GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

Baby's First Build Thread

The Ginkneb

Ready to race!
finally getting stage 1! Taking her up to the shop (HS Tuning) on Monday.

:thumbup: SO EXCITED.:happyanim:

Kiss those front tires goodbye. :laugh:

Most on here recommend getting R8 coilpacks or better, as it is really common to have one fail with the increased demand. And they look dope in red. Esp. with the ECS CF engine cover that leaves them exposed.

EDIT: Don't forget to turn "off" traction control or you can kiss those front brake pads goodbye too.
 
Last edited:

ncsugray90

Ready to race!
finally getting stage 1! Taking her up to the shop (HS Tuning) on Monday.

:thumbup: SO EXCITED.:happyanim:

Niiiiiice, I'm going with Uni now that they have port flashing and will be getting my tune with my next bonus. Suuuuper looking forward to that.

Also, I dig your computer specs, but was curious as why you went with a Xeon over an i7. Do you do any server hosting or hardcore number crunching on there? Just curious.

Great car and mods so far, keep it up!
 

zalani

Passed Driver's Ed
Waiting at the shop now. Best day ever. Any other things I should know about driving her post tune?

___

Also, I dig your computer specs, but was curious as why you went with a Xeon over an i7. Do you do any server hosting or hardcore number crunching on there? Just curious.

Honestly? No real reason other than it was on sale and benchmarked higher than the others for the price. There's no real drawbar to the xeons so I figured fuckit. I do keep my comp on 24/7 and do some hosting now and again but that wasn't the primary reason.
 

clownish

just clowning around
Waiting at the shop now. Best day ever. Any other things I should know about driving her post tune?

Your gas mileage will go down from excessive user inputs. You may want R8 coilpacks, which have a stronger spark and will keep you from misfiring - the stock coilpacks will fail eventually whereas R8s will last almost forever. Ask the guys at HS about it - they're the ones that figured it out in the first place by extensive testing.
 

ncsugray90

Ready to race!
Honestly? No real reason other than it was on sale and benchmarked higher than the others for the price. There's no real drawbar to the xeons so I figured fuckit. I do keep my comp on 24/7 and do some hosting now and again but that wasn't the primary reason.

I hear ya. My computer stays off most of the time and I at most host a minecraft server for a few people (me and the GF typically) so I didnt even bother looking at a Xeon chip when I built mine.

I'm having the same issue as you about deciding to spend money on the rig or the car. I think once I get my tune though the only real thing I'll be upgrading is the intake (if that), so maybe I'll have GPU money in the future. Till then my little ol 750Ti is still the best bang for the buck card I've ever had and can run most newer title on high for 1080p. Those 970's still speak to me, even with the 3.5GB debacle hanging over them. I had actually thought about trying out an AMD card, but got kinda upset that the 390x's are mostly just rebranded 290x's. idk, time will tell.


Anywho, be sure to take a break from burning your gas tank dry on your new tune and tell us how you like it! I feel bad owning my car for over a year and still having not tuned it yet.....
 

zalani

Passed Driver's Ed
So i've been running APR Stage 1 for almost 2 weeks now. I'm so glad i got her tuned. Wish i had done it sooner!

The biggest thing i'm noticing is at higher speeds it feels like there's always more behind the pedal. It doesn't matter if i'm cruising down the turnpike at 70 already, if i jump on it I can still get some decent pull.

Holy hell my gas mileage has gone to shit (as expected) but damn i've been having fun burning though it. :burnrubber:

Anyways, I'm thinking up next for the car is an intake and intercooler. I like the Unitronic CAI and the Forge front mount intercooler from what i've looked at. They both seem popular enough around here. Not sure which would be more helpful/effective performance wise. Thoughts?


On an unrelated note, I got a new job! I'm no longer commuting to the east side; I'm down in Independence now. My commute dropped from an hour to 20mins, so i'm really excited about that. Less miles on mah baby. I've seen a couple GTI's around, but I didn't recognize anyone from here at least (Red GTI i see everyday at 5:15pm on Rockside under 71, i'm lookin' at you).


