# If you bought your S3 within the last month hold off on getting tune



## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

Hi All,

Just want to let any fellow Audi owners if you bought your car of the last 30 days you may want to hold off on getting it tuned. For the past week I have been trying to get a stage 1 tune from GIAC and today after my 3rd visit to Supreme Power they took my S3 to GIAC and found out that there is a piece of code in the new ECU that prevents tunes. Thankfully GIAC was able to work around it and will have the new files ready by next week.While they were working on my car they received a few calls from some tune shops that were experiencing the same problem. This is priority #1 for them. Let me say that the guys there were very thankful for my patience and grateful that they had my car there to work it through and compensating for my patience. I am sure APR is experiencing the same thing so just be patient guys,


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## kuma1212 (Sep 22, 2005)

Wow thanks for the heads up! I'm also looking at GIAC (vs unitronic).


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## ProjectA3 (Aug 12, 2005)

good heads up
but it really depends on build date of the car and not when someone bought it. I bought my S3 this month and had a GIAC stage1 tune on it before i brought it home.
Its production based more than sale date.


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## drquibley (Apr 11, 2015)

ProjectA3 said:


> good heads up
> but it really depends on build date of the car and not when someone bought it. I bought my S3 this month and had a GIAC stage1 tune on it before i brought it home.
> Its production based more than sale date.


Do you know how we can find the production date of the car? In the manual or driver door jam?


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

drquibley said:


> Do you know how we can find the production date of the car? In the manual or driver door jam?



3/15 was the date on my car


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

ProjectA3 said:


> good heads up
> but it really depends on build date of the car and not when someone bought it. I bought my S3 this month and had a GIAC stage1 tune on it before i brought it home.
> Its production based more than sale date.


you are right about that. a car could be on the lost for a month or 2. production date on my car was 3/15


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

kuma1212 said:


> Wow thanks for the heads up! I'm also looking at GIAC (vs unitronic).


just an FYI I am still waiting on my tune. last week GIAC was still working on it.......


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## drquibley (Apr 11, 2015)

rickmz said:


> just an FYI I am still waiting on my tune. last week GIAC was still working on it.......


Did you send your ECU to them or leave your car at the shop? In other words, has your car been un-drivable for 2 weeks?


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

Audi seems to be cracking down on tunes. My local Audi dealer is an APR dealer and will no longer tune Audis as of this year. Worst case scenario there is always a box:-/


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## drquibley (Apr 11, 2015)

Revolver1966 said:


> Audi seems to be cracking down on tunes. My local Audi dealer is an APR dealer and will no longer tune Audis as of this year. Worst case scenario there is always a box:-/


Why would they want to do this? At least some of their customers (namely, us) want to upgrade their vehicles. Its not like any sweat off Audi's back since they just don't hold up warranties. It seems like its shutting out a decent sized customer base by doing this.


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

drquibley said:


> Why would they want to do this? At least some of their customers (namely, us) want to upgrade their vehicles. Its not like any sweat off Audi's back since they just don't hold up warranties. It seems like its shutting out a decent sized customer base by doing this.


It caused issues with someone's S8. It's likely a bit awkward when a dealer does a service on the very car they sold you which results in warranty issues. Possible the argument is being made the dealer doing the tuning could be implicitly liable. This is not another "tuning ruins your warranty!" post, have 2 APR VWs and love them. Just the current situation here (TN) at our Audi dealer.


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## Andres Tamez (Jan 15, 2011)

rickmz said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Just want to let any fellow Audi owners if you bought your car of the last 30 days you may want to hold off on getting it tuned. For the past week I have been trying to get a stage 1 tune from GIAC and today after my 3rd visit to Supreme Power they took my S3 to GIAC and found out that there is a piece of code in the new ECU that prevents tunes. Thankfully GIAC was able to work around it and will have the new files ready by next week.While they were working on my car they received a few calls from some tune shops that were experiencing the same problem. This is priority #1 for them. Let me say that the guys there were very thankful for my patience and grateful that they had my car there to work it through and compensating for my patience. I am sure APR is experiencing the same thing so just be patient guys,


I also tried to reprogram my car with APR and Revo and the same problem, my car has manufacturing date 03/03/2015, I think I will wave to wait until they find a workaround:banghead:


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## Xanlith (Apr 19, 2014)

So the concern here would be if I flash my ECU back to stock and take it in for the 5k mile service are they going to put a new "stock" ECU on my vehicle that makes it unable to be retuned? If so I'll probably never roll into my Audi dealership again.


