brobst's road to k04- 13' CSG 6MT

[Jeffs2013GTI]

I really admire all that your doing to your car. Some folks on here know that I have been on the fence on keeping my car, or selling and getting something else.

I see from your mods, you have at least 10k invested in your car already, if not more, and not sure how much of the work you do yourself vs installed by a pro but I am sure your build is over 10k thus far and growing as most builds do.

I own my car as I am sure you do too or close to it being yours is a 13 like mine is, my car right now has 47k miles on it and is bone stock.

I have been on the fence to sell my car and get an STI, Focus RS or a used Evo. I have many used Evo parts laying around since I have had 4 of them over the years. I just am not sure about VW and this TSI engine. I look under the hood and see so much "weirdness" haha I know there are many that build these cars and have very few problems. It just seems there still are little issues that concern me. HFFP, Timing Chain Tensionors, water pumps, intake manifolds, Ignition issues even with Red Tops, having to install a LSD, suspension work, brakes, I mean you would REALLY REALLY need to have faith in this car to do these things. I have had good luck with my car thus far (knock on wood) but its babied and is not without its hickups. I'm on my 4th water pump, my valve cover was re sealed, and a cam angle sensor failed thus far. Fairly minor for these cars I am finding out.

So not to jack your build thread or anything like that, I am just asking your opinion, are you happy with the fact that you put all this money into a FWD platform with questionable reliability or do you feel going another route is better? In your opinion with all you have done thus far? Its cool too how you guys seem to have these VW places that work on these cars. There is NO ONE within 120 miles of me that will touch this car. At least for mods, I would have to drive to San Diego, and they are frickin crazy expensive. Place called PURE motorsports in SD area about 140 miles away from me wanted $300 just to install a Dead Set kit on the front end. I mean that just sounded crazy to me. Imagine how much a K04 would be to install??

anyway....sorry if I have your build thread, not my intention, just want to get your opinion is all. Will help me decide on what to do...
Thanks


Jeff

[brobst]

I will tell you this. The first have of my building was suspension. I did sways and coils and walk etc, getting it to a point I wanted for turn feel. I was stock tune for the longest time because for me, I wanted to feel the car progress in the lateral motion before going fast. My end goal has always been about 400hp or less because of motor building so I never wanted a very powerful fwd car. The lsd is definitely top 5 mods I did to this car. For me, this thing was the perfect blend of snow car, dd, nice interior, with ok twisty ability. It is just this year really that I have cared about fast per say with the k04 swap. 300hp in this car feels great. I think if they sold a non awd golf r from the factory, it may be popular actually. At the end of the day, this car is a perfect fit for me. Not to say I'll never end up in a rwd monster. But I dated this car and slowly fell for it. My wife jokes its my other wife lol. Yeah that mod total is definitely like 12k+ which is alot. But I'm still sub 50k total for this car so I'm pleased in that regard. The gti for me is a good well rounded balance of style, performance, and comfort.
I should mention it was the first car I've owned from the beginning.
Thinking about other cars is natural. I know I do it every day. So I ask you, if money isn't an option, what do you want out of your car? DD, sleeper power, reasonable looks. Then only once you got that you can decide to switch or not.
Now considering money, nothing like a paid off car man.

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[Jeffs2013GTI]

Originally Posted by brobst

I will tell you this. The first have of my building was suspension. I did sways and coils and walk etc, getting it to a point I wanted for turn feel. I was stock tune for the longest time because for me, I wanted to feel the car progress in the lateral motion before going fast. My end goal has always been about 400hp or less because of motor building so I never wanted a very powerful fwd car. The lsd is definitely top 5 mods I did to this car. For me, this thing was the perfect blend of snow car, dd, nice interior, with ok twisty ability. It is just this year really that I have cared about fast per say with the k04 swap. 300hp in this car feels great. I think if they sold a non awd golf r from the factory, it may be popular actually. At the end of the day, this car is a perfect fit for me. Not to say I'll never end up in a rwd monster. But I dated this car and slowly fell for it. My wife jokes its my other wife lol. Yeah that mod total is definitely like 12k+ which is alot. But I'm still sub 50k total for this car so I'm pleased in that regard. The gti for me is a good well rounded balance of style, performance, and comfort.
I should mention it was the first car I've owned from the beginning.
Thinking about other cars is natural. I know I do it every day. So I ask you, if money isn't an option, what do you want out of your car? DD, sleeper power, reasonable looks. Then only once you got that you can decide to switch or not.
Now considering money, nothing like a paid off car man.

