6
Just Clowning Around
- Thread starter clownish
- Start date
clownish
just clowning around
So many things that I should write down. Decided to drop a list of some of them so I keep track. More things to come to sink into the money pit...
Suspension
What's Coming
Suspension
- Bilstein B8 Shock Absorbers
- Whiteline WALK
- Whiteline Trailing Arm Bushings, S3, or TTRS Bushings?
- Motul RBF 600 Fluid
- StopTech Street 309.11070 front pads
- StopTech Street 309.14560 rear pads
- Tyrolsport brake stiffening kit
- Centric Drilled/Slotted Rotors
- Braided Stainless Steel Lines
- Big Brake Kit - Aftermarket Kit or OEM TT-RS Retrofit
- NGK BKR7EIX Plugs @ .028
- GFB DV+
- Turbo Outlet Pipe [Research Required]
- Throttle Body Pipe [Research Required]
- 034 Track Density Engine/Trans Mounts [Research Required]
- Unibrace XB
- Unibrace UB or Undercar Brace
- Unibrace RB
- S3 Aero Underbody Coverings
- OEM Under Seat Storage Drawers
- OEM Dash Cubby
- OEM Euro Cupholder
- OEM Aluminum bottle opener
- OEM Aluminum glove box handle
- OEM Trunk Cubby Tray
- Double Apex USB Charger
- Gentex Homelink Auto-dimming mirror
- OEM Euro Blindspot Mirrors or
- Parts4Euro Blindspot Mirrors
- 19' Gunmetal VMR 705s
- Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 available from outmotoring.com, jdl-brakes.com
- Summer Tires
- OEM Euro Front Lip Spoiler (best price currently Keffer VW, part #5K0-071-600- -B9A)
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clownish
just clowning around
So I remember this thread about Homelink auto-dimming mirror: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12787
clownish
just clowning around
Ordered the full set of UNIbraces. XB, UB, RB. Can't wait to install - hopefully before too much more cold weather sets in. I'm getting winter tires for my winter car mounted this weekend. Not looking forward to driving this 03 Camry around during winter. Great tires still don't help with the whole blah factor of the car.
EDIT: XB install notes: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26324
EDIT: XB install notes: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26324
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clownish
just clowning around
Sigh. Cleaned car, used the high pressure sprayer too close to the paint protection film and it ripped. Straight up. I guess I need to invest in some full fender protection. The left fender partial cover is already completely looking like poo. The front is also pretty sloppy. I may need to rethink this paint protection film but damn. I spent so much money getting it covered. At least the hood is so nice. Front bumper just doesn't look that good. The only good thing here is that I know under the mess is clean pristine paint.
clownish
just clowning around
This is a repost from the UNIbrace thread: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68096&page=3
My first order arrived - UB and RB. Standard packaging, box was beat up from travel, but there was a lot of foam sheets covering everything. Both pieces arrived wrapped nice and tight and pristine. Fit and finish is impeccable. I don't know anything about durability, but at least it is certainly pretty looking. Can't wait till this weekend or next weekend to install both these and the XB, which will hopefully arrive on Friday if all things go according to schedule.
The UB is under the foam, RB is in most of these pictures.
Got all three braces installed yesterday. The XB install was done extremely carefully because drilling holes in bare metal of car makes me nervous. Stripped interior:
Then test fit the XB:
Then used metric size bits to drill pilot hole, then full sized (really tight) and then filed the holes for a nearly press fit. Only did the bottom two at first. Then once those were test fitted, marked the top two and put them in.
Used a heat gun on the metal / put the nutserts in the freezer also. To place them, didn't end up using the nutset tool at all because it seemed to be kind of undersized. Used a proper riveter that crushes/ crimps the pieces into place.
The brace in place:
The UB and RB were simple installs. RB took some banging around but it eventually fit in there. Unrelated - I noticed some scrapping on my sway bet too. May need to look into that.
Have driven about 45 miles so far. Car feels so solid that the only body flex noises I'm hearing are distinctly coming from plastic body panels. Turns and carves are solid and I scared myself turning so hard. But the car was completely firm in and through. The failure point here is the OE tires. With these great looking braces, lowering springs and some sway bars, the car is in a much better place right now.
