3 Must Know Things Before Tuning Your Audi S3/A3 or VW Golf GTI/R

[@volkssturm9694]

I have a 2018 Audi S3 , got it almost new in 2021 with 7K miles. I knew exactly what I was getting into before tuning. These EA888 Gen 3 engines are indeed very robust and reliable when tuned . The S3/ Golf R 2.0T has stronger internals compared to the standard 2.0T ( GTI/A3) including forged pistons and rods as well as the cylinder head is made out of a stronger aluminum /silicon alloy to withstand higher amount of thermal stress. The compression ratio and injectors in the S3/Golf R are also upgraded for more power. Other things like a bigger intercooler, high performance radiator were added to the S3/Golf R. I am stage 2 now /FBO with 034 motorsports and Im 100% satisfied. It is one of the most refined/ balanced, OEM+ tunes out there, and Im running 12 flat in the quarter mile. I plan to keep my S3 until the wheels fall off LOL hopefully well over 250,000 miles. My S3 truly is an amazing machine.

[@JayChesterman]

Fully agree about stage 2 being the perfect spot, I’ve been stage 2 for around 5 months now and I still love getting into the car every day, thanks for the comment!

[@11venomer]

Just tuned my 2015 A3 ecu and tcu tuned stage 1. it’s awesome you can tell the car has more power and honestly feels like you unleash its potential. I would recommend IE tuning as well they just are on top of their game when it comes to tuning these engines.

[@JayChesterman]

@@11venomer glad to hear you’re enjoying it! I’m still blown away at how much performance you get out of stage 1, it’s actually insane

[@Ave.J.]

I have a stage 2 Golf R 2019 Integrated Engineering with all the bells and whistles downpipe intercooler milltek exhaust valved non resonated and im not gonna lie I'm in love. Lolll EA888's are sick.

[@JayChesterman]

imo they're actually underrated cars haha, the miltek sounds sick though! i'm not planning to look into an exhaust system, at least not yet - and IE intercooler is probably coming in the spring, heading into fall now so temps won't be an issue

[@Ave.J.]

@@JayChesterman My exhaust was a must brother the inside of my bonnet was cooking in there from restriction of exhaust gas flow after I had Milltek car was running day and night more cool I highly recommend it because if the oil and engine bay are just that hot it can't be good. Thanks for reply love the VW audi community!

[@JayChesterman]

@@Ave.J. Damn I didn’t think of that haha maybe it’ll be a future mod 😄 thanks for watching man!

[@edwardray2832]

Thanks! I just leased a '24 S3 and wondered why none of the go-fast goodies in ads never mentioned the warranty, now I know why.

[@JayChesterman]

that would do it haha your 24 (8Y gen) is decently quicker than my gen stock for stock and I think makes even more power when tuned, just something to think about if you ever consider tuning haha

[@TrevorKNYC]

I just leased a 24 S3 and I wont lie the temptation is there. Voiding the warranty is scary enough, but I want to know if they can charge you for having tuned the car when you return it at the end of the lease. Did you end up doing the tune?

[@bngs1983]

This has been a very informative video. Thank you for the honesty. Now that my S3 is at 60k miles, time to get all the maintenance completed and do a stage 1 or 2 tune. We shall see.

[@JayChesterman]

You’re going to love the car tuned, guaranteed haha thanks for watching!

[@bwoisness]

Good video. I have a 2020 S3 that is running Unitronic stage 1+ ECU, stage 1 TCU and a APR Carbon fiber closed intake. Have had it tuned since April so 6 months now and fell in love with my car all over again. I have heard our cars with down pipe/ exhaust combo and I don't like the sound they produce so it would be nice to hear yours when you are done.

[@JayChesterman]

stage 1 is amazing for sure! i agree with you though, i should have a video up Sunday with the comparison between my current setup and the vibrant res setup (currently running the ie downpipe, stock exhaust with a res delete)

[@bmw_for_life8902]

I am a vw tech from what I have seen it is a 50/50 if u loose yr warranty if u come into the dealer with the tune removed it probably won’t flag if the tune is installed it will probably flag it I have done warranty work on vehicles that have tunes idk bout Audi scanner but for vw seems to not always flag the car

[@JayChesterman]

Yeah from what I’ve heard as well VW seems to be more lenient, Audi has no wiggle room though haha if you’re ecu has been flashed at all, you’ll be flagged as soon as they plug you in

[@bmw_for_life8902]

@@JayChesterman also from what I hear with vw is if u buy a new ecu that hasn’t been flagged the td1 will go away

[@juniormeyer27]

I’ve had all kinds of 4 cylinder turbos engines and I swear the EA888 is one of the most solid 4s out there. The only other 4 cylinder maybe more enjoyable would be the srt4.

[@JayChesterman]

it really is an amazing engine, this is my first turbocharged car so i don’t have much to compare against haha

[@scalip36]

As a former SRT4 owner who is looking into an S3, I'm glad to hear this. That car was a blast with 420whp.

[@jashandeepsingh7693]

I’m in the market right now but how do I tell if it is tuned or was tuned before.

[@JayChesterman]

there’s no easy way for the ECU tune unfortunately but you could call Audi and have them run the VIN, if its tuned and had any services done at an Audi dealer it’ll be flagged TD1 You can tell if it has the TCU tune is if the gear shows up in the digital dash, you know it’s got tcu tune

[@sliceofdanlife]

I am planning on doing CTS High Flow Turbo Inlet Pipe, drop in filter, and JB1 piggyback tune which adds like +45 hp/tq. Would you still cut the maintenance schedule in half? For example, spark plugs, DSG/Haldex fluid changes. Oil change I am planning on doing them at like 6k miles for sure. By the way love the content you're throwing out! Not many 8V FL videos being posted!

