Hi All,


Major petrol head, car forum devotee, and long time lover of Hot Hatches right here. Lurking this forum for a long time but haven't really had a specific need for information or assistance till now. I've got a Mk5 for which I need to do some long coding (see post here asking for help). If anyone in the Melbourne South East area has a cable they'd be willing to PLEASE let me use for a few hours so that I can code a new CANBUS, that would be greatly appreciated!


Back to the original topic: I'm soon to be taking delivery of a Mk7 performance pack GTI. I love being out on the track driving and already can't wait to put the diff and brakes to the test around some proper twisties! That being said, I find the EA888 engine to be somewhat flat, and ever since the modding bug bit in my Mk2 GTI I've pretty much never had a stock car. I'm considering my options for stage 1.


Having had full on management systems, piggy backs, and flash tunes previously, I'm hyper aware of the characteristics of each option and different tunes. I'm looking at getting a flash and after speaking to a few other tuners I won't go for the DSG flash at this stage. I'm looking for something that is easily switchable back to stock, it must have a power delivery that is linear and similar enough to stock that my wife can drive the car. It must not be overly expensive, and must give the possibility to go to stage 2 without it being a lot of effort or cost.


APR: I've been in an APR stage 1 GTI and it's great but I find it comes on too strong too early for my liking.
REVO: I've owned 3 VAG cars with Revo and it's very punchy and I like most importantly how progressive it is when it builds boost, but at AU$1,500 for the stage 1 engine tune, and with 2 growing kids at home, I find it to be quite expensive... plus the SPS switch is another $150+
SUPERCHIPS BLUEFIN: I overlaid the graphs (I'm a data analyst) and the stage 1 graph actually looks very similar to that of Revo, and has a very comparable total surface area. At AU$750, its friendlier on the wallet, has good reviews on the GTI forums and Facebook pages, and the plus for me is it leaves some budget for a downpipe (no interest in doing intake).
UNITRONIC: Mate of mine also with a MK7 has Unitronic Stage 1, and I find it to be quite a mild tune. Significant difference over stock, but I feel like it would leave me wanting. I like the idea that they've got supporting bolt ons tried and tested with the software which is a big plus. Also circa AU$1,000 though.

CUSTOM: My Cup Megane had a custom RS Tuner tune and it flew. Spoke to UGP but again at $1,000 for a custom map, it's appealing, but can't switch back to stock unless I go into their workshop which will be annoying.



I know these sort of topics get discussed to death and I've done a lot of search and research, but I really want to know specifically how you would describe the characteristics between the flashes that you've had or experienced? The only one option from the above haven't experienced, is the one I'm most interested in hearing about from the masses, and that is the Superchips option. Have you tried it and how did you find living with it on a daily basis? Should it be considered a negative that they don't (as far as I know) support DSG flashes like the other ones listed above?


​Thanks in advance.

Wazza