Hello to all,

I recently purchased my 1st Audi (06 S-Line 2.0t FWD CVT w/ Paddles). I've been around Audi's for the majority of my life & have owned several watercooled VW's in the past. I'm much more familiar with older Audi's in particular the 3b engine. I have several friends that have insanely modified versions of these engines swapped into older coupes & 4kQ's.

I have done some research about the B7 models here on the forums & have recently purchased replacement items for the common failures for the vehicle (DV, BSH PVC Revamp) along with some performance items as well. I am very serious about going stage 2 with the vehicle. However, my concern is possibly having smog issue's being that I am a California resident. My confusion is in regards to the APR upgrade in particular. I have read that if I purchase the remap that gives me 4 selectable power level, I have the option of setting it back to stock.

During my reaserch here on the forums I stumbled across a thread that went into detail about the APR tune actually masking the factory program. Would this be a problem during a smog inspection? Has APR revised their software to compensate for this dillema? I would absolutely love to have an increase in power, but not if it I am going to be a problem when the time comes to renew my smog certificate.

Is there another company out there that can produce power levels similar to APR that would have no adverse effects when it comes to smog? Are there any programmers on the market that would give me the control of directly installing the tune myself that are worth a damn? And lastly, if I purchase an HFC section & install it will I have smog issues or check engine lights of any sort?

Thanks to anyone who can provide me with any additional information that may have slipped by while I was navigating the forums...

 

if you go stage 2, you will need a test pipe/high flow cat, which being in CA would be illegal..You would fail smog without a catalytic converter.

APR and Revo, both remove the check engine light when you have stage 2. You can go with either a test pipe or high flow cat and have good power.

APR you need to purchase all the programs in order to be able to switch between them, when they offer sales you can get a fully loaded program for 600ish (if i am not mistaken).

Revo is another company that has solid gains, you will need to buy a selector to switch from programs: stock, race, etc..

any tune will not create problems for smog, the test pipe or high flow cat will.

 

A stage 1 tune swapped to stock will pass inspection like stock. Stage 2 will fail instock mode for lack of a cat. If you go stage 2 you can always keep the stock cat and swap it for testing and swap again. Honestly I am lazy and would not keep swapping so if i lived in Cali I would just go stage 1. You can swap the exhaust parts in under an hour easily though.

 

You can't do anything in California without worrying about about failing emissions.

I couldn't put an intake on a toyota without a CARB EO number.

 

Thanks for the info fellas. Now the next question is will a test pipe or HFC throw a CEL? I dont mind swapping out the factory cat when it comes time for a smog inspection. But having a consistant CEL on my dash might get alittle annoying if I have to look at it on a daily basis.

 

Stage 2 tune will make the CEL go away. Unless you run GIAC as they do not have a tune for that. APR and REVO are the main stage 2 providers.

 

Thanks for the info, of the two main providers which is your preferance APR or REVO? Is the programming these two companies provide similar or does one stand out from the other? If I choose REVO do they have dealers in California that can perform the software upload or am I required to send them my ECU?

2wdBlazer, I have some additional questions in regards to performance, HP numbers, CVT maintance & ET's. Let me know if your are interested in taking a look. I dont want to bore you, but I just want to make sure I'm heading down the right path with this vehicle.

Thanks!!!

 

I have a fully loaded APR ECU on my GTI. I love it because you can switch programs with the cruise control stalk. I ran the REVO unit on my Audi but you require an exta box to plug in if you want to switch programs. The power is nearly the same on these units. I am not sure which company is closer to you but mailing it to them is always an option. Good luck.