# UniConnect and Unitronic DSG software quick review & emissions story



## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

January has been a crazy month!

On January 2nd I realized that my state inspection and emissions had expired in December.
Dropped of my car at a local shop and got a quick call that it wouldn't pass emissions. "not ready" issues with the emissions system, due to the tune and downpipe.
I have the Unitronic Downpipe and Stage 2. 
I'm fairy certain that all Stage 2 maps and downpipes for our car will fail emissions in the States.

Before all of this, I already had the Unitronic DSG tune on my mind.
Having close to 400 horsepower is fun. But when I would let my friends test drive my car, they would try the car out in S mode. 
S mode would embarrass me. S mode is terrible. D mode is ZZZZzzzzz obviously. M mode is fun, but it could be even faster, I knew this.

I wanted a DSG tune. But I would have to drive two+ hours to get it. And I needed to figure out my emissions issue.
I'm all about clock management. 
Luckily, I determined how to kill two birds with one stone.



Audi S3 Sepang Blue by Ryan Mac, on Flickr

Step 1
I ordered a uniconnect via modded euros! 
The next day it was on my porch, thankfully, b/c I was driving without legal stickers.

Step 2
I had to figure out what I was going to do with my laptop situation.
You either need a windows pc. OR windows on a macbook c/o Boot Camp.
Other methods of running Uniconnect on a mac, are not reliable.
You load the Uniconnect software to your laptop. Plug in the cable and register it.

Step 3
Detune my car to Stage 1 or 1+. Because Stage 2 would not pass.
When my car is in my garage, I have a pretty good wifi signal (necessary for the device to talk with Unitronic).
Plug the Uniconnect (looks just like a vag-com cable) into the OBD2 in my S3, 
Check for codes. Clear any codes.
Loaded Stage 1+. Takes about 20 minutes.
While it was loading, I cleaned up my garage a bit. It was a very good experience, I was really surprised how easy it was.
I test drove the car, no issues.

The UniConnect device gives you four options:
- performance engine flash
- performance transmission flash
- ecu diagnostic tool, check and clear codes
- tcu diagnostic tool, check and clear codes


Uniconnect Quick Pic by Ryan Mac, on Flickr


Step 4
I used vag-com to see if my emissions would pass. "not ready" issues.
Using vag-com, I run a few emission tests.
"tank ventilation check" and "test of catalytic converter bank 1"
by running these two tests, all 8 status checks were now "ready".

Step 5
I drove to the service station and got inspection and emission stickers
If I had waited a day or so, the readiness status would likely have changed from "ready" or ok, to fail.

Step 6
I went home and celebrated!
I cracked open a beer. Broke out my Uniconnect cable and laptop again.
Time to go back to Stage 2 and more!
Loaded Stage 2. Did a quick test drive, all good.
Loaded Stage 2 DSG tune. ALLLLL GOOD!


Since then, I have put around 200 miles on the DSG tune.
There was a blizzard here, which was the weekend I was planning on making some videos. But that will have to wait.
I will post some videos asap! And pics.
I plan to take videos and pics of the process when I go from Uni's one of the Stage 2 DSG options to their next option, which is a little more aggressive.

The loading process is quite easy. I imagine that most Audi owners have a little bit of nerd in them, so with that said, I really think anyone could EASILY tune, detune, clear codes, ecu tune, etc. RIGHT FROM YOUR DRIVEWAY OR GARAGE!
It is an amazing perk that Unitronic has created for their customers. 

This is my third VAG vehicle. I've had an A3. Golf R, and now the S3. 
I have had REVO, APR, and now Unitronic on my cars.
I discovered Unitronic when I had my Golf R. I had APR originally.
What drew me to Unitronic was their hardware. I wasn't happy with the intake I had on the R.
The Uni intake came out very late, but when it did, I took a shot on it. And I loved it.
Soon after, I got their downpipe - again, seemed like the best quality for my R.
I was really impressed with the quality of the parts and performance gains.
Eventually, it lead me to get their software, which to me... felt like a step up b/c of how OEM+ it feels.
Both the Golf R and my S3 tunes feel strong, super smooth, which is what I wanted. Otherwise, I'll get tired of a car, if it feels too jerky, too aftermarket.

