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Multiple Directions, One Goal - George11's GTI

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George11

Ready to race!
I put in the seat and it was way too close and too high with standard bolt in parts. With redrilling the side plates and slider and reducing the cushion thickness, I now sit lower and have almost near factory range on the seat position.



After this photo was taken I redid the harness strapping and added shaft collars to the harness to hold the belts in place.

I can still use my stock seat belt, and am working on turning off the airbag light with a resistor for the airbag and seat position sensor.

Also changed out my front Textar pads / rotors. The pads were running close to the wear sensors with about 3 mm left after 2 HPDE's and a total of 11,000 miles. I changed to Hawk HP pads and Zimmerman Z-Coat rotors. Used the Motive Power Bleeder which made the swap really easy.
 
G

George11

Ready to race!
WSIR 10/22/2016

Just did my first HPDE at Willow Springs International Raceway, the oldest paved raceway in the west. Due to it being my first time on the track, I went with Blue group allowing me to learn the track and pick up my pace in the later afternoon. At the end of the day I did a 1:53.84 lap time with a lot to still learn. The speeds you can do into turn 2 and turn 7 thru 9 is crazy. I need to change my cars ESP, XDS, DSR and brake assist since most of the time around turns the controls were going off, though I need to be more smooth with my inputs. I definitely need to invest in a set of dedicated wheels & tire set for the track.

I plan on heading to Chuckwalla on November 19th and 20th with Speedventures if anyone is interested in attending.

Here is one of the photos from CaliPhotography.
 
zrickety

zrickety

The Fixer
Awesome!
 
G

George11

Ready to race!
So I did each track 1 time during 2016, Buttonwillow, Willowsprings, Chuckwalla and Autoclub. It is honestly tough to say which is my favorite, there are too many variables such as driving distance from home, the track layout, track accommodations and hotels. Autoclub is so close but its layout is not my favorite. In order of best to worst from my own standards best to worst, Willowsprings, Buttonwillow, Chuckwalla, then Autoclub.

I have a lot more ideas of what still needs to be done to the car, first and foremost I need to get a rear sway bar before my next track day due to running a front sway bar after doing work to the front subframe. Other modifications would be lower control arms with accompanying parts. 034 Motorsport engine / trans mount. Also a dedicated set of track tires would be nice. After that I would probably say the RacingBrake upgrade kit to the Porsche Boxter brakes that will change the caliper pistons to stainless steel for better temperature control.

I have found a lot of information out after doing my own research on brake calipers. Across the board any 4 pot caliper will have the same surface area on brake pad. 6 pot calipers have a decent increase though then 18 inch wheels are the minimum for clearance. Then after comes the brake tuning, new master cylinder, bias control, the cost of maintaince. If I were to upgrade my honest choice would be AP brakes 6 piston.
 
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G

George11

Ready to race!
A lot of big changes coming for 2017, wilwood bbk, lower control arms, track dedicated wheels are on my list.

Since December I have changed to Akebono Euro Ceramic on 4 corners with stoptech slotted front rotors, pagid blanks on the rear, squeal free. Have a set of brembo blanks for the track with hawk hps pads that squeal like crazy on street. Also I have had a set of BFgoodrich G-Force Sport Comp-2's which wear strange because of the tread pattern on the outside of the tire and made a lot of road noise. After those ran a set of Cooper RS3-S which are just as inexpensive with low traction compared to Michelin PSS. Honestly the Michelin PSS are dirt cheap right now so I will probably pick up a set after I run through the Coopers.

I have learned a lot with tracking the car. Definitely bring tools to the track, torque your wheels after each session, and bleed your brakes often if you feel a spongee pedal.

I thought the porsche brakes could be enough for the track but I am skeptical. So I'm going to upgrade to the Wilwood, the price point is great compared to the Brembo and Stoptech. Especially on maintenance parts of rotors and pads.

Finally installed a rear sway bar from Neuspeed! Went for the 28mm race rear sway bar with two settings.
 
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George11

Ready to race!
Since I had my front sway bar installed I have had issues, first the endlink came loose off the shock mount. Also there was a noticeable clunk noise which has been chronic. Finally this week I discovered that clunk was the drivers side sway bar bolts came loose. Fortunately I was able to catch this at my driveway so I did not loose the u clamp or its base. The annoying part was getting the replacement bolts which for a GTI Mk6 front sway bar is N91073401 considered a GTI front stabilizer bolt.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
 
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George11

Ready to race!
Mayseffect said:
You may have mentioned this already, but are the specs for your wheels and tires currently?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Advan RS 17x8 5x112, 17 lbs each. Most recent set of tires now are Falken Azenis RT615K+ they preformed really on the track. No issues with traction control on corners for a stage 2 car on track when warmed up.
 
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George11

Ready to race!
I have been thinking for at least 3 months about selling my car and after all that time I have decided not to because of these 3 reasons, my car is paid off, I know my car well since I bought it new and the RWD cars (BRZ, E46 M3, C6 Corvette) I am interested in are overpriced or will require a lot of work from when I have been searching. Anyone else spend over an hour just looking at used cars or is that just me?

So with keeping the car I finally got some much needed upgrades, after a quick torque down of all that was loose on my car. With guidance for Pacific German I had new SuperPro lower control arms and 034 motorsport motor & trans mounts added. I decided to try out to Pacific German in Laguna Hills because of their involvement in the local vw car community. What a great shop, the small touches gave me piece of mind, such as their ability to keep me in the loop with emails and texts.

The car outside of a K04 swap and track wheels is where I like it, just minor things to tweak such as my front endlinks always loosening, a baffled oil pan for the track and a rattle in my exhaust at warm up.
 
sauceman101

sauceman101

Ready to race!
George11 said:
I have been thinking for at least 3 months about selling my car and after all that time I have decided not to because of these 3 reasons, my car is paid off, I know my car well since I bought it new and the RWD cars (BRZ, E46 M3, C6 Corvette) I am interested in are overpriced or will require a lot of work from when I have been searching. Anyone else spend over an hour just looking at used cars or is that just me?

So with keeping the car I finally got some much needed upgrades, after a quick torque down of all that was loose on my car. With guidance for Pacific German I had new SuperPro lower control arms and 034 motorsport motor & trans mounts added. I decided to try out to Pacific German in Laguna Hills because of their involvement in the local vw car community. What a great shop, the small touches gave me piece of mind, such as their ability to keep me in the loop with emails and texts.

The car outside of a K04 swap and track wheels is where I like it, just minor things to tweak such as my front endlinks always loosening, a baffled oil pan for the track and a rattle in my exhaust at warm up.
Click to expand...

no intent of getting rid of the GTI, also have a street bike, ford ranger and 65 mustang, but I look at replacements for the GTI for a few hours a week, some day I'll find an S2k, e46 or 03-04 cobra to take it's spot in the garage or sit next to it.

K04 or BT for the GTI either way this winter I think
 
G

George11

Ready to race!
Had a little fun this weekend with changing out my endlinks from 034 Motorsport to Whiteline. The end links since they were installed were a pain, with the top heim joint bolt coming loose, the shop used a random bolt as seen in the second picture. Since the day I put the new front sway bar and endlinks on the car it was clunking due to the endl inks always loosening up. After talking to some locals I was recommended to go with Whiteline's endlinks.

Picture of my newly installed 034 motorsport end links first failure


The nut kept spinning, I tried to cut the end so I could hold it with plyers but I could not gain enough leverage. 3 dremel discs later, I had the nut off.


Comparison shot of the two brands of endlinks.
 
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