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

Xanlith said:


> So the concern here would be if I flash my ECU back to stock and take it in for the 5k mile service are they going to put a new "stock" ECU on my vehicle that makes it unable to be retuned? If so I'll probably never roll into my Audi dealership again.


They aren't going to secretly replace an ECU costing hundreds of dollars just to remove your tune.


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## s3saloon (Apr 10, 2015)

Revolver1966 said:


> They aren't going to secretly replace an ECU costing hundreds of dollars just to remove your tune.


I think he is concerned that they will reflash his current ECU with the new ECU update, which will make his car unable to be tuned. This is definitely possibly, since we have been seeing people going in for their services and coming out with the new ECU flash. Whether or not the update affects the ability to tune is yet to be seen


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## drquibley (Apr 11, 2015)

s3saloon said:


> I think he is concerned that they will reflash his current ECU with the new ECU update, which will make his car unable to be tuned. This is definitely possibly, since we have been seeing people going in for their services and coming out with the new ECU flash. Whether or not the update affects the ability to tune is yet to be seen


When I had my mk6 GTI.. i took it back to the dealer for my services and simple told them at the desk before handing my keys.. Do not flash, read or so anything with the OBDII port. I have an ECU tune. And they didn't. I even had an APR badge on the back of the car. Nobody said anything to me. Once, I had a water pump fail on me.. Took it in.. told them not to flash the ECU and they did the repair under warranty.. worked great. I even went in to get the DSG flushed.. they HAD to read my Transmission temp from the OBD port.. they did not even alter the programming.


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

s3saloon said:


> I think he is concerned that they will reflash his current ECU with the new ECU update, which will make his car unable to be tuned. This is definitely possibly, since we have been seeing people going in for their services and coming out with the new ECU flash. Whether or not the update affects the ability to tune is yet to be seen


That would suck. APR will have a work around surely. All evidence is pointing to Audi cracking down on tunes. It's just weird the local Audi dealer won't tune Audis yet is an APR dealer. Sadly....


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

drquibley said:


> When I had my mk6 GTI.. i took it back to the dealer for my services and simple told them at the desk before handing my keys.. Do not flash, read or so anything with the OBDII port. I have an ECU tune. And they didn't. I even had an APR badge on the back of the car. Nobody said anything to me. Once, I had a water pump fail on me.. Took it in.. told them not to flash the ECU and they did the repair under warranty.. worked great. I even went in to get the DSG flushed.. they HAD to read my Transmission temp from the OBD port.. they did not even alter the programming.


Audi seems to be less understanding lately. Probably due to the long maintenance and service plan the cars have. My Mk6 has had many repairs under warranty as well.


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## Cole Orlling (Mar 18, 2015)

I had the same issue trying to get my car flahed at Revo. They worked out that they were able to just flash the older file onto my ECU but I decided to hold off for a while until the teething issues are worked out.


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## Xanlith (Apr 19, 2014)

s3saloon said:


> I think he is concerned that they will reflash his current ECU with the new ECU update, which will make his car unable to be tuned. This is definitely possibly, since we have been seeing people going in for their services and coming out with the new ECU flash. Whether or not the update affects the ability to tune is yet to be seen


Exactly my concern. If the new stuff is blocking tunes Im perfectly happy with my old stock ECU code.

You know I find it pretty hypocritical of Audi to be cracking down on tunes when page 3 and 4 of my latest Quattro Quarterly is full page APR ads. Granted that magazine is put out by ACNA and not Audi corp but you'd think there would be some clear communication between the two if not directly to us customers before they just eliminate our ability to tune. If Im leasing thats one thing but I purchased my vehicle. If i want to invalidate my warranty thats my choice and I don't need to be protected from myself by Audi.


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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

Yep.


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## m3th0d79 (May 25, 2015)

My build date is 5-15 and Eurodyne does not currently have a flash ready for my ecu version.


