# What to do first?



## midtenn (Mar 19, 2018)

Hey everyone! I am very excited to be picking up my 2016 TT next week. I come from the Mustang world where it seems everyone sells parts or upgrades for it but the Audi seems to be a little more elusive on the mods part. 

I know there are big things to be done but I am not sure where to start honestly. I am used to one of the first mods being an exhaust but I have heard the stock exhausts are pretty good so I was thinking of just getting a resonator for now to get a little more sound out of it. Thoughts?

I have also thought about going straight to APR or Unisonic but there doesn’t seem to be any good comparisons against the two so as of now I am at a loss. 

Let’s hear those ideas! What would be one of the first things you would do?

Thanks!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Huey52 (Nov 10, 2010)

As you now know, you'll find a lot more modding insight, with dedicated build threads, over at Audizine.com

My first mod, with which I'm still very pleased, was an 034 Intake. Engines are typically conservatively air-starved from the factory to help meet fuel efficiency goals. 

http://forums.fourtitude.com/showth...ease-P34-Air-Intake-System-for-8S-Audi-TT-TTS

https://www.audizine.com/forum/show...ease-P34-Air-Intake-System-for-8S-Audi-TT-TTS

And yes, the stock exhaust is quite good. At some point you might want to consider deleting the upstream resonator tho' (there are two).

There is an intriguing JB1/4 "octopus" tune module that intercepts and overrides the ECU. It may be fairly easily removed should the need arise. So consider that vs. ECU-code tunes.


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## midtenn (Mar 19, 2018)

Huey52 said:


> As you now know, you'll find a lot more modding insight, with dedicated build threads, over at Audizine.com
> 
> My first mod, with which I'm still very pleased, was an 034 Intake. Engines are typically conservatively air-starved from the factory to help meet fuel efficiency goals.
> 
> ...




Thanks for the reply. I have been looking at a few different forums, and Audizine is one of them. I am just trying to get my bearings on where to go with it all and what I can do vs can't do that will require a tune.

So you're saying that just the intake does not require a tune? I was also looking at the resonator delete that 034 has as well, would this help the sound I assume? And you say there are two resonators, is the other one right after the turbo (on the DP)?

Thanks!


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## Huey52 (Nov 10, 2010)

You can't beat a tune after drivetrain performance parts are installed. However, the ECU learns to a degree even without a tune, so an intake w/o tune will still be of benefit. And again the engine is air constricted from the factory, as most all vehicles. Even a performance flat filter (K&N and the like) is worth it imho.

Whereas an aftermarket exhaust is more for sound than performance, as the stock TT is already well optimized (especially the TTS valved exhaust).



midtenn said:


> Thanks for the reply. I have been looking at a few different forums, and Audizine is one of them. I am just trying to get my bearings on where to go with it all and what I can do vs can't do that will require a tune.
> 
> So you're saying that just the intake does not require a tune? I was also looking at the resonator delete that 034 has as well, would this help the sound I assume? And you say there are two resonators, is the other one right after the turbo (on the DP)?
> 
> Thanks!


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## TT412GO (May 14, 2009)

Huey52 said:


> You can't beat a tune after drivetrain performance parts are installed. However, the ECU learns to a degree even without a tune, so an intake w/o tune will still be of benefit. And again the engine is air constricted from the factory, as most all vehicles. Even a performance flat filter (K&N and the like) is worth it imho.
> 
> Whereas an aftermarket exhaust is more for sound than performance, as the stock TT is already well optimized (especially the TTS valved exhaust).


Totally agree with Huey52, but the combination of an intake with a Stage I ECU+DSG tune is so absolutely going to transform the driving experience that they shouldn't be thought of as an either/or proposition. 

I've had good luck with APR for many years, but I almost think it may be more important to find a tuner shop that supports what they sell. 

A cat-back exhaust is purely for sound but a downpipe can allow you to run a Stage II tune - but with a a LOT more exhaust volume (I had to take it off myself). 

Stock suspension is decent but 034 sells plenty of suspension upgrades.


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## davera3 (Jul 26, 2014)

I'm a '16 TT with APR Stage I (10+ years of APR tuned cars) but never had the TCU tune on any car (01 S4, '15 A3, and now '16 TT). Is the TCU tune "worth it" even on the lower power TT engine?


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## TT412GO (May 14, 2009)

davera3 said:


> I'm a '16 TT with APR Stage I (10+ years of APR tuned cars) but never had the TCU tune on any car (01 S4, '15 A3, and now '16 TT). Is the TCU tune "worth it" even on the lower power TT engine?


The TCU tune doesn't make more power. I believe what it does is move the shift points higher in the rev band (although it may also be somewhat optimized for the ECU tune). It feels like you have more power on tap because the torque and hp curves are rising dramatically between 2K and 5K. For me it transforms the driving experience. D mode now is perfect for around town and S mode is perfect for spirited driving. Of course if you do all your shifting manually, there is no benefit as you are already deciding where in the power band you want to shift.


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