A new age of performance cars has arrived in Australia – and
it’s something to get excited about!
We all know that the current breed of turbo diesel cars offer
terrific fuel consumption. But performance? Real neck-straining performance? Not
until now...
The Oettinger engine management upgrade for the current Mark V
Volkswagen Golf 2-litre TDi is here to breathe new life into the performance car
scene. In the eight years of AutoSpeed, this is one of the most impressive
aftermarket power-ups we’ve sampled. This article is a must read!
The Oettinger Upgrade
The Oettinger engine management upgrade for the Mark V Golf TDi
is a German-developed product distributed in Australia by Harding
Performance. Specialist workshops such as Volkspower, where we sampled the car, retail the upgrade.
According to Dean Coutts, owner/manager of Volkspower, the
Oettinger upgrade is the only engine management upgrade for the TDi which is
loaded through the OBDII-style VAG-COM port. This makes it easily reversible and
leaves no permanent signs of modification.
“Once the ECU is connected to the PC, we access a secure
Oettinger dealer website, retrieve engine and chassis code data from the ECU and
select the appropriate program to download. The download takes a few minutes and
we are then able to dump it into the ECU,” Mr Coutts says.
The process takes less than half an hour in total.
Interestingly, Oettinger offers a free six hour trial program
for potential customers. During this six hours you can sample the extra
performance, drivability and fuel consumption. After that time has elapsed, the ECU will revert to its standard tune - and the whole exercise has cost
you nothing. However Mr Coutts points out that everyone who has sampled the
trial program has returned for a permanent tune – and we can understand why!
So what are the mapping changes in the Oettinger program? Well,
as far as we can determine, the main changes are to turbo boost pressure,
injection quantity and injection timing - no more specific details are available.
Let’s check out the result...
On the Road – Before and After
We had the opportunity to drive a Mark V Golf 2-litre TDi
before and after installation of the Oettinger program.
In standard form, the TDi has excellent real-world performance.
There’s a strong surge of torque from about 1500 rpm and you can maintain good
pace by up-shifting at around 4000 rpm. Peak power is 103kW at 4000 rpm and
there’s 320Nm of torque at 1750 rpm.
But with the Oettinger program, the TDi delivers genuine
performance car acceleration – its peak acceleration (achieved around 2000 rpm)
is stronger than you’ll experience in many high-profile performance cars. For
sure, 380Nm at 2000 rpm is something pretty extraordinary in a hatchback... At
high revs, the tuned engine sounds slightly sweeter and is better able to
maintain torque. Keep it on the boil between 2000 and 4500 rpm and a charge up
through the gears is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Oettinginer claims power is lifted from 103 to 125kW at 4000
rpm while torque is boosted from 320Nm at 1750 rpm to 380Nm at 2000 rpm. These
are gains of 21 and 19 percent respectively – incredible, given there are no
mechanical mods. According to Oettinger, 0 - 100 km/h is also slashed from 9.3 to 8.1 seconds
– and it feels every bit that quick.
The owner of this particular vehicle, Jason Bodnar, is more
than happy with the extra performance achieved with the Oettinger upgrade.
“The car is now a hell of a lot quicker. When it was standard I
hardly noticed the car had traction control but with the Oettinger upgrade I’m
now aware that the traction control can’t do much when I take off with both
front wheels spinning...
“It really made a big difference. The owners of Falcons and
similar cars are surprised to buggery when it takes off,” he says.
Interestingly, fuel consumption has improved with the
Oettinger upgrade. Mr Bodnar says he previously achieved around six litres per
100km consumption in mainly freeway driving. The engine management upgrade has
reduced consumption by 0.5 – 0.7 litres per 100km.
Price and Availability
If you’re happy with the gains felt during the free six hour
trial program (and we reckon you will be!) you can purchase the upgrade for
AUD$1995. A 12 month warranty covers the new program and there’s the option to
extend the warranty to three years. This costs AUD$580.
In addition, Mr Coutts says Volkswagen Australia is currently
considering maintaining full new car warranty with the Oettinger upgrade. A
decision on this is expected in the coming weeks.
Certainly, a ‘factory backed’ engine upgrade would have immense appeal
- but even without manufacturer approval, we reckon this upgrade is a real
winner. You can enjoy a free pre-purchase trial, the modification process is
very straightforward and the achieved performance is astounding.
This is the new age of performance – and we love it!
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