So what do cars and math have in common?
A proper order of operations.

We're often asked here at EQT about what is the best way to go about achieving certain goals with a car. Well, it all depends on if you know what your end goal is to begin with.

Horsepower is addicting, we all know this. From that first drive after a Stage 1 tune most of us are hooked on the new found power, but over time we get used to it and are clawing for more.

Our 3 step process for making power is a simple one you need;

With that said, I'm going to highlight an order of operations to help to save you time and money on your build.

1) Set Goals (HP, 1/4, etc..)
2) Determine Fuel (E85, 91, 93, etc)
3) Buy Hardware

EQT Bundle Packages (Zero2Hero) Or Piece it all together

4) Buy Software
5) Put it all together

1) Set Goals

If you're chasing a horsepower figure on the dyno, 60-130 times on the dragy, a quarter mile timeslip at your local strip, or a lap record around Road Atlanta. It's always good to have your goals set from the start.

Brian Dixon's Golf R

That said, we totally understand that when we get down to bullet point #3, budget, these two points may conflict with each other, but that is why a "Stage" system is put into place and why a lot of EQT Products are compatible with stock location hardware to keep everything working together and not incur additional costs.

Gurny On Track (Black Cat Racing) Kyle Gurny's Golf R - Road Atlanta

2) Determine Fuel

A lot of your vehicles hardware requirement are going to be dependent on what fuel source you chose to use. If all you can get your hands on is 91 or 93 octane pump gas, your fueling requirements are going to be vastly different from someone who is looking to use Ethanol or Ethanol Blends. (Covered in our Technical Article HERE)

Your goals and your fuel source are going to be very closely tied together. If you're looking for a 550+whp car then you're probably looking into Ethanol fuel, but that said, if you can't source ethanol then maybe your goal stays the same but now you need to look into alternate solutions, maybe Water-Methanol?

For more information on Water Methanol we have some solid technical write ups about the subject that can be found HERE

3) Buy Your Hardware

Step 1 is going to play a huge factor here in saving you some coin. If you're looking to build a 550whp car, you know you're looking at a port injection system. If you're going directly to port injection, you can save yourself the cost of an HPFP.

EQT offers a lot of bundle packages to help our customers get the right products they need at the best price possible. If you can spring for it, our Zero 2 Hero Power Kit has everything you need to go from a stage 2 set up to big turbo!

But we get it, sometimes an all out complete package isn't going to work for your budget, so piecing it all together over the course of time can still get you to the same result, it just involves patience! (And perhaps more cost)

Knowing that an EQT Vortex will bolt up to all of your stock location hardware you can try and quench that thirst for horsepower and still enjoy the car along the way.

An EQT Stage 1 Tune is going to be the best bang for your buck, being a software only solution it allows maximum power within the limitations of factory hardware, all while remaining compatible with the almost all of your required parts.
Stage 2 brings introduces a performance downpipe to the mix, from here you're only the appropriate airflow and fueling away from making big power.
GTI/GLI/A3 - If you're hankering for just a little more power than what the stock turbo is capable of but aren't quite ready to pull the trigger on a big turbo setup, IS38 is a great stepping stone but it does add cost vs going directly to a Vortex.

With EQT Off-The-Shelf tune options, you can start to piece the car together and still have a cost effective solution to ensure your car runs the best for each piece of hardware installed

Maybe you're limited to pump gas so an HPFP + LPFP combination all you're looking for to satisfy your fueling, with our Staged tunes now offering both Autotech HPFP and EQT LPFP support, you're only a turbo away from your end goal!

4) Buy Software

Once you have all of your hardware, it's time to get your matching software.
This part of the process is probably the easiest but also the most stressful as you work through software revisions to get your hardware working in perfect harmony.

EQT Custom tunes can be performed with Cobb AccessPort or with EcuTek ProEcu, which one chose is mostly going to depend on support. There are some ECU Box codes that are not supported on Cobb, but are supported with EcuTek. If you're concerned about your vehicle being supported, check out our Box Code Technical article and reach out to our sales staff.

Pro Tip: We always suggest that you have your base / startup tune BEFORE you install any of your hardware.

Throughout the tuning process our trained calibrators will make the most of your hardware through either data logs utilizing our EQT Log list, or data logs in conjunction with Dynamometer data.