If I add some new struts and perhaps some new control arms and/or ALK, I feel pretty great about how this little gokart will be rolling.
My first order arrived - UB and RB. Standard packaging, box was beat up from travel, but there was a lot of foam sheets covering everything. Both pieces arrived wrapped nice and tight and pristine. Fit and finish is impeccable. I don't know anything about durability, but at least it is certainly pretty looking. Can't wait till this weekend or next weekend to install both these and the XB, which will hopefully arrive on Friday if all things go according to schedule.
The UB is under the foam, RB is in most of these pictures.
Got all three braces installed yesterday. The XB install was done extremely carefully because drilling holes in bare metal of car makes me nervous. Stripped interior:
Then test fit the XB:
Then used metric size bits to drill pilot hole, then full sized (really tight) and then filed the holes for a nearly press fit. Only did the bottom two at first. Then once those were test fitted, marked the top two and put them in.
Used a heat gun on the metal / put the nutserts in the freezer also. To place them, didn't end up using the nutset tool at all because it seemed to be kind of undersized. Used a proper riveter that crushes/ crimps the pieces into place.
The brace in place:
The UB and RB were simple installs. RB took some banging around but it eventually fit in there. Unrelated - I noticed some scrapping on my sway bet too. May need to look into that.
Have driven about 45 miles so far. Car feels so solid that the only body flex noises I'm hearing are distinctly coming from plastic body panels. Turns and carves are solid and I scared myself turning so hard. But the car was completely firm in and through. The failure point here is the OE tires. With these great looking braces, lowering springs and some sway bars, the car is in a much better place right now.
If I add some new struts and perhaps some new control arms and/or ALK, I feel pretty great about how this little gokart will be rolling.
clownish
just clowning around
I've been researching brake kits. There are a bunch of options but it seem to be heavily dependent on subjective feel, how the car is being used, and cost of install/maintenance. 100% unnecessary for me? Yes. Wanted? Yes. I originally wanted to pull the trigger on a brake kit this month, but I decided that I needed to do more research first.
OEM TT-RS retrofit: 4 piston calipers with 370 mm rotors. This option works because of the platform cross fit from the A3/S3/RS3. We have the benefit of OE research and development with reasonable maintenance costs and proven design in all season drivability. New parts from OE are expensive, coming close to $4000 for everything, but if I can find the calipers and/or other components used with low mileage, it might make a very cost effective install option. Parts necessary include the calipers, front rotors, stainless brake lines, pads, new fluid. Some people saying that a master cylinder swap is necessary to retain a stock-like petal feel; so far that doesn't seem to be the case. If anyone in Ohio has done this swap, I would love to take a short test drive for pedal feel etc. Helpful links:
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175147
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176126
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149461
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136174
Ebay regularly has UK selling RS3 and TTRS front calipers for anywhere between $250-2000, depending on what they're selling with it. New, these parts would be close to $3000, so I'd say used calipers are the way to go. Still need to get the rest of the parts, including stainless brake lines, rotors, brackets if necessary. Also some control arm upgrades aren't very compatible, like the SuperPro retrofit that some people have used.
Brembo “Tier 3" $1800 - These are 4 piston calipers with 330mm 1 piece rotors. The cheapest Brembo option for the MKVI platform that serves it’s purpose. Street worthy with weekend track events are a high possibility here. The longest anyone I know or may know has had them installed is a little over one year - not enough time to really prove if longevity is going to be an issue. They're more than enough for daily and they are very civil. If I was thinking more reasonably, this would be my first choice, but as with buying mainly more expensive parts, I figure that if I'm doing it, I might as well do it all the way and not cheap out.
Brembo GT “Tier 1” - These are usually around $3995 and are extreme. Obviously they would work great, but for actual daily driving they might be a little much. However, with unlimited amounts of cash, I would spring for these in a second. 6 piston monoblock calipers, 355x32 mm two piece rotors. Pretty expensive to replace rotors, but at least we know Brembo is going to be around forever, certainly longer than I'll have my GTI even if I keep it for ten years.
