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Andromeda

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
All is good with the car lately. Nothing new added, though I have been eyeing some weighted shift knobs. I also wouldn't mind a little more aggressive exhaust on acceleration, but I don't think I'm going to touch anything. I don't want to do straight pipe because this is my daily driver and I don't really want to add drone. Plus cold starts in a parking garage doesn't seem like the best idea.

I did get a chance to do a 4th gear pull vs an '09 Mk5 with the same motor. We were dead even so far as we could tell. The Mk5 is Unitronic tuned, intake, catless DP, and 93 octane vs my car on 91 octane and APR tune. I have less intake restrictions, he has less exhaust restrictions. Seems decently fair as far as setups go. I'd really like to get some lower gear pulls too and see how they compare.
 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
My front drivers side speaker has been awful for a few weeks now. It just rattles and distorts, it sounds terrible. I've been listening on the rear channels only and I really wish I could put in new speakers. But that will have to wait until I can work on my own car.

For now I'm looking around trying to find a shop that stocks Pilot Super Sport tires, but nobody has them. I'm guessing I'll need to order them and bring them to the shop.

Getting an oil change here soon too. Again, I wish I could do this myself but I can't work on my car where I live currently (apartment).
 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
Got my new Pilot Super Sports on. So far it's super slippery as the rain is pouring and they're completely fresh. I'll give them 100 or so miles before I really evaluate the difference between them and the Pilot AS3 I had on previously.

The downside is my car didn't come with the tool to remove the locking bolts, so the tire shop had to break them off. Before they did I asked if they would replace them at my expense, they said yes. They didn't. So I drove home with 4/5 bolts per wheel and missing caps on a few of the other bolts. Kind of disappointing.

The shop also asked if I had locking bolts prior to all of this (the day of my appointment). I said not to my knowledge. They said if so they wanted me to look for them. That's fine. Instead they tore through my car and left it a mess trying to find it before telling me they needed to break them off, or I had to go buy the tool and come back to get the tires on.

Hopefully this pays off in the end since the reviews on these tires are pretty much great. This will be the last time I use their services though.
 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
New fuel filter in as well as new wheel bolts all around. The VW shop said my valve cover is leaking slightly, that I'm slightly out of alignment, and that a rear seal is leaking.

I don't notice any pull while driving, so I'm not sure where they noticed that the alignment is off. But with new tires I might as well get the thing aligned.

The rear seal, if they're talking about the crank seal, is new so that should be good. Could just be residual oil? Not too sure. They didn't elaborate so I can't really figure out much more unless I take it back in and ask them to specifically look at it.

Valve cover leak I'm not too sure about. I'll research that a little bit and see what I can find.

Anyway I have about 150 miles on the new tires and can start pushing the car since I have all the required lug bolts. So far I don't notice any difference in corners or braking. On acceleration it seems to hold a little bit better, but it doesn't seem like a night and day difference. However it is only 50 degrees out right now. I'll keep driving and give them more time.

Edit: Also saw a note that my exhaust was off the hangers. I haven't heard any rattling and it's only been on for less than 8k miles, so that's got me curious. I'll try to take a peak under my car even though I have no ramps.
 
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gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
Here is the exhaust off the hangers


As for the alignment I've been reading more into it. With the 034 subframe kit everything should be pretty good, this is also what I was told when it was installed at my local shop. So unless the toe is out I think there isn't much that will be wrong/easily fixed. Plus nobody noted any uneven wear on my old AS3 tires.

On the note of tires I am actually becoming quite impressed with the new Super Sports. The weather touched near 60 degrees and I was driving around some more. I could really stick the car into corners at low and "high" speeds with much better grip. I'm pretty sure the suspension is becoming the limiting factor now. Before I touch that I'll be looking into getting braces. Probably from Unibrace.

The valve cover leak I'll clean up and see if I can pinpoint where it's coming from. I've read a bit about the cam position sensor being where it leaks and if that's the case it's a cheap part.
 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
Current shot of my car.

 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
Looks good. Just needs some wheels now!

Thanks! I would have to find some that I like the look of. I haven't browsed much yet, but I also haven't witnessed any on the street I'm fond of. I like the OEM look but know they are some heavy rims.
 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
So after an abysmal drag day the other weekend I have redone my short shift kit. I altered the side to side bracket cable and shifting is much more crisp. Can't believe I waited so long to try this. Hopefully now I can get into gears more easily going down the strip.

I will try getting to the drag strip this weekend if the weather holds out. All I have to do is beat my laughable 14.867 quarter mile at 87.17 mph. My quickest trap speed was 99.85 mph but at 15.843 seconds. So I'm shooting for high 13s and around 100-105 mph. With warmer weather for the tires and a proper shift I should at the very least improve my times.
 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
Went back to the drag strip today after reinstalling my short shift kit again. It's even better this time, but I still can't power through the gears like I feel it should be able to. I ordered an upgraded shifter bushing from dieselgeek and will see if that helps at all.

New times are pretty much the same as last time. Fastest 1/4 mile E/T is 14.654 at 88.79 mph. Most of my runs are right around 14.7 E/T, 2.3 60 ft, and either 88 mph or 99 mph without fail lol. When I got home my DV+ had arrived so I installed it. The hardest part was removing the clip for the electrical stuff. Every video I watched skipped that part.