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Thank You very much for your time in responding, and again apologies if anyone feels I . I just dont know what to do with my car actually. This GTI though I have had it for almost 5 yrs is the only FWD platform I have had since 2002. So I am used to AWD and a very reliable 4G63 Engine. I never intended on modding the GTI to be honest. I went through a divorce and lost my shorts, and my Evo to pay legal fee's. So I have always been bitter about having to sell my old car. I stepped into the GTI because after my divorce my credit was shot. My folks were kind enough to co sign for me since I had to sell my old car to cover legal fee's, BK fee's due to the divorce it was a bloody nightmare. My parents told me though they didn't want me to get another Evo, STI or anything of the like. My Mom was always afraid I would kill myself in the car, and that was a condition of them co signing for me. I really had to swallow my pride because at that time I was in my late 30's. I needed the help though. Only 3 cars came to mind at the time: WRX, Focus ST and the GTI. After test driving them all the GTI got the nod. My Mom was totally against it saying how horribly reliable German cars were and that I made a mistake. I didn't think so, and to be honest I knew NOTHING about the TSI or the GTI. I just knew the legacy of the GTI and figured it would not have such legacy if it was a crap car. I never modded the car through the years, I was tempted, but I kept having the water pump issues, and just little stupid stuff. I thought to myself crap if this car is having petty issues now stock, how is it going to hold up modded? So I shy'd away from the mods. I also learned allot about mods from over 10 yrs experience modding Evo's. Plus over 10 yrs of modding cars prior to that of what works and what doesn't.

I also realized how anal VW is about modded cars. Maybe not VW as a whole, but the dealerships, well here in SoCal. ANY MODS AT ALL they would red flag your car. So with all the petty issues, I said to myself, better wait till its either paid off, or the warranty is over. VS. What I was used to with Mitsubishi, I had the Mitsubishi Reps drive my Evo around tracks because they liked how my car performed. I mean I would go to Big Willow or Streets with the Evo Club and they would give us Brake pads, tires, all kinds of stuff. So going from that to....VW was a HUGE change.

To make a long story longer, here I am now. My car is paid off, it has 47k miles on it. I have taken very good care of the car and its COMPLETELY stock even down to the paper air filter. Only "Mods" I have done are OEM VW LED Tails, OEM VW Front lip spoiler, some VAGCOM mods since I have VAGCOM and the cable, so I did the switch for the LED's in the rear, Did the Emergency Braking Strobe Light Feature, and the Auto Down for the windows with the Remote control. I have done some data logs too for fun. I have changed the oil every 5k miles with Castrol 0w40 and have used VW OEM parts for anything it needed. At around 30K I changed the Fuel Filter myself, and at 37k had the Dealer do the DSG service.

So now I look at this car. In my head I know living in such a warm climate being in the SoCal low desert that if I up boost in anyway I will need an I/C. Even at stock levels power drops pretty badly in the summer in the 120+ heat. I thought about WMI for a while, but I would need a new intake manifold and not sure what maps out there would be available for that type of mod. I know if I go Stage II I would need a downpipe, but not sure if I should just skip stage I and go straight to II or try I then go II. I am looking at things from a cost perspective too. Don't want to waste money. Brakes would need to be upgraded since they tend to fade even in canyon driving around where I live, and though Coil Overs would help tremendously in the handling dept, I cant afford to lower this car at all. It scrapes around town already with our crappy roads, so I wouldn't want more issues there. I was looking into Bilstien Coil Overs with Nuespeed Sways. Again, not sure.

Then the Wavetrac LSD. Runs $1400 plus install, and the closest place that would be able to install that is about 400 miles from my house. Authorized Installer anyway. Tuning wise I was looking at Unitronic because I like how I can download and install myself from home.

Or, I could just sell the car and get something else.

So I am not sure if I want to hope the car holds up modded and put money in for repairs, or get something turn key and not mod it till its paid off. This car being paid for is a HUGE plus, but not if stuff breaks. I am not sure why but my confidence just isn't in this car. Maybe its all the water pumps I have had replaced, and looking at the plastic I/C, Plastic I/C plumbing, Plastic intake manifold, and thinking, how in the heck is that stuff going to hold boost?

So I come here and read threads like yours to get hope and to think doing mods with the GTI can work out and it will be ok.

