Looking forward to your tune review. I think Carista will do what you want. ECS Tuning sells the dongle for $19.99 which gives you one month of use for free.

 

Just ordered some lug nut sockets, a wheel holder tool and Carista from ECS. Got my oil change supplies from them and they are great.

Got my Unitronic software squared away. Was having issues with getting it downloaded because of anti virus software (yay PC) but Unitronic customer service got me all squared away. He remoted into my computer and got me all set up, go Uni!! I wanted to check my timing chain tensioner before installing the flash just to verify it's been updated. Once my new lug nut socket comes in I'll do that. Might install software and take it easy but leaning on the side of caution.

 

I think you will like Carista. Those little custom tweaks you can do are pretty nice. Also reading codes if need be. ECS used to be total garbage, but they seem to have turned themselves around. FCPeuro is a good place to buy parts. I've not used them, but some friends have & have high praise for them.

I'm pretty sure your 2013 will have the latest tensioner, but I'm not positive. I'll be checking on mine pretty soon. Do it before your tune to be on the safe side. Glad Unitronic could help you with the download. PC's & antivirus software. It's a necessary pain, but one needs it on a Mac too. The days of Macs being immune are over.

Good luck on the software install, I think you'll love it.

FCPeuro

 

Just to finish off this story. My son got his Fit back & he says it looks good plus drives well. The other party took full responsibility so he didn't have to pay his deductible. Now he has to get the other insurance to pay for his Fit's diminished value.

 

Glad that all is well with your son's Fit. I think many plans exclude diminished value these days. Is the quest for additional compensation something that your son will have to do or will his insurance carrier take on the request?

 

Not sure who will seek the diminished value. His insurance carrier or whether my son will have to chase the other parties insurance for it. I'm not expecting him to succeed, but it is worth a shot.

 

 

Unitronic Stage 1+ is installed and it's awesome!!!! I have only driven the 12 miles to work with it but it transforms the car. If you are easy on the gas you would never know that anything changed. Lay your right foot into it and the car just opens up takes off. The wheel was chirping mid corner when I gave it some throttle!! Better tires are definitely needed and I am sure my clutch will be slipping soon but that's the cost to play.

I ran into a few issues with installing the tune but Unitronic customer service was great and able to help me through it. I would recommend doing the install during the week in case you run into any issues and need to call them. The actual download process took about 15 min and was super easy to follow the on screen prompts.

A highly recommended upgrade!!!

Also if you are going to be taking off your own wheels this holding tool was very helpful. ECS has it for $12-15 and it came in handy.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben.../002840sch01a/

 

Thanks for the review!!!

Trying to talk the wife into it for our Golf. We aren't that far away from warranty end.

That wheel hanger would be a welcome tool! I do NOT like the bolt style lug nuts on VW's.

 

GolNat I was able to switch from 3 blinks to 5, but it took me a few tries. Not sure why that was.

Thanks for the review on the tune. I'm still stock tune & most likely will stay that way. If I was still doing track days I'd go for that. Although I hung up my helmet a few years ago.

A mod I will recommend is a larger rear swaybar. The first thing I did to my GTI was put a 23mm rear swaybar on. It really helps the car turn in better. It doesn't eliminate under-steer, buy raises the point when it is felt.

 

Just tell her it's for increased MPG :-). I have not run a full tank but I averaged my usual 25-26mpg and that was with exploring the new tune. It seems like the GFB DV+ helped a bit as my 2 tanks after install were like 1mpg higher but we also had snow at the same time so at times my average back road speed was reduced by 15-20 mph.

Awesome, I'll give that a try. It told me something about resetting the display and didn't take the command so I'll try a few more times. The only other thing I would like to do get rid of at the moment is the chime when the car is running and the driver door is opened. OBD11 or VagCom will probably be needed so I'll wait for later.

Great tip thanks!! I will keep an eye out for a sway bar though as I have enjoyed all the ones I put on my Honda's and the GTI could definitely benefit from one. Suspension is usually the first series of mods I do to my cars but I think that's because that has always been the best bang for buck with NA Honda's. With the GTI there is so many areas I could go after. There is a local guy selling a AWE Turbo Back for like $600 that I have been eyeballing but a set of coil overs sound nice and will help with the wheel hop and traction loss from going stage 1. Stiffer engine mounts and dog bone insert will help too so that might be in order. Need to work on getting that money tree growing :)

 

Yes that driver's door chime drives me bug fark, hate it. I read somewhere that the OBD11 is going to come out with an IOS version. If they do I'll buy it to silence that darned nanny chime.

