You can overthink tuning to the N’th degree, same as anything else I guess.
I’ve had around a dozen remaps and tuning boxes from various tuners over a very long period of time.
The remaps on the early TDI and the first LPT turbo VAG petrol engines (1.8t) were quite simple affairs and the mappers have had to keep abreast with all the emissions hardware and software as each new series of engines get released.
I’ve no idea what the thread was on golfmk7.com as I’ve not been over there for years having been focussed elsewhere but Internet forums have always been full of self professed experts who don’t get out much.
I’m far from an expert, just an end user with a bit of an understanding built up over the years.
Tuners vary in size, resources and time. REVO have grown to be a biggie and we’re originally an offshoot of APR’s UK arm, if I remember correctly one of the main guys was Mark Yates who previously headed MYTech who were a well respected tuner of earlier generation GTI’s and VR6’s. I might be wrong, it was a long time ago now.
God I feel old.
REVO & APR have much bigger global resources so can take their time developing maps all over the world using dozens of vehicles in Beta testing. They have an extensive network and decent(ish) customer care.
So are they best?
Some of the other much smaller tuners might offer a more personal experience or be cheaper, they’ll have intimate knowledge of their product in most cases. I’ve been out in a Unicorn tuned R and it drove beautifully, custom tuned for a factory like delivery but with the wick turned up a bit.
Is that the best? How many development miles went into that tune on the open roads rather than some hours on a rolling road?
We could go on forever. The best is the best for you. Good local support will be more important to some, pops, bangs, whooshes and being the fastest car up to 130mph on the local bypass using launch control will be more important to others, and everything in between.
