Please school me on the best HPDE mods

Some of you may have read my first post:

(one month shy of 5 year ownership.....first post on this forum) http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113868http://

I got my car back from the body, shop after hitting a deer. $9k damage, but she is as good as new. Nothing structurally was affected and the body shop did an amazing job. Although it still sucks to have a car that was in an accident, but at least I got a new radiator, inter cooler (I think), coolant flush and paint correction (rock chips) out of it. With the recent windshield replacement the car looks as good as new again. That being said, I am wondering what I should do now?

• Keep the GTI as DD for a few more years
• Sell it and get in to a new Mk7 GTI or R
• Sell my '04 e46 M3, which is basically my garage queen/HPDE toy and modify this GTI in to a dual purpose car (DD/HPDE)

Just to be clear, I have no illusions of the MK6 being a better track car than a RWD, MT, M3, but at the same time, I got a lot of money tied up in the Bimmer and every time I take it to the track, I "have" to get track insurance (because you just never know and I'm not willing to take a chance on that much money). That in itself gets costly. Also, my son will be driving soon and will want to go to the track with me, and there is no way I would let him lose in the M3. So maybe selling it while the market is hot and putting a fraction of the proceeds in to the GTI, might be a decent alternative? The rest of the money would be set aside for a future 991, Cayman or M2.

I have seen some fast Golf's on track, so I know they are capable, and one can have similar amounts of fun in it, albeit it is going from RWD to FWD and from manual to DSG.

Right now this is just an idea, but in order to make an educated decision I'd like to know what the most popular brands/kits/parts are for:

• BBK
  
• Suspension (I assume a good coil over kit, camber plates, rear sway)
• Wheels (looking for a lightweight wheel and would swap for the track)
• Weight savings guide

I already have a good feel for the tuning aspect. Looks like one can do the stage 1, 2 etc stuff. Basically depends on how much one wants to spend and how much hp you want/need.



FWIW, I have to keep the car reasonably street able. I use it mostly for commuting, but live in a rural area, and the roads are pretty good. I have a lift and can easily swap brake pads, wheels for track days, but other than that it should be a dual purpose car.

Imo Keep both cars. You will regret selling either. Trust me, i kick myself in the ass everytime i see a car i prevoisly owned before. Also why get into a payment when you can save that MONEY!!!

I've tracked both my GTI (DSG) and my friend's E46 M3 (6MT, VF supercharger ~450 whp, Brembo BBK, KW suspension, etc.)

Having had that experience, there's no way in hell I'd sell the E46 M3 to track the GTI. I think you will sorely miss the textbook RWD handling on the M. I know I would. I had such a good time in that car holding drifts in corners and balancing the car on the throttle. I'd find a way to keep the M if at all possible.

Aren't E46 M3's relatively cheap now (<$15k)? My friend doesn't buy any HPDE insurance on his. If you can skip that, it'd save you a lot of money. And when your son tracks it, maybe you can keep the traction control on until he learns car control and countersteering. Then I think it'd take a lot for him to get out of shape with it, especially if he's got an instructor riding with him.

Anyway don't sell the M3 - I'm pretty sure you'll end up regretting it.

edit: Forgot to add, I haven't driven a mk7 R yet, but I've tracked a different friend's S3 (APR tune, Stoptech BBK, H&R springs/OEM magnetic dampers). I'd still keep the M.

Put your son in the GTI obviously. I took mine to VIR, don't think you necessarily need BBK. I have Tyrol brake stiffening, ECS slotted/drilled rotors and fresh fluid, car was very capable on track. Unibraces are nice, get the UB and XB, some Whiteline bushes for the front lower control arms, stiffer sway bars, any light wheels and a tune, you'll be track ready.

Corradoluvher said:

Imo Keep both cars. You will regret selling either. Trust me, i kick myself in the ass everytime i see a car i prevoisly owned before. Also why get into a payment when you can save that MONEY!!!

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Very true. Well maybe not all of them, but I did regret selling my first e46 M3, which is why I bought another one many years later. Should also have kept that 05 STI seeing how desirable they are now. Thanks for your input.

SwiftGTI said:

I've tracked both my GTI (DSG) and my friend's E46 M3 (6MT, VF supercharger ~450 whp, Brembo BBK, KW suspension, etc.)

Having had that experience, there's no way in hell I'd sell the E46 M3 to track the GTI. I think you will sorely miss the textbook RWD handling on the M. I know I would. I had such a good time in that car holding drifts in corners and balancing the car on the throttle. I'd find a way to keep the M if at all possible.

Aren't E46 M3's relatively cheap now (<$15k)? My friend doesn't buy any HPDE insurance on his. If you can skip that, it'd save you a lot of money. And when your son tracks it, maybe you can keep the traction control on until he learns car control and countersteering. Then I think it'd take a lot for him to get out of shape with it, especially if he's got an instructor riding with him.

Anyway don't sell the M3 - I'm pretty sure you'll end up regretting it.

edit: Forgot to add, I haven't driven a mk7 R yet, but I've tracked a different friend's S3 (APR tune, Stoptech BBK, H&R springs/OEM magnetic dampers). I'd still keep the M.

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Well, I probably can't get better real world experienced advice than that. Good points and I probably would have come to that conclusion sooner or later, thanks!
Yes, a lot of 46 M3's can be found for that price, but usually are pretty high miles and/or beat up. Also SMG trany on many. If you want sub 50k miles, MT 04-06 you will be hard pressed to find a clean one for much under $30k. Check out Enthusiast Auto Group website, but sit down before you browse ;-).....granted they do charge about 20% more than typical market, but still, you will be amazed.

zrickety said:

Put your son in the GTI obviously. I took mine to VIR, don't think you necessarily need BBK. I have Tyrol brake stiffening, ECS slotted/drilled rotors and fresh fluid, car was very capable on track. Unibraces are nice, get the UB and XB, some Whiteline bushes for the front lower control arms, stiffer sway bars, any light wheels and a tune, you'll be track ready.

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That might be the best solution. Just do some minor things and let him drive the GTI on track.