VW Racing “Tier 2" - Though these are $2900 - on sale till the end of November for $2400, the replacement rotors are $1300 a pair. Even if that only happens once every few years, that is a pretty hefty daily driver pay to play fee. These are not up to the performance of the Brembo GTs, but far more than I would ever need, even tracking. These are six piston two piece calipers with 352x32mm two piece rotors. The nice thing about these are that they have VW specific hub spacers built into the rotor design, which means you don't have to add in other aftermarket pieces. These are only available from the UK, so shipping and replacement parts is a bit of a wait. Then again, this system is designed for VWs instead of being fit to all platforms, so there's a little more thought into the design, like the fact that the caliper design is specifically created for the GTI master cylinder. In terms of keeping it in the family, I could easily see myself going for these as well as VWR transmission and engine mounts.
Stoptech “Tier 3” - I really just have no interest in Stoptechs, but I do see that most people who upgrade their brake systems go with Stoptech. For the price and delivery of product, there's really no better product for the dollar.
17z Retrofit - I also don't want to deal with piecing together a brake kit from a platform that is so old. This tech is positively antique compared to the options we have off the shelf and upcoming. I'd even go for a MkVII brake retrofit over reaching back so far to piece together a kit like this.
OEM TT-RS retrofit: 4 piston calipers with 370 mm rotors. This option works because of the platform cross fit from the A3/S3/RS3. We have the benefit of OE research and development with reasonable maintenance costs and proven design in all season drivability. New parts from OE are expensive, coming close to $4000 for everything, but if I can find the calipers and/or other components used with low mileage, it might make a very cost effective install option. Parts necessary include the calipers, front rotors, stainless brake lines, pads, new fluid. Some people saying that a master cylinder swap is necessary to retain a stock-like petal feel; so far that doesn't seem to be the case. If anyone in Ohio has done this swap, I would love to take a short test drive for pedal feel etc. Helpful links:
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175147
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176126
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149461
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136174
Ebay regularly has UK selling RS3 and TTRS front calipers for anywhere between $250-2000, depending on what they're selling with it. New, these parts would be close to $3000, so I'd say used calipers are the way to go. Still need to get the rest of the parts, including stainless brake lines, rotors, brackets if necessary. Also some control arm upgrades aren't very compatible, like the SuperPro retrofit that some people have used.
Brembo “Tier 3" $1800 - These are 4 piston calipers with 330mm 1 piece rotors. The cheapest Brembo option for the MKVI platform that serves it’s purpose. Street worthy with weekend track events are a high possibility here. The longest anyone I know or may know has had them installed is a little over one year - not enough time to really prove if longevity is going to be an issue. They're more than enough for daily and they are very civil. If I was thinking more reasonably, this would be my first choice, but as with buying mainly more expensive parts, I figure that if I'm doing it, I might as well do it all the way and not cheap out.
Brembo GT “Tier 1” - These are usually around $3995 and are extreme. Obviously they would work great, but for actual daily driving they might be a little much. However, with unlimited amounts of cash, I would spring for these in a second. 6 piston monoblock calipers, 355x32 mm two piece rotors. Pretty expensive to replace rotors, but at least we know Brembo is going to be around forever, certainly longer than I'll have my GTI even if I keep it for ten years.
VW Racing “Tier 2" - Though these are $2900 - on sale till the end of November for $2400, the replacement rotors are $1300 a pair. Even if that only happens once every few years, that is a pretty hefty daily driver pay to play fee. These are not up to the performance of the Brembo GTs, but far more than I would ever need, even tracking. These are six piston two piece calipers with 352x32mm two piece rotors. The nice thing about these are that they have VW specific hub spacers built into the rotor design, which means you don't have to add in other aftermarket pieces. These are only available from the UK, so shipping and replacement parts is a bit of a wait. Then again, this system is designed for VWs instead of being fit to all platforms, so there's a little more thought into the design, like the fact that the caliper design is specifically created for the GTI master cylinder. In terms of keeping it in the family, I could easily see myself going for these as well as VWR transmission and engine mounts.
Stoptech “Tier 3” - I really just have no interest in Stoptechs, but I do see that most people who upgrade their brake systems go with Stoptech. For the price and delivery of product, there's really no better product for the dollar.
