MRC -v- QST

[simon_golf_tt]

Unfortunately no, as the immobiliser is coded into the ECU. It can be sorted by MRC but a lot of hassle.

[CliveH]

The round-trip to MRC for me is about 270 miles...and it's worth it every time...

[Jarv]

Unfortunately no, as the immobiliser is coded into the ECU. It can be sorted by MRC but a lot of hassle.

Oh, right, not a job for the home VAG-COM enthusiast then.

[noggyblueboy]

i drove down to MRC in scotland,well worth the trip

dont really rate star performance,used them once,i'd say doug has far more experiance with the rs4 than jim at star,he diagnosed my car wrong and said the car needed turbos when it didnt.

[TopBear]

Been there done it....got the t-shirt.

Jim looked at my car twice to try and resolve the misfire issue, trying a few things, but no concrete solution, even suggesting that the ECU was duff, and recommending it should be replaced.

MRC had the car a couple of hours and after systematically and methodically checking the possible causes, nailed the problem as cam-shaft wear. Also they clearly see's more RS4's and S4's etc, than anyone else, so know the car's 'intimately'. Shame they arent a bit more centrally located.

Don't even talk about Audi Glasgow, as they just wanted 'a blank cheque' to keep replacing bits till they eventually found the faulty part(s)

Don't know anything of QST, so cant comment either way.

[noggyblueboy]

dont know if its true but i heard a rumour MTM never make their claimed power when rolling roaded?

[neckarsulm]

Ironic you need an MRC in Scotland when Doug moved down from there

My car was MTM Stage 2 converted early in its life and with 65k miles runs perfectly well and hasn't logged a VAG COM code for ages. The work (remap and Milltek ) would have been about £2k I believe then though there have been reductions of late.

www.mtm-online.de

I have said this before quoting an Evo article I think (though someone from MRC disputed it) but Roland Mayer the boss of MTM worked for Audi R&D and thus his modifications are as close to 'Audi approved' as is possible - "MTM are to Audi what AMG is to Merc and Alpina is to BMW".

I have no experience of qst myself apart from emailing Kim when I purchased my RS4 and he emailed back very promptly (not everyone does) saying he remembered the car and I was welcome to bring it back for a check up. Also qst have a rolling road.

As a brand goes, I'd say MTM are very strong with numerous global press coverage on their conversions, the mind blowing bi-moto TT and good results at the annual German tuners GP.

MRC are good too and it makes S4/RS4 ownership a little less stressful knowing there is someone out there relatively local to me who can do pretty much anything I need doing and do it well but I don't feel the need to change to an MRC map though if I needed a remap I'd certainly consider them due to price/convenience and the custom remap on the fly business.

All good specialists should be supported and those who get anything other than routine servicing done at stealerships should think very carefully.

[neckarsulm]

dont know if its true but i heard a rumour MTM never make their claimed power when rolling roaded?

Dangerous to post stuff like this. IMHO I'd say that there are so many other factors that can cause reductions in power (EGT, DV, leaks etc) and that there are many S4s/RS4s that were MTM remapped early in their lives (well before MRC were in business) and have probably been just Audi serviced since with none of these common problems picked up. Hence when they go on the RR, the readings are less than those for cars with no issues. Just my twopenneth.

All I can say is that I am booked in for the RS246 RR day in November flying the MTM flag so I hope you are wrong!

[S4TAN]

The round-trip to MRC for me is about 270 miles...

That's the length of your driveway isn't it Clive ... ?

[CliveH]

Yep, driveway to heaven...

[PaulF]

I have no experience of performance upgrades with either MRC or QST, but as QST are a whole lot closer to where I live, I go to them for regular servicing and maintenance, and find them competent. Maybe if I lived in Oxford it would be different, but I have no complaints.

Paul.

[jeffw]

I live 120 miles from MRC and 40 miles from QST. I've been down to see Kim in the past and never really had a problem with good service. My car now goes to visit Doug and they have done all the recent major work on the car. Make of that what you will.

[cossymad]

Mine is MTM stage 10 or something like that and never had a fault or nothing like that. Kim Collins @ QST had built the car and done ALL the mods and servicing and never had a problem at all.

[S4INT]

I've used both MRC and QST. To be fair, although I prefer going to MRC as they are more "user friendly", QST really do know their stuff and sorted out issues with my B5 that neither Audi (no surprise there) or MRC managed to sort.

My B5 had a MTM chip, and ran without fault for the 25k miles that I had it. With regard to the low power claims mentioned before, I ran my B5 against other re-mapped RS4's on the road and on track, and there was little if any difference either way.

[derdle]

Mine had an MTM stage I chip. BTW the MTM chip is actually a chip replacement/daughter board rather than a flash of the ECU. My stage I showed 425bhp on the rolling road.

QST are the wrong side of London for me and since my other half works in High Wycombe, (which is an ½hour by train from Banbury) MRC is an easier journey.

Paul