# My testing of a Manual Boost Controller on my TFSI



## GMPCompetitionTT (Dec 7, 2014)

So lately I have been going crazy with boost numbers just curious of where the turbo actually "dies" which I have been told by all of our tuning suppliers that it does.

My car right now at 75 to 80 degrees runs 17 to 18 peak and drops to around 10 11 by 7,000 RPM. So out of curiosity I wanted to see if it was tune related or because the turbo really falls flat on its face. This test was all done on an AWE(Omori) boost gauge.

First test. Peak 14. 12Psi by redline.

Car ran okish I could tell I was getting more fuel than I needed. But it pulled 12 PSI all the way to red line. (I was completely fine running it to red line at 12psi the AFR would hardly be an issue)

Second Test. Peak 17. 15psi by redline.

The car granted lost some regular driveability but nothing I am not used to on other cars I have built. Under WOT it felt just about the same as before but to my suprise it ran 15 PSI to red line and it felt pretty darn good. I boosted it twice and decided for safety purposes (of my motor Ofcourse) to not continue this test further until I put a wideband o2 sensor in the vehicle.

With that being said clearly tuning is the limit for the TFSI engine. Fuel on this engine is not an issue, neither is air.

Once AFR is installed I will make another pass at the 17-15 psi and verify if my car is running too lean for conditions.

Now I know the k03 has more. Just a matter of time before I figure out how to get into my ECU files.


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## rtbrjason (Jun 14, 2015)

What year is your car? Is it currently not tuned at all?

On a previous vehicle (subaru) that I tuned on both the stock turbo and an upgraded turbo, both preferred to be ramped down at higher rpms. In the case of the stock turbo, I could hold 15 psi to redline, but i could make more power near redline at 12psi with a bit more timing. The 15psi at 6500+ rpm was well outside the turbo efficiency range and blowing hot air at that point.


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## GMPCompetitionTT (Dec 7, 2014)

rtbrjason said:


> What year is your car? Is it currently not tuned at all?
> 
> On a previous vehicle (subaru) that I tuned on both the stock turbo and an upgraded turbo, both preferred to be ramped down at higher rpms. In the case of the stock turbo, I could hold 15 psi to redline, but i could make more power near redline at 12psi with a bit more timing. The 15psi at 6500+ rpm was well outside the turbo efficiency range and blowing hot air at that point.


14 and stage 2 with good front mount intercooler. I saw no massive spikes in heat on my logs. It definitely felt much stronger past 5k rpm. Granted again I could have been running really lean.


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## rtbrjason (Jun 14, 2015)

Thanks for the info. Mine was just picked up 2nd hand. 2011. I installed the P3 vent gauge and am seeing 16.5 typical peak boost but as much as 18.5 or so. I can't find anyplace where the actual stock boost of this car is listed. It leads me to believe I have a tune, and as far as I understand it, only APR can do the Valve Lift tunes. I've been unable to access anything with the cruise control stock though. It could also be that the previous owner put a mbc on mine but the curve doesn't seem very indicative of a mbc as it's all over the place.

Did you have a boost gauge in place when you were 100% stock?


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## GMPCompetitionTT (Dec 7, 2014)

rtbrjason said:


> Thanks for the info. Mine was just picked up 2nd hand. 2011. I installed the P3 vent gauge and am seeing 16.5 typical peak boost but as much as 18.5 or so. I can't find anyplace where the actual stock boost of this car is listed. It leads me to believe I have a tune, and as far as I understand it, only APR can do the Valve Lift tunes. I've been unable to access anything with the cruise control stock though. It could also be that the previous owner put a mbc on mine but the curve doesn't seem very indicative of a mbc as it's all over the place.
> 
> Did you have a boost gauge in place when you were 100% stock?


Your car is tuned. Peak is 12 to 13 stock and falls fast. By 7000 rpm you should be at 5 pounds.


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## rtbrjason (Jun 14, 2015)

GMPCompetitionTT said:


> Your car is tuned. Peak is 12 to 13 stock and falls fast. By 7000 rpm you should be at 5 pounds.


Thanks again. Can I be assured that if it's tuned and not just setup with a boost controller, that it is tuned by APR? I followed their instructions several times to access the EMCS but was unable to get a check engine light flashing. I will double check to see if there is a mbc hooked up somewhere to rule that out as well but I was told no other company is currently able to tune the 2011+ models.


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## GMPCompetitionTT (Dec 7, 2014)

rtbrjason said:


> Thanks again. Can I be assured that if it's tuned and not just setup with a boost controller, that it is tuned by APR? I followed their instructions several times to access the EMCS but was unable to get a check engine light flashing. I will double check to see if there is a mbc hooked up somewhere to rule that out as well but I was told no other company is currently able to tune the 2011+ models.


I am tuned but my cruise control stalk doesn't do anything either. But trust me you are tuned a MBC kills driveability. You would make boost and hold boost to red line with MBC


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## rtbrjason (Jun 14, 2015)

Got the downpipe in this weekend. Its an ATP, cat-less, resonator-less. I wrapped the first section that's under the hood to help with heat. 

I ended up throwing a 420 code as expected and went to my local APR dealer today. As it turns out, there was no tune (at least not an APR tune) on the car. I shelled out about $800 to go right to the stage 2 with test pipe file.

The shop owner couldn't explain why I was running around at 18 psi without a tune either. I'm assuming it had some kind of tune on it. It was hitting 4.6 seconds consistently with launch control and I'm fairly certain this car doesn't do that stock.


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## pal (Aug 16, 2000)

GMPCompetitionTT said:


> Your car is tuned. Peak is 12 to 13 stock and falls fast. By 7000 rpm you should be at 5 pounds.


^^ This. ^^

Below is stock boost curve on a 2007 K03 GTI










APR boost curve on the same car:










For some reason the EMCS access stopped working using the cruise control on the car a few weeks ago. It worked for the last few years it was chipped. Very strange.


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## rtbrjason (Jun 14, 2015)

It definitely appears to have been tuned somehow. I was expecting to see an APR tune on it when I took it to Roc Euro yesterday. He plugged it in, found no tune at all and did the full APR tune for me.

It's hitting a bit less boost than it was before tune but seems to be running better/stronger overall. Fuel at WOT looks much better as well.

Is there some other tuning option for the 2011 model year TT? From what I understand, if it was tuned, it could only have been tuned with APR.


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