17z Retrofit - I also don't want to deal with piecing together a brake kit from a platform that is so old. This tech is positively antique compared to the options we have off the shelf and upcoming. I'd even go for a MkVII brake retrofit over reaching back so far to piece together a kit like this.
clownish
just clowning around
The car has been garaged for only a few weeks and I've been driving this winter mode Camery. I can't stand the loose steering, the soft brake feel, the lack of response (even though it has a v6), and color. A beige Camery. How cliche. Well, it's a perfect condition 2004 vehicle with under 50k miles. It's rarely driven since it's my parents' extra car so I steal it during winters - benefits of living in the same city I grew up in, I suppose. I've had some Blizzaks mounted on it the last few years and during that time I've driven through snow storms, flurries, slush and straight up blizzards, so I know the car is great in winter weather. But I still hate driving it. It's like a dishwasher with wheels. I tried detailing it today and I just stopped after getting it clean, not spotless. No enthusiasm for it at all.
Maybe it's wishful thinking and I hope the road clears up lots, but I bought a Cobra iRadar 150 and Cobra Mini Universal Phone Mount as a bundle for about eighty bucks. Includes the radar, mount, power cords, and all associated hardware. Never owned a radar detector before, but I've certainly used one before! Can't wait to use it. I'm hoping this particular cheap model feels like Waze with radar detecting.
Maybe it's wishful thinking and I hope the road clears up lots, but I bought a Cobra iRadar 150 and Cobra Mini Universal Phone Mount as a bundle for about eighty bucks. Includes the radar, mount, power cords, and all associated hardware. Never owned a radar detector before, but I've certainly used one before! Can't wait to use it. I'm hoping this particular cheap model feels like Waze with radar detecting.
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clownish
just clowning around
Moving faster than anticipated, but I can't say I am not excited. Got some more parts to install!
With the help of HS Tuning, I sourced a used set of TT-RS front brake calipers and rotors from eBay, from a 2012 TT-RS with 9000 mi on it. Solid price. I'll probably powder coat either the front calipers or the existing stock rear GTI calipers so I have a matching set. I'm thinking, if I do the new calipers, that we'll match the stock GTI red color and maybe re-brand them with the Brembo logo, since they're OE Brembos anyways. Or perhaps I'll just power coat the stock set black and get the new calipers just blacked out. Either way you cut it, I don't want to have the RS symbols anywhere on it. Keeping the car looking mostly OEM+ is the ultimate goal.
So looks like I'll be needing to get some new dust boots and a full set of stainless brake lines, along with the associated hardware.
Pictures of the VWR transmission mount and brakes when they all arrive.
Road tripping, so I also picked up an Incase Car Charger and a Kenu Airframe phone mount. So far they've worked out perfectly! I don't know about reliability and longevity, but so far it's been 600 miles and they've held up just fine.
With the help of HS Tuning, I sourced a used set of TT-RS front brake calipers and rotors from eBay, from a 2012 TT-RS with 9000 mi on it. Solid price. I'll probably powder coat either the front calipers or the existing stock rear GTI calipers so I have a matching set. I'm thinking, if I do the new calipers, that we'll match the stock GTI red color and maybe re-brand them with the Brembo logo, since they're OE Brembos anyways. Or perhaps I'll just power coat the stock set black and get the new calipers just blacked out. Either way you cut it, I don't want to have the RS symbols anywhere on it. Keeping the car looking mostly OEM+ is the ultimate goal.
So looks like I'll be needing to get some new dust boots and a full set of stainless brake lines, along with the associated hardware.
Pictures of the VWR transmission mount and brakes when they all arrive.
Road tripping, so I also picked up an Incase Car Charger and a Kenu Airframe phone mount. So far they've worked out perfectly! I don't know about reliability and longevity, but so far it's been 600 miles and they've held up just fine.
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clownish
just clowning around
Got a Cobra iRadar 200 off of socialstack.com heavily discounted and it came with a Cobra universal phone mount also. This is a basic radar detector unit with a socially oriented app, waze style. The app lets you record cameras, danger spots, and live track police on the map. You can also see where other detectors went off from other users.
if you google reviews for the radar detector, you'll see complaints about the app - laggy, inaccurate, too simple etx. I'd say the problems are ironed out pretty well. It functions how I expect it to. In Cleveland I don't think many people are using this system so Waze is still a better choice for crowd sourced traffic and police warnings - got to figure out how to run both apps perhaps so I have radar detecting and waze navi as a back up to the vw OEM navi which we know isn't always the most accurate...
