SK VeeDubR's MK7 Golf R 'progression of events'

[HOT H2O]

Thought I'd start a 'progression of events' thread as a way for me to keep track / journal about my MK7 R aka Rubee Tuesday aka R2

If you're looking for an amazing, beastly build thread you have come to the wrong place (for now)




Ok then..

So a tiny bit of history - Long-time VW nut. Began with the purchase of one of my first cars (and all-time favourite to this very day), a 1979 MK1 Mars Red GTI. Since then I've owned every MK of GTI, up to and including a MK6 Golf R. All modified to some extent, some more heavily than others.

The MK6 R was my first NEW car I have ever bought. I pined for this car ever since it was announced. I planned on keeping her and keeping her minty forever, barring some unforeseen event.



I have a friend who is a transporter and car enthusiast.. sends me a pic one day back on September 17th with the caption 'just doesn't seem fair, lol' (he sent me a few more pics of R's on his truck over the next couple months..) Meh. I LOVED my MK6!




I had my head buried in the sand when it came to the MK7 R. I knew it was a better car overall, but I did not want to admit it. Ignorance is bliss, right!?


well, I remained blissfully ignorant. Continuing to enjoy my minty MK6 R. Here is a pic one day in October my friend with a MK4 AE GTI came over for a pre-winter clean and detail..




Some nice beading on Rubee, my MK6 R, after a fresh polish and wax, and then a heavy rain..




October 07, 2015. Rubee (my MK6 R) was involved in a hit-and-run.. I won't bore you with the details.


On Friday December 11th Joshua Epp (another friend of mine who works in sales at VW Saskatoon) sent me a pic of another R that just got dropped off..



It tic'd all my boxes. Manual. Tech. Lapiz. My buddy is a good salesman, lol.

Saturday December 12th, the deal was signed. Car to be PDI'd then left untouched for me to detail.

Monday December 14th - pics of Rubee and Rubee Tuesday aka R2 the day I took delivery






R2 at her new home (I kept the Talladega's)




And R2's new copilot - Artoo




Thursday December 17th - R2 getting a full front Expel Clear film treatment by Cody Diehl in Saskatoon. Seamless hood, fenders, front bumper, and some other minor details including mirror caps, door cups, and behind rear licence plate.






Grainy glamour shot. Has been very busy so no official photoshoot yet.




Thanks for looking!

 

[HOT H2O]

Reserved for content

 

[HOT H2O]

03/30/2016 - Unlocked centre armrest

And the award goes to.... 'drumroll'

the SCHWABO Method


It seriously took me longer to watch his three very short videos than to perform the complete R&R procedure WITH the zip tie mod, hell even the zip tie insertion was super easy if you pre-curl the ends as SCHWABO shows. (my total time spent doing this actual mod was approx 93 seconds start to finish)

I also spent about 50x longer deciding which method I was going to use after reading this thread than the actual procedure as well, but I often over analyze things and explore all my options haha.


Not discounting the other methods, each one definitely has it's merits.. For me personally, in all my MK5/6's I HATED the ratcheting system, HATED having to lift before I lowered.. Only ever lifted up, then down to complete close.. Therefore this method spoke volumes to me as

1. It only opens and closes, no ratcheting.
2. I live in a place that gets both extreme hot and extreme cold, so adhesives were less than desirable.
3. This method is not permanent in any way, and extremely quiet.

2016 Canadian Golf R full load.. No damn cubby insert (edit: opened up my buddy's cubby the other day and sure enough, he has the damn cubby mat.. Why couldn't I get a nice little surprise like that )


*As a side note I disassembled a MK7 1.8T and the ratcheting mechanism is exactly as shown on the GTI model earlier on in this thread. I suspect that if you come across an armrest cubby WITH the 12V outlet, then you get this ratcheting style.. IF you come across a cubby WITHOUT the 12V (like our Golf Rs), then you just may find those black spring clips necessary to achieve OEM ratcheting..


Also, I see a lot of people have been ruining their bolts and/or losing their washers when they do this mod.. So I will be offering for sale my minty 4mm bolts (both left and right sides) as well as the associated washers. Will sell individually. Keep an eye on the classifieds for these parts which I'm sure will be quite valuable given the rate at which you all are destroying them

 

[HOT H2O]

04/23/2016 - These are the Performance Pack wheel spec'd on the new S3. 19x8 et49, 21lbs.. And who woulda thought but they are made by Fuchsfelge - same wheel manufacturer that designed the original Porsche 'Fuchs'.. I thought that was kinda cool!




I chose these as they are 1)Forged, 2)Basically made for this car (MQB, 4-Motion, OEM++), and 3)Look at them!!!

So when I decided these were the wheels I was after I made a random post on fb of all places asking people to keep an ear to the ground.. Long story short a buddy of mine I met through an R group saw my post, and just so happened to come across a post on Instagram later that night where a guy was selling these as takeoffs! The rest is history.




I am extremely pleased with these wheels. I won't even mention how much I paid.


for those that find this stuff interesting..

