Upper echelon mods

[afman916]

I was going to post this in General Discussion, but thought it might be more appropriate here as it's performance-minded. Mods, feel free to move if need be.

So, I've been quietly amassing parts and planning the build of my '16 SE 6spd. I'm a financial analyst by trade, so I've got a pretty thorough Excel spreadsheet going, where I'm breaking down my mod path into stages and keeping a running tally of new/used/actual expenses.

However, I find that the more I browse the forums, the more "scope creep" I find happening in my spreadsheet. So I wanted to come to you guys and ask -

For a 90% DD GTI (planning on a HPDE class and, after that, occasional track days), at what point do some of these mods become impractical given cost:benefit ratio?

Some off the top of my head I've added over the past week (spreadsheet is at home, not on work computer):

Superpro LCA
TyrolSport deadset kit
Fluidampr pulley
034 Engine/Tranny mounts

I'm struggling with where to draw the line, given my intent with the car (primarily "street beast", let's say). What doesn't help my struggling is that, while I have a decent basic understanding of automotive mechanics, some of these things are beyond my grasp. I guess it would help if I had a resource to consult, something that would help me understand where some of these parts fit in so I could better assess their value for my needs.

How do some of you guys determine whether or not a part is "worth it"? Are there any resources out there you rely on for furthering your mechanical know-how?

I thought I had this all figured out a couple weeks ago, but now I fear I'm falling TOO far down the mod black hole. Any thoughts/guidance much appreciated!

 

[drrck]

Do the mounts first. Deadset isn't really required on MQB from what I've gathered. Fluiddampr pulley has low returns for its cost. LCAs are good if you want to go lower, but you should really get to know the car first before you start tweaking the suspension a ton.

 

[Born_Into_This]

After driving mine for a year with just a JB1 and aftermarket wheels/tires I decided to buy the following:
-SuperPro LCA (street)
-KW Street Comfort coilovers (V2 with linear springs)
-034 Heavy Duty front strut mounts

These should change the car immensely without going too far or reducing comfort. I chose the parts after noticing how terrible the stock dampers are and the amount of "jiggle" from the front end when loaded(lower control arm bushings are too soft). The alignment change from the control arms is an added benefit that should increase the front end response and ultimate grip. I'm an advocate for not touching the sway bars at all until you know you need them - often they will just make the car slower due to the nature of how they function. One caveat to this is if you are planning to auto-x where a stiff rear bar will promote rotation.

Next step is a very simple IS38 turbo upgrade with the following:
-Sachs clutch/pressure plate
-IS38
-Quality downpipe (AWE, AMS)
-Quality Intercooler (IE, AMS)
-Likely Cobb AP

More power is fun when you have the grip and control!

Of the things you have listed I would omit everything but the control arms. Beyond that you may want to limit yourself to wheels, tires, brake fluid, and brake pads. After the HPDE class and maybe a track day or two decide what you didn't like and change it.

GLHF!

 

[B95zP]

If I could do it again I'd skip LCAs and Deadset kit, and drop the coin for a water meth setup. IMO WM would give me far more enjoyment, and bang for the buck. With Summer temps over 100° for days on end, the lower IATs from WM would've been wonderful.

Looking back I did LCAs because I could. I didn't really pause to consider the ROI. Honestly I'm certain I don't have the driving skills to notice the difference they made vs OE, or even the ability to truly take advantage of any corresponding increase in performance.

 

[seanmcd1]

Lose the pulley, hell lose everything you listed. Start with some sticky summer tires and try a few autocross events first. Then start compiling your list of desired mods.

Don't just randomly pick parts wondering if they are worth it - wait until you determine a need for something to be changed and go from there. Does this car have the performance pack? If not I'd consider brakes and an LSD after the good tires. Also, if you haven't bought the car yet - have you considered an R?

 

[afman916]

Thanks for the help so far guys! Really appreciate the hindsight from those of you who are further along in this journey than I am.

Honestly I'm certain I don't have the driving skills to notice the difference they made vs OE, or even the ability to truly take advantage of any corresponding increase in performance.

This. This right here is at the center of my questioning. While I'd like to think I'm a "good" driver, I'm definitely not trained, and I'm definitely not driving like a bat out of hell everywhere I go. Will I even notice the difference in LCAs, much less take advantage of them on, hell, even a weekly basis? Probably not.