[@kerwinvergara3335]

Hey @sliceofdanlife, personally I’m stage 1 and ive done my maintenance in half intervals. It’s best to prevent that to regret later. I do my oil changes every 5k. Even when I was stock I did everything at half intervals. It might be a bit more expensive in the long run but it’s better to do preventative maintenance in my opinion. Majority people I know who own Audi/VW do half maintenance

[@JayChesterman]

thanks for the support man, i really love this car haha and nice! you're going to love the extra sounds the bigger inlet creates. i'd still recommend doing your maintenance ahead of schedule, half is probably overkill but def do it sooner than you normally would, as i mentioned, you're def going to be driving the car harder. as far as plugs go, i'm not really sure.. i just had the rs7 plugs put in to go with my stage 2 tune (there's some controversy around these, a topic for another time lol) and i've read you should do your plugs every 10k miles when you're on stage 2, but the vw/audi shop that installed them for me said i'm good for 60k km.

[@JayChesterman]

@@kerwinvergara3335 great advice!

[@RichsRantMMAofficialchannel]

It’s like drinking…. In the moment it feels great, after time, you’re screwed

[@JayChesterman]

there’s a price to be paid for fun 😂

[@uncle_bhs7859]

i saw the xo tee and i just gasped hope u not just wearing it🙌🏼

[@JayChesterman]

My fiance is a core fan, got me into his music 7 years ago and haven’t looked back haha we went to his after hours till dawn tour in Toronto

[@uncle_bhs7859]

@@JayChesterman lucky you buddy went to his after hours till dawn too in paris, i had a blast. God bless you two take care of her she a real xo for getting u into his music😂

[@JayChesterman]

@@uncle_bhs7859 hahah yeah shes a real one for sure, thanks for watching!

[@UltimaWeaponz]

It looks like you're driving in Montreal. I have been wondering how to deal with insurance. Did you declare the mods? Most insurers I spoke to will straight up not insure a modified car. If I ensure 2 ways, will the ensurer void the coverage. How do you intend on dealing with that in case of an accident?

[@JayChesterman]

i'm in Ontario, i'm not sure to be honest but i personally don't know anyone that's declared mods to their insurers and i don't know of anyone who's had an issue with claims definitely not advice haha just my own experience!

[@ngroysten]

I thought i clicked on the wrong video when i saw the creatine powder🤣

[@JayChesterman]

need those mental and physical gains man 😆

[@nicholasmosquera8369]

I have a question? When you intstalled downpipe did you get a check engine light for ofc like “missing catalytic converter”

[@JayChesterman]

it depends on the downpipe you have, if it's catless you'll get a CEL 100%, i'm not sure if the IE downpipe on it's own does (it's got a high flow cat), but i had a vibrant j-style 02 sensor spacer installed with it. the stage 2 tune should remove the CEL though i believe

[@nicholasmosquera8369]

@@JayChesterman gotcha!!! Thank you so much!

[@Trooper900100]

hey for the vibrant res, which size did you get? i doubt the stock exhaust is 3 inch so i wanna make sure i get the right size

[@JayChesterman]

i just called the shop that did it for me (they fabricate their own) and their response was "we usually do 2.5 inches"

[@Trooper900100]

@@JayChesterman i just watched another video after you did the vibrant resonator, what in your opinion is best sound? i have cattless downpipe waiting for install. ive had an ea888.3 car with catlesss & straight pipe & that shit was insanely loud

[@JayChesterman]

@@Trooper900100 if you're going catless i'd personally keep the stock resonator in place or go with a vibrant bottle, i hated the sound of my current setup when i initially had the vibrant res put in but i've grown to really enjoy it if you've already got a res delete, i'd say just get the downpipe in and see if you like it or not, for me it was just too much rasp and drone for my liking but everyone is different if it's too much like it was for me, you can pick up a vibrant res, or find a local exhaust shop that fabricates them and have them install one for you

[@alibekkakhramanov6435]

I’m thinking about getting a 2017-2019 Wrecked s3 off the auction, with the help of my dad(he’s like the best mechanic I know) do you think it’s too risky to get a car especially like an Audi off the auction and fix it up?

[@JayChesterman]

Unfortunately i can’t help you there, im not the most mechanically inclined person in the world haha

[@alibekkakhramanov6435]

😂😂No worries, Sick car though hopefully I can get like you in the near future

[@nicholasmosquera8369]

Sorry to be a bother! Just another question, why did you chose IE for tuning was it all personal preference etc.? I’m having trouble between lots is brands like 034,IE cobb unitronic. Currently I got a 2018 Audi s3 IE downpipe intake and turbo inlet pipe with a mbrp custom exhaust system.

[@JayChesterman]

my local performance shop had recommended IE for my intake and turbo inlet initially just because they make high quality products, and then I just became a fan of the brand haha I really liked the idea of mobile tuning as well with their POWERlink app, but that ended up going bad and bricked my car temporarily 🤣 but the windows based app works flawlessly, I like having the app up while driving as well to see gauges

[@nicholasmosquera8369]

And if so like is it true since your tune that getting a tune will get rid of it?

[@ramiroibanez3551]

If I get a resonator delete kit, would that also void the warranty?

[@JayChesterman]

nope! if you do it, keep the stock resonator so you can have it welded back in place if you ever decide you want to though.

[@ramiroibanez3551]

@@JayChesterman Thank you!🤝 What are your thoughts on these kits?

[@JayChesterman]

@@ramiroibanez3551 i personally really enjoy the resonator delete, i recently had to removed and had a vibrant resonator installed in it's place - which i'm not happy with haha i have a video going up soon about it