 

[HOT H2O]

04/24/2016 - OEM MK7 R Brushed Mirror Caps

What can I say, I love me some OEM+. For the MK6 I was quite pleased with the piano black trim/caps.. But for the MK7 there is enough of this matte silver look to the front of the car that these really pull everything together nicely! I knew that once I put my new wheels on (either the Pretorias or the S3 Parallel spoke PP wheel) that these would be a must have

These OEM caps do feel like they are metal in some way? Perhaps it's the paint? They are conductive, and the clips that hold them to the mirror housings are metal? not plastic like the other caps I've seen. Definitely not just a pretty paint job haha!


After (you can see the before pics above in previous post for comparison)

 

[Tatanko]

The mirror caps look great, especially with the S3 PP wheels!

How much were the caps, if you don't mind me asking? They are very classy, but I'm not sure they'd look as good on my GTI (with less chrome/silver and more red accents).

 

[HOT H2O]

The mirror caps look great, especially with the S3 PP wheels!

How much were the caps, if you don't mind me asking? They are very classy, but I'm not sure they'd look as good on my GTI (with less chrome/silver and more red accents).

TBH I acquired the brushed R caps along with some power folding mirrors in a trade for my old MK6 Haldex controller. The mirror caps are from Germany and retail for upwards of $300. There are knockoffs out there for a fraction of the price which I'm sure look the part for most people, but I like to have OEM/the real deal where possible. There is definitely a quality about these OEM caps, they do not feel cheap.

The brushed texture closely (maybe perfectly) matches the brushed silver accents on the R up front, but since the GTI does not have this I think you may be right in that perhaps a different choice in mirror caps may suit your car more. I think red caps look absolutely AMAZING on the MK7 GTI (on any color other than red lol.. on a red GTI consider black caps!)

 

[HOT H2O]

04/25/2016 - Uh oh.. this followed me home. 2016 1.8T Highline. May need to start a separate log as I feel this one may end up with more mods than the R lol (EDIT: Click here for 1.8T)




Piano Black OEM mirror caps suit this car nicely






A couple interior touches from the VW accessories catalogue make for some nice eye candy

 

[Sandman GTI]

R. Nice choice on wheels and the cap.
Car color looks great.
Must be fun.

 

[HOT H2O]

R. Nice choice on wheels and the cap.
Car color looks great.
Must be fun.

Thanks! I'm really enjoying this wheel (and these caps), transforms the appearance of the car. And definitely having fun with it!

Trouble is, at this point I have more mods planned for the 'grocery getter' 1.8 lol

 

[HOT H2O]

05/01/2016 - bolted these on the 1.8 today.. Leftovers from my MK6 R

18x8 et48 OZ Superturismo LMs with forged two-piece RAD bolts/locks



Thinking of acquiring either some Audi S3 V-spokes or some Pretorias for the 1.8 though. Not sure if I want to make the commitment to 19s on the 'grocery getter' but I think either choice would look proper!

 

[HOT H2O]

05/04/2016 - May the Fourth be with you! Thought I'd join 'The Dark Side' by Installing these VW Accessories clip-in sun shades. I am actually quite impressed with their fitment and appearance - thought I might not like them but since nobody I know has them I thought I'd give them a go.

Having some sort of shade/tint is often a necessary evil. Sometimes I really like the appearance of tint.. But overall I prefer the fishbowl look, especially at shows and on show cars.

logos can face inward or outward - decided on inward for that stealthy appearance..



Very nice fitment, I would give them a 9/10. Couple spots that perhaps I could adjust but for most part they fit quite nicely!



Fully functional and do not get in the way.



The look is really growing on me, reminds me of the old European luxury 'limousines' with their integrated sun shades.



You can even roll the rear windows down while these remain in place.. Not sure if that's a positive or a negative at this point for me.



Tough to get a good picture from the outside with the light I had. I'll try to get better exterior shots.







Like I said earlier, overall very pleased. They definitely cut down on the heat inside the cabin as well as obnoxious lights from behind (although I do need to do more 'on road' testing to completely satisfy my curiosity). These pop in and out in seconds (once you install the clips which can remain in place whether the shades are installed or not).

We'll see how it goes, not sure If we will be tinting the 1.8 but if we like these sun shades we may just pick up a second set for her as well!

 

[rcsummers]

Very nice!

Those sun shades may be a good option for me instead of tint.

 

[HOT H2O]

06/17/2016 - Gloss Vinyl Roof Wrap on the 1.8

had a buddy and fellow dubber come over to wrap the roof on the 1.8. Turned out great! People keep asking/thinking it is painted.




did a two-layer process, 1st Layer gloss vinyl, 2nd layer XPel clear film (to add depth and a layer of protection to glossy vinyl which otherwise scratches easily..




Will try to get better pics of the roof up sometime. Quite happy with how the rear spoiler turned out as I was concerned about the lack of a defined curvature line like in the GTI/R, but my buddy did an amazing job of making it look proper.

 

[HOT H2O]

Sometimes a bunch of us get together and 'do work' haha - Good times!



everyone got something done that day, whether it was unlocking an armrest, adding some spacers, replacing sensors, wrapping a roof, or even just some suds and a soda









all-in-all we had a good showing with people coming and going - at one point we actually had four MK7 Lapiz Blue Rs in our drive alone haha! Funny thing was they were all spec'd different from factory besides colour!