# Eurodyne vs Unitronic OBD II Tuning



## WhiteShadow89 (Mar 25, 2015)

Hello everyone,

In the next couple of months (after I like my wounds from the costs of having to put new tires on my car after 15K miles) I will be looking to tune my S3. I am not new to the tuning game (in general that is) as I have a tune on my Mustang and I had positive experiences with the tune on my Civic Si (when I had it and knock on wood for future tunes). Seems like with every car though the game changes some, and unlike the other two cars, finding reviews/experience with a 2015+ S3 is more difficult. Anyways I have done some research and it looks like Unitronic is my best choice but recently someone mentioned Eurodyne on audizine (something I have been researching fairly heavily the past few hours). After researching Eurodyne it is on the list for sure and I am stuck in a limbo of which to run with really. I can't find a whole lot for my S3 with the Unitronic, but with what I can find is positive. The same goes for the Eurodyne. I am looking for a stage 1-1.5 (aka Stage 1 + in unitronic terms) ecu tune and a solid/safe stage 1 TCU tune. I mention both an ECU and TCU tune because it should resolve that annoying lag that the car has from a dead stop. I have a good idea as to what direction I want to head in but I definitely want to pick people's minds to see what they think on these two tuning companies before I pull the trigger on this. Money isn't really an object to me as long my costs are beneath $1600 USD, something that both Unitronic and Eurodyne are.
The best numbers for a tune do not really appeal to me as a deciding factor. To me it is most important to have a tune that can do the following:
1. Safe, reliable tune. 
2. I want the tune to be at least 49 state legal in the USA but ideally 50 state legal as there is a chance I move to Cali. I also want the tune to be 100% reversible back to its stock form and how the S3 was before tunning (something unitronic and eurodyne seem to do). 
3. I definitely want to feel a difference in power, but I am looking for that power increase to be smooth and linear. This is my daily driver so I definitely want it to be smooth.
4. Definitely a tune that won't kill my MPG's when I am not driving like a mad man. I have read some tunes actually increase your mpg's when keeping your foot out of the throttle for the GTI's/S3's (this is something that was not true on my Mustang or back when I had the Si).
5. Finally, I want that darn lag in the bottom end to go away. It is especially annoying for me because every time I leave my neighborhood I merge onto a busy road and there is not light. That lag/hesitation is not a good feeling when I pull out haha. 

I did post this in one other forum so I apologize if this is redundant. I just want to hit the two most popular Audi forms and here what people have to say before I buy. Hopefully I do not get flamed and I look forward to everyone's insight. I am open to other OBD II tune from your pc options, perhaps I missed something.
Thank you!


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## tateltot (Dec 4, 2015)

I've had nothing but good experiences with my Eurodyne Stage 1.5. Going Stage 2 next week. 

1. Any of the big guys are probably safe enough but there aren't any guarantees. 

2. I live in California. You can always flash back to stock if you need to. 

3. ED is very smooth, in my opinion. 

4. I got 29 mpg driving across the US at highway speeds. 

5. A small 4 cyl turbo will inherently have a little bit of lag. You'll just need to feel out how much gas you need to get the launch you like.


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## WhiteShadow89 (Mar 25, 2015)

tateltot said:


> I've had nothing but good experiences with my Eurodyne Stage 1.5. Going Stage 2 next week.
> 
> 1. Any of the big guys are probably safe enough but there aren't any guarantees.
> 
> ...


Thank you. I have a 2015 S3, which apparently have had turbo issues. I have logged almost 16K though in miles so I am assuming my car is not one of them haha. How many miles have you logged on your ED? 29mpg HWY? So it seems like this tune shortens your mpg's by 1-2 as I am typically 30-31mpg highway.


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Eurodyne >


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## coolwater (Nov 27, 2007)

Eurodyne stage 2. No td1 and over 400tq.

-cW

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


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## tateltot (Dec 4, 2015)

Heh. I never got 30-31. Also, that was at 90mph up the Rockies. 

I have about 8k on the ED.


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## WhiteShadow89 (Mar 25, 2015)

coolwater said:


> Eurodyne stage 2. No td1 and over 400tq.
> 
> -cW
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


Good to hear, my main concern with Eurodyne is I saw one guy lose a turbo shortly after going stage 2. 



tateltot said:


> Heh. I never got 30-31. Also, that was at 90mph up the Rockies.
> 
> I have about 8k on the ED.


