I’m 30, so it won’t increase massively but it will go up. I’ve put so much time, money and effort into my car I’d be terrified of something being put under too much strain from a map and then breaking etc... or worse, pumping all that money into the car and then something catastrophic happening like head gasket going 😬
After all the time some of us have spent on these MK5 forums, I myself cannot remember any head gaskets going. Also, APR has a Stage 1 'Low Torque' tune (https://www.goapr.com/products/ecu_upgrade_20tfsi_trans.html) so the torque spike is flattened and no mods are needed. All for safety and elimination of concerns. A perfect tune for waking up a stock MK5 GTI without breaking the bank.
Very true! Head gaskets never blow on these engines.
You could try a tune and if the clutch slips, well, just think of it as sh1t happens and deal with it as an when
It's not like it slips all the time, only under hard load, which you can drive around. Everything else on the car is really strong and can handle it, it's just that VW chose to fit a weak clutch to keep the pedal effort low. It's even worse on MK7s. They can slip with stock power
You can also fit a TTRS clutch plate, GTI/diesel friction disc and a new DMF for a more OEM approach, but I keep reading about huge pedal effort with that setup, and the cost of the parts isn't far off the Helix setup......which is also heavy, but not unmanageably so. The beauty of the Helix is it's stock smooth, doesn't judder or make any nasty noises.