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

this post is stupid
as brian said, who cares when you bought your car or when you are going to buy the car.
it's all about ecu/when the car was made.
the car may have been sitting on a lot since january. 

also, unitronic is another player that hasn't been mentioned
try them (first) next time

I have had their tune on my car since february. no issues at all.


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

Doesn't this dance happen with every new platform? Isn't this why people find out their ECU 'box code' and ask the dealer if there is a tune for that box code available before going in? If not, they have to read some info from a car with that box code, send it to APR/unitronic/whoever, and wait for a flashable file for that box code?


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## s3saloon (Apr 10, 2015)

Yea it doesn't really matter which companies are mentioned or not. It's fairly well known that none of the companies have a workaround as of yet. I would always call in with my ECU code before making a trip to save a headache


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

s3saloon said:


> I would always call in with my ECU code before making a trip to save a headache


this


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## Xanlith (Apr 19, 2014)

To Ryan's point my S3 shows 3/15 on the door frame sticker and I successfully had a Unitronic flash on 5/7 while others with build dates of 3/3 are saying they no longer can get flashed. To be quite honest I don't think the build date really matters either, what probably matters is whether the vehicle factory ECU got updated after it was built or not.


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

Xanlith said:


> To Ryan's point my S3 shows 3/15 on the door frame sticker and I successfully had a Unitronic flash on 5/7 while others with build dates of 3/3 are saying they no longer can get flashed. To be quite honest I don't think the build date really matters either, what probably matters is whether the vehicle factory ECU got updated after it was built or not.


another good point there.
for some reason i feel like unitronic has the ability to tune more S3 than the other tuners.


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

drquibley said:


> Did you send your ECU to them or leave your car at the shop? In other words, has your car been un-drivable for 2 weeks?


I left them my car for the day and they were suppose to get back me. I finally asked for refund and once they figure it to call me. This was last week. I called a local APR the other day and he said that they are experiencing the same problem as GIAC. They said they would like someone to mail in a ECU. Even Revo is having problems


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

Andres Tamez said:


> I also tried to reprogram my car with APR and Revo and the same problem, my car has manufacturing date 03/03/2015, I think I will wave to wait until they find a workaround:banghead:


please let me know if you have any luck


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## Flying Tomatoes (Nov 29, 2012)

This isnt a box code issue. This is a hardware change. Its not Audi blocking the tunes its Bosch or who ever manufactures the ECUs. They have "fixed" the open hole in the system that allows port flashing. At this time these newer cars will not be able to be tuned unless the ECU is cracked open and they are bench flashed. 

My car was a custom order delivered in May and can not be port flashed. I spoke with my contacts at APR and they told me that at this point in time the only way to get the car flashed is to literally ship the car to APR HQ in Alabama. The feeling I got from them was that this issue will not be solved quickly.

On a some what related note the new DSG tune that APR just launched will still port flash. Only the engine tuning port has been "closed".


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

Flying Tomatoes said:


> This isnt a box code issue. This is a hardware change. Its not Audi blocking the tunes its Bosch or who ever manufactures the ECUs. They have "fixed" the open hole in the system that allows port flashing.


It isn't necessarily done with intention to block tuning, that may be an unintentional, or at least tertiary side-effect.. but it might be intentional, we can't really say without insider knowledge. That being said, it's Continental that makes the ECU for the MQB cars currently. It's interesting that it took so long to crack the code on the previous gen's Bosch Med-V 17.5.2 ECUs, but recently (about a year ago?) the tuners all figured out how to port flash them.


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## Andres Tamez (Jan 15, 2011)

Today I installed the Racechip, I will let you know my comments but so far the cat feels more agresivo!










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## Revolver1966 (Mar 30, 2014)

Andres Tamez said:


> Today I installed the Racechip, I will let you know my comments but so far the cat feels more agresivo!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Why must you punish us Americans with pictures of your 2-door S3 hatches ? That is BEAUTIFUL!
What is this product you mention?


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## Andres Tamez (Jan 15, 2011)

Revolver1966 said:


> Why must you punish us Americans with pictures of your 2-door S3 hatches ? That is BEAUTIFUL!
> What is this product you mention?


