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nicholam77's PP GTI thread

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
This morning I replaced my stock engine filter with an aFe Pro Dry S filter. Got it for $60 on Amazon. Here are some pics and a mini-review:

Obligatory box shot:



Packaging was good. Filter was in sealed plastic bag, and came with warranty and instructions for cleaning.

And stickers! :D Did not use them but I like the idea of the one that lets techs know not to throw it away:




Here is the Mann filter that came out:



And here is the aFe part that went in:



Comparison shot:



And installed:




Some thoughts:

I was hoping this filter would give a little more induction noise in the cabin, but to be honest it's not a huge difference. Perhaps a bit louder when doing a WOT pull. Throttle response is a hair better but nothing night and day and these things are somewhat subjective anyways.

Filter does seem to be very high quality though, and I love the idea of being able to vacuum/wash it out whenever. And aFe warrants the part for the life of the vehicle. Seems very easy to clean with no hassle of oiling it. Fitment was perfect, and installation couldn't be easier.

All in all I wouldn't say it's a must do, but if you're keeping the stock intake setup, it's a nice product and for the price I definitely don't regret purchasing it.
 

jmp4golfvw

Ready to race!
Awesome thread 77! Though I don't have a MT, that part about the bleeder delay removal, still a really interesting read...
 
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nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Swapped back to summer wheels today (Austins) and added 15mm/20mm spacers from the ECS flush kit.

Install was easy enough with the proper tools:

-floor jack & jack stands
-1/2" drive breaker bar
-1/2" drive torque wrench
-17mm deep socket
-wheel hanger, size M14 x 1.5
-anti-seize lubricant (optional)
-Goo Gone (ECS put stickers all over the spacers that left residue)



I did the rears first. Jacking up this car with my floor jack was kind of a pain. :mad: I tried slotting out a hockey puck to protect the pinch weld, but the pinch weld cut it in half. First time jacking up the car and two of my pinch welds got damaged, one pretty badly. Ended up jacking (with solid puck in between) on the flat surface just in from the pinch weld and placing the jack stand on the jacking point:




I used a wheel hanger when removing and installing the wheels which made things significantly easier:



While in there I noticed that the shop that installed my VWR springs broke the plastic clip for the headlight leveling sensor off the control arm on one side, so I zip-tied it back into place:




I applied some brush-on anti-seize lubricant to the back side of the spacers before putting them on so hopefully they will come off easy when the winter wheels go back on next fall:





Fronts I jacked from the factory jack point and placed jack stand under subframe bolt.




Torque'd to 88 lb-ft / 120 nm and took it for a test drive. No noises or vibrations, everything seems normal. I will re-check the lug bolts in a few days.

With that out of the way I gave the car a hand wash for the first time in 5 months and took some pics! :D



 

cbaumy34

Go Kart Champion
Location
Lindenhurst, IL
Love the build. Where did you buy the 12v cap?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
AWE Track Edition Review and Pics

Had a package waiting for me on Friday:




AWE Track Edition catback exhaust!

Quality 10/10: Everything seems very well made.
Packaging 8/10: Well packaged, although FedEx must have handled roughly because several of the pieces were dented. More on that later.
Fitment 9/10: I had little to no trouble getting the system aligned correctly.
Customer Service 10/10: Quick and useful communication with AWE and Modded Euros when I ran into some issues.
Sound 10/10:): First catback here, but man does this thing sound great. Definitely adds an additional thrill and fun factor to hard acceleration. And when cruising it's very livable and fairly subtle. There when you want it, civil when you don't. I wouldn't want to go any louder, and it's definitely a huge bump over stock.

List of tools needed for install:

-ratchet
-11mm wrench or socket
-12mm wrench or socket
-13mm wrench or socket
-15mm deep socket for main AWE clamps
-torque wrench (40 fb-ft for main clamps, no more than 75 in-lbs for tip clamps)
-WD-40 to grease rubber hangers
-vice grip and flat head screwdriver to assist with removing rubber hangers
-ramps/jack/jack stands

Pics of the install:

The blow-pop sucker was a comical addition to the packaging. Thanks AWE.




I used ramps in the rear and jack stands in the front to lift the car.



Really not loving the pinch weld situation on this car. I tried something new this time -- jacking from one of the subframe bolts in the front and placing the stand on the pinch weld. This worked out pretty well.




Enlisting my brother's help:



Got the stock cat-back out. Did not realize it was one welded piece. Seems pretty heavy compared to AWE components.



Here's where things got interesting. After installing the front and mid-sections of the AWE unit, I noticed the joint of the mid-section had a big dent in it. And then on further inspection so did the left tip outlet on the rear piece! Must have gotten damaged during shipping. I ended up bending them back to shape with a vice grip and a towel, which worked pretty well. For what it's worth I emailed AWE and they got back to me quickly and put my mind at ease. I'm glad to know if I hadn't been able to fix it they would have helped me get it sorted.





Well, once I got the pipes straightened out I proceeded to get the tips aligned. This wasn't that hard, I just took my time and left everything loose on the main sections until everything was looking good. Then proceeded to tighten from the downpipe towards the back.



