultly in finding 100 Octane gas and I thought the Valet mode would be more useful. I also opted for the security lockout and anti-theft options, but not the fault code reset on the advice of the guys doing the installation.

The entire upgrade process took about one hour. It would have been quicker but mine was the first B8 A4 that the guys doing the install had done, meaning they had to download the code from APR before starting.

OK, now for the important bit. Got my car back and selected the 93 Octane program. The change was instantly noticeable. The pull from low revs was higher (and on first impressions smoother) than before. Also, with the increase in power through the high end of the rev range the car now pushes right up to the next gear when in Sport mode, rather than the previous slight drop in power and kick-on after changing gear. A quick flip over to the manual gear change and the pull from 30mph to slightly illegal speeds whilst pulling onto the freeway in 3rd gear was an absolute joy. The power just seemed unending. The car in general feels more alive and eager to go in any gear and at any rev range. Where previously I was changing up at 5000 rpm I can now happily push on all the way to the limiter.

In a more practical real-world application the massive increase in torque at the low end is very handy. The maximum torque band on the upgraded ECU, whilst quite small in terms of rev range, sits perfectly in the zone for freeway cruising speeds. This means increasing speed on the freeway without hammering the accelerator reaps much greater rewards than the stock mode, which I found could be a bit labored without changing down a gear.

I do have a couple of concerns. The first is the stock plastic diverter valve which I have heard isn't up to much. I haven't experienced any problems yet (in the first day) but have been told the increased boost pressure can cause these stock components to wear very quickly. There is a good replacement available for the B7 models but I'm yet to find one for the B8. Hopefully it won't be a problem before I need one. The other slight concern I have is the audible change in turbo when driving with the window down. Maybe it's just slight paranoia but I'm sure I can hear the extra boost pressure. Not that the noise is a problem, just serves as a reminder that everything under the hood is under slightly more stress than normal.

Overall I would say the ECU upgrade is well worth the money, especially considering the special offer I took advantage of. The increase in power is not overly aggressive and doesn't take away from the ability to relax and enjoy a refined drive in a prestige car. I was concerned about introducing a turbo lag feel with the massive torque increase at the bottom end, but have experienced nothing like this. What it does is provide that extra bit of edge for when you are feeling a bit heavy footed or when you need to pass something quickly and safely.

Overall I would say excellent work APR! And if you are thinking about upgrading a B8 A4... go for it, you won't be disappointed!

I got the Revo Stage I tune on my 2013 A4 allroad. Revo's numbers say it will bump HP from 211 to 260 - 290 HP. I'm feeling it's around 280 - 290 HP after the install as I took the allroad to 107 MPH yesterday. And torque bumps up from 258 to 318 - 348 lbs. And I'm definitely feeling at least 325 - 330 lbs of torque minimum. And they put my tune setting for the lowest gas quality (87-89 octane). They tell me that when the weather cools down, they could bump it to the setting that takes advantage of 93 octane gas quality. I'm assume peak power of 290 HP and 340 lbs torque if you use 93 octane gas only. They do recommend oil additive BG MOA and a gas ethanol cleaner.

I got Revo because the APR dealer is far from me, but I'm very happy with the Revo tune. It's very smooth and a very very slight pressure on the gas pedal shows power is on demand anytime without any throttle lag.

Do you guys add an oil additive to your APR tuned engine? I use to do Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer but heard BG MOA may be better.

How much horsepower does an APR Stage 1 tune add?

What does APR Stage 1 consist of?

How much does it cost to tune an Audi A4?

How much horsepower does a Stage 2 Audi A4 have?