I looked down at my mileage on my car this morning, i'm a couple hundred shy of 40k. :thumbdown: So not looking forward to doing the 40k DSG service. I found a list of the stuff they do for it and i can do a decent amount but i know its still going to cost a fortune. ugh. Oh well, at least i have a shiney new job to help pay for it.

Ah well. Happy Friday!
 

GoodTimesIndeed

Go Kart Champion
Congrats, you have officially caught the "mod bug" LOL!

Glad your enjoying Stage 1, it's fun for sure. If you think you have pedal on the highway at stage 1 though you should feel stage 2.

The Unitronic Intake is nice. People seem to be really happy with it. They all pretty much do the same thing, some just look better then others and are more affordable. MAF placement is key, and Unitronic utilizes factory housing and location so your good there. With an intake you'll loose a bit of bottom end torque but usually gain a little more top end pull. Not to mention cool intake sounds.

As for intercoolers, many options here. Decide if you want a direct factory replacement or a true front mount. With the direct factory replacement you have MANY options to choose from and there are MANY threads on here about them. True front mounts are limited, but most on here (including myself) run the Neuspeed fmic and love it. Not to mention looks good peeking out through the lower front grill too. With an aftermarket intercooler, heatsoak should become a thing of the past. For example back-to-back-to-back pulls on the highway on hot days should feel more consistent.

As for the 40k service. See if there is a local forum member that will do it for you. The stuff to do the service doesn't cost much. If you feel like driving into the Burgh, hit this local forum member up here. Does a lot of work for us local guys.

Congrats on the new job!
 

The Ginkneb

Ready to race!
Yeeeeuh the tune was a revalation for me and opened my mind to the possibilities of the tuning world. I was amazed just some programming tweaks could make such a monumental difference.

I got bit right away with the warranty struggle but was able to get the dealership to work with me, so be prepared to defend yourself if you need warranty work done.

I eased up after a few months and now my 30 minute commute gets me about 28mpg, so don't worry about your gas mileage lol

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

zalani

Passed Driver's Ed
Congrats, you have officially caught the "mod bug" LOL!

Glad your enjoying Stage 1, it's fun for sure. If you think you have pedal on the highway at stage 1 though you should feel stage 2.

The Unitronic Intake is nice. People seem to be really happy with it. They all pretty much do the same thing, some just look better then others and are more affordable. MAF placement is key, and Unitronic utilizes factory housing and location so your good there. With an intake you'll loose a bit of bottom end torque but usually gain a little more top end pull. Not to mention cool intake sounds.

As for intercoolers, many options here. Decide if you want a direct factory replacement or a true front mount. With the direct factory replacement you have MANY options to choose from and there are MANY threads on here about them. True front mounts are limited, but most on here (including myself) run the Neuspeed fmic and love it. Not to mention looks good peeking out through the lower front grill too. With an aftermarket intercooler, heatsoak should become a thing of the past. For example back-to-back-to-back pulls on the highway on hot days should feel more consistent.

As for the 40k service. See if there is a local forum member that will do it for you. The stuff to do the service doesn't cost much. If you feel like driving into the Burgh, hit this local forum member up here. Does a lot of work for us local guys.

Congrats on the new job!

I so caught it. I want to upgrade everything. I'm definitely going stage 2 as soon as I can afford it. After that, we'll see. Does tuning at the higher end of the scale significantly reduce the lifespan of the car? Seems like it should, at least a little. Then again, i tend to relate tuning my car to overclocking my pc which may not be the most apt analogy.

Checked with the dealership about the 40k dsg service. They quoted me about $460 or so. Not too bad compared to what i've seen dealerships charge other people on here, but still expensive for what they actually do. THEN i checked with the local indie shop, being HS Tuning, and they quoted like $250. Hell yeah. I'm starting to realize how lucky i am to have a kick ass shop 10 mins away.

inb4: Yeah, im sure i'm entirely capable of doing most of it myself but as i've never done any of it before... AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR DAT. Also, i'm a lazy fuck.

