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Updates · 29 July 2026

VW and Audi gearbox files: DSG DQ381 Gen 2, ZF 8-speed AL551 and AL552, Aisin AQ450 and AL1000

Four VW group gearboxes gained tool support this summer: the DQ381 Gen 2 DSG over OBD, the ZF 8HP55 (AL551 and AL552) in the A6, A7, A8, Q7, Q8,...

1 min readBy JF AutomotiveMaidstone, Kent

An engine file is only half the job on an automatic. If the gearbox keeps its factory torque limit it clips the tune, and if the shift points stay where they were the car never feels as sharp as the dyno sheet says. Over July the tools caught up on four VW group boxes at once.

DSG DQ381 Gen 2, over OBD

The seven-speed wet clutch DSG in the Golf GTI, Golf R, Octavia vRS, Cupra Leon and Formentor, Tiguan and T-Roc, in its 2020-on Gen 2 form, can now be read and written through the port on KESS3 (3.33) and CMD (.285). Higher torque limits, quicker shifts, launch control and a higher rev limit in manual mode.

ZF 8-speed AL551 and AL552

The ZF 8HP55 in the longitudinal cars: Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5, Q7, Q8, S5, SQ5, RS6 and RS7, the Porsche Cayenne and the VW Touareg. The older AL551 (2008 on) is on OBD; the 2016-on AL552 is a bench read, and bFlash also covers the 2022-on AL552 and AL952 Gen 2.

Aisin AQ450 and AL1000

Autotuner added OBD writing for the Aisin AQ450, the 8-speed in the transverse 2.0 TDI and 2.0 TSI cars (A3, A4, A5, Q3, Q5, Golf, Passat, Tiguan, Arteon, Crafter, Octavia, Kodiaq, Superb, Leon, Formentor, MAN TGE), and for the AL1000 in the 2010 to 2014 Cayenne, Panamera, Q7 and Touareg V6 and V8.

What it means

Gearbox files are on the price list from £50 and include every option we offer on a box. Owners: put your registration into the tuning builder and the gearbox stage shows alongside the engine stage where it applies. Dealers: TCU reads go through the file service the same way as an engine read; the KESS3, Autotuner and CMD pages say which tool does which box.

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