2011 Tornado Red Journal

Got the LED lights in place from ECS Tuning - and they worked out great. Install took maybe 10 minutes for the license plate, rear trunk light and both footwell lamps. Totally changes how the car looks and definitely makes it feel more like a higher end German car. Never understood how we never got LED footwell lights - but Audis and BMW's have had them for almost 4 years.

Been very impressed with ECS Tuning with speed of shipping and quickness of order process. Placed my order online Monday afternoon and they were at my doorstep at noon today. Will be doing more business with ECS in the future.

Pictures will be taken tomorrow.

Got tuned yesterday to APR Stage 1 with all maps. And even though the car is still learning - I'm in awe of the power. Simply amazing.

Combined with the BSH intake you can really hear the turbo working and even heard the stock DV opening a lot more. It went from "sporty" to "quick" in my book.

Having dropped $700 in one place, taking a break from the mods for right now. Going to shop for winter wheels and tires and then save over the winter for wheels and Euro tails.

Love this car!

Pre-winter update.

Managed to score some 16x7 Sport Editions with brand new Dunlop Winter Sport 3D snows on them for a steal.

Sold my Detroits and I'm now starting to look at summer wheel options. I'm halfway torn between something lightweight in 17", or OE reps in 18/19".

Installed S3 SS that I was able to order through my dealer, and fixed the horrible BSH heat shield fitment. I'm planning on modifying the shroud even more come summer time with different insulation, or just having a local fab shop make a more "complete" shroud with proper fitment under the hood.

Put almost 10k miles on this car already and I absolutely love it. I cannot find much wrong with this car other than it needs bigger sway bars and stronger brakes. Holding off on stage 2 for a bit while my warranty is still valid.

Finally got my wheels in.... Now to wait for spring...grrrr.

Planning on doing 235/40/ZR18's, either Pilot SS's, Contisport Contact DW's or SP Sportmaxx GT's.

Few more updates, looking to replace the dismal Silverstars in front with some PIAA H7/H8's in the low beams and fogs. Swapped out my city lights in favor for silverstar 194 bulbs in hopes of uniformity. They honestly do not appear any different than stock and it kind of pisses me off. PIAA superwhites will be going in place of the city lights.

Debating on a few things, once tires are purchased for my wheels I need to decided what to do suspension-wise. Really would like DG springs, but used Eibach Pro-kits are very cheap and tempting to buy. I also need to do something about the body roll this car has. So the short list goes something like this...

-Tires
-Springs
-F/R sway bars

Other than that, I might spring for a TOP and maybe a stage 2 intake pipe for my BSH - but keeping the power mods on hold until warranty is up.

Very nice pics, I had noticed this thread before!
Go ahead with good tires and coilovers, you car deserves it. You got more power under the hood, now you should improve how to put it down and the handling. Just my two cents!
Keep posting, your car is a beauty!

Quick little update. Didn't quite like the Bremmer Krafts, so sold them locally for a decent profit. Have my eyes on a set of D2 S8 wheels a coworker has at work. They are 18x8, +43 OE quality and look amazing.

Looking at the H&R Pro Touring kit or Cup kit. I really don't want coil overs and I am very picky about ride quality. The car also needs a bigger rear sway bar and needs something to remedy wheel hop.

Need to look at how S3 LCA bushings work.

Been a while since some updates, so here we go;

Current pics of the car;



Done a few things since winter time. Can't really decide on suspension as of yet, but need to do something soon. Swapped my BSH stage 1 intake for the stock (modded) airbox and an VWMotorsports panel filter and a 2012 TT 2.0 airbox lower section and vent cover (has a hole in it, similar to Euro spec GTI's). I was getting a ton of intake air temp spikes when driving in hot weather with the open design of the BSH. Did a few real-time IAT readings with an OE scan tool and the stock airbox drops them significantly. I gave up some top end power, but got a little mid range back. Looking into a Carbonio or a custom setup soon.

All front lights are 4100k/4150k PIAA bulbs, backup lights are PIAA's. Installed a Golf R grille minus the emblem.

Managed to score a set of rare BBS CH-R reps (I know, I know) and love the way they look. Will have them powder coated fully gloss black this winter.
Best mod so far has to be the set of Michelin Pilot PS2's that I mounted on last month. Completely different car compared to the shitty PZero's.

Had to attach my US plate to the euro bracket after suddenly being harassed by small town cops out of nowhere. :mad0259:

More to come...