----
Yeeeeuh the tune was a revalation for me and opened my mind to the possibilities of the tuning world. I was amazed just some programming tweaks could make such a monumental difference.

I got bit right away with the warranty struggle but was able to get the dealership to work with me, so be prepared to defend yourself if you need warranty work done.

I eased up after a few months and now my 30 minute commute gets me about 28mpg, so don't worry about your gas mileage lol

I heard over and over again that tune makes a shit ton of difference, but you don't really get it until you drive it before and after yourself. I agree entirely. I just dont really get why they car didnt come like this. I guess they like advertising the gas mileage to people but it isn't exactly marketed as an economy car...

I'm lucky that I have a pretty good dealership by me, and they have some good guys running service. I know a couple guys with tunes in the area have worked with them without too much trouble so i'm not terribly concerned. I'm approaching being out of warranty anyways, and its only a certified used warranty to begin with. Once that's done, HS is right around the corner so i'm pretty lucky on that front.

Yeah, my mpg seems to have settled down a bit. I'm not particularly shy with the gas pedal though, and everything is more fun outside of just "D" so... fuckit, what good is having a fun car if you drive it like a geriatric?

---

On a not so happy note, I'm having some issues starting since my tune.

It isn't consistent but at least once, if not a couple times a day sporadically she's having trouble turning over. Normally the car turns over on like the 2nd crank. The issue I've been having is it's taking 7-8 cranks before it passively starts up. She's never not started up, but it cranks for long enough for me to think "uhh, is it gunna start?" Been happening since tune, so 3 weeks? now.

I was thinking maybe the battery was just going. I don't know how old the current one is; It came with the car. I took it over to the dealership and they ran a battery test on it and it came out fine. I got r8 coilpacks with the tune, but I opted out of spark plugs when he mentioned them, so maybe that's it? The timing just seems too perfect for a something to spontaneously be wrong at the same time I got the tune.

I ended up talking to HS again, and I'm taking her up to the shop tonight. Tim mentioned Sonny having a similar problem that resolved itself with time. Something about getting the tune when the temp was fluctuating a lot from day to night during the time the tune is settling in? I'm not sure. I'm sure if there's something to track down they will find it.

Honestly with how much i positively mentioned HS in this post, i ought to get paid for advertising. :laugh:
 

GoodTimesIndeed

Go Kart Champion
I so caught it. I want to upgrade everything. I'm definitely going stage 2 as soon as I can afford it. After that, we'll see. Does tuning at the higher end of the scale significantly reduce the lifespan of the car? Seems like it should, at least a little. Then again, i tend to relate tuning my car to overclocking my pc which may not be the most apt analogy.

Checked with the dealership about the 40k dsg service. They quoted me about $460 or so. Not too bad compared to what i've seen dealerships charge other people on here, but still expensive for what they actually do. THEN i checked with the local indie shop, being HS Tuning, and they quoted like $250. Hell yeah. I'm starting to realize how lucky i am to have a kick ass shop 10 mins away.

inb4: Yeah, im sure i'm entirely capable of doing most of it myself but as i've never done any of it before... AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR DAT. Also, i'm a lazy fuck.

----


I heard over and over again that tune makes a shit ton of difference, but you don't really get it until you drive it before and after yourself. I agree entirely. I just dont really get why they car didnt come like this. I guess they like advertising the gas mileage to people but it isn't exactly marketed as an economy car...

I'm lucky that I have a pretty good dealership by me, and they have some good guys running service. I know a couple guys with tunes in the area have worked with them without too much trouble so i'm not terribly concerned. I'm approaching being out of warranty anyways, and its only a certified used warranty to begin with. Once that's done, HS is right around the corner so i'm pretty lucky on that front.

Yeah, my mpg seems to have settled down a bit. I'm not particularly shy with the gas pedal though, and everything is more fun outside of just "D" so... fuckit, what good is having a fun car if you drive it like a geriatric?

---

On a not so happy note, I'm having some issues starting since my tune.