I think the suspension on the GTI is pretty good as is, but when I wear it out I'll install a set of Bilstein sports. Everyone says motor mounts & dog-bone inserts really help. I'm not going to do them, I really have a low tolerance for NVH & I'm sure they add some. A nice catback exhaust, well I'd go for that. ;~)

My stock tune GTI is very willing to spin the tires. I bet the stage 1 tune really lights them up. Keep the tires rotated, because if not the front tires won't last long. I've noticed that on my car.

 

I do find the stock suspension a great balance of comfort and handling. Yes traction is a big issue with the Stage 1. I can see why VW gave the Golf R AWD.

Funny you should mention that. I got a flat on the driver front a week ago on the way to taking my son to the Dr. The tire didn't have a puncture but looked like it kinda blew out on the inside tread. New front tire made the car pull really bad so I rotated tires front to back so that they would match in the front. When I pulled the passenger front tire off I noticed the inside was worn way down compared to the outside and probably what caused my tire failure on the other side. I am guessing the GTI has a more aggressive toe setting then say a Fit. I was planning on getting new tires later this year but now this mismatch tire is probably going to force me to do it sooner.

How often do you rotate your tires?

 

I'm rotating my tires every 5,000 miles. Same schedule as my oil changes. Could be positive camber although the GTI does not have a lot. If you are going to buy new tires spend the money for a good 4 wheel alignment. Find a good shop, many shops do alignments, but few do it right.

 

Dang -- spun the Frontier on black ice on a two-lane blacktop in the NC mountains last weekend. All ended well, with my old skool winter driving skills from IL and NJ deployed and my Spidey sense to keep my speed down on remote mountain roads. Roads were dry, except for this one area in the shade on a sharp curve. Nonetheless, I spent a lot of time in the opposite lane regaining control. We were very fortunate that nobody was coming in the opposite direction.

I never hit the brakes, as my experience with icy roads pre-dates ABS by decades. If there's a next time, I'll try to remember that ABS might be my friend.

After I got the truck squared up and we were on our way, I said to my wife that I want a GTI, but perhaps not so soon! <g>

 

Oh, I randomly stopped by the VW Dealer this morning to see where the switch is that defeats the 2019 GTI's automatic engine stop/start is located. It's conveniently placed to the left of the transmission shifter, centered on the column of switches there, just down from the engine start button. The manual transmission eschews the 2019 automatic engine stop/start "feature".

 

I'm glad nothing more happened other than your heart rate getting some high RPM action. Black ice it can & will catch one out. Not sure ABS would have helped once spinning, your counter steering & keeping your wits probably did more than ABS would have at that point. You were smart driving to the conditions. Good save Alco!

Not sure if a GTI would do better, but I think it might. I had a 88 Toyota 4Runner & it would spin so easy. The steering was so slow that once it started to rotate I could not catch it. If the back end stepped out it was going around.

 

I installed the 032 Motorsports solid billet dogbone in ours. It added some NVH, but I find it to be a very worthwhile trade off. I can't stand a sloppy drivetrain much more than I mind a little vibration. Not that I like vibration either. Seems like, with a transverse mounted engine, you either have slop or vibration. Yet another reason I prefer a rear drive chassis. My Lincoln uses some kind of elaborate fluid filled giant motor mounts to try to achieve damping while not being too sloppy. I'd say it's still sloppy.

Wife actually likes the extra NVH...says it gives it more character. Of course that comes from someone that put 200k miles on a GD Fit and still reminisces about her 1971 Chevy C10 that's sitting at her parents house.

Our Golf, Otto, is nearing it's 45k oil change. Still going strong on all accounts. Oh, and I ordered a wheel hanger.

 

That wheel hanger is mighty cool -- I've never seen anything like it. Brilliant!

 

Yes those wheel hangers are the bomb. Only way for this guy to be able to change wheels.