Bluefined my fr tfsi

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
Finally got it installed, and its well worth the wait.
I chose bluefin mainly for the ability to switch it back to my standard vag map for servicing, compared to other switchable devices which only offer that particular tuning company's version of standard. Besides that, i also wanted to keep the drivability of the car as similar to how it came out of the factory as i could.
i was asked every time i posted a question about bluefin, why not go revo or custom code, theyre more specific to vag, they give more power etc, and im sure they are noticably more powerful maps. Basically i searched around lots and when i found bluefin i just sort of liked it and stuck with it, and kept coming back to the idea of it, despite it being less powerful etc.
anyway, im certainly not disapointed with the performance, it really does feel how i expected the car to feel when i got in it for a test drive at the dealership. jumping into the fr tsi from a diesel, i was expecting to be pushed back into my chair, and to really feel the turbo kicking in. of course, even after the remap its not as noticable as it is in a tdi, but its certainly much better. its basically just a lot more fun to drive. I'd imagine its pretty similar to a standard cupra now. it just feels effortless, and actually feels fast, whereas i never found the standard one to feel like that, it more a case of just looking at the speedo and realising what speed i was at + how easy it was to get there, now it definately feels quick.
I did have a bit of trouble getting the map sorted out. The bluefin device is really simple, just pop out the small panel below the lights switch and plug it in. it took about 10 mins to copy the old map. simple.
not so simple sending the map off and getting it back. couldnt connect to the server at superchips at all on the first day, then it took over an hour the next morning. finally got it sent off, but it wouldnt send back to my pc correctly. after hounding them on the phone for a while and tryin lots of different options, i eventually emailed them my original map and they just emailed me back the new one, within about 5 mins. then it was just a case of programming the new map to the bluefin, and another 10 mins to install it in the car again. The guys at superchips were great though, they didnt seem to mind me houndin them all mornin and got it sorted for me in no time.
I'd definately recommend it to anyone who wants that peace of mind for the dealership etc, and who just wants a good value sensible power increase, like myself, and if you want to be able to do it all from home. i have to say though, if your all about power and want a more aggressive map, from what ive read from other people on here maybe the likes of revo or cc are a better option.
Personally im well pleased, but i'm still planning on an decent intake and milltek a cat back
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
Yeah it definately is. Ive seen some people claim to have up to 350bhp on their dsg.
If you look at the morego uk website though they have either a 250 or 270 package, maybe even a higher powered one than that too. They do say that with the torque that goes with the higher packages they either dont advise them for a dsg, or else they have to modify them slightly for the dgs, maybe lower the torque levels or something, dont know a whole lot about it. but they recommend the 250 package, which is a remap to 245, along with a panel filter and a cat-back, which takes the golf mkV gti to 252bhp. They say its perfect for the dsg box and the road test they have has two independant
testers get at at 6.0 and 6.3/4 0-60. Obviously its not the same product as the morego starchip, but if you compare the two websites they seem to have a pretty similar aim and power increase
 

smitty13

Guest
Now you have been using it for a few months what sort of MPG are you getting ?

I do a 44 mile round trip to work every day - but the majority of this is on the motorway.

So something that does not do much not below 3500 revs sounds very interesting.

I currently get an average 32 MPG from week day communting to weekend play time.

And one more question (sorry ) do you use unleaded or super unleaded ?

Cheers
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
yeah i use super-unleaded, either texaco with techron or bp ultimate, both 97, we dont get any 99 in northern ireland as far as i know, at least not where i live.
my mpg's definately improved, it averages out at 30-31. most of my driving is pretty short trips, mostly about 8-15 miles, both of which would include about 5 miles of dual carriage way, but on longer drives it goes up a lot more. before i got bluefin it was around 27, then went up to 29, and then oddly enough when i got the cat-back on it went up a bit again, i got a kn filter fitted with the cat back too, and ill be gettin a carbonio soon which should help a little too. i do a fair bit of faster driving, a little bit every day really, once the engine's well warmed up so there's room for better mpg if i didnt
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
And stage 2 is even better. Got the milltek downpipe and sports cat fitted today and loaded up stage 2 while the work was being done. the difference is incredible, even in this weather. Well worth it
 