It isn't consistent but at least once, if not a couple times a day sporadically she's having trouble turning over. Normally the car turns over on like the 2nd crank. The issue I've been having is it's taking 7-8 cranks before it passively starts up. She's never not started up, but it cranks for long enough for me to think "uhh, is it gunna start?" Been happening since tune, so 3 weeks? now.

I was thinking maybe the battery was just going. I don't know how old the current one is; It came with the car. I took it over to the dealership and they ran a battery test on it and it came out fine. I got r8 coilpacks with the tune, but I opted out of spark plugs when he mentioned them, so maybe that's it? The timing just seems too perfect for a something to spontaneously be wrong at the same time I got the tune.

I ended up talking to HS again, and I'm taking her up to the shop tonight. Tim mentioned Sonny having a similar problem that resolved itself with time. Something about getting the tune when the temp was fluctuating a lot from day to night during the time the tune is settling in? I'm not sure. I'm sure if there's something to track down they will find it.

Honestly with how much i positively mentioned HS in this post, i ought to get paid for advertising. :laugh:

Yes and no. Will tuning shorten the life of your motor, in short yes because you are technically stressing the components more then stock. With the tune you just doubled your boost levels. But with proper maintenance you shouldn't have much issue, and I cannot stress this enough. With stage 2 your not really adding additional power with the tune, you are removing restriction that is the oem downpipe allowing the turbo to breath better up top. Hence the bump in power in the upper rpms and on the highway and such. Its not a night and day difference like stock to stage 1 but its noticeable, you lose a little of the stage 1 down low torque but gain more meat through the entire rpm range. The stage 2 tune turns off the second 02 sensor so that you don't see the CEL while you drive since you'll be running a high performance catalytic converter (probably 200 cell). Factory is 800 cell I believe.

I think $250 is a great price, must be nice to have HS Tuning so close.

About your starting issues. Are you getting any CELs? Add any new electronics lately? Has the car been scanned for any codes? I'm having a weird starting issue myself. I think I have a vampire sucking power out of my battery while its sitting. Can't figure out what it is though. Good luck in figuring out yours!
 

The Ginkneb

Ready to race!
On a not so happy note, I'm having some issues starting since my tune.

It isn't consistent but at least once, if not a couple times a day sporadically she's having trouble turning over. Normally the car turns over on like the 2nd crank. The issue I've been having is it's taking 7-8 cranks before it passively starts up. She's never not started up, but it cranks for long enough for me to think "uhh, is it gunna start?" Been happening since tune, so 3 weeks? now.

I definitely noticed this too but didn't personally think it was worth worrying about. Sometimes fires right up, sometimes cranks several times but always starts no problem. The starter cranks with plenty of power so it's not battery or anything, I think it just may be one of those things. Would be cool to get an answer though. :iono:
 

GoodTimesIndeed

Go Kart Champion
I definitely noticed this too but didn't personally think it was worth worrying about. Sometimes fires right up, sometimes cranks several times but always starts no problem. The starter cranks with plenty of power so it's not battery or anything, I think it just may be one of those things. Would be cool to get an answer though. :iono:

Weird. Definitely doesn't seem normal. I have been APR stage 1 and now 2 (soon to be K04) and the car always starts 1st time. Lately just been taking longer on first try.

Have YOU checked your plugs, had a battery and alt test, or scanned your car? Getting any CELs? Just seems strange that both of you are having this issue.
 

zalani

Passed Driver's Ed
Weird. Definitely doesn't seem normal. I have been APR stage 1 and now 2 (soon to be K04) and the car always starts 1st time. Lately just been taking longer on first try.

Have YOU checked your plugs, had a battery and alt test, or scanned your car? Getting any CELs? Just seems strange that both of you are having this issue.

I'll check if there's any error codes when i run out for lunch. I haven't changed anything with the car electronics or otherwise since my boost gauge, which was months ago now. Also as i mentioned, i heard CLEsonny was having the same issue, so i suppose it could actually be something odd with the tune definitely seems so. Who knows. Should HS find anything, i'll be sure to spread the word.
 
Top