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Review: GIAC Stage One and AWE

JhnR

JhnR

Banned
grambles423 said:
Dont start this war. I would say its just another option.
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Im not starting shit bro. Its a legitimate question. Some tunes are more aggressive than others. Its a question.
 
Austin@giac

Austin@giac

Ready to race!
crashdb said:
Sorry to sort of hijack this, but there's a captive audience. Right now I have a Turbo-Back exhaust and I'm waiting on AWE's CCB (air intake). It's ordered and all--just waiting. My question is: Do I have to wait for the CCB to do the GIAC tune or can I go ahead and do it now and just wait on the CCB? I've been doing some research and I've only served to get myself a little more confused. I have a GIAC shop close to my work and I'm anxious to get it done. Thanks all.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread....
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No, you don't need to wait to install the CC|B. You will pick up approximately 12-15whp when you do add the intake, as it is a legitimate restriction.
 
Dub_Monk

Dub_Monk

Ready to race!
Great review Bender!! I'm pretty positive I'm going to be going GIAC this spring, there local and have a great rep around here.
 
N

Norsk

Go Kart Champion
Bender said:
11 months and probably 20k miles later I am stage two and loving it. Still incredibly mature in terms of power delivery, and absolutely amazing in terms of power available.
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Great to hear!

How's your clutch holding? Hope all is well at your end!
 
Gunkata

Gunkata

Drag Race Newbie
Bender said:
11 months and probably 20k miles later I am stage two and loving it. Still incredibly mature in terms of power delivery, and absolutely amazing in terms of power available.
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:thumbup: Stage 2 on this car is smoother than either of the STI's I had with stage 2. I don't feel any real loss in tq in the lower rpm band and the pull and mid-range is just so smooth and linear. It feels like it came this way from the factory.
 
MKVelocity

MKVelocity

Ready to race!
Had my flash since June 2011, Car was brand new, with just an exhaust, and till this day still holding at under 15psi. sorry to be on the negative side but I had by far the WORST customer service at AWE, with all respect to Bender and his thread. A long 6+ months of being jerked. In the process of getting it all figured out by another shop, looks promising, and definitely by far better service.
 
MasterKevin

MasterKevin

Ready to race!
GIAC ftw :)
 
GoodyGTI'12

GoodyGTI'12

Passed Driver's Ed
Found a dealer in town today. He told me only a max of 25hp, 60ftlb torque.... but I need to start somewhere. Looking forward to it.

Great review.
 
S

simplycmplex

New member
Bender said:
The below is a review of AWE and the GIAC Stage One tune. This is not meant as a comparison between tunes or tuners or to start a battle. Anything positive I say about AWE and GIAC are simply positive statements about them, they are not meant to detract from the other fine tuners out there. Additionally, if you see this as an opportunity to pitch your product ("we do that too! marketing talk marketing talk") then I pleasantly request that you GTFO..

About a three weeks ago I got with AWE to schedule a date for my tune. February 28th worked best for me and they had time available and it was booked. So yesterday afternoon I headed over to AWE.

Why AWE and GIAC?
There are a variety of factors that went into my decision to go with AWE. The top? Reputation. Though this is my first VW, I have been active in the car community/modding community of the Greater Philadelphia area for the better part of the past 15 years (since the time my old friends were starting to drive). Even when we were 16 and totally broke, it was a given that if you had a VW you saved up your pennies and heading over to Willow Grove to see AWE. Other tuners were not discussed. Not because they were bad, but because when you have one of the best in your backyard, why use anyone else?

When it comes down to it, and you cut through all the bullshit, the big three (APR, AWE/GIAC, Revo) seem to be about the same. So going with who can support YOU the best, locally, should have a huge impact on your selection of a tune.

The AWE Shop
I posted some of this yesterday as I was sitting there, but the AWE office/shop is a pretty cool place. The lounge is comfortable, bottled water and coffee (the good single serve stuff, not a day old pot of it) abound. Great music pumped in, as I described it yesterday it felt like I was in a doctor's office on the Moon in the future or maybe a doctor's office for robots (Alex - would love to know what that music was). Slick slide show of AWE's work presented on the wall. Everyone was over the top nice.

Alex gave me a tour of the shop itself and I was very impressed. Pure sex on display on the lifts: A V10 R8, an S4 getting a stage 3 build, a MK5 GTI getting some prototype work done, and a couple 997s.

The thing I like most about the shop is that the bulk of things are done in house. Turbo outlet pipe? Built in suburban Philadelphia. TBE? Built in suburban Philadelphia. Their stuff is more expensive but, to some of you, it might be worth it to have it built here by fellow enthusiasts.

The Tune
These are really very initial impressions. I only have about 40 miles on it at this point, but its a pretty even split between stop and go, highway, and backroads.

As you can tell from my build thread and my posts, I highly value when things are thought out, well planned, and well executed. The GIAC tune epitomizes that theory.

It feels stock. I do not mean that it the power feels stock, it absolutely does not. The power feels mind meltingly fast (I have tuned lots of cars, and none have had this level of response from a stage one tune). It feels stock in that it is incredible civilized. Power is strong and consistent. The throttle delay (that I experienced less than most) is totally gone.

The amount of time that likely went into this tune is obvious. it is mature. It is tight. It is sharp. It is, for all intents and purposes, perfect.

I am in lust and in love.

As an aside - I have used MANY softloaders over the years - the GIAC unit is (along with the tune) by far the best.


So now time to reassess and decide what is next, my thought pattern has changed a bit following the tune.
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I'd have to say...with all the research that I've done, this review is what did it in for me between APR / GIAC. It seems that tunes are comparable, so what I look for is great customer service. It seems as though the AWE shop in Willow Grove embodies what I'm looking for in service and relations, which are absolutely important to me.

I live in the North Wales area so I'll definitely be taking my ride there once it clears 1000 miles.

I appreciate the thorough and thoughtful, review. Looking forward to experiencing the hype of stage 1!!
 
ZeroRT

ZeroRT

Ready to race!
Just did mine today. Very nice power. Nothing super dramatic as some people on this forum mention with other tunes, but a nice improvement nonetheless.
 
XGC75

XGC75

Go Kart Champion
JhnR said:
is this tune more aggressive than APRs?
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I don't feel this is a out-of-place question. Bender started off on the right foot in the op when he started talking about on-throttle responses - it's a quality that few reviewers touch. Mostly I hear ranting about more power, night/day, never go back (of course! :D) etc. "More power" doesn't help me decide, I want to know the personality of the tunes.

I want to hear more from the guys who've driven the tuned cars back-to-back. I really do want to hear traits like "aggressive throttle response" or "sensitive tip-in" or "harsh and abrupt engine braking."

In my own situation, I have to decide btw Uni (40mi) and APR (120mi). I'm leaning APR simply for the featureset (on sale :thumbsup:)
 
ZeroRT

ZeroRT

Ready to race!
I just went with GIAC because their dealer was the closest to me and for no other reason than that.
 
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