*The DSG Tune*
The first thing I did, was check how S mode would perform under "normal" conditions.
Meaning, I want to drive like a normal person (who has 400hp) would drive.
Since D mode is like driving miss daisy, S mode it is!
S mode, stock, would hold 2nd gear like it was possessed, even if you were only giving it, say, 2/10's pedal action. So messed up.
Now, S mode performs like it should. Whatever pedal action you give it, it detects your instincts and shifts where you expect it to.
When you mash it, it let's the rpm scream to redline, something that is very difficult to do around my house, unless you're on an on-ramp.
When I say I can feel that everything is more in sync, as the car moves through the gears, it's something you really have to feel - not read.
But whether I'm driving around town, or racing onto the expressway at 12am at full throttle, everything just clicks now!!!
I can sense that in S mode, at WOT, the upshifts are now spot-on. It makes a difference on the 1/4 mile, I'd imagine. I will have to wait till spring to hit a drag strip. Or at least until this 26" of snow melts.

Before the dsg tune, when driving with my wife, I would use D mode mostly, M mode sometimes. M mode was all I used, when I was by myself.
Never used S mode b/c it SUCKED!
S mode, not only is it useable now, it's all I use.
I honestly do not use M mode anymore, around town or highway!

I can tell that the shift points have been optimized for the extra torque and hp that my car has, with the ecu tune.
Overall responsiveness and drivability feel OEM+ now, no longer feels like the car has been messed with. Before getting the DSG tune, the transmission felt a little jerky and there was a lag. 
So everything feels "button up" or smooth. 
I don't feel any lag now. D and S modes are intuitive now. 

The DSG tune has a very tangible impact on the S3 driving experience. The chassis great. I have a wider stance, 19x8.5 et43 with 245/35. The car feels so planted. Close to 400 hp is great for a car of this weight. But with the increased torque, the car WANTED a DSG tune to clean it all up. Now that I have it, I realize that it's an absolute must have! 
In M mode, it feels like the flappy paddles have a direct line to God. Shifts are quicker. The car feels like a dream now. I can let anyone drive my car in ANY mode, and they rave about the entire package now.

Other tidbits:
The visual of seeing what gear you're in in D/S mode is really nice. S1-S6 for example.
RPM Limiter Increased to 6,800
D mode feels better
S mode feels sooooooo much better, can't imagine it being improved further.
Launch Control increased to 4,000

All in all, I'm thrilled about both additions:
- UniConnect, ability to tune my car on my own! Saves me time when I need to visit the dealer or inspection station... require 20 minutes now, instead of a visit to the closest tuner. In fact, I could detune my car if God for bid, my wife needed to drive it LOL!!!
- Unitronic DSG tune, ability to use S mode! LOL! and of course, there are many other benefits of the DSG tune.

This is a $50k car
$700 for a tune giving you 75-100hp. Another $700 to optimize all of it, so it can shake hands with the DSG.
To pay $700x2 for all this GO seems ok to me.

Cheers,
Ryan


* for the guys who are NOT tuned yet. I remember seeing a bundle deal that may benefit you to get them both at the same time. I already had the ecu tune.
I believe it's buy ECU and DSG together at same time, $150 discount
buy ECU and add DSG later, it's $100 discount.
something to that effect.

** as I mentioned above, I owe you guys videos and more pics, I'll get them up asap!


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## xkicksz (Jul 10, 2009)

In for details on this, have 2 other of my buddies with s3 trying to get uni tunes, i read that you tuned it down to stage 1 or 1+, is there any way you can completely remove any tunes, so essentially stock, to not void warranty and potentially cause a TD1.


