Shark Stage 1 - review

Evening all,

I know there is a lot of opinion about regarding remaps etc and what to go for, and I know that Shark are highly regarded here but I thought I'd chuck my two penneth in anyway. Nice to hear fresh opinions to make sure folk haven't lost their touch etc.

So I went in Saturday to see the lads at Shark for a stage 1 map and an itg induction kit. Firstly the staff; really friendly and ready to chat, looked after me all the time I was there (buckets of coffee) and let me work in the waiting room.

Secondly (and most importantly) the map. Its a masterpiece. I'm new to the VAG family having come from a couple of focus ST3's (a fettled Mk2 and a standard Mk3) so the Octy in standard trim is a little weak sauce compared to what I'm used to. But the map has sorted that nicely. There is some real grunt now and the in gear acceleration is right on the money, eagerly pulling from about 3.5 to 4k all the way to when the turbo runs out of puff at about 6k. It reminds me of my Mk3 ST. It now feels like a turbo charged motor with a nice shove when you come on boost, but all the while staying linear and not overwhelming the chassis. Aside from the map my car is still standard, and its the perfect amount of power for what it is right now. Sadly the itg kit that arrived was for the TFSI and not the TSI in my car so I'll be back soon to have that sorted. I was intending to go for some handling mods next and leave the power where it is, but I have to admit I'm curious as to what the stage 2 would be like! So for what its worth the Shark Stage 1 = recommended!

To top it off, you can get a bacon sandwich round the corner that weighs as much as my Octy estate!