This is an alternative for the Reprogramation as my ECU is a new model that can't be reflashed, this is the link to the page where you can find all the info of the RaceChip Ultimate I installed


http://www.racechip.com/chiptuning/audi/s3/s3-8v/2-0-tfsi-221kw/index.php


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## bterra (Mar 15, 2015)

Andres Tamez said:


> This is an alternative for the Reprogramation as my ECU is a new model that can't be reflashed, this is the link to the page where you can find all the info of the RaceChip Ultimate I installed
> 
> 
> http://www.racechip.com/chiptuning/audi/s3/s3-8v/2-0-tfsi-221kw/index.php



is this like the Neuspeed module or more like an APR tune? does this spit out a TD1 flag from Audi?


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## lilmira (Feb 4, 2014)

Looks like a piggyback option similar to Neuspeed, the reading is manipulated on the fly before reaching the ECU.


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## PbanyS3 (Jun 13, 2015)

Is this just S3's or all new 2015/2016 Audi's?


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## Xanlith (Apr 19, 2014)

PbanyS3 said:


> Is this just S3's or all new 2015/2016 Audi's?


It seems like its the new 2015/2016 S3's that have a certain ECU version that started coming from the factory sometime after March build dates. It also could possibly affect S3's with earlier build dates that have been updated to the latest ECU version by dealers during maintenance or while they sat on the lot. We havent gotten to comparing ECU versions yet to see if we can narrow down the specific version that breaks tuning.


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## the ambush (May 29, 2001)

anyone got an update from APR on this issue?


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

RyanA3 said:


> this post is stupid
> as brian said, who cares when you bought your car or when you are going to buy the car.
> it's all about ecu/when the car was made.
> the car may have been sitting on a lot since january.
> ...


Sorry if you find the the post stupid. Was just at APR and since my car is a late 2015 ECU APR said it will be about 2 more months til they get the ECU figured out. BTW Your car is sweet and the closet Unitronic shop to me is over two hours so it not an easy trek to go there I even called the Untronic shop and he said no guarantee that it can be flashed so I would have to drive there and give it a chance I guess I can try if I have business out that way since this is my commuter car. Either way you have a early production ECU and do not have the security levels that they are having a hard time cracking. I will wait for APR since my guy at Audi says APR is the best for Audi. I even wasted 3 trips to a GIAC shop and GIAC took my car to their shop on the 3rd try. Lucky I had business that way.........

Outside of that I love this ride to get around So Call in


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

the ambush said:


> anyone got an update from APR on this issue?


I was at APR shop on Monday in Burbank. They had my car for about 90 mins. 1st the lap top read not available then the tech hold on we are good. only to wait 60 minutes and said no go. it would go to 60% down then drop back to 20% complete did this for a while. finally they gave up and the shop told its gonna take about 2 more months..... since i drive past this shop every two weeks I will stop back. GIAC same problem


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

rickmz said:


> I will wait for APR since my guy at Audi says APR is the best for Audi.


That guy needs to open up his mind.
UM and Unitronic deserve a look.

sorry that I came off like a jerk earlier, it's just that there are MANY S3's out there that can be tuned. many.

Good luck waiting for the tune.
maybe you can call the unitronic guy and see if they can check your info in advance of the road trip to see them.

thx for the kind words. 

Are you loving the car?


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## DarkSideGTI (Aug 11, 2001)

Well damn, I was down at Integrated Engineering today and it seems my car is one that can't be flashed yet. Someone needs to hurry and crack these ECU's.


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

RyanA3 said:


> this post is stupid
> as brian said, who cares when you bought your car or when you are going to buy the car.
> it's all about ecu/when the car was made.
> the car may have been sitting on a lot since january.
> ...


ECU still a puzzle

I called Supreme Power here in So Cal this wek and they said they figured it out but wanted to keep my car for minimum 3 hours to take my ECU out and take it GIAC but since I was on a time crunch i declined. i was in the area I went to a Unitronic shop (crossed my fingers) and it was a no go there too. In Burbank last month Eurowerxs and APR shop tried my car and no luck. I live a out 2 hours from LA so when I am in town for business i drop in....... the Unitronic shop said they have my info and will call as soon as they figure it out since all VWs and Audi after April 2015 are waiting to be tuned...

Just be lucky you bought your car when you did and it is a sweet ride. wish I got blue instead of black


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## BlackNight (Sep 22, 1999)

Talkin with Arin @ APR and they have a work around. They have to bench tune our cars. They are sending the tools to all the dealers now. 

