Background:
Earlier this year, a “wanted” post in a Florida owners group had led to my participation in a discussion about the Cobb Accessport. Then yesterday, a late comment was posted to the discussion from someone I had not heard of (Chaos Customz) claiming that they did custom tuning “better then (sic) any Cobb AP.”
This was an invitation to check the claim the person was making, which I initiated by asking for logs comparing their tuning with those of two Cobb tuners.
The person contacted me via direct message and provided a video clip of a car on a dyno, adding that “I don’t have logs from any Cobb companies.”
Note: The reported peak numbers are “relatively” consistent with the Cobb tuners I tested on a DynoJet. Without knowing what correction factor was applied, SAE or STD, and the temperature in the shop, it’s impossible to draw much from a comparison, not to mention other factors that could be involved.
| Tune | Peak WHP | Peak WTQ |
|---|---|---|
| EQT | 300 | 360 |
| Sneeky Tuned | 282 | 378 |
| Stratified Automotive Controls | 294 | 337 |
| Stratified Automotive Controls (Data log revision) | 299 | 351 |
Claim Analysis:
Telling me that they didn’t have data logs comparing their product versus the Cobb-based tunes was a sign that their claim “I can do custom tuning on your model better then (sic) any Cobb AP” was baseless. I decided to ask some more questions to gauge this person’s credibility.
In my opinion, there are three categories of tuners: hobbyists, semi-professionals, and professionals. Hobbyists are people who may start as car enthusiasts and use readily available tuning platforms, such as HP Tuners or SimosTools, and offer tunes for sale. Semi-professionals are the bulk of the tuners who offer aftermarket tuning and may be referred to as the “big name” tuners. Professional tuners are those people working for Continental or Volkswagen whose work is modified by those in the aftermarket.
I hypothesized that I was encountering a hobbyist; the extent of credibility to afford them, and the degree of their professionalism were of interest to assess.
They justified their claim of being superior to Cobb tunes based on “My pops and bangs are better,” “I have on and off capabilities,” and “And also maps switching capabilities live.”
To me, none of this matters, and I don’t have any idea of what “on and off capabilities” means. I asked for a basis of claiming superiority to Cobb tunes, and the answer was: “I’ve now had my mk6 gti and my now mk7.5 gti and beat Cobb tunes from Apr in a same build race and beat them I just didn’t record“.
I’m going to stop saying “to me” because everything in this post is my opinion. At this point, my perception is that this is definitely a hobbyist; the question that remains is do they rate any credibility?
The next plugs for their services were that “my prices make me better as well” and the nail in the coffin “You don’t have to trust me just know your paying for what you get and that’s quality“.
Taking a brief detour on this analysis, during my time on the Mk7 GTI I’ve had custom tuning performed by the following semi-professional businesses:
- EQT [ECU tune]
- Stratified Automotive [ECU & TCU tunes]
- 5150 [TCU tune]
- 034 Motorsport [TCU tune]
- Mabotech [ECU tune]
- Russel Road & Racing [ECU & TCU tunes]
Before these tuners, I had experience with custom tuning with my old Audi B5 S4. I have some preconceptions for how this discussion with Chaos Customz should be going, and it wasn’t meeting them.
TLDR:
When trying to test a hypothesis, more data is better, so I kept the discussion going. During several more exchanges, nothing came up that changed my perception that the claims of this person’s tune being better than Cobb tuners were baseless.
Conclusions:
This seller, representing Chaos Customz, repeatedly claimed their tunes outperform Cobb Accessport tunes but provided no comparison datalogs, dyno sheets, or third-party verification.
When asked for proof, they deflected, became defensive, and ultimately refused discussion, saying they “don’t care enough to continue.” The pattern indicates low technical credibility and poor accountability.
Consumers should avoid purchasing unverified tunes and instead work with tuners who provide verifiable data.