Drot's CSG GTI

[Drot]

Hello! My name is Drot! I regret never making a build tread with my last car and wanted to make sure I don't make the same mistake twice. Little backstory, I have been daily driving a very stancenation/ruined 06 G35 that I modded over the last 5 years and finally decided that the closer I get to 30 the less I enjoy driving a skateboard. I wanted to get a second car that I could daily and actually enjoy driving in that doesn't make my ears bleed and make basically everyone around me on the road hate me. So I bought a 2013 4dr DSG GTI back in September 2019 with 92k miles.

Quick look at my old car

I started with 19s then moved to 18s with meatier tires when I wanted to raise it

Now onto the GTI

I bought it stock other than the R wheels and have done small mods so far to make it feel more like mine. The plan for this car is more function with a side of form. I want to keep it comfortable but also have something that is really enjoyable to drive and even fun to take to autoX or Mid Ohio. Since September I have installed a Beluga catback and ECS intake as wells as R8 coil packs with upgraded plugs. I'm excited to finally keep a log/diary of my time with this car, meet some members of the GTI community and hope you all enjoy the thread with me!

Mods:

Engine/Transmission

Cobb Accessport V3 with Stratified Stage 2 tune
Beluga Catback
ARM Catted Dowpipe
GFB DV+
R8 coil packs
NGK Plugs
ECS Intake
Motul 5W-40 Oil and Mann Filter

Interior/Exterior

Maxton Design spoiler extension
Ebay rear window "spoiler"
Strafe Design rear diffuser
Ebay front lip
CF burnt tip exhaust tips
Nokyia Yellow fog bulbs



Suspension/Wheels/Brakes

18'' MK6 Golf R wheels (225/40/18 Hankook Ventus V2)
18x8 OZ Racing Leggera HLT (235/40/18 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2)

Carvista:

Fogs as DRL
Windows roll down with keyfob
Gauge sweep

Future Goals:

Possibly side splitters or Golf R skirts
Refresh mounts and bushings
LED Tails
Maybe tint
Might mess with suspension
Possibly intercooler

Most current photo 5/2/21

 

[KollinWithaK]

Welcome! Get that timing chain and tensioner checked out before it grenades itself if it hasn't already been done.
Nice car though!

 

[GolferGTI12]

Welcome! Get that timing chain and tensioner checked out before it grenades itself if it hasn't already been done.
Nice car though!

He said its a 2013 so he shouldn't have to worry about the tensioner.

From another 4 door CSG owner, welcome to the forum!

 

[brat_burner]

Welcome, nice upgrade over the skateboard

 

[zrickety]

Looks good. Lightweight wheels and whiteline control arm bushings will go a long way.
How was the G before you ruined the suspension? 6 speed? I've always liked them from afar.

 

[Drot]

How was the G before you ruined the suspension? 6 speed? I've always liked them from afar.

It was boring before I slammed it, its just so damn heavy, on 19s it was hell but looked awesome but on the 18s and raised a bit it was fun to drive.

He said its a 2013 so he shouldn't have to worry about the tensioner.

Yeah I did a fair amount of research before going through with buying it. My vin wasn't included in the tensioner case but I should check physically to see for sure!

 

[Drot]

I took some of your advice and picked up a set of light wheels! OZ Leggera HLT in 18x8 +48

I went with Hankook V12 Evo tires. So far they have felt fantastic, super grippy and yet comfortable! I know Michelin PS are better but I wanted to go with Hankooks because I have enjoyed the Ventus V2s on my Golf R wheels and wanted to stay with the brand for now!

 

[mkv_martinez]

I took some of your advice and picked up a set of light wheels! OZ Leggera HLT in 18x8 +48

View attachment 179081View attachment 179083

I went with Hankook V12 Evo tires. So far they have felt fantastic, super grippy and yet comfortable! I know Michelin PS are better but I wanted to go with Hankooks because I have enjoyed the Ventus V2s on my Golf R wheels and wanted to stay with the brand for now!

Well, now that you've already lightened up the car by upgrading the wheels, how old does that battery look
I recently put in a 21lb battery since my OEM one was from 2012 and figured it was worth replacing soon anyway - you would probably feel a pretty decent difference between OEM Golf R rims to now with lightweight wheels + battery.

21lb is on the heavy end of light batteries as well, so based on your use case you can go down to like 16lbs or so.

 

[Drot]

Well, now that you've already lightened up the car by upgrading the wheels, how old does that battery look

I'll be doing battery soon since I'm almost certain this is the stock 2013 one. I need to do my rear brakes next. After that I'm not sure where I want to go next, everything points to an Accessport.

 

[mkv_martinez]

I'll be doing battery soon since I'm almost certain this is the stock 2013 one. I need to do my rear brakes next. After that I'm not sure where I want to go next, everything points to an Accessport.

I had Unitronic at first and love my Cobb Accessport & its tunes so much more. My brother also said he would have gone Accessport instead of Revo if he had the choice at the time (COBB was one of the last ones to the MK6 GTI Market).

It was totally worth paying again for the Accessport vs going Unitronic stage 2 or anything like that because now I have a custom tune thats been verified via logs to work well with my specific set up. Also the built-in gauges are so cool if you want to see the live data.

 

[Drot]

When you went to tune it did you need to have your car plugged into a battery charger? I saw some videos talk about risking having your battery die.

 

[mkv_martinez]

When you went to tune it did you need to have your car plugged into a battery charger? I saw some videos talk about risking having your battery die.

When I first flashed it I did not have it plugged in, but then I got a bit of anxiety about it so I've had a battery tender plugged in every other time since then. When getting a remote e-tune you'll flash a new tune 4-5 times or so.
When flashing, my radiator fans turn on for a few minutes and the car does some other stuff I'm not in control of and that had me wondering if my years old OEM battery was up to it. Now that I have a 21lb battery I almost certainly won't flash without a battery tender.

But if you ask around its very rare to find anyone who has actually run into any issues flashing a car just off the battery. I can only remember one case on the forums of someone talking about something like that happening to them.

 

[brat_burner]

When you went to tune it did you need to have your car plugged into a battery charger? I saw some videos talk about risking having your battery die.

You want a charger on it since the fan will come on. Or pull power from fan, you don’t want to kill the ecu.

 

[Drot]

NOT DEAD!


I know its been almost an entire year since I updated this but up until about a month ago I wasn't doing anything to the car besides driving it because I assumed my brother was going to buy it off me. Once it got warm again in Ohio I decided I really wanted to keep the car and made the call to start actually modding it.

I had a carbon cleaning and DSG service done back in February and made sure the engine and transmission were ready for me to upgrade it. Shortly after my battery, which was stock, failed on me and died out so I got that replaced.

Since March I have added a couple exterior bits- Maxton spoiler extension, eBay rear window spoiler and front lip and a Strafe Design rear diffuser (would NOT recommend this company ever). I'm on the fence about what to do with the side of the car. I like the current look but keep debating between adding side splitters or Golf R skirts. I think if the skirts were in stock anywhere right now I would easily make that choice but they seem impossible to find not on back order.

As for the power I added an ARM catted downpipe, GFB dv+ and a cobb AP v3 with a stratified stage 2 tune. To say the tune has changed the car is an understatement! This thing feels like a rocket now. I have a 93 tune on it currently with fine tuning from stratified. I cannot comprehend how some people put like 350hp+ in these little cars!

As for future plans I really think I want to get into AutoX but still need to do more research and maybe attend an event near me so I have an idea of what to expect as a driver there.

I promise I'll be more active now that I know I'm keeping the car!