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Solo Nationals 2017 - Mk6 - Thoughts

chilichez

New member
Hello -

I ran a Mk6 (2014 Wolfsburg 6sp) at Nationals this year, my first trip to Lincoln and had a blast. I'd appreciate some thoughts/ideas from you out there around the car/experience and how we get this thing in the top 10 next year...

The car was set up at a basic, mouth-breather level. Koni Yellows, 1/2 turn from full firm front, 1/2 turn from full soft rears. No additional/replaced sway bars. RPF1 18/7.5. RE71s 225/18 (so stock sizes/widths all around) with 5 local events on them and me keeping the race wheels on all summer because they look better, so some wear on them. Noticed I was the only clown on 18s. But I had a K&N drop in filter ;-). All runs with traction control ON. Tried to run as stock as possible, and the rear shocks are set to ride quality, not race, decided not to change for the heck of it. Turned up the fronts because I could. Tires weren't set right on pressure day 1, 4-5 pounds low and rolled over a little. Day 2 was better but missed the first run due to an effing conference call...

Ended up 17 of 24, see the GS standings here:

https://dk1xgl0d43mu1.cloudfront.ne...s/000/037/986/Official_Results.pdf?1505247824

Reasonably, time to make the car faster. Sway bars? 17s and wider tires? Traction/Stability fuse pulls? I'd appreciate any thoughts here. Want to maximize this MK6. Not a winning car, but think I can trophy in 2018. Competitive here in CO... but it is CO.
 
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red_stapler

Ready to race!
First of all, props for going to nationals! One of these years I'll actually go.

I'd look at what Jen Wong was running for wheels/tires and copy that if possible. I believe the current sauce is 245-40-17 Rival S 1.5s.

For the rear swaybar, either call Sam Strano and see if he sells a bar for the Mk6, or go with the Hotchkiss.

It's too bad the SEB ruled that VCDS coding isin't permitted to disable the stability control. I guess the workaround for some years was to disconnect the steering angle sensor?
 

1ashchuckton

Autocross Champion
Wow that class is dominated with Focus ST's & a few MK7 GTI's. I'd guess most of those cars were optimized for autocross competition. 17th is nothing to be ashamed of in a huge field like that. I think disabling the traction & stability nanny would help as would better tires. Rear swaybar of course.
 

MrFancypants

Autocross Champion
The MKVI GTI has a massive advantage going for it in that class, the length of the stock rear bumpstops. They're 133 mms long and at rest I believe there's less than half an inch of bump before they engage. Unless the rules changed bumpstops are open as long as they're not longer than the stock stops. Because ours are so long this basically means you can choose whatever spring rate you want at the rear via bumpstop changes. Swap out the long, progressive rate ones with the soft engagement and find a set that gets firm without much travel.

To balance it out, get the biggest front swaybar you can find. For the front bumpstops I personally would want to experiment a bit. Swap out the stock 70 mm stops for the VW "sport spring" length 55 mm stops. The stiffer front swaybar will keep the suspension in the happy camber zone longer and the shorter bumpstops combined with adding and removing packers to adjust when they engage will give you the ability to fine tune the car's handling balance.

For dampers, if you're feeling serious, consider ordering a set of Bilstein B6s and have them revalved. You'll lose the ability to add and remove packers at the event to adjust the bumpstop's engagement point, but the benefits should outweigh the drawbacks.

Last.... turn off the traction control and learn to make the most of XDS, it's surprisingly effective as long as you don't overwhelm it with too much throttle. Smooth, measured throttle inputs will make the front behave like you have a proper limited slip. Too much throttle will still smoke the inside front, but the front of the car won't leap wide like a limited slip equipped FWD car would because the outside tire is still contributing to lateral grip; it'll still plow a bit, but IMO it's easier to quickly recover.
 
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chilichez

New member
Great stuff

Reasonably, admittedly, I don't know what a bumpstop is, much how it affects handling. Knew a girl in college that was called Bumpstop, had no idea I may have held incorrect perspectives at one time. Rookie here. Appreciated and something I need to understand better.

I have heard about a stiff front bar set up, but wonder what that would do to the street drive-ability of the car. I picked up a 27mm Hotchkis rear bar and am interested to see what that will do.

My experience with the traction control button is that it "unlocks" the XDS and I roost my inside right hard on anything remotely going that direction. Literally put my 12 year old in the passenger seat sometimes (she loves it) to keep the wheel on the ground enough. Throttle control surely, but annoying.
 

dub*man

Ready to race!
The MKVI GTI has a massive advantage going for it in that class, the length of the stock rear bumpstops. They're 133 mms long and at rest I believe there's less than half an inch of bump before they engage. Unless the rules changed bumpstops are open as long as they're not longer than the stock stops. Because ours are so long this basically means you can choose whatever spring rate you want at the rear via bumpstop changes. Swap out the long, progressive rate ones with the soft engagement and find a set that gets firm without much travel.

To balance it out, get the biggest front swaybar you can find. For the front bumpstops I personally would want to experiment a bit. Swap out the stock 70 mm stops for the VW "sport spring" length 55 mm stops. The stiffer front swaybar will keep the suspension in the happy camber zone longer and the shorter bumpstops combined with adding and removing packers to adjust when they engage will give you the ability to fine tune the car's handling balance.

For dampers, if you're feeling serious, consider ordering a set of Bilstein B6s and have them revalved. You'll lose the ability to add and remove packers at the event to adjust the bumpstop's engagement point, but the benefits should outweigh the drawbacks.

Last.... turn off the traction control and learn to make the most of XDS, it's surprisingly effective as long as you don't overwhelm it with too much throttle. Smooth, measured throttle inputs will make the front behave like you have a proper limited slip. Too much throttle will still smoke the inside front, but the front of the car won't leap wide like a limited slip equipped FWD car would because the outside tire is still contributing to lateral grip; it'll still plow a bit, but IMO it's easier to quickly recover.


Revalve the B6s to what specs?
 

Amoore

New member
I'll throw in my experience with setup. You certainly want the rear sway bar. It helps the car rotate at any part of the corner and provides a quicker initial turn in. After experimenting with the soft/hard settings on the 034 bar, the harder setting is what works for me.

You will probably want to get 17's, and most of the GTI guys run a 245/40/17 tire in whatever is fastest that year.

Also you will want to drive the car without traction control on, it kills power at any hint of wheelspin. Some wheel spin is ok, and figuring out the optimum amount of wheelspin during launch will result in a little quicker time. The only time stability control has interfered is when I've made a mistake and the back end of the car steps out way too far. Smooth inputs keep this from happening and result in a quicker time as well.

I can't speak about tuning with bump stops, but it's something I am not prepared to do and don't know of anyone else in the class doing it either.
 
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