ABT 1.5 TSI tuning: sports car engine for 999 euros?

The introduction ABT 1.5 TSI tuning is of course just a New Years promotion.

You wouldn’t say it, but the whole downsizing thing has been going on for about 15 years. The idea behind it is quite simple. There is more power and torque available, but it is also possible to drive relatively economically. The latter is useful for making the car meet all emission requirements. That’s why you hardly see cars without a turbo engine.

Nowadays, high performance and low consumption can hardly ever be combined. Give full throttle with a small turbo engine and consumption will increase enormously. But then you do have performance that was previously not possible with such a small engine. Fortunately, brands have moved away from extreme downsizing a bit.

ABT 1.5 TSI tuning

One of the first downsize engines was the 1.4 TSI with turbo and mechanical compressor from Volkswagen. This was later replaced by a 1.4 TSI with only a turbo. Now that cars have to become even more economical, the cylinder capacity has grown to 1.5 liters. ABT Sportsline now has a nice promotion for that bike. According to ABT you can turn your 1.5 TSI engine into a ‘sports car engine’. That sounds very promising! Or is it just marketing?

Sports car engine?

Because is it actually the case? Well no. With a sports car engine you expect a nice sound, direct throttle response and linear power build-up with a lot of revs. The 1.5 TSI is a four-cylinder turbo engine, so you simply have to deal with the characteristics of such an engine type. However, the engine does seem to have some reserves.

Power and torque after ABT 1.5 TSI tuning

ABT Sportsline knows how to get 190 hp out of it. That is not wrong. The torque is 290 Nm after tuning. For reference, the power is 150 hp and the torque 250 Nm as standard. According to the Germans, maximum power was not the ultimate goal, by the way. Driveability and reliability were much more important with development.

For example, maximum power is only available when the engine is at operating temperature. In terms of consumption you do not have to worry, with an equal driving style consumption will even decrease slightly, according to the men from Allgau.

Also useful to know, the programs are written for the specific models. So despite the same engine, the 3D mapping differs slightly per model. The ABT 1.5 TSI tuning power unit is available on the following vehicles from the VAG stable:

Audi

A1 Sportback (82A0)
A1 Citycarver (82A0)
A3 (8V07)
A3 (8Y00)
Q2 (5Q00)
Q3 (83A0)
Q3 Sportback (83A0)

Seat

Ateca (5FP1)
Arona (6F90)
Ibiza (6F00)
Leon (5FA0)
Tarraco (5FJ0)

Skoda

Range (6,500)
Octavia (5E07)
Octavia (NX00)
Karoq (57A0)
Kodiaq (5650)
Superb (3V00)

Volkswagen

Polo (2G00)
Golf VII (5G07)
Golf VIII (5H00)
Passat (3G00)
Passat (3G0A)
Arteon (3G80)
T-Cross (2GM0)
T-Roc (2GA0)
Tiguan (5NA0)
Touran (1T06)

Price ABT 1.5 TSI tuning

Then the price. ABT Sportsline would like to 999 euros have for the upgrade. Now that looks like a promotional price and sure enough: that is also true. It is an introductory price that applies for the first half of 2021. After that, the price for the tuning is 1,249 euros.

To do?

Then the question is: should you do this now? As petrolheads and avid chippers, we would say yes. There are definitely a few advantages to it. This way you have more power, without the CO2 tax rising. Second: it is an accessory, so you do not pay any addition. In addition, extra power and torque is always more pleasant. Regarding economy: that is one way to sell chip tuning at home. Because we all know: if you have more power, you will also appeal to it more.