Anyway I have blabbed enough, sorry folks. Just picking your brains...


Jeff

[brobst]

All I can tell you is follow your heart and trust your head. Do what makes the most financial sense while bringing you enjoyment.
I am happy with my build

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[Jeffs2013GTI]

Originally Posted by brobst

All I can tell you is follow your heart and trust your head. Do what makes the most financial sense while bringing you enjoyment.
I am happy with my build

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Thank You for your time and advice.

I will continue to watch your build thread for inspiration.


Jeff

[brobst]

Holding spot for new tune information.
New platinum plugs. 48xxx miles. 09/4/2017
Oil change Motul 48562 miles 09/19/17
Alignment 10/03/17 48972 miles

[brobst]

So I've been k04 tuned by Mabotech for a few weeks now. I like the combination of timing and boost. Good driveability. Still can get over 350 miles per tank. Has been an overall great experience working with Frank on eurodyne software.

After much consideration, what's next for me is w/m, followed by engine rods, and a conversion to run high ethanol content.
Mods within the next year:
Snow performance stg2 meth with dual nozzles
IE drop in rods

Edit: no longer going pure e85 route.
E85 lpfp, aem ethanol sensor, torque bytes lpfp controller, and opel zz injectors

Hypothesizing a k04 maximizing build. A lot of work to do. And that should be it.

Edit 10/23/17
Had a lot of discussion with the guys. Based on what I am trying to do, they think its best I just turbo swap.
Be on the lookout for my k04 to go on sale probably next year. I'm eyeing a gtx kit. Still need rods, may not need fueling though at all.

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[chadsmb]

Nice build. Just bought a stock ‘13 and I’m from Jackson but drive to Ann Arbor a lot for work. Any cool meets around here?

[brobst]

Originally Posted by chadsmb

Nice build. Just bought a stock ‘13 and I’m from Jackson but drive to Ann Arbor a lot for work. Any cool meets around here?

There are a group of guys who meet up about once a week on Wednesday around novi/ twelve oaks area. I'm no longer in michigan, but I can connect you to them. We chat on google hangout mostly for coordinating meets and stuff.

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[brobst]

1100 mile round trip down the east coast. Man i95 is kinda rough. Rained the whole time. Felicia held up though no mishaps and pulled hard the whole trip.

Got to play with a tt and a benz once I got to florida. 4 door, the sporty one I believe. Sounded great with an exhaust

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[brobst]

Just finished my street k04 tune on 93 octane. Starting my E30 blend tune once I use up some gas.

Logs to follow

EDIT: Logs for E30 blend k04 final file. 5 gals of E85 mixed with 93 pump gas.
E30 log

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[brobst]

Oil change, tire rotation 53118 miles 01/30/18
Gotta clean air filter tomorrow and top off oil in the daylight.

Edit: oil good. Air filter 53119 miles 01/31/18

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[ksandman]

Are you still planning on upgrading to a gtx kit? If so, what kit are looking at? I'm going back and forth between k04 and big turbo. It's killing me lol. Nice built btw. Sometimes I wish I got a manual instead of the DSG. That feeling has been bugging me a lot lately haha.

[brobst]

Originally Posted by ksandman

Are you still planning on upgrading to a gtx kit? If so, what kit are looking at? I'm going back and forth between k04 and big turbo. It's killing me lol. Nice built btw. Sometimes I wish I got a manual instead of the DSG. That feeling has been bugging me a lot lately haha.

Today I'm going on the dyno for the current k04 build to see how we are doing. Measuring the e30 blend output and comparing it to the 93 pump. If I hit my intended 350whp/350wtq, I may just keep it this way.

But to answer your question, I was looking at either a smaller efr turbo or one of the turbos from my tuner Mabotech (m480). Before I can upgrade though, I would want to build the motor, so its going to be a slower process getting to the next stage for me. Next target power level would be 450hp, and I think that's the max I would want out of the fwd platform.

The gtx looks nice, but from my inner circle they think the BW efr is of a higher quality. I trust my guys on that stuff given their backgrounds.

K04 is the easiest bolt on and done mod you can do for this car for the quickest hp/tq gains. No need for engine work, fueling work, or a lot of auxiliary upgrades. Safe power for your stock engine. Keep that in mind when deciding, BT can get expensive very fast, as I have seen just pricing high quality turbo kits, motor building, and fueling kits. Its going to cost me at least 10k to go up meticulously upgrading to BT.

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