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New project car - MK6 Golf R

kevbass52

Ready to race!
Bought a 2013 Golf R a little over a month ago. Little over 100k miles on it.
Haven't done much other than basic maintenance and flushing the fluids; replaced the oil twice already as the previous owner let it run 15k miles without a change..., changed the cabin filter and air filter (swapped to a neuspeed intake shortly after, eyeing an enclosed setup to take advantage of the actually cold air lol), swapped front and rear end links, replaced spark plugs/coils, and will be replacing the cam follower soon as the shipment comes in. Inspected the brakes, brake fluid is clear and pads are more than 80% so won't be replacing those anytime soon (thoughts on going to a big brake kit?)
Still need to do: haldex service, tranny flush, coolant flush, replace diverter valve, replace OEM discharge pipe and charge pipe along with swapping the rear sway bar (can't do my front until I find a shop to lower the subframe).
Want to do: coilovers, downpipe, and stage 1 tune (modular, as I have lifetime powertrain warranty. Will go stage 2 once the clutch wears out and I upgrade a few more items, any help on what to upgrade before going to stage 2 i would appreciate). Not sure if I want to replace the stock catback as I am going more for performance than how the car sounds but open to ideas.

Does anyone know whether the wheel fenders can be bent upwards to widen the body of the car? Main issue I am having is during this 1-2 weeks of rain we get in Cali, the side of my car is caked in dirt/debris from the road as my front tires (between 1-3 o'clock) are kicking up and shooting everything towards the side of the car. See pic below (mudflaps were installed after the mud seen, did not improve much however. Seems to be when turning and the wheel is exposed)

Have done a few aesthetic interior/exterior mods but nothing huge. If anyone is selling a front bumper for cheap lemme know as I dislike the license plate in front:/. 4 huge holes its covering up tho from the license plate cover so going to leave as is for now.
Any other tips of mods to do let me know, cheers!

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A4X4

New member
This is a great primer for getting a fun used car dialed in. I just got a 13R as well and am stoked. Whats the story with the warranty? Aftermarket? Thanks.
 

Thumper

Autocross Champion
Have done a few aesthetic interior/exterior mods but nothing huge. If anyone is selling a front bumper for cheap lemme know as I dislike the license plate in front:/. 4 huge holes its covering up tho from the license plate cover so going to leave as is for now.
Any other tips of mods to do let me know, cheers!

Didn't see you had this posted twice, I replied in your other one so why not here with something I forgot? lol

For the front bumper, an option until you find a replacement would be plugs. I used this place for my Touareg and they are a bit pricey (I needed four, so two sets) but they do match almost perfectly. Not perfect of course but still better IMHO

https://bumperplugs.com/bumperplugs/bumperplugs-for-volkswagen
 

kevbass52

Ready to race!
This is a great primer for getting a fun used car dialed in. I just got a 13R as well and am stoked. Whats the story with the warranty? Aftermarket? Thanks.
So far I’m loving it! The dealership I got it from offers lifetime powertrain warranty for any car under 100k miles. This one was at 100,230 so they still offered the warranty as it was the service managers old car.
The only thing that’s bothered me as I’ve been doing maintenance on it is the oil that came out black when I first changed it. Prior to the 1st time I did it, it had gone 15k miles without a change...
everything on it is stock tho so this will be my first project car:)
 

kevbass52

Ready to race!
Didn't see you had this posted twice, I replied in your other one so why not here with something I forgot? lol

For the front bumper, an option until you find a replacement would be plugs. I used this place for my Touareg and they are a bit pricey (I needed four, so two sets) but they do match almost perfectly. Not perfect of course but still better IMHO

https://bumperplugs.com/bumperplugs/bumperplugs-for-volkswagen
Hahaha yeah I posted twice for more coverage/exposure.
Awesome thanks!! I’m silently hoping, *knocks on wood*, that I get into a light fender bender that magically involves my front fender so I can get it replaced😂😂 but I’ll live with it for now.
 

