lacesoutvic
Passed Driver's Ed
an update without pics, per usual.
met with tom @ innovative motorsports at the end of may. the bulk of the work was done:
- h&r 26/24 sways on soft/hard
- all 034 mounts
- unibrace ub + rb
- whiteline alk
- superpro ball joints
- tyrolsport front collars
- tyrolsport master bracket
- oem battery box
- vacuum pump delete with ie plate and spulen hose
- um stage 1 tune
- oil change
- alignment
- probably forgetting something
on the alignment, i had them max out the camber front and rear and do the rest to GTI spec. i can't remember exactly but i think this put me at -1.2 front, and around -1.5-8 rear. mild bit of toe per GTI spec.
i think i've driven 5-6k miles since then and it's been rock solid. had a lot of fun road tripping through the northeast to visit friends after the work was done. cornering is completely flat, but the tires were an obvious weakness. i never pushed it into corners because it would absolutely understeer, but it was still a blast.
a couple thousand miles later in early july, i got the tr ff10s and firestone firehawk indy 500s put on. went with 235/45/17 and i like how it fills out the wheel well just slightly more, and the tire sidewalls are basically flush with the side of the car which looks perfect. the tires are super grippy, wide, and COMFORTABLE. they feel even better and NVH is less than the stock all seasons (although those barely have tread). these wheels really look great on the mk6 and i'll probably get a winter set at the end of next year. i'm going to try to get a 5th winter out of the all-seasons and maybe just drive conservatively for a few months, go fwd burnout crazy in the spring before i change over to the summers. it might be a bad idea to patch the bad tire since it's a bit close to the sidewall, but i can buy a single tire and keep a balder one as a spare.
also, no wheel hop whatsoever. not with the all seasons. not with the indy 500s. what's funny is you can only hear yourself skrrting, you can't feel it at all.
the bad:
- my dented fender is absolutely eating at the tire. the narrower all seasons never had this problem so it will get fixed this winter.
- i was rear-ended by an illegal dirtbike as i was pulling into a gas station (no plates). he booked it and i was left with a bigass dent on the left side. damage isn't major but there was some bent metal underneath, and car is perfectly driveable. this should get fixed this winter also. (insurance money went towards paying off the fun mods... hah).
the current:
- removed the rear bench which is nice because the seat backs can fold flat. what's subtly cool about this is you can hear the fuel pump working and it's very mildly louder inside.
- passed emissions. i was getting an intermittent CEL, but also got the torque app with OBD2 reader and the only code getting thrown was insufficient flow to the SAI.
the future:
- FINALLY setting aside more time with tom this month, he's been pushing me off and keeping my headers hostage (joke). want to get that done and get the unibrace xb put in.
- it's getting really bad inside, the detail needs to happen sooner rather than later.
- next year will be about suspension, brakes, racing seats, and track days!!!! i really want to say i'll be able to get all of it done, but i also plan on killing all my loans so it's all variable. i feel like i need to do the seats before i track because i need more bolstering higher up. my front brakes have plenty of life but i should put in better street/track pads at least, and the rears have plenty of life but have hideous gouges which might be a tech inspection concern? suspension isn't really necessary with my current setup since i corner flat, but i already have springs. bilstein b8s and camber plates are calling me.
- i don't have the turbo bug like other people do but i REALLY need to know what 7200RPM in this thing is like so my end-game major mod is a DSG swap with wavetrac (FWD), intake manifold, and custom stage 2 tune. i'll get a DSG tune too, but only after i enjoy the farts for a while.
met with tom @ innovative motorsports at the end of may. the bulk of the work was done:
- h&r 26/24 sways on soft/hard
- all 034 mounts
- unibrace ub + rb
- whiteline alk
- superpro ball joints
- tyrolsport front collars
- tyrolsport master bracket
- oem battery box
- vacuum pump delete with ie plate and spulen hose
- um stage 1 tune
- oil change
- alignment
- probably forgetting something
on the alignment, i had them max out the camber front and rear and do the rest to GTI spec. i can't remember exactly but i think this put me at -1.2 front, and around -1.5-8 rear. mild bit of toe per GTI spec.
i think i've driven 5-6k miles since then and it's been rock solid. had a lot of fun road tripping through the northeast to visit friends after the work was done. cornering is completely flat, but the tires were an obvious weakness. i never pushed it into corners because it would absolutely understeer, but it was still a blast.
a couple thousand miles later in early july, i got the tr ff10s and firestone firehawk indy 500s put on. went with 235/45/17 and i like how it fills out the wheel well just slightly more, and the tire sidewalls are basically flush with the side of the car which looks perfect. the tires are super grippy, wide, and COMFORTABLE. they feel even better and NVH is less than the stock all seasons (although those barely have tread). these wheels really look great on the mk6 and i'll probably get a winter set at the end of next year. i'm going to try to get a 5th winter out of the all-seasons and maybe just drive conservatively for a few months, go fwd burnout crazy in the spring before i change over to the summers. it might be a bad idea to patch the bad tire since it's a bit close to the sidewall, but i can buy a single tire and keep a balder one as a spare.
also, no wheel hop whatsoever. not with the all seasons. not with the indy 500s. what's funny is you can only hear yourself skrrting, you can't feel it at all.
the bad:
- my dented fender is absolutely eating at the tire. the narrower all seasons never had this problem so it will get fixed this winter.
- i was rear-ended by an illegal dirtbike as i was pulling into a gas station (no plates). he booked it and i was left with a bigass dent on the left side. damage isn't major but there was some bent metal underneath, and car is perfectly driveable. this should get fixed this winter also. (insurance money went towards paying off the fun mods... hah).
the current:
- removed the rear bench which is nice because the seat backs can fold flat. what's subtly cool about this is you can hear the fuel pump working and it's very mildly louder inside.
- passed emissions. i was getting an intermittent CEL, but also got the torque app with OBD2 reader and the only code getting thrown was insufficient flow to the SAI.
the future:
- FINALLY setting aside more time with tom this month, he's been pushing me off and keeping my headers hostage (joke). want to get that done and get the unibrace xb put in.
- it's getting really bad inside, the detail needs to happen sooner rather than later.
- next year will be about suspension, brakes, racing seats, and track days!!!! i really want to say i'll be able to get all of it done, but i also plan on killing all my loans so it's all variable. i feel like i need to do the seats before i track because i need more bolstering higher up. my front brakes have plenty of life but i should put in better street/track pads at least, and the rears have plenty of life but have hideous gouges which might be a tech inspection concern? suspension isn't really necessary with my current setup since i corner flat, but i already have springs. bilstein b8s and camber plates are calling me.
- i don't have the turbo bug like other people do but i REALLY need to know what 7200RPM in this thing is like so my end-game major mod is a DSG swap with wavetrac (FWD), intake manifold, and custom stage 2 tune. i'll get a DSG tune too, but only after i enjoy the farts for a while.