I'm trying to stay away from modding for the sake of modding, just so I can put it in my sig line and make a build thread. And then sit back and say "yeah my suspension setup is definitely race-inspired I've got new LCAs and I'm thinking of camber plates next and then..." while actually I just drive it to work and listen to podcasts most of the time.

None of this is to say I wouldn't LOVE to sink a ton of money into this thing and take it to the track every weekend. This is a relatively new hobby to me, and I could see myself there...eventually. But I'm really trying to tone down my initial goals. My wife tells me all the time I take my hobbies a little too far, in a positive way though. Hey, I want a new snake, let's build a three tier snake condo out of hardwood maple that's 6' tall and then build a custom background out of Great Stuff that'll take 3 months longer to make than I thought. A garden, sure, let's start with four 4x8 raised beds and oh I should probably start 39587 seeds of 48 different pepper varieties. You get the idea. That's all well and fine with the minor hobbies, where it's more my time than my money, but with the GTI....granted, I've been wanting to mod a car since I was 14 (first love was an IS300, wanted to get one a slap a turbo on it), and now that I'm able to I'm really trying to resist my innate desire to do everything at once for, really, no good reason aside from being able to say "look what I made".

Sorry for the long-winded response....getting that out was actually cathartic.

 

[Born_Into_This]

Another option is leave the GTI stock and pick up a cheap but more rewarding track car: Miata, E30/E36/E46, S2000, 350Z, or even an old boxster would be lots of fun.

 

[afman916]

Another option is leave the GTI stock and pick up a cheap but more rewarding track car: Miata, E30/E36/E46, S2000, 350Z, or even an old boxster would be lots of fun.

You know, I've thought of that. But while I'm in a pretty good financial position right now, I'm not quite to the level of having project cars in addition to daily drivers. Trying to have the GTI serve as both for now haha. Eventually a '98 Supra will be my project car...

To address the other questions - yep, I do have the car, and it's a PP w/ LP. And the guy I bought it from had rse10s wrapped in RE11s on it. So I've actually had stickier tires from day 1.

 

[Sandman GTI]

I was going to post this in General Discussion, but thought it might be more appropriate here as it's performance-minded. Mods, feel free to move if need be.

So, I've been quietly amassing parts and planning the build of my '16 SE 6spd. I'm a financial analyst by trade, so I've got a pretty thorough Excel spreadsheet going, where I'm breaking down my mod path into stages and keeping a running tally of new/used/actual expenses.

However, I find that the more I browse the forums, the more "scope creep" I find happening in my spreadsheet. So I wanted to come to you guys and ask -

For a 90% DD GTI (planning on a HPDE class and, after that, occasional track days), at what point do some of these mods become impractical given cost:benefit ratio?

Some off the top of my head I've added over the past week (spreadsheet is at home, not on work computer):

Superpro LCA
TyrolSport deadset kit
Fluidampr pulley
034 Engine/Tranny mounts

I'm struggling with where to draw the line, given my intent with the car (primarily "street beast", let's say). What doesn't help my struggling is that, while I have a decent basic understanding of automotive mechanics, some of these things are beyond my grasp. I guess it would help if I had a resource to consult, something that would help me understand where some of these parts fit in so I could better assess their value for my needs.

How do some of you guys determine whether or not a part is "worth it"? Are there any resources out there you rely on for furthering your mechanical know-how?

I thought I had this all figured out a couple weeks ago, but now I fear I'm falling TOO far down the mod black hole. Any thoughts/guidance much appreciated!

Best decision for the money is buy better tires.
In GA you might get by with Summer year round. Upper or Lower GA?
If you can swing it buy a set of light weight wheels and summer tires for summer and tracking. Think of tires as the foundation.
All other mods will build on this.
Do not do this and your foundation is built on all season tires.

 

[B95zP]

Thanks for the help so far guys! Really appreciate the hindsight from those of you who are further along in this journey than I am.



This. This right here is at the center of my questioning. While I'd like to think I'm a "good" driver, I'm definitely not trained, and I'm definitely not driving like a bat out of hell everywhere I go. Will I even notice the difference in LCAs, much less take advantage of them on, hell, even a weekly basis? Probably not.