kezFR07

now with ko4 power
Jun 15, 2008
871
0
yorkshire
How much is the bluefin chip? And I'm no good with computers whatsoever do I need to mess about with one for it? Had a bad experiance with a cc map £300 down the drain like so I dnt wanna do that again. Would luke more power though.
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
its about £390 or so for the bluefin plus the first map, then 50 for each map after that. if you change your car within the first year of buyin the bluefin then they will change it for the new car for free, after that theres a charge. its well worth it. no messing about really. load up the cd, connect the bluefin, plug it into the car to read your ecu, send the file off to superchips and they send you it back within a few hours. download it from the pc to the bluefin, then plug the bluefin back into the car to load the new map to the ecu. if you get stuck give them a call, they talk you through everything. it really couldnt be easier, and you can always switch back and forward between your maps when you like
 

vRSy

Fabia vRS
Jan 8, 2009
1,470
1
London
Im going to be devils advocate here hope you don’t mind.

My car is a vRS K03 TFSI and have ran bluefin at stage 1, 2 and 2+ and have recently changed tuner to shark performance stage 3(same as stage 2+ software)

@Stage 1 bluefin

I thought this was great, I was going to go REVO but with me being based in germany, bluefin was the easier option for me. Loved the map, delivery was very good, and made a commendable 241hp/249Ibft on dynodynamic rollers

@ stage 2

-Got myself my exhaust and intake fitted, and though lets have some stage 2 action.
-thoughts were….more torque available for longer than stage 1, so felt a lot stronger, but nowhere near as linear in delivery, very lump in delivery, also mahoossive flat spot @ 5000rpm(as it happens it seems to be a common trait with bluefin stage 2 on the k03, seen a few with similar issues)
Wasn’t massively happy with it in the end, but really put off when my friends Revo stage 2 literally left me and drove off as if I wasn’t trying.

@stage 2+

-well got myself a HPFP, to see if it would sort out the lumpy delivery and huge flat spot.
-it did solve the flat spot(not 100% though), but not the lumpy delivery
-started to feel unhappy with the map, and started shopping around for a new tune.

Here is my graph of bluefin stage 2 and 2+, ignore the figures as i think they are a tad micky mouse cos it certainly wasnt putting that out but the shape of the curves are what matters, you ccan see where it was lumpy in its delivery, and also the huge flat spot
aaa111.jpg


change of remap

-decided on a custom stage 3 remap(same as 2+) by shark performance, went to him for him to do it, firstly he drove it and started laughing as he couldn’t believe how poor the delivery was, we then went out in his which is only stage 2 and the difference was huge. My stage 2+ car made 287hp/305 Ibft on AMDessex’s rollers, his made 260Hp/285Ibft on JKms rollers. Guess whos was quicker…….not mine ill tell you that.

-we then logged the car with bluefin on so we could have a good comparison after.
-then we changed map to his stage 3 remap, and it was massively better than the bluefin. I expected an improvement, but not what I got. And now my car walks all over bens stage 2 map and would well and truly p!ss over my old stage 2+ car.

Here are there before and after logs

-Air Mass readings before

am_before.jpg

Notice the large drop in air mass, exactly where the hesitations were
Air mass readings after

am_after.jpg

But no more issues with air mass there
lambda before
lambdabefore.jpg

lambda after

lambdaafter.jpg

boost before

boostbefore.jpg


boost after

boostafter.jpg

if you look at the before and after you will notice im now running less boost but its much smoother in its delivery now, and still quicker, so better for the car as well.

If anyone fancies a look t my full review, fill your boots
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=9088.0

If you are considering going bluefin and plan on going stage 2 onwards then have a look at a couple of these.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/14...lers-and-yet-another-scrape/page__hl__bluefin (TFSI K03 stage 2 and 2+) this guy coincidently has since tried bens sharkperfomance and is considering changing now as bens stage 2 spanked his stage 2+ as well.