Once the tune is in, it can be flashed all you want.

Lee


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## sciangular (Sep 8, 2015)

BlackNight said:


> Talkin with Arin @ APR and they have a work around. They have to bench tune our cars. They are sending the tools to all the dealers now.
> 
> Once the tune is in, it can be flashed all you want.
> 
> Lee


Great news


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

BlackNight said:


> Talkin with Arin @ APR and they have a work around. They have to bench tune our cars. They are sending the tools to all the dealers now.
> 
> Once the tune is in, it can be flashed all you want.
> 
> Lee


Thanks for the news I will stop by the dealer on Thursday!


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## the ambush (May 29, 2001)

BlackNight said:


> Talkin with Arin @ APR and they have a work around. They have to bench tune our cars. They are sending the tools to all the dealers now.
> 
> Once the tune is in, it can be flashed all you want.
> 
> Lee


i was at an APR dealer on 17 th september and he was not able to tune the car (2015 S3).

are there any new updates?


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## rickmz (Jun 21, 2015)

the ambush said:


> i was at an APR dealer on 17 th september and he was not able to tune the car (2015 S3).
> 
> are there any new updates?


I spoke with Eurowerx in Burbank CA last week and he said APR is doing beta testing but still no word on a date when it's gonna available 


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## GBH (Sep 13, 2004)

I really want to stage 2 tune my car when it arrives in about 2 months. So they need this figured out in about 3 months as I should have the car and it broken in. :thumbup:


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## [email protected] (Sep 2, 2011)

We have been able to flash locked boxes for about a month now through port.


http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...r-Locked-Simos-18-MQB&p=89110465#post89110465


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## GoOrMove (Sep 24, 2003)

*GIAC coming off...*

I got my S3 tuned about 4 weeks ago and have been having trouble with it since day 1. Working with the dealer the get it pulled - problem is, there is no "stock" tune or map that they an put back on, so now I am a bit up in the air. If others have a way to make the tune work I might try, but it doesn't sound like there is consistent results.

Can anyone confirm a strong tune with good drive-ability?
Does the trans tune need to happen - seems like mine is having trouble with the current upgrade - just stage 1 with intake...
is there a set of cars that isn't working? Date codes, VIN's etc?

And fyi - I got my car about the same time as Flying Tomato... at the same dealer, although it was a dealer trade from western PA.

Thanks all.


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## superwtc (Feb 19, 2006)

GoOrMove said:


> I got my S3 tuned about 4 weeks ago and have been having trouble with it since day 1. Working with the dealer the get it pulled - problem is, there is no "stock" tune or map that they an put back on, so now I am a bit up in the air. If others have a way to make the tune work I might try, but it doesn't sound like there is consistent results.
> 
> Can anyone confirm a strong tune with good drive-ability?
> Does the trans tune need to happen - seems like mine is having trouble with the current upgrade - just stage 1 with intake...
> ...


What year s3 and what company did you choose for tuning?


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## Bamm1 (Oct 17, 2013)

superwtc said:


> What year s3 and what company did you choose for tuning?


Based on his post title (GIAC coming off...) and car list (2015 S#, 2015 A3) it looks like a 2015 and GIAC.


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## superwtc (Feb 19, 2006)

Bamm1 said:


> Based on his post title (GIAC coming off...) and car list (2015 S#, 2015 A3) it looks like a 2015 and GIAC.


Thanks


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## GoOrMove (Sep 24, 2003)

Bamm1 said:


> Based on his post title (GIAC coming off...) and car list (2015 S#, 2015 A3) it looks like a 2015 and GIAC.


Yep-sorry S3 GIAC


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## GoOrMove (Sep 24, 2003)

*So what now...*

I am waiting on a call back from my dealer and need to figure out what o do next.
Concerned about getting the "stock" map back into the car. Is there a way to get that from somewhere other than the GIAC dealer?
If I want to try another software, can they go from chipped to chipped or do I need to go back to stock first?

Does anyone have really good experiences on their S3, '15 would be preferable, that can be shared?
Any other thoughts that folks can share would be much appreciated.
Feel free to PM if you'd like.
J


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