Why?I guess some of you will be asking why have I decided to install an uprated HPFP at stage 1 as it is usually installed at the same time as stage 2+.....
As most of you probably know I do a lot of logging my car with VCDS. As part of the logging I noticed that even while the car is at stage 1 an uprated HPFP would be of great benefit. A picture says a thousand words so here you will see what I mean:
Here is a rail pressure plot of what happened with B7 on the OEM HPFP:
Here is a rail pressure plot of B7 with the Autotech HPFP:
As you can see the OEM HPFP is simply not able to maintain the requested rail pressure at B7 while the Autotech HPFP keeps up with no problems at all. This is why I have always run my stage 1 map at B6 up until now. When running higher boost it puts more pressure on the HPFP to provide fuel. This is because higher boost = higher airflow and to maintain AFR if you are flowing more air you will also need more fuel.
Before getting the upgraded pump fitted I wanted to make sure there would be no issues running the pump with stage 1. After having spoken to JKM and REVO I learned this should be no problem at all. Here is some great info I learned from JKM:
The fuel system has full feed back from the high and low pressure sensors and is self adapting to allow for wear in the fuel pump over the vehicles life. When you fit a higher volume fuel pump on the TFSI engines the ECU will just use a smaller compression volume window to get to the correct fuel rail pressure.
In fact REVO even told me that they think the upgraded pump will bring benefits even while you are stock!!!
Here is a picture of the Autotech Internals:
PerformanceI am really surprised by how much difference this had made to the performance of the car. It has never felt this strong! I did not do any dyno's but I can really feel the difference this has made and I am a happy bunny! I feel like I have more power and more torque everywhere in the rev range. The car feels far more consistent with its power delivery which I put down to the fuel rail constantly maintaining the requested pressure.
With REVO the pump has allowed me to tweak the settings far beyond what I could run with the OEM pump. This will be a big factor in the difference it has made to the car. On other non adjustable remaps you may not feel as much of a difference. The car feels smoother at WOT and in normal driving. I have not noticed a change in MPG.
The extra boost brought some more sounds to life from my Twintake and DV as well. The Twintake is fluttering more on turbo spool and the DV is making a more high pitched noise which is all good :)
SourcingI purchased the Autotech on a GB for a fantastic price of £246 delivered. The usual price is ~£350 and it can be purchased from Dubtek, Regal, AMD, Jabba Sport and the TT Shop to name few.
FittingI decided to have my pump fitted by the TT Shop in Bedford. They are fairly close to me and I have heard good things about them from other people (thank you Mr SteveP). They gave me a good service and I will happily recommend them to others.
I do not think fitting the internals is too difficult a job and I believe that I may have been able to do it myself. However I could not afford any down time on my car hence why I asked the TT Shop to do it.
Other Pumps to considerIn no specific order:
APR
KMD
AWE
The APR pump is a full replacement pump while the Autotech, KMD and AWE have upgraded internal parts for your existing OEM HPFP. The APR pump uses the OEM HPFP as well but you will pay a premium for APR building the pump with their internally upgraded parts and testing rig.
Plus Points - Car feels much stronger performance wise
- Car feels more consistent performance wise
- I now have far more adjust-ability and flexibility with my map settings as the fuel pump is no longer limiting me
- Richening the AFR has lowered my EGTs
Minus Points - Cam Follower Wear
Fitting an uprated HPFP means the HPFP will be putting more pressure on your Cam Follower and will hence increase the rate of wear. This means you are likely to need to check and change your Cam follower more often than you would with the OEM HPFP. I intend to check my cam follower every oil change. It is no more than a 30 minute job to check. A replacement follower can be had for £26 so it is not much hassle. The TT Shop told me they have seen many followers looking fine with 20k+ miles on them with an uprated HPFP.
My OEM follower had done 31.5K miles 12k miles of which were remapped with stage 1. This is what it looked like:
The DLC coating on the outside of the follower looks good. On the inside you can see that the DLC has worn away from where the piston of the pump has been in contact with the follower. The follower probably would have been fine for xxxxs more miles but I decided to change it anyway while I had the Autotech installed.
SummaryThis has been a fantastic mod and one I would thoroughly recommend to anybody at stage 1. When I do eventually install my exhaust I will skip stage 2 and go straight to stage 2+.
