Just finished running about 40 laps around a 1.8 mile road course here in Nashville TN . . .
My car: 2010 2 Door White GTI 6-speed
Bone stock except for
Hawk HP+ Pads (amazing)
TRMotorsports MT-1 17x8 Wheels
Bridgestone RE50 225/45/17 (140 treadwear)
Let me first say I've driven MANY cars hard (WRX, 911 turbo, Legacy GT, Mustang GT, Mercedes 320 kompressor, mercedes sl500 amg)
My impressions of our cars on a track:
AMAZING.
1) XDS is phenomenal, I don't care what you've heard or who you have heard it from
2) Our suspension STOCK is absolutely WONDERFUL on a track. VW got it RIGHT this time. This track was VERY dynamic with lots of off-camber turns, 2 hairpins, and a long straight where I reached about 118-120 before braking for hard left.
3) Even though I only had about 2600 miles on the car, I did NOT take it easy. Once I figured out optimum tire pressures, my car was truly overtaking much more (should have been) capable cars, including my good friends TRACK-PREPPED integra type-r (i'm not lying, he had to let me pass twice and has MUCH more track experience than me)
4) Some cars in my 2 heats (i raced in two because I was the official photographer) Dodge Viper, Mazda RX-7 (track prepped, and one of the few cars i had to let pass), Honda s2000 (very fast, lots of mods), bmw 2002, TWO e46 m3s (couldn't keep up, probably due to drivers, but I'm not sure), Supercharged 2000 mustang GT (continued to slow me down and be an ass until I finally changed heats)
5) The lightweight wheels and aggressive tires no doubt, helped me a lot, but I want you to know that anyone who says these cars need Big Brake Upgrades if full of sh*t. I was putting this car though tougher braking scenarios than i've ever put through a car (WITH STOCK FLUID) and my HP+ pads NEVER ONCE showed signs of fade. Our vented front rotors do the job just fine!!
6) Track your car. You will NEVER fall more in love with it.
Pictures (of course, none of my car since I was the photographer) and in car VIDEO soon to come!!