Mk7 2015 Golf Alltrack Tune

[seathy dan]

Just thought I'd post here some recent experiences I've had in getting some work done on my 2015 Golf Alltrack, particularly in upgrading to IS20 turbo.

I had initially had the APR "stage 1" tune with stock everything else. Ended up pairing that up with the APR DSG tune. Which all ran very well, tune seemed to be well balanced for performance/economy, DSG tune is also a win.

Eventually the little IS12 turbo that the Alltrack is fitted with had a wastegate fault, and being integrated into the turbo that required a turbo replacement.

My mechanic was able to source a used IS20 turbo from a GTI, around 30k kms, for significantly less than the price of a new IS12 turbo. So I figured why not, get the IS20 put in, get a tune to suit, and away we go.

Which is where the issues started. APR don't/won't provide support (at least to Australian models) for Golf Alltrack upgrades to IS20 turbo. Which was disappointing and meant we had to look elsewhere.

The company we ended up using (well known, and will remain nameless as they're not here to defend themselves) was told the setup of the car (any other mods/DSG tune having been upgraded to "stage 2") and provided a tune to suit in due course. Their first attempt was nothing short of shocking. Oil temps were spiking to around 106 deg (normally sits around 100), fuel economy was impossible to keep below 12 or 13L/100ks (that was with VERY conservative driving), driveability was non-existent (jerky, trans slipping, running very rough, bogging down at low RPM). When I got it home I popped the hood, only to find the exhaust side of the turbo was glowing red hot, as if I'd done a couple of laps of Bathurst at full whack. Not good.

Limped the car back to the mechanic, and over the course of a few months, several revisions to the tune, this particular company just couldn't get it right. Performance logs were recorded and sent through, feedback from myself and the mechanic around where the problems were, they just couldn't solve it. Generally incredibly disappointing work, and their turnaround time was very slow as well.

I eventually got the tune taken off, kept the IS20, and reverted to the APR stage 1 tune. Not ideal as there was a bit of turbo lag, but otherwise no issues.

Mechanic was able to secure a refund from the original company, gladly, and we set about looking for another option, which ended up being Dutch tuning company TVS. They were confident they could get it right, and so last week we made it happen.

Long story short, and for anyone planning a similar upgrade, I've found that TVS are able to do an excellent job of tuning the Alltrack to work with the IS20. The APR stage 2 DSG tune pairs well with it, however I believe TVS do their own DSG tune. I kept the APR one as I'd already paid for it.

I don't know power figures etc, however I know that the car now pulls like a steam train, hills don't exist, overtakes are sorted with no fuss, and acceleration off the line is very rapid. Driveability is good - it's smooth, temps stay down, and the fuel economy is excellent - recent relaxed/conservative country drive (including plenty of hills and bends) saw the economy stay around 7L/100km, and normal commute is sitting around the same economy as when the car was stock. Obviously driving it hard will change all that, but as a point of comparison it's pleasing.

Finally, and for anyone in Melbourne, I can't recommend highly enough David and the team at VW Park Autowerks in Nunawading, who did the work for me. Their patience, professionalism and high quality work are outstanding and anyone with a VW group car in the area should consider them.

Anyone who's had different experiences, feel free to share.

[RKTBOX]

A long while ago I used to work with TVS here in Australia, one of my favourite projects was an IS12, then IS20, then IS38 Alltrack. Quite a surprising and fun little platform when set up correctly. They never did quite get the wastegate PID's correct so it had some unusual oscillation at full load in higher gears, but outside of that, plenty of pep and could hang with a Stage 1 7R just fine.

Glad to hear you eventually got your issues resolved, it's a shame to here that who you dealt with previously was no good, it's becoming all too common.