Yea when I drive down to Norfolk I get 30-31 however 29mpg on spirited driving in the Rockies is pretty darn good! Curious if anyone has tried their stage one TCU tune.


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## coolwater (Nov 27, 2007)

WhiteShadow89 said:


> Good to hear, my main concern with Eurodyne is I saw one guy lose a turbo shortly after going stage 2.


His turbo probably was bad from factory. The tune just expedited the failure. If you followed the thread, he flashed back ecu and tcu to stock and everything was covered under warranty. 

-cW

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


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## WhiteShadow89 (Mar 25, 2015)

coolwater said:


> Eurodyne stage 2. No td1 and over 400tq.
> 
> -cW
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk





coolwater said:


> His turbo probably was bad from factory. The tune just expedited the failure. If you followed the thread, he flashed back ecu and tcu to stock and everything was covered under warranty.
> 
> -cW
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


I read it all the way through. Still don't like seeing the issues he had with eurodyne but there was one thing that was very impressive to me. Eurodyne proved how difficult their tunes are to find once flashing back to stock (which i thought was extremely impressive). How many miles do you have on your car with eurodyne? Right now I like how invisible ED is once removed, I can't say the same for uni. I do like that uni has a much bigger/easier to get in touch with tech dept. I do like the ED is cheaper and you don't have to spend extra to get to get the "flash from home" perk. I am curious as to why ED is a good chunk cheaper though than Uni.


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## coolwater (Nov 27, 2007)

WhiteShadow89 said:


> I read it all the way through. Still don't like seeing the issues he had with eurodyne but there was one thing that was very impressive to me. Eurodyne proved how difficult their tunes are to find once flashing back to stock (which i thought was extremely impressive). How many miles do you have on your car with eurodyne? Right now I like how invisible ED is once removed, I can't say the same for uni. I do like that uni has a much bigger/easier to get in touch with tech dept. I do like the ED is cheaper and you don't have to spend extra to get to get the "flash from home" perk. I am curious as to why ED is a good chunk cheaper though than Uni.


Almost 5k miles. Other than the misfires I had one time it's been solid. Software update took care of that. Eurodyne is cheaper since they don't advertise as much. Any tune is going to expose your cars weaknesses. So there is always a risk. I'm double covered with flash to stock and geico insurance in case td1.

-cW

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## WhiteShadow89 (Mar 25, 2015)

coolwater said:


> Almost 5k miles. Other than the misfires I had one time it's been solid. Software update took care of that. Eurodyne is cheaper since they don't advertise as much. Any tune is going to expose your cars weaknesses. So there is always a risk. I'm double covered with flash to stock and geico insurance in case td1.
> 
> -cW
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


Glad the misfire did no damage. Did you solve this via returning to stock and re-uploading? Also wasn't this with stage 2 only? I don't recall stage 1.5 having this issues. One other question, with ED do they send you the most up to date tune when you purchase or do you have to go through all the different updates?


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## coolwater (Nov 27, 2007)

WhiteShadow89 said:


> Glad the misfire did no damage. Did you solve this via returning to stock and re-uploading? Also wasn't this with stage 2 only? I don't recall stage 1.5 having this issues. One other question, with ED do they send you the most up to date tune when you purchase or do you have to go through all the different updates?


A few of us had experienced misfires and eurodyne provided one of us a beta file to test. After about 500 miles they released a new v1.1 of the tune. Only the latest files are available on their servers.

-cW

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## jpy1980 (May 26, 2016)

I guess Eurodyne is not immune to td1. See this guys post: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...E1-and-TB1&p=97388066&viewfull=1#post97388066


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## saxonbrian (Apr 23, 2010)

jpy1980 said:


> I guess Eurodyne is not immune to td1. See this guys post: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...E1-and-TB1&p=97388066&viewfull=1#post97388066


The car was scanned with the tune still loaded, of course it's going to get flagged


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## coolwater (Nov 27, 2007)

jpy1980 said:


> I guess Eurodyne is not immune to td1. See this guys post: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...E1-and-TB1&p=97388066&viewfull=1#post97388066


Not familiar with the gff log on VW, but it looks like it stores all your readings before failure. Kind of like a black box on your VW. 

The recommendation is to flash back to stock and drive your car for like 50 miles before you bring it in. This way stock readings are recorded. This is for any tune going back to stock.

I had some misfires once. Restarted the car and it cleared. Drove home, flashed back to stock. Brought in to dealer. Car was there 2 days for diagnostics and no issues.