If there's one thing I'm not crazy about it's how you can see the pipes inside the tips. I'm already used to it and you can't really notice unless you kneel down and get up close but it could be a little cleaner.




I'll get some better pics later sometime with my DSLR but here's a few quick ones of the finished look off my phone:




All in all I'm pretty stoked about it, looking forward to what it sounds like after break in and driving around a bit.
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
So, I got a few new things in the mail.

OBDeleven! Really excited to play around with this. Picked up a $29 Moto-E pre-paid Android phone from Best Buy to use with it. I liked this phone because it runs the Android 5.0, native (no skins).

Another benefit is I can pass LTE to it via my iPhone's personal hotspot and take advantage of Google Maps and Android Auto without having to activate the phone. Cool solution for Apple users with hotspot ability who prefer Google Maps or want to see what Android Auto is all about.

Lastly I got a KMD Stainless Steel clutch line. Hopefully I can install this soon and see if it helps firm up the engagement point for me. I still feel the clutch pedal is too soft and vague.








 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
OBDeleven

Had a chance to try out my new OBDeleven and code some things tonight. So far I've completed:

-comfort blink set to 4

-changed MFD to carbon fiber look

-disabled seatbelt warning chime

-disabled ignition on when door open warning chime

-passenger mirror dip in reverse

-both inner and outer tails as brake/signal/hazards

-disabled little red light on side of tail lights

-disabled orange side markers in head lights


Pretty impressed so far. Some of the nomenclature is slightly different than the VCDS instructions I was working from, but pretty easy to figure out what to do.

A few things I tried that did NOT work correctly were automatic rain closing (check box in head unit enabled but in my testing could not get it to work), changing the power steering assist (this works but is not persistent and resets every time the car is shut off), and the passenger mirror dip mirror memory is not working for my car. The mirror raises an arbitrary amount resulting in the mirror rising higher and higher on return.

Aside from really wanting the mirror dip memory return to work (I might have to get some power folding mirrors) I am very happy with this device and glad I gave it a try.

Quick vid of the turn signal mod. This plus deautokey bulbs make the stock lights much better in my opinion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UZ8bJ6i6YY
 

cbaumy34

Go Kart Champion
Location
Lindenhurst, IL
Had a chance to try out my new OBDeleven and code some things tonight. So far I've completed:

-comfort blink set to 4

-changed MFD to carbon fiber look

-disabled seatbelt warning chime

-disabled ignition on when door open warning chime

-passenger mirror dip in reverse

-both inner and outer tails as brake/signal/hazards

-disabled little red light on side of tail lights

-disabled orange side markers in head lights


Pretty impressed so far. Some of the nomenclature is slightly different than the VCDS instructions I was working from, but pretty easy to figure out what to do.

A few things I tried that did NOT work correctly were automatic rain closing (check box in head unit enabled but in my testing could not get it to work), changing the power steering assist (this works but is not persistent and resets every time the car is shut off), and the passenger mirror dip mirror memory is not working for my car. The mirror raises an arbitrary amount resulting in the mirror rising higher and higher on return.

Aside from really wanting the mirror dip memory return to work (I might have to get some power folding mirrors) I am very happy with this device and glad I gave it a try.

Quick vid of the turn signal mod. This plus deautokey bulbs make the stock lights much better in my opinion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UZ8bJ6i6YY
Man this is pretty cool I may have to pick one up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
After getting a taste of how it should function, I'm determined to get the passenger mirror dip memory return working, so I ordered some auto folding mirrors from aliexpress as it seems others have had some success with those parts. And if it still doesn't work at least I will have some sweet auto folding mirrors with puddle lights!
 

vigti

Passed Driver's Ed
Had a chance to try out my new OBDeleven and code some things tonight. So far I've completed:

-comfort blink set to 4

-changed MFD to carbon fiber look

-disabled seatbelt warning chime

-disabled ignition on when door open warning chime

-passenger mirror dip in reverse

-both inner and outer tails as brake/signal/hazards

-disabled little red light on side of tail lights

-disabled orange side markers in head lights


Pretty impressed so far. Some of the nomenclature is slightly different than the VCDS instructions I was working from, but pretty easy to figure out what to do.

A few things I tried that did NOT work correctly were automatic rain closing (check box in head unit enabled but in my testing could not get it to work), changing the power steering assist (this works but is not persistent and resets every time the car is shut off), and the passenger mirror dip mirror memory is not working for my car. The mirror raises an arbitrary amount resulting in the mirror rising higher and higher on return.

Aside from really wanting the mirror dip memory return to work (I might have to get some power folding mirrors) I am very happy with this device and glad I gave it a try.

Quick vid of the turn signal mod. This plus deautokey bulbs make the stock lights much better in my opinion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UZ8bJ6i6YY

In the video it looks like the lights become out of sync on the second and third flashes. Is that just the way the video was recorded or did you notice that in person as well?
 

jmp4golfvw

Ready to race!
In the video it looks like the lights become out of sync on the second and third flashes. Is that just the way the video was recorded or did you notice that in person as well?



⬆️ this, noticed that the inside comes on a millisecond sooner then the outer catches up...
 
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