kevbass52

Ready to race!
Updates to mods:
- Replaced factory radio unit with the RCD 330 (carplay)
- replaced rear hatch trunk shock struts so it automatically opens
- replaced rotors (EBC), pads (EBC Yellow Stuff), and rubber brake lines to SST
- painted the calipers blue
- brake flush
- Haldex flush & transmission flush
- change to blue seatbelts
- changed front footwell lights to blue
- replaced turbo charge and discharge pipes
- replaced spark plugs and coils (red tops with NGK)
- replaced OEM rear sway bar (24mm) to H&R rear sway bar (26mm)
- added dash cam, front and rear
- Stage 1 JB4 installed
- P3 gauge installed
- installed 034 catch can
- replaced engine factory coverings with carbon fiber
- replaced side mirror covers to carbon fiber
- installed euro style cup holder with bottle opener
- replaced shift boot and knob


Planned:
- installing reverse camera (VW badge trunk lift version, non OEM)
- coolant flush
- coilovers (either blistein or KW)
- front lip, rear diffusor and extended rear spoiler

Tried to keep the car 2 tone, black & white. The damn blue dash needles took me in a diff direction entirely with minor blue accents throughout the car.
 

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kevbass52

Ready to race!
What are your impressions of the sway bar?
Definitely worth it. Not as much body roll on cornering. Holds the line better and my back end does not try to fish tail as much. Fairly easy DIY too, no need to lower a subframe like the front lol
 

Thumper

Autocross Champion
- replaced rotors (EBC), pads (EBC Yellow Stuff), and rubber brake lines to SST

How many miles on them, any track days yet? Just curious your impressions.

I just put Yellows on my R, bedded them in on the street and then spent the weekend at Heartland Motorsports Park thrashing it around corners. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about them. When they are hot they certainly grab well, almost as good as the G-Loc G12s I use on the TTRS. But too often I could actually FEEL the transition from the mild street grip to the strong track grip. Especially in the brake zones of the two long straights, I'd hit them in my brake zone and they would grab mildly but firmly, then halfway through the brake zone they would just latch on like full race pads. Made corner entry extremely interesting and once I had to late brake to complete a pass and was really eye opening.
 

kevbass52

Ready to race!
How many miles on them, any track days yet? Just curious your impressions.

I just put Yellows on my R, bedded them in on the street and then spent the weekend at Heartland Motorsports Park thrashing it around corners. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about them. When they are hot they certainly grab well, almost as good as the G-Loc G12s I use on the TTRS. But too often I could actually FEEL the transition from the mild street grip to the strong track grip. Especially in the brake zones of the two long straights, I'd hit them in my brake zone and they would grab mildly but firmly, then halfway through the brake zone they would just latch on like full race pads. Made corner entry extremely interesting and once I had to late brake to complete a pass and was really eye opening.
Got a little over 1k miles on em now. They bedded in around 6-700. So far for my daily driving it’s smoother and more responsive than the OEM pads.
Reason I replaced em was due to having locked up my brakes on two separate occasions.
Signed up for my first track day but it’s in October:/ live in Cali and covid is causing a strain in assuming for the tracks scheduling. Hoping I can find something at Sonoma and Laguna Seca if I’m super lucky.
Definitely see where it could cause some slight discomfort when they should grab fully at all times. Going to try and find an empty back road and test em out more aggressively. Been babying them since I slapped em on tbh
 

Thumper

Autocross Champion
Got a little over 1k miles on em now. They bedded in around 6-700. So far for my daily driving it’s smoother and more responsive than the OEM pads.
Reason I replaced em was due to having locked up my brakes on two separate occasions.
Signed up for my first track day but it’s in October:/ live in Cali and covid is causing a strain in assuming for the tracks scheduling. Hoping I can find something at Sonoma and Laguna Seca if I’m super lucky.
Definitely see where it could cause some slight discomfort when they should grab fully at all times. Going to try and find an empty back road and test em out more aggressively. Been babying them since I slapped em on tbh

LOL, Yeah, my rotors were hung up in the Suez debacle so I got them the week before my next track day. So I got about 65 miles bedding them in per EBCs instructions on the road. They were squeaking just a little bit afterwards but not bad but that's all I had the time for. First session out on the track I did a little track bedding but they had us run a drill so I couldn't do it all the way. Had some VIOLENT vibrations toward the end of the session, like a warped rotor, freaked me out. Then other than the transition issue they worked flawlessly the rest of the weekend.