One s3 blew a turbo, towed home, flashed to stock, waited a day, then towed to dealer. No issues with warranty. 

One a3 blew his engine on a tune, towed to tuner to flash back to stock and remove stage 2 hardware. Towed from tuner to dealer. Dealer denied warranty as they claimed since he was towed from a tuning shop he must have been tuned. He filed a claim with Geico and got coverage for a rebuilt engine.

They may decide to dig deeper and find ways to flag td1. In that case even piggybacks would cause a flag. Pay to play I guess. Also why I have additional coverage in case warranty is denied.

I've been td1 before on my a4 b8 and had over $10k of warranty work done on my car. Waterpumps, intake manifolds, wheel bearings, 4 pistons and rings done under warranty. All common weak points on my old car. Engine mounts were the only thing denied and Geico covered that. 

-cW


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## jpy1980 (May 26, 2016)

Thanks for the reply! How does the mbi program work? Will they just fix anything that is not covered under warranty? Like even if it was tuned?


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## coolwater (Nov 27, 2007)

jpy1980 said:


> Thanks for the reply! How does the mbi program work? Will they just fix anything that is not covered under warranty? Like even if it was tuned?


Yes, dealer must provide in writing why they won't cover your warranty claim. Then geico will review your mbi claim and approve any repairs. They cover any non wear and tear items. I would still flash back to stock even if you were going the insurance route.

-cW

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## tateltot (Dec 4, 2015)

The Geico MBI seems particularly forgiving. USAA (my insurance) has a very specific clause about not covering any repairs resulting from aftermarket performance modifications. It's also not cheap. I'm taking my chances. :|


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## roadrunner_oz (Jul 30, 2015)

I have had APR S1 ECU & DGS tunes and switched to UniTronic S1+ a few months back. Very happy with the ECU/DSG tunes and excellent customer service/support. No TD1.

Don't think you can go wrong with UniTronic and sounds as Eurodyne is also good.


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## davera3 (Jul 26, 2014)

roadrunner_oz said:


> I have had APR S1 ECU & DGS tunes and switched to UniTronic S1+ a few months back. Very happy with the ECU/DSG tunes and excellent customer service/support. No TD1.


I'm curious why you changed to UniTronic from APR? Since you already spent the $700 on APR, its an expensive option although one I may be considering as well due to poor APR customer service/broken promises.


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## WhiteShadow89 (Mar 25, 2015)

roadrunner_oz said:


> I have had APR S1 ECU & DGS tunes and switched to UniTronic S1+ a few months back. Very happy with the ECU/DSG tunes and excellent customer service/support. No TD1.
> 
> Don't think you can go wrong with UniTronic and sounds as Eurodyne is also good.


Thank you! Just curious how did your mpg's change from stock to apr and then unitronic. Some people say that when you keep your foot out of it your mpg's are the same or slightly better.


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

WhiteShadow89 said:


> Thank you! Just curious how did your mpg's change from stock to apr and then unitronic. Some people say that when you keep your foot out of it your mpg's are the same or slightly better.


that is true. same or slightly better.


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## roadrunner_oz (Jul 30, 2015)

davera3 said:


> I'm curious why you changed to UniTronic from APR? Since you already spent the $700 on APR, its an expensive option although one I may be considering as well due to poor APR customer service/broken promises.


I had both APR ECU & DSG tunes. There were problems with the DSG tune that they refused to acknowledge. I grew frustrated and tossed both ECU & DSG. APR Since recognised the DSG problem and issued a fix some months later. Shocking company to deal with.

ECU tunes between APR & UniTronic are on par. UniTronic DSG is far better.


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## roadrunner_oz (Jul 30, 2015)

WhiteShadow89 said:


> Thank you! Just curious how did your mpg's change from stock to apr and then unitronic. Some people say that when you keep your foot out of it your mpg's are the same or slightly better.


No idea of MPG as not something that I monitor. If it is dry I fill up.


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## davera3 (Jul 26, 2014)

roadrunner_oz said:


> I had both APR ECU & DSG tunes. There were problems with the DSG tune that they refused to acknowledge. I grew frustrated and tossed both ECU & DSG. APR Since recognised the DSG problem and issued a fix some months later. Shocking company to deal with.
> 
> ECU tunes between APR & UniTronic are on par. UniTronic DSG is far better.


Thats great feedback to hear, aligns with what I've been about UniTronic, as well as some of my frustration with APR (perhaps you've seen my "What? Still don't have that downpipe for AWD and its now 1 year overpromised?" posts).


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