penguinsgestapo
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Houston, TX
I usually do these on every car I buy and this will be no different. This is my first VW and coming from a mechanic's background I never thought I would buy one. I moved from North Dakota to Houston and quickly decided I wanted to switch from a truck that got 11 mpg to something that got better. I wanted a quick, four door, turbo, hot hatchback car that was comfortable for me to sit in for around 25-30k. In fact, the seat comfort was one of my top priorities. So after looking around I realized I'm down to the Honda Civic Sport, the WRX, the Focus ST, and the MK7. The civic was out because I just frankly just think its not ascetically pleasing (and I already owned a turbo civic). The WRX wasn't comfortable enough. The Focus ST I came very very close to buying, but ultimately when comparing it to build quality, the MK7 just blew me away. After driving all the cars, my wife even commented that I looked the most excited about the MK7. This surprised me because the Focus is a great little hatch and really defines that market. Never the less, I decided to purchase a 2015 Golf MK7 Autobahn with light package. It had 30k miles on it (slightly used). This is the car as it sat the day I bought it:
Current mods are:
Performance:
APR Intake
MAP 3" DP w/ vibrant cat
034 Mount Insert
Cobb v3 (+DSG) - Tuned by Alex @ Eurodyne
Majestic Intercooler
Spullen Charge Pipes
RS3 Coils
RS7 Plugs
IS38 Rev T
Brakes
2004 Porsche Cayman 4 piston Brembo Front Calipers
Stop Tech Drilled and Slotted rotors
Hawk HPS Street Pads (Front and Rear)
ECS Red Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Suspension
H&R Sport Springs
Billstein B8 Shocks
ST 25mm Rear Sway Bar
Unibrace UBQ
Unibrace XBQ
Wheels and Tires
18" VMR V701's Gunmetal
245/40 R18
The main point of this car was to build something that I could still comfortably DD but still be sporty enough to enjoy myself on mountain cruises. I have a cabin in North Carolina on US129 and try to get up there 4 times a year at least.
After first buying the car, I wanted to give her a good wash, wax, and remove all the shiny stuff they spray all over every inch of it at the dealership. I like the "natural" clean finish of an engine bay.
Impromptu photo shoot in the back of my neighborhood
After looking the car over, I decided that the first thing was to get new rotors, springs, and a downpipe. I own a DSM so I jumped on the MAP downpipe as they were always known for quality in the DSM world. Well they didn't let me down here. I also put on the JB4 at this time, but have no pictures. Yes I did get the BT addition. I will eventually go Cobb, but I like warranties. I put on the ECS flush kit for the stock wheels at this time too.
Bad Rotors
Good Rotors
MAP Downpipe. Small wonder this thing has such good gains when compared to restrictive stock. Seriously VW engineers how did you even let such a terrible stock pipe leave the factory.
ECS Flush Kit
After that I took this car up to the mountains and really put her through the paces. I was highly impressed with the car compared to some of the others in the area and kept up well with cars/bikes that would be considered outside of its class. To get to NC I drove almost 9 hours straight and I have to say that even with a terrible back (fused vertebrae) it was such a comfortable and easy ride. Also the sunroof on these cars is just impressive. I'm so glad I decided I wanted a sunroof because this thing is huge and really opens up well to allