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Steering ratios and Spindles ( stock - passat - TTRS)

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
I am not responsible for any mods you do to your car. Please be safe. This is written for your minds entertainment, nothing more.


So I wanted to share some of my experiences and bring up for discussion something that has been near and dear to my GTI Experience.

My car sees the track fairly regularly for the last 6 years. and has a personal best of. 1:37.85 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park( Mosport) GP (passat spindles)



I have tried all above spindles on my car. Currently running safely the TTRS setup( have not tracked it yet)



My car is a 2010 which has the 15.6:1 steering ratio. 2011(some may be split) and on have the 16.4:1 ( slower ratio). So my experiences will vary with what rack you have.



One of the biggest complaints on the TTRS( and all TT) is that their rack is a 16.9:1 (even slower). So in theory a TT spindle with a 2010 Gti rack is the sportiest setup.



Now to the spindles.



My stock ones looked like garbage after 2-3 canadian winters, hence my quest for an aluminum spindle began.



The Passat Spindles were the obvious choice. I also got a boxter caliper setup which worked fine with the passat spindles due to mounting.



One of the tings about this setup is the shorter arm of the spindle which leads to quicker steering. And boy is it quick. So quick that i could get my stability light going just from switching lanes... Yes everything bolted on to spec. Very very quick, maybe too quick sometimes. Nothing that I could not handle, but definitely requiring your concentration. I guess the 2012-2014 Gti will have slightly less quick steering, because of the slower rack which might lower the frequency of intervention of the nannies.


Additionally, as I got quicker, I went for 18z Cayenne Setup matched with the TTRS master cylinder.


Guess what though, this doesn't work with the Passat Spindle, because of the large ears on the Passat spindles throws everything out of whack.



So I had to go back to stock spindles..... to run the 18z while working on fitting the Audi TT spindles



I knew if I would be able to switch to the TT setup, I would be able to have my brakes and my aluminum Spindle.



To fit Audi TT spindles was tricky, and people have done it before , but none were really plug and play.

Hurdles:

- increased track width aka fender issues.
- audi TT inner-outer tierods don't screw in safely in the Gti steering rack. People have milled down the rack... risky stuff but admirable.
- Mistery Inner tierods sold at high price...

- even with those the inners Gti tie rods are too tiny in diameter and overall profile to securely be bolted on the spindle.
-thebruce mentionned he has friends that have swapped the whole rack for a TT, but the TT ratio is 16.9:1 , hence not very sporty.


Advantages:

-aluminium spindle
-increase center roll
-increase track width
-ability to fit more tire/wider wheels
-ability to run Porsche brakes 18z
-increased cooling from running the Audi TTRS, because of the lower ball joint attachment, the duct actually runs lower to the ground and collects more air.


The final solution involved sacrificing the Passat Spindles.

Yes the outer tierod bushing from the Passat Spindle is pressed out, and switched over to the Audi TT spindle.

Before this I even went to get a Audi Q7 outer tie rod, but alas it was to big, so not enough hold to be secure.



My goal with the GTI has basically been to emulate on a smaller scale the Audi TT VLN FWD which set new benchmarks for what a FWD car could do.

Matching the Audi TT spindles with the 15.6:1 ratio, ends up being probably the sportiest, highest performance combo for our platform.

This should also contribute to lowering the nannies intervention that was somewhat annoying with the Passat spindles combination. More testing needs to be done.

I am now one step closer.



More updates as the new driving season is around the corner.
 
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kern417

Go Kart Champion
my tt steering rack should be here friday. i'll play with it this weekend and post pics of what i find.

also some of your pictures aren't showing for me (everything before the tie rod comparison), but it may just be my computer.
 

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
I didn't post other pictures.

Good grab on the steering rack. Really your only other choice, to what I did.
The ratio is rated at 16.9:1, so slower than the GTI, but only experience will tell us.
 

kern417

Go Kart Champion
I didn't post other pictures.

Good grab on the steering rack. Really your only other choice, to what I did.
The ratio is rated at 16.9:1, so slower than the GTI, but only experience will tell us.

ah gotcha. i just want to see what combos work. i have an '09 mk5 so i'm *assuming* it's the same as pre-2011 mk6, but who knows. in the end if it's that bad i can swap back. i just want to see if the ends mate up and can get good pics of the differences side by side.

Mystery inner tie rod = MK4 R32 inner tie rod :thumbsup:

cool, but i'm still not convinced that it's a fix. you need the ttrs outer no matter what, unless you do the bushing swap.
 

carsfeverguy

Go Kart Champion
ah gotcha. i just want to see what combos work. i have an '09 mk5 so i'm *assuming* it's the same as pre-2011 mk6, but who knows. in the end if it's that bad i can swap back. i just want to see if the ends mate up and can get good pics of the differences side by side.



cool, but i'm still not convinced that it's a fix. you need the ttrs outer no matter what, unless you do the bushing swap.

Yep you need both :), unless you get the rack.
 

MacRadiators

Passed Driver's Ed
Very interesting!
I just got the passat aluminum hubs and i noticed the increased bracket size for the calipers, its thicker than what i have, so i also must find a solution.
I have the Z18 calipers on my car.
 

BringerOdeath

Ready to race!
I have the 17z setup, so i am thinking i will have the same issue and i am wanting to either do passat or tt spindles and lcas
 
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