As a reformed serial car modifier/tuner I’d be very wary of tuning a latest generation GTI with all the spyware on them. It’s hugely unlikely anything will blow up unless you drive like a tw@t but if it does you’re out on a limb if the car is leased or on finance it’s not technically yours so you need to be careful there too.
Also the GTI has a boost plug low down near the bottom of the radiator and intercooler which you’d never be able to disconnect if a tuning box needed to be removed rapidly at the side of the road. That’s allowing for the fact the engine bay could be accessed at all after a frontal collision, ignoring the heat and amount of fiddling required to remove a box generally.
So notifying your insurance is an absolute must.
Yeah, back in the day I knew plenty of guys running Cupra R’s and GTI’s as company cars that were OBD flashed and insurance not notified but times have changed.
Having said that, maybe an OBD remap even now would be hard to prove by an insurer unless you’ve posted up willy waving on the internet.
Moving away from being a boring old fart, the mk8 GTI responds well to tuning.
https://youtu.be/klgdaIQitBMAs above, by far the best tuning box is the Burger JB4
but it’s a) slightly involved to fit and b ) is developed in South Africa then tested worldwide and I’m not sure how many mk8’s are in SA and the USA yet where the initial set up’s will normally be tested and tweaked.
The Racechip box is developed already so an easy plug and play.
I’m not so sure these tuning companies are on borrowed time MH.
EV’s will benefit from tuning as much as anything else so long as enterprising enthusiasts still buy cars. Even if it’s a simplified limited time “overboost” facility for a quick burst of extra power under hard acceleration that reverts to a less energy sapping mode when you lift off.
Plus the ubiquitous pedal box is very useful on an EV, I have it on good authority. Response time is apparently lacking in some EV’s unless the “go” pedal is pressed quite firmly, the pedalbox would assist lessening this as much as required for a more sporty drive.
