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Just been to my local dealer for a few things. After a chat I discovered they have a Chipped Ibiza Cupra R and Leon Cupra using chips from APR Europe.
They handed me a glossy leaflet and an offered me a drive in the Chipped Leon. Had to decline, no time :(
But I'm going back :)
Has anybody had any experience of APR ?
The web site looks good, the product looks good although a bit pricey.
APR are based in Daventry. Which is convenient for me living in Coventry.
chungster
10-11-2001, 17:02
How funny is that!
I asked me tuner the other day (RSD) about APR.....cos its almost right on their doorstep!
Didn't get too much out of them for once...but the guy who started that company in the UK left in August.
Don't know who's running it....and not sure on their products either.
I have seen some ads about them being switchable ECU's etc.....
main company is based in Alabama, USA.
I'm surprised that dealer in Coventry has chipped its Cupra R and Leon using APR though!!
I think i'll investigate that one!!
speak to starperformance in scotland cos jim has taken on apr stuff and i believe is very happy with what hes seen. being an amd agent also i believe it is good enough praise as he is used to using quality tuning kit. he told me about the switchable chip aspect as well and it sounds like nice touch, all set thru cruise control. ie if u normally run balls out on optimax maybe u have setting 1 but if u cant get any and only find 95ron u have setting 2 etc. allows personal versatility such as ur setting or the wifes setting. speak to star or local guys in davenport i dont think ull be dissappointed if all info is true about them.
I'm going to investigate further.
Interested to know how it's switched if you don't have cruise control.
cruise is retro fitted as part of package. all ecus are set to accept cruise it just needs wiring and to be switched on
It seems that Stealth Racing in Southam also fit APR upgrades.
Icecavern
05-12-2001, 13:17
AwesomeGTI near Manchester are also about to become an APR dealer, or so they told me a month ago..
Pete
chungster
05-12-2001, 18:20
I've just heard Jim at StarPerformance has ditched AmD and gone for APR Europe!
Is this true???
I wonder what made him break the relationship......
i dont believe jim would dump amd for a minute, they have pretty good relationship. it may be that his pref for chipping 1.8ts has moved to apr or something, i dont know. perhaps amd are unhappy at him using apr and that caused a rift. the point is that it is unlikely and would be of little sense to either party so i guess is i want my amd chip ill still be able to go see jim.
timjhoward
09-12-2001, 18:46
Nick,
I guess you went to Listers in Spon End then? I picked my new Leon Cupra up from them last Saturday (the bronze one that was in the showroom for a couple of weeks).
One of their sales guys (Antonio) told me that their Beezer Cupra R was chipped by APR and develops 210BHP, this all cost about £1000, I have a 205 GTI that I am about to sell and I am considering how to spend the readies! Maybe!
I didn't realise they were in Daventry, that is handy!
Hi Tim, you are correct. I was talking to Antonio yesterday. They also had chipped Leon but they sold it so I won't get to test drive it now :(
Somebody in the area must be driving around in a Blue, APR chipped Leon Cupra.
I'm considering APR. It's a bit pricey but looks good.
Nick
timjhoward
10-12-2001, 21:24
I agree at it being pricey, going back a few years you would be looking at about £200 for a decent superchip which usually gave you a good BHP increase on turbo cars. I imagine there is more to the conversion than remapped chip, do you know?
I would have to go with the APR conversion as I couldn't afford to void my warranty and as my company pay for most of the car and all of the petrol I doubt they would be too pleased either!
All that is way off though, The only mods I have added so far are a set of carpeted mats and I've just ordered the Beezer Cupra R indicator bulbs! The car seems to have enough power for the time being as the traction control seems to often cut in in first and second, I'm lokking forward to feel the car accelerate on a dry road!
Revo Mitchell
11-12-2001, 00:43
Hello all,
Just a quick post to introduce APR Europe and myself. APR Europe has our office in Daventry as well as distributors such as Star Performance, Awsome GTi, and Stealth Racing with more to follow. Listers Group has also had some chips fitted in their Seat, VW, and Audi facilities. Check out our website www.apreurope.com for contact info and prices. Thanks.