I'm trying to stay away from modding for the sake of modding, just so I can put it in my sig line and make a build thread. And then sit back and say "yeah my suspension setup is definitely race-inspired I've got new LCAs and I'm thinking of camber plates next and then..." while actually I just drive it to work and listen to podcasts most of the time.

None of this is to say I wouldn't LOVE to sink a ton of money into this thing and take it to the track every weekend. This is a relatively new hobby to me, and I could see myself there...eventually. But I'm really trying to tone down my initial goals. My wife tells me all the time I take my hobbies a little too far, in a positive way though. Hey, I want a new snake, let's build a three tier snake condo out of hardwood maple that's 6' tall and then build a custom background out of Great Stuff that'll take 3 months longer to make than I thought. A garden, sure, let's start with four 4x8 raised beds and oh I should probably start 39587 seeds of 48 different pepper varieties. You get the idea. That's all well and fine with the minor hobbies, where it's more my time than my money, but with the GTI....granted, I've been wanting to mod a car since I was 14 (first love was an IS300, wanted to get one a slap a turbo on it), and now that I'm able to I'm really trying to resist my innate desire to do everything at once for, really, no good reason aside from being able to say "look what I made".

Sorry for the long-winded response....getting that out was actually cathartic.

See I should've had these thoughts. I've wanted to go mod crazy ever since my first dream car, a brand new 2000 Electron Blue Pearl Honda Civic Si. Damn I still love that color. My user name is supposed to be the paint code B95P, but I messed it up. lol

With my GTI I was finally able to go "mod crazy"(for me anyway), and looking back I sorta wish I didn't mess with the suspension as much. Or maybe I need a spin in a stock GTI with PP to really appreciate the change.

Here's my advice if you want to upgrade the suspension...go OE! Find the Clubsport S thread, and get those uprated parts. Considering how blistering fast it went around the 'Ring the parts are good. Very good.

My learning has been that hoping parts from disparate manufacturers, when slapped together, will work harmoniously is a job for folks with more money and patience than I.

 

[greggles]

To add to the rest of this thread.

1) Get summer tires and track pads.
2) DO NOT MOD YOUR CAR IN ANY OTHER WAY (besides aesthetics).
3) Attend HPDE's. (use track pads for this)
4) After attending HPDE's, modify the car to your liking.
5) Attend more HPDE's.

Best advice I ever got was to go to the track before you start mucking up the car. Establish your baseline. Then you will understand how the mods truly effect the car. Then report back your findings and share them with the forum.

If you aren't doing autocross or HPDE, then do whatever you want. But if you are interested in making the car more fun to toss around on the track, baseline the car first.

 

[gn4rwhals]

I thought step 1 of building a track GTI was buy the DSG option?

I kid, but you are going to need a clutch after 1 season.

 

[Reggie Enchilada]

going to need to upgrade your drivetrain mounts to handle the extra power. the stock ones will wear out pretty quickly on a tuned engine.

 

[phobos512]

You know, I've thought of that. But while I'm in a pretty good financial position right now, I'm not quite to the level of having project cars in addition to daily drivers. Trying to have the GTI serve as both for now haha. Eventually a '98 Supra will be my project car...

To address the other questions - yep, I do have the car, and it's a PP w/ LP. And the guy I bought it from had rse10s wrapped in RE11s on it. So I've actually had stickier tires from day 1.

A 1998 Supra...Yeah. There are 9 1997/1998 Supra currently for sale (US, nationwide) on Cargurus and they start at $33K, going up to $130K. Autotrader for the same search lists 8 starting at $31K going up to $76K.

Oh and the Turbos with manuals start at $55K.

They're a bit like aircooled Porsches; they're only getting more expensive. It's good to have a dream though.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[afman916]

A 1998 Supra...Yeah. There are 9 1997/1998 Supra currently for sale (US, nationwide) on Cargurus and they start at $33K, going up to $130K. Autotrader for the same search lists 8 starting at $31K going up to $76K.

Oh and the Turbos with manuals start at $55K.

They're a bit like aircooled Porsches; they're only getting more expensive. It's good to have a dream though.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Oh believe me man I know the market. And pickings will only get more slim as years pass.

Same thing with dream car #2 - '96 Viper GTS Coupe.

BUT - gotta have something that drives you, right? Different strokes and all.