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

xkicksz said:


> In for details on this, have 2 other of my buddies with s3 trying to get uni tunes, i read that you tuned it down to stage 1 or 1+, is there any way you can completely remove any tunes, so essentially stock, to not void warranty and potentially cause a TD1.


good questions
I can tune to stock, should have mentioned that.
but I don't know about avoiding TD1. sort of a gray area for now.
but obviously, at least turning the tune off, is better than nothing.


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## Anters (Feb 28, 2016)

When driving with stock tune, is the cat on the unitronic downpipe effiecient enough not to throw a CEL?


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## tehgreyloaf (Jun 16, 2014)

Is the DP catted? you should be able to flash to stock, stg 1, or stg 1 + and not have to worry about readiness regardless. I ask this because I'm in a similar situation and have a catless DP. I've tried to flash back to the previously listed files and I'm still failing the cat convertor and o2 sensor (s) fields....


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

with the UNI dp, yes, the stage 2 tune is required.


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## tehgreyloaf (Jun 16, 2014)

What I'm saying is that you would have passed regardless with anything but a stg2 file. You have a catted dp. I ended up figuring mine out last night.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

tehgreyloaf said:


> What I'm saying is that you would have passed regardless with anything but a stg2 file. You have a catted dp. I ended up figuring mine out last night.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Pls share the 411 please, thx!


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## tehgreyloaf (Jun 16, 2014)

RyanA3 said:


> Pls share the 411 please, thx!


Ryan, I ended up originally trying to get the cat convertor and o2 sensor parameters to pass by just flashing down to a 1+ or 1 file. For some reason that wasn't working. I have a feeling that the o2 sensor was not operating on a continuous loop due to the fact that it was not installed in the gaspath. What I ended up doing is just flashing back to stock and leaving my o2 sensor spacer installed on my catless DP. All readiness monitors passed and were active according to vcds after driving about 2 miles while logging on the fly. I went in and it passed emissions without any hiccups.

When Unitronic tells you to flash down to a stg 1+ or stg 1 file, they are assuming your o2


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## tehgreyloaf (Jun 16, 2014)

Sensor is installed in the gaspath.


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## rscott4563 (Mar 21, 2010)

Ryan, can you confirm you purchased the Stage 2 ECU tune and are able to flash the Stage 1 and Stage 1+ files as well as Stage 2 (no extra cost)?


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## tehgreyloaf (Jun 16, 2014)

rscott4563 said:


> Ryan, can you confirm you purchased the Stage 2 ECU tune and are able to flash the Stage 1 and Stage 1+ files as well as Stage 2 (no extra cost)?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Scott,
I can confirm that 100%


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## rscott4563 (Mar 21, 2010)

tehgreyloaf said:


> Scott,
> I can confirm that 100%


Cheers Ryan, that's great news and actually goes against what I was told by the sole Unitronic dealer here in Australia!

I had asked about prices for the tunes and Uniconnect and wanted to know that I could buy Stage 2 now before I add a DP and just run Stage 1 until I did but was told I had to buy them separately/individually which seemed crazy and was pushing me to ED instead as they would be $600 AUD cheaper for the combined ECU/TCU/Tool purchase plus the benefit of having access to all of their tunes with a single purchase.


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

I'm about to dive into all this again - over the next two weeks. 

Anyone else have anything to add here?

14000 miles now with Unitronic. No problems.


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## jiannu (Jun 10, 2015)

RyanA3 said:


> I'm about to dive into all this again - over the next two weeks.
> 
> Anyone else have anything to add here?
> 
> 14000 miles now with Unitronic. No problems.


I have to disagree with you in regards to S mode. DSG is oem and I mostly drive in S mode and love it. In D the car is like a lamb, in S its a wolf! I did have the dsg tune and honestly I could not tell any difference. I rarely use M mode.


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