👋 hey everyone

[jryd]

Hey everyone,

Recently picked up a 2012 MK6 Golf 90TSI with DSG and its easily the best ride I've had.

Slowly exploring my options for upgrades to make the car my own.

I'm already impressed with the performance and driveability of the car, but I'd be lying if I hadn't already looked at a bunch of posts for a Stage 1 tune lol.

I'm based in Brisbane, and if anyone has any pointers for a newbie, or who might be best to help with a stage 1 tune then I'd love to hear from you!

See ya around ✌️

[Lucas_R]

Hi and welcome. Congrats on the new car. If you are in Brissy and wanting a stage 1 tune, you have many options - but probably the easiest and one of the better choices would be a Racingline OEM+ tune. They have several dealers in Brissy but the main head office is in Cooparoo (Harding Performance).

Find a distributor - Harding Performance

Harding Performance ECU Software - 1.4 TSI Golf MK6 - Harding Performance

Just be mindful that the DSG transmissions used in these Golf's is delicate. You would be wise to also get the DSG tuned to help it: HARDING PERFORMANCE 7 SPEED AUTOMATIC GEARBOX (DSG DQ200) SOFTWARE - Harding Performance

[jryd]

Thanks for the suggestions @Lucas_R!

I'll check out those links.

I had done some Googling and saw there were quite a few people offering Stage 1 tunes, but its hard to assess which is best when there are so many options.
I saw a bunch of threads on here suggesting APR, DNA tuning etc but the threads are quite old and it's hard to know which is best in 2024.

[Sharkie]

I second OEM+ as the tune of choice in Brisbane.

For some intake sound, MST has a cold air intake.
MST VW Golf MK6 1.4 TSI Single Charge Cold Air Intake System (VW-MK602)

Using MST intakes on 3 different VWs in the family now. Good quality and great sound.

[jryd]

Ah cool - thanks for the suggestion @Sharkie!

I'm slowly building a list of all the mods that I want to do/that are worth doing.

Just be mindful that the DSG transmissions used in these Golf's is delicate. You would be wise to also get the DSG tuned to help it

I was reading up before I purchased the car and saw that there were problematic gearboxes and that there was a recall for the gearboxes. I looked up the car on the VW website using the VIN and it seemed to not have been affected by the recall.
Despite this, are you saying the gearboxes are still quite delicate? If so, definitely sounds like getting that done is worth the money vs the cost of repairing a dead gearbox.

[Lucas_R]

Thanks for the suggestions @Lucas_R!

I'll check out those links.

I had done some Googling and saw there were quite a few people offering Stage 1 tunes, but its hard to assess which is best when there are so many options.
I saw a bunch of threads on here suggesting APR, DNA tuning etc but the threads are quite old and it's hard to know which is best in 2024.

DNA Tuning I dont believe are around anymore. I had a tune from them back in 2012 on my Golf R or so and then again in about 2015 on a Golf GTI. But I dont think they are around anymore.

APR are another one to consider in Brissy.

[Lucas_R]

I was reading up before I purchased the car and saw that there were problematic gearboxes and that there was a recall for the gearboxes. I looked up the car on the VW website using the VIN and it seemed to not have been affected by the recall.
Despite this, are you saying the gearboxes are still quite delicate? If so, definitely sounds like getting that done is worth the money vs the cost of repairing a dead gearbox.

Recall or not, the DSG used in the 77TSI, 90TSI and 118TSI Golf's is still quite delicate. The problem points are the clutches which do not like situations like crawling in traffic / steep driveways etc because the clutches slip and overheat and then start to shudder. The other problem point is the 'mechatronic' which is the electronic brain for the gearbox which can fail and causes clunking/rough gearchanges etc.

So probably a good idea to get the DSG tuned as well as the tune will help with the way the clutches operate to help reduce the chance of damage. There are other advantages as well but reliability is the main point.

Try not to crawl along in slow traffic as much as possible where the clutches are slipping and engaging/disengaging rapidly - if you are in slow traffic, let the car ahead move ahead a few metres (rather than directly crawling along right behind them) and then pull forward in 1x movement. The other thing you should try to do as much as possible, is drive the car in manual mode so you control the gears. If you leave the gearbox in normal drive mode, it changes gears at really low revs and causes the engine to labour and can caue the engine to ping (also known as detonation). By manually controlling the gears and allowing the engine to rev more in between gears you will avoid any engine labour and also reduce wear on the gearbox due to less gear changes.

[jryd]

Awesome, thanks for the tips @Lucas_R!