Anyway I do notice a difference with the DV+ vs my stock "C" DV. City driving is very smooth. Before around 2.3-2.8k my car would feel like it lost boost (even if at 0 psi). It wasn't smooth before, but now the car accelerates like it's N/A under no boost and light boost. On top of that when I'm WOT the boost gauge needle no longer flutters rapidly somewhere around 18 psi. It goes and sits at 18 psi steady and tapers off. I haven't watched the taper to see if there's any difference, but the shake from the stock DV is completely gone! So happy about that.

As for butt dyno it seems like the power comes on smoother under boost. Quicker I'm really not sure if it's anything more than placebo. I'll go back to the drag strip soon and see if there's any difference.

Lastly I am back to the darn P0302 code. Bummer because I don't know what is causing it.
 
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gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
Looking at my 1/8th mile speed I'm consistently at 76-77 mph. However at the 1/4th I'll hit 88 or 99 mph, why would this be? If I'm already rolling at the same speed and time (9.7 seconds) wouldn't my 1/4 mile be the same? I can only think it's due to shifting at different points or another issue with the car.

Installed a shifter bushing from dieselgeek today. I am a little disappointed that, for $29, there is no new crimp clamp included. I just reused my old one. I pried it open slightly with a hex key just enough to pull the shift knob off (with some force) and was able to crimp it back on no problems. I would be fine with this but in the dieselgeek install videos it shows cutting off the crimp and no mention of needing a new one (as in it is not included). First impressions are that nothing has changed. My old bushings were squishy but not torn. I went for a quick drive and it does seem a little easier to get into gears with confidence. I've yet to really drive and evaluate it though.

A problem I had was getting the retaining clip apart from the old upper bushing. Used some hex keys to separate it and then it was easy to pull the clip off.




Anyway there is no play in the shift shaft anymore. Is this amount of play left over normal for our cars, and is there any improvements that can be made?

https://youtu.be/BZSaU7ES4jU
 

thewalkingdad

Ready to race!
You've put a ton of work into your car. Keep up the good work.
 

gtimk6spd

Ready to race!
You've put a ton of work into your car. Keep up the good work.

Thank you! I just installed a turbo outlet pipe (TOP) yesterday too. I wanted to get more photos but my hands were so dirty that I didn't want to keep touching my phone haha.

Anyway I went with ARM Motorsports for this piece. It looks nice and is a little cheaper than the AWE one.

Tools I used were T25 torx, T30 torx, 10 mm wrench and a 7 mm wrench. Sockets may or may not work depending on the orientation of the clamps and if you have deep sockets or not. I ended up using my old clamps and the aluminum piece in between the pipe and silicone hose. I didn't use the new silicone either. The reason I did not use the new aluminum piece is because it sat very loosely in the pipe and I wasn't sure that was correct. It also did not have a o-ring like the OEM part, and the OEM ring was too large for this piece.

There were no instructions at all in the box or that I found on their site. The install is relitively easy, but I am still left wondering why their included aluminum piece is so much smaller that OEM and doesn't fit snugly. Maybe it is meant to be that way, but I didn't take the chance.

The parts for install.


Old pancake pipe.


New pipe.


To install:
1. I jacked my car up, set it on jack stands, and removed the wheel.
2. I took the fender liner off (if that's what it's called?) using a torx t20 bit. There are lots of these to remove. They're in the wheel well and under the front bumper area. That piece pulls out toward the back of the car.
3. Then I loosened the two torx t30 bits holding the old TOP in place. I probably should have loosened the band clamps first that hold the silicone on the pipe, but it didn't mess anything up in my case. The pipe just wiggled while initially breaking the nuts loose.
4. Wriggling the pipe and twisting allowed me to get it free and out of the car.
5. Took the metal clip off the OEM pipe using a wrench to pry it up. Anything will work, but I had a 7 mm wrench handy and it fit fine. Just pull the tab sticking out and the clip will come loose. After that it can be done by hand on the new pipe if you need to rearrange it.
6. Tried fitting the new aluminum adapter in the new pipe. It was very loose. I ended up using the OEM piece here. Replaced the clip (don't think it makes a difference on the new pipe).
7. The same clip that held the aluminum adapter to the OEM pipe is found at the turbo outlet. This holds a metal piece with silicone attached in it. Took the clip out and pulled the silicone/metal out.
8. Transferred grommets from old pipe to new one. Pull the screws out first, then the grommets. Installing on the new pipe is the opposite. Push in the grommets and then insert the screws.
9. Shoved the new pipe into the stock silicone from the turbo outlet. At first I didn't push it deep enough and the pipe was going to be rubbing against my frame. It also scrunched the stock silicone by the turbo outlet and basically kinked it. I took everything back out and pushed the pipe as far down as I could, leaving about 1" between the TOP and the metal adapter (piece that attaches to turbo). I had to stretch the stock silicone quite a bit while doing this. A slightly oiled finger inside the silicone while pushing and rotating helped here.
10. Put the metal/silicone adapter back in the turbo outlet. Reinserted the "snap ring" to lock it in place.
11. Screwed in the two t30 torx bolts to secure the pipe. It didn't line up the first time when I didn't push the TOP far enough. After having it seated much further in the silicone and rotated correctly the bolts lined right up.
12. Attached the silicone (front bumper side) to the TOP and tightened the clamp.
13. Reinstalled the fender lining and bolts.

Here are a bunch of photos showing where bolts are (and misc. pics). They may not be in the best order, imgur or my computer messed up the order of things when transferring. You can click if you need to make them larger. First one is of the aluminum adapter I did not end up using.



















 
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