A newbie to Cupra Forum,
Mitchell
ibizacupra
11-12-2001, 08:37
Originally posted by Mitchell/APR
Hello all,
Just a quick post to introduce APR Europe and myself. APR Europe has our office in Daventry as well as distributors such as Star Performance, Awsome GTi, and Stealth Racing with more to follow. Listers Group has also had some chips fitted in their Seat, VW, and Audi facilities. Check out our website www.apreurope.com for contact info and prices. Thanks.
A newbie to Cupra Forum,
Mitchell
This is yourself and Mark Yates then.... APR Europe.
Ok for the 19th Jan RR session at Power station?
regards
bill
Revo Mitchell
11-12-2001, 17:01
I am in the States and won't be able to make the RR day. However we will send a couple of APR engineers out with Mark and Geoff. We are trying to get one of our Stage three cars there (Friday our GTi went 12.65 at 109 on our race program, it is a full body car wih full interior!) Hope all of you can be there, I sure wish I could! Cheers!
Mitchell
Hi Nick,
I have had an APR chip fitted to my Leon Cupra and I,m VERY pleased with the result.The car is really quick and smoothe with no hiccups or problems.
I also had the cruise control option fitted to be able to switch between standard performance and 213BHP with 235lb.ft torque,
which registered on Star Performance, Glenrothes' dyno.
A full 2.5inch bore exhaust including downpipe and free-flow cat
is installed and fitted first time straight on.
K&N filter.
I had a Superchip fitted previously which didn't produce anthing like this result.
A bit expensive---but I'm not sorry.
johnsfb
Hi John, wants the fuel consumption like with the apr chip?
dave
Hi Dave,
Too early to say yet. I,m running around like a kid with a new toy
using the performance everywhere just for the feel of it.
I'm going for a "sunday drive" tomorrow starting with a full tank
and will let you know how it works out.
Initial indications appear to be very good though.
See you
john
Hi John, apr chip sounds good + that cruise control sounds good as well, I do a lot of miles so need good fuel con, no worse than am geting at present.
Also the scottish cupra owners, will be trying to get a meeting together at crail in the new year, so if you want to come along, would be good to see your chipped car do the 1/4 mile
dave
Had a really enjoyable drive today.
Some 3rd gear 3000rpm bits,some very high speed stretches
and using the cruise control where suitable.
Started with a full tank and covered 203 mls, and the guage was exactly on half.
I should say this was all in stage one mode--not the standard setting,
I can hardly believe it. It must be down to the cruise making
great savings.
Seems you Can have your cake and eat it.
I wonder what switching to standard and using cruise as much as possible would produce, but that's not what I had the mods
done for.
Yes, Crail sounds like a good idea.
john
chungster
16-12-2001, 21:36
Holy.....you saying you can get 400miles from a full tank of juice on ya APR chipped Leon cupra!!
HI Chungster
I WISH.
NO, you don't get nearly as much from half to when you chicken out as from full to half.
I still say that's a great result though.
john
John, so your thinking is no worse than stardard, cruise control must help as well.
dave
chungster
16-12-2001, 21:59
I struggle to get 250 from a full tank of optimax.....
It does mean i get alot of Pluspoints on me Shell card though!! hehehe
Happy you like the new chip anyhow.
I wonder if the tuners going to the RR in Jan with their demos..will let us have a go in them?? Cos that would be cool....
Hi,
There is no mistake--that's what I got today.
Maybe I'm just not driving hard enough:)
john
My Leon is standard apart from the cruise control, I have yet to get more than 30mpg out of it. My commute is M4/M3/M25/A3 and normally set it at around 90mph. It hasn't made much of a difference to my mpg, but I wont be buying another car without cruise ever again!
Black20VT
18-12-2001, 10:57
DaveP,
I'm looking at purchasing a Ibiza and has the option of ESP at €325. Is it any good?
Also I notice you have leather, what is the quality of it like and is it really cold in winter and hot in the summer?
Where are you from in Wiltshire as I'm also from Wiltshire.
Cheers,
Chris.
I would say definitly go for the ESP option, i would have if i had been given the option,
But i would skip the leather, i had a car with it once and just dont like leather seats!, they arent as hard wearing as a decent cloth, but if you like leather then go for it!
