Thumper's 2012 Stg 3 Golf R - The Defiant

[Thumper]

Great review, man. Bummer that you experienced a lot of dust, as I recall reading that lowered dust was a feature of these pads.

Did you see my "before" wheel picture a few posts back? LOL Those wheels were freshly plasti-dipped and put on the car after the brakes were installed, that is what they looked like after the 50 or so mile break in drive and one weekend at the track. Granted track use is heavy and will see more dust but I would still expect on a street car you'd be scrubbing your wheels once a month minimum with these. Best bet is to definitely apply a ceramic coat so you'd have the chance to use just a good spray and pressure washer every few weeks.

 

[torga]

Did you see my "before" wheel picture a few posts back? LOL Those wheels were freshly plasti-dipped and put on the car after the brakes were installed, that is what they looked like after the 50 or so mile break in drive and one weekend at the track. Granted track use is heavy and will see more dust but I would still expect on a street car you'd be scrubbing your wheels once a month minimum with these. Best bet is to definitely apply a ceramic coat so you'd have the chance to use just a good spray and pressure washer every few weeks.

To be fair, I'm pretty certain most pads dust quite heavily during initial break-in, even if they say "low dust". The last few pads I've broken in were always worse at first.

 

[Thumper]

Well, got the front wheels off to inspect the brakes and make sure the brake warning that came up on day 2 was not a real concern. Found two major concerns.

#1 - Previous owner CUT the connector off the harness to the wear sensor. The wires were twisted together and wrapped in electrical tape. This is annoying because A) ECS and UROTuning sell defeats to plug into the factory harness (or you can make your own easily), B) I have not tried it yet but you should be able to defeat the warning in VCDS, C) The previous owner gave me a set of G-Loc pads he was using at the track, so he was swapping them and so no need to defeat the warning.

The wires were still tight together but the wire ends looked weathered, thinking it may be corroding. I rewrapped the end in new electrical tape and will see if the warning comes back before trying to code it away or worst case.....buying a new connector and repairing the factory harness. In addition the harness itself behind the brake shield was covered in electrical tape and was MELTED, I mean it was gooey and soft so that could also be an issue. Decided to leave it in place for now, need to order a heat sleeve, but again likely to need to repair the harness.

#2 - The Pirellis don't seem like a suitable trackday tire. I never expected them to be amazing on the track, they are a street tire, but they are clearly weak against heat.

RIGHT FRONT

It's hard to see but the center tread is worn unevenly, in fact it is almost touching the wearbar! They have 1000 street miles on them and 10 track sessions.

I was getting pretty decent wear to the edge but not over on the first track weekend at Heartland Park, but this is after a weekend at Hallett Raceway and clearly shows it's not rolling to the edge (like that missing chunk of tread?)

I was checking my pressures after every session and pressures were consistent at 41-42 which is right around where the recommended street pressures should be (street cold for this tire size is 37psi, I set them to 33 cold at the track).


Here is the left front

I am still trying to compile all my video from the weekend and previous weekend, but the weekend at Hallett was the first where I used RaceChrono for overlay info so they are the most interesting and helpful.

Here is a teaser, the lap in the first session of the second day where I money shifted coming out of Snapping Turtle Chicane (They don't use corner numbers there lol) and then a clean-ish lap right after. I had a modded mini driven by an instructor on my tail right at the end and had to lift to let him pass.

 

[Thumper]

Update on the EBC Yellows. Oh dear LORD they were a bad idea.

Just don't.

Took the R out for the first time since the track, just drove across town to dinner nothing exciting really other than the fact that the brakes now barely work at street speeds. Coasting up to the end of the street pressing on the brakes the pedal was firm but the response was soft, the car slowed but not properly, had to give it more pedal press to get grip. Definitely not what they were doing right after they were installed and I was bedding them in. Got a bit more aggressive on the brakes to test them as we made our way cross town, got up to 50mph on the road before the restaurant and braked hard into the parking lot and with that heat they grabbed strong, not great but strong with less pedal.

There's plenty of pad material left, at least 80% but they are worthless even as street pads now, the track service destroyed them. Next track event with the R is in Oct so I have some time to get the G-Loc's ordered and install them. I'm heading out to CA in a few weeks to see my family (and will be stopping at Thunderhill with the TTRS lol) so I'll order them when I get back.

 

[torga]

That is not great at all to hear. Glad I haven't bought pads yet. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Thumper]

They're here...........

 

[torga]

So what's the deal with these vs. just having R8 coils?

 

[Thumper]

So what's the deal with these vs. just having R8 coils?

The community assumption of R8 coils being better was never more than circumstantial that I ever saw. They come off an R8, and something about lower resistance levels being measured and so they are better. Never saw any solid info proving it, they are basically Audi/VW coils with red plastic tops.

APR did their own testing which most of us do not have the ability to do and their tests show no real significant difference between stock coils on our cars, the A line Audi's, the S line Audi's, and the R8 ones. Now when a company tests their own product and tells you it's better that isn't definitive either so I plan to run some VCDS logs and see what real world difference I can find because even if they produce more juice, does that actually translate to a benefit? At the end of the day they were $120, and they offer them in blue which compliments my underhood theme lol so if they are no different, it's not that big of a deal.

I will say a buddy of mine with a MK7 said he heard of issues on that platform (it's a different style) which APR released a while ago, I was eying them for the TTRS but hadn't gotten them yet. So I will definitely be testing and sharing my data and observations but it might be a bit as I have a lot on my plate right now and will be on vacation the week after next as well. I'll get them installed this weekend but testing will probably not be done till the end of August.

 

[Phur]

I look forward to the review.

 

[KollinWithaK]

I ironically just got these put up on the UroTuning site like twenty minutes ago. Here is a graph of the testing they ran for these specific coils for reference:

 

[Phur]

I ironically just got these put up on the UroTuning site like twenty minutes ago. Here is a graph of the testing they ran for these specific coils for reference:

View attachment 219709

I wonder what that translates into as far as the effect that it has on our cars, though. Will the extra output energy result in a stronger, more consistent spark? Will that create a more consistent burn? If so, I would think that it would cause the engine to run smoother, perhaps with a very very slight increase in power. Or are the OEM coils good enough that the extra output energy is irrelevant?

Thumper? It sounds like you have some work to do.

 

[torga]

I wonder what that translates into as far as the effect that it has on our cars, though. Will the extra output energy result in a stronger, more consistent spark? Will that create a more consistent burn? If so, I would think that it would cause the engine to run smoother, perhaps with a very very slight increase in power. Or are the OEM coils good enough that the extra output energy is irrelevant?

Thumper? It sounds like you have some work to do.

It's an extra ~3% of output energy at the very top end of dwell, but you're seeing a fairly consistent energy increase throughout most of the curve. Not entirely sure if 3% is enough to truly be noticeable. Keeping my ears perked for reviews and such.
In any case, a set of APR coils cost roughly the same as a set of genuine R8 coils. So if the reliability is there, it's a no brainer to pay the same amount for something that outputs 3% more energy.

 

[Phur]

Very much agree. Also, APR branding would automatically add 3 hp.

 

[torga]

Very much agree. Also, APR branding would automatically add 3 hp.

And you get a sticker for your car, so another 2hp.

You don't get an R8 badge when you buy R8 coils. Cheapskates.

 

[uglybastard]

I'd like to figure out a way to test the coil differences betyween stock blacktops and the R8 redtops. they are different shape and a tad heavier, so i'd imagine they have more wiring than stock.