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5134.0 (TFSI K03 stage 2 and 2+)

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6004.0 (tfsi K03 stage 2 and 2+)

it seems its mainly the k03 at bluefin stage 2 on the k03 turbo that have these issues, although the k04 guys have had a couple issues, mostly with incorrect maps for DSG vehicles etc

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=9819.0 this guy solved it eventually by changing to REVO, no more issues

rant over mate:wtf::banned:

personally I think if you are interested in only going to stage 1 then bluefin Is great, but if there is a possibility of going further id look elsewhere to a vag specific tuner.

but at the endof the day if you are happy with it then none of this matters:rolleyes:

i just need to get my MAF changed now as its a bit dodgy
 
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vRSy

Fabia vRS
Jan 8, 2009
1,470
1
London
How much is the bluefin chip? And I'm no good with computers whatsoever do I need to mess about with one for it? Had a bad experiance with a cc map £300 down the drain like so I dnt wanna do that again. Would luke more power though.

the shark performance STS handset i had was so easy it was unbelievable. no hassle with the usual "unable to connect to superchips server" really easy to follow instructions,
http://www.sharkperformance.co.uk/sts.asp

heres the user manual illustrates how easy it is. http://www.sharkperformance.co.uk/_common/download.asp?item_id=69

what car you running

-edit-
have you already got bluefin or were you considering
 
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turbopete

Guest
Really useful thread- covers different levels of tune for different tastes! Cheers All!!!
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
yeah the price might well have changed, i got it from jkm back in May or June.
Its really down to preference, i went for bluefin because it was a well known switchable remap, and everyone always says go with the ones that have been used and approved by a lot of people, so bluefin it was.
Superchips seem to offer a little less power than a lot of tuners, i said before if your after serious power, bluefin probably isnt the way forward.
A few guys on here will say that on rr's bluefin maps give as much power as other tuners, often even more, despite superchips apparently conservative power claims, but again most guys on here will say rr's are a lottery anyway, so im not sure about that.
I know i was impressed with stage 1, it was exactly what i wanted, and after spending so much on stage 1, stage 2 bluefin is really my only option at the minute.
Many other tuners will give better power gains, and your stage 3 map which i take to be custom will certainly be far superior to any generic stage 2 map.
Once ive got all the hardware i plan to, ill certainly be going down the custom remap route, i still need the itg cai, maybe an s3 intercooler, and maybe even a hpfp before that, so ill stick to bluefins £50 remaps until then, rather than the £300 for a custom map each step of the way.
So far i havent experienced any flat spots or lumpy delivery, but with the weather were having i havent really had the chance to go flat out yet, so ill have to see how that goes.
its good to get a few opinions for anyone whos unsure what route to take.
again, bluefin or revo were the only real options that i could see at the time i was getting stage 1, and now there a lot more companies producing switchable maps etc, and so more reviews etc to be read, it can only be a good thing.
looking forward to reading the links you put up there from the different forums, i didnt even realise companies offered stage 2+ for the K03, so itll be interesting to see how yous all rate them
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
Also, reading your review, i have no idea how i would have an input into the set up of a custom map, i dont really know anything about them, just that they should drive well, and wouldnt even know where to begin in telling someone how i wanted it to drive, id be worried about overdoing something. do you need to know a lot about maps etc to get the most out of this, or should the tuner just know what to do himself?
 

thepear

Guest
have you any idea what BHP its producing now. interested reading your comments about it not initially feeling as fast as you expected. i've got a cupra, and of course its quick, but i was recently driving my cousins fr tdi, and couldnt believe the difference in torque with the turbo, even despite mine having 70bhp more
 

robjnr

258 spanish donkeys
Oct 24, 2007
410
0
Bristol
Diesels will always feel quicker becuase of the power delievery they have, the torque gives you the 'kick' in the back feeling
 

vRSy

Fabia vRS
Jan 8, 2009
1,470
1
London
Also, reading your review, i have no idea how i would have an input into the set up of a custom map, i dont really know anything about them, just that they should drive well, and wouldnt even know where to begin in telling someone how i wanted it to drive, id be worried about overdoing something. do you need to know a lot about maps etc to get the most out of this, or should the tuner just know what to do himself?

ben offers generic maps just like bluefin, but i chose to go up and get my generic map set up by him in person as i wanted a specific delivery, but his normal maps are just as good, its all about delivery really not outright power, a car that makes a smaller peak figure but keeps it for a prolonged period will be quicker than a guy with a peaky figure.

ill post some links of his reviews if you want

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/14...ge__view__findpost__p__1824095__fromsearch__1
http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/146191-shark-performance-sts-stage-2-review/
http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/147142-another-shark-performance-sts-review/
http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/144439-sharkperformance-sts-review/

my map is based on his generic stage 3 map with some tweaks to get iot like i wanted it, ben does stage 1, stage 2 and stage 3 maps, same as revo does stage 1, 2 and 2+ maps.

http://www.sharkperformance.co.uk/brands/index.asp
 
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