Not too sure about ESP, the traction control kicks in plenty of times, difficult to tell about ESP. Like somebody else said, you only need to use it once for it to pay for itself (like steaming into a corner too fast and having to break whilst going around the corner). My plan is to try a track day at Castle Coombe some time (seeing as it is so close) and see what it feels like when ESP kicks in and how idiot proof it is, but that won't be until middle of next year. Mosser, you said you have spun your car finding the limits, I just wonder if ESP would have coped and kept it straight or not. I just dont fancy trying finding out myself!
I think the leather is ok, only went for it because I wanted electric seats and didn't like the cloth pattern. I thought the memory would have been nice, but it is disabled once the ignition is on, so for me I think it is almost pointless. Seeing as they dont come with memory any more then I guess that is irrelevant.
Dont know how much of the above is relevant to you if you are looking at an Ibiza.
I live in Corsham, so a bit further West than you.
I dont think ESP could have helped me, because i was putting my own inputs in the counteract the spin and i think some bods on here have mentioned that it is best left to the car to do the work at times like that, but instinct makes me do it, i dont think i could stop myself trying to recover a spin!
That is why I would like to take it somewhere to try out. I had it squirm a while ago, but I believe it was just the tyres trying to resist the abuse, I was too busy thinking that the bend was a lot tighter than I thought it was to look at the dash and see if a light was flickering (I presume ESP flashes a light when working like traction control, but that is just an assumption).
Also would like to try ESP in snow - could be interesting...
The Audi S3 bods recon that with ESP on on a race track, you can throw the car into a corner 30mph faster that a similar car without it, not brake at all and just let the ESP do the work!!, they rave about it on the track days!!! saying how much quicker the car is round the track with it!!, so if you dont fight the self correcting it does it is probably a very good thing!
ibizacupra
18-12-2001, 21:40
Originally posted by Mosser
The Audi S3 bods recon that with ESP on on a race track, you can throw the car into a corner 30mph faster that a similar car without it, not brake at all and just let the ESP do the work!!, they rave about it on the track days!!! saying how much quicker the car is round the track with it!!, so if you dont fight the self correcting it does it is probably a very good thing!
ESP must work a lot better than the TCS system on the Ibiza then. That is rubbish on track and you are a lot faster without it mess things up.
Bill
ESP is a totally different system to TCS, but you probably know that Bill!, i agree TCS is crap, i turn it off and do a far better job myself!, wish it could default to off when starting the engine, then i could just turn it on when the missus is driving!
chungster
18-12-2001, 21:54
The ESP system uses the ABS right?
So...would that not increase the wear rate on ya pads etc???
Especially letting it do all the work on a track thash!!!
It uses yaw sensors i believe and the brakes, in a totally different way to the abs, but if used on a track day i can see it caning the pads!!
Does ESP have to be a factory-fit option or can it be fitted later?
Does anybody have any experience of Racelogic Traction Control?
john
I know quite a few people on this site have used it.
gtevo is your man currently running a full Racelogic set-up including the data logging and launch control.
did somebody call.........yeah i have the full setup .....but to fine tune it i would take ya laptop with you to the first track day and plug it in to your car......oh yeah and read the manual helps as i found out.........a basic knowledge of dos is also good as it is based on a dos platform.
Sorry forgot to say in the dry i don't find it beneficial at all but in the wet it is superb...........tried it pissing down one day outside my house with 3 settings
No traction control at all
seat tcs on
racelogic on
With the stanard tcs on/off the car just either stood still or wheelspinned down the road.........
with the racelogic on i floored it and not a wheelspin in sight......
i have also noticed it reduces tyre wear bundles cause when i bought my tyres with my alloys at 1000 miles i got given cheap £50 kumho's with em but they aren't that bad and have lasted 18000 miles and trackdays and i hammer the car everywhere.................add that to the fact i paid **** all for the racelogic traction control which is unlike me getting anything cheap 8-).........and it makes great sense.
david
Don't have a laptop.
Do the installers not set it up for you?
They do but i find a bit of fine tweaking never goes a miss