Definitely want to hear what you think, like I said when they are hot they GRAB. I wonder if it's because I have full floating 2-piece rotors, so they cool down much more on the long straights putting the pads back in "street" range.

Check out NCRC (Northern Cal Racing Club), I went out to Laguna Seca with them twice, good group. And NASA (that's who I run with) seems to have a good schedule still, I was going to try to hit Thunderhill in July while I was out there to see the family but probably can't make that work.
 

kevbass52

Ready to race!
LOL, Yeah, my rotors were hung up in the Suez debacle so I got them the week before my next track day. So I got about 65 miles bedding them in per EBCs instructions on the road. They were squeaking just a little bit afterwards but not bad but that's all I had the time for. First session out on the track I did a little track bedding but they had us run a drill so I couldn't do it all the way. Had some VIOLENT vibrations toward the end of the session, like a warped rotor, freaked me out. Then other than the transition issue they worked flawlessly the rest of the weekend.

Definitely want to hear what you think, like I said when they are hot they GRAB. I wonder if it's because I have full floating 2-piece rotors, so they cool down much more on the long straights putting the pads back in "street" range.

Check out NCRC (Northern Cal Racing Club), I went out to Laguna Seca with them twice, good group. And NASA (that's who I run with) seems to have a good schedule still, I was going to try to hit Thunderhill in July while I was out there to see the family but probably can't make that work.
Got damnnnn so thats what was blocking the entire canal.....makes sense now lol

Haven't heard a squeak from mine so I am hoping everything went smoothly. Started applying more brake pressure at higher speeds and am noticing a slightly better grab when they are warmer compared to this morning when I when I was braking on the freeway. Gonna do a spirited mountain drive on a back road that is usually empty to do some further testing, this weekend. Based on your comments and the feel I was getting from them I would say your 2 piece rotor setup is definitely cooling down the rotors/pads more than my single piece rotor. Did the wear on your rotors come out even from the inside of the rotor to the outer edge?
As far as the "street" range vs "track" range grip, do not want to comment until I test them harder but will keep you posted.

Sweeettt thank you I appreciate that! Will reach out to them to see if I can join them. Yeah for thunderhill I just signed up for the open track days but its all the way in October. Will check them both out tho! Definitely want to start tracking this baby now that I have a good amount done to it, maintenance and mod wise, and nothing planned for a few months as far as mods unless xmas comes early.
 

kevbass52

Ready to race!
JK going with NASA on Sunday instead, forgot Monday is off. Will update ya on if I feel any difference. Might end up going with 2 piece rotors down the road, didn't even know they existed but I love the improved cooling vents to manage temps over brakes overheating and failing lol. The reduced rotational mass is what really got me tho lol
 
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Thumper

Autocross Champion
Did the wear on your rotors come out even from the inside of the rotor to the outer edge?

The fronts had a nice blueish wear band evenly spread from inside to out, the rears were not as good but the light spots were in the middle (so good wear band on the outer and the inner but then smaller "rings" of wear on the middle). Rears filled out better after the track sessions though and didn't squeak at all in the paddock but haven't driven on the street yet since. Got home late from the track on Sunday and just parked the trailer in front of the house, left the R on it and went to bed. LOL I'll be pulling it off Saturday to wash off the track debris, rubber, and grime do an oil change and then put it back on the trailer for next weekend.


JK going with NASA on Sunday instead, forgot Monday is off. Will update ya on if I feel any difference. Might end up going with 2 piece rotors down the road, didn't even know they existed but I love the improved cooling vents to manage temps over brakes overheating and failing lol. The reduced rotational mass is what really got me tho lol

I found the choices for OEM replacement style 2-pieces on this platform to be very scarce on choice. The ones I went with were on the more pricey end but are custom, fully serviceable, and as I documented in my build thread extremely light on the fronts. 6lbs each up front less than OEM.
 
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