WhyAs the DSG gearbox is produced for the mass market of owners it's not going to be coded in a way that either best suits every driver's style or is designed in the way of making the most from the gearbox/engine combination. I think there is always going to be a bigger safty margin built in.
This said I was initially quiet skeptical about the benefits of DSG software upgrades when the news from the USA started to emerge about the likes of the very expensive HPA software upgrades.
But once the software started to appear over here and a certain Mr "mod mental" Hurdy got an upgrade from a different company I started to do some more research and then fully understood the benefits this can provide, not only modified cars like mine but any DSG based car.
So once i heard the worst keep secret of a few other owner having software from Revo and my previous remap supplier confirmed they had no immediate plans to do anything in this area I choice to swap remap providers ready for when their software became available.
(Top tip, never pop in to see Carl or Kev at Revo for a chat about DSG software as it can be very damaging to your wallet but makes one hell of the car
)
So once the production version of the software was finally made available I made my way over to Daventry to get the Stage 2 version of their software applied.
They currently offer the Stage 2 version for the K04 Stage 2+ or Big Turbo 2.0 TFSI cars.
SourcingAvailable directly from Revo or from their network of dealers. Full details can be found here -
http://www.revotechnik.com/This software has a Spectacular Introductory Special Offer: up to 31st December 2009 - 50% off the normal RRP for existing Revo customers: -
DSG (Stage1) £149 + VAT
DSG (Stage2) £199 + VAT
The software can also be used along side any other remap and for non Revo customers costs: -
DSG (Stage1) £299 + VAT
DSG (Stage2) £399 + VAT
FittingNormal laptop plug-in and wait while the software is downloaded.
Very easy process and just enough time to have a coffee and chat about what to spend your money on next.
Other versionsDSG Software is also available from the likes of GIAC and HPA at present.
Plus PointsPretty much the feature list of the software: -
- No kick down in Manual Mode
- No forced change up in Manual mode plus a 7400 rpm redline
- Improved torque handling (increased to 500nm)
- Increased shift speed
- More "sportier" characteristics to the D and S modes (only effecting full throttle)
- Increase Launch Control limit to 4000rpm
- Rest of the flash counter when the software is applied
Another plus point is the additional power that has been released at the top of the rev range, with a remapped K04 car and the standard DSG software you will see the car forces the gear change at 6000rpm (with it pulling things back just before this in preparation for the change, typically my peak reading came at 5850 rpm), now you can cleanly rev past 7000rpm, so taking my recent dyno plot below you will see around another 15bhp is found at the top end.
Minus PointsTo me there is real no minus points or negative aspects as such to this upgrade, the one small comment I would make is the increased shift speed does very slightly reduce the infamous DSG "barp" noise on gear changes.
The only other consideration is the normal impact to your warranty
SummarySo in summary I have now driven most day to day road scenarios I can think of and am delighted with the difference this had made to the car overall (nearly 2k miles on the production version of the software now)
The improvements in the manual mode are one of the top three best changes I have made to the car and believe this is how they should come out of the factory.
The car just feels more natural to drive now and really bridges the gap between the driver involvement of a manual car but with the benefits of an "auto" style box for more normal every day driving.
The way you can "bang" through the gears is amazing and the way you can downshift a gear much higher in the rev than before sounds great with the throttle "blip" when decelerating from higher speeds.
The "sportier" improvements to D mode have also really surprised me, I didn't have a very high expectation of these changes but have been really surprised how much better this mode has become in general, it's now feels more reactive in the right kind of way but doesn't affect the ability to cruise around all day in a "driving miss daisy" style if you so wished.
So I can really say I would highly recommend this to any owner with the superiour DSG gearbox, this will realy improve your car no matter what (if any) performance software you may have on your car.