The radar detector itself is about the size of a deck of cards, with matte black finishing except on the ends where the sensors and display are. It detects the full normal spectrum of signals from K and X to some laser types. Using the app you can control the types of alerts, city
Mode, and many other basic functions that more expensive units might have hardcoded. Here using the unit with an app on a smart phone is the only way to get all of its functionality. It is powered by a 12v cigarette lighter plug cord. One nice feature is that the cord has a 5v USB 2.0 port built into it so you aren't sacrificing the lighter port as much. Build quality is what i expect for a $130 msrp detector - solid but not fancy. It does throw a lot of false positives but it also accurately detected the police cars on the freeway during my commute home today. I'll have to play with it more and see if it can learn appropriately.
Set up was brainless. Plug everything in, download the app, and pair the unit on your phone via Bluetooth. The unit glows blue when paired to a phone, and red when ready but unpaired. Because the GTI headliner has the top console for lights, sunglasses, Bluetooth, and sunroof controls it does not work to mount the detector up top. The best place seems to be centered on the dash just below the rear view mirror. However, not wanting to be so blatant, I currently have it as low as possible on the dash while keeping it level. I may pull it even further back so that it sits on the dash instead of attached to the windshield. If I do so, I'll build some sort of camp bracket/cover so it blends into the dash. I hate being conspicuous. Either that or I'll just get a blend or mirror mount.
Long story short: great for my first radar detector and seems to so everything I expect. Time will tell if this is worth using daily or only on road trips. Currently leaning towards road trip use only but it's not been one day and 80 mi so we shall see. Already been checking into modular radar detector/laser jammers. For the amount of money a good one costs I might as well just buy the LSD I've been drooling over.
if you google reviews for the radar detector, you'll see complaints about the app - laggy, inaccurate, too simple etx. I'd say the problems are ironed out pretty well. It functions how I expect it to. In Cleveland I don't think many people are using this system so Waze is still a better choice for crowd sourced traffic and police warnings - got to figure out how to run both apps perhaps so I have radar detecting and waze navi as a back up to the vw OEM navi which we know isn't always the most accurate...
The radar detector itself is about the size of a deck of cards, with matte black finishing except on the ends where the sensors and display are. It detects the full normal spectrum of signals from K and X to some laser types. Using the app you can control the types of alerts, city
Mode, and many other basic functions that more expensive units might have hardcoded. Here using the unit with an app on a smart phone is the only way to get all of its functionality. It is powered by a 12v cigarette lighter plug cord. One nice feature is that the cord has a 5v USB 2.0 port built into it so you aren't sacrificing the lighter port as much. Build quality is what i expect for a $130 msrp detector - solid but not fancy. It does throw a lot of false positives but it also accurately detected the police cars on the freeway during my commute home today. I'll have to play with it more and see if it can learn appropriately.
Set up was brainless. Plug everything in, download the app, and pair the unit on your phone via Bluetooth. The unit glows blue when paired to a phone, and red when ready but unpaired. Because the GTI headliner has the top console for lights, sunglasses, Bluetooth, and sunroof controls it does not work to mount the detector up top. The best place seems to be centered on the dash just below the rear view mirror. However, not wanting to be so blatant, I currently have it as low as possible on the dash while keeping it level. I may pull it even further back so that it sits on the dash instead of attached to the windshield. If I do so, I'll build some sort of camp bracket/cover so it blends into the dash. I hate being conspicuous. Either that or I'll just get a blend or mirror mount.
Long story short: great for my first radar detector and seems to so everything I expect. Time will tell if this is worth using daily or only on road trips. Currently leaning towards road trip use only but it's not been one day and 80 mi so we shall see. Already been checking into modular radar detector/laser jammers. For the amount of money a good one costs I might as well just buy the LSD I've been drooling over.
clownish
just clowning around
The TT-RS set came today in a beat up box. Brake dust was seeping out everywhere and the parts were damn filthy. The packaging left something to be desired but the rotors look okay for used parts. Some scratches from removal but it doesn't appear to be structural and the damage isn't visible when mounted. The calipers are solid but they have some cosmetic damage on the faces which was noted by the seller. All good - gunna powder cost them gti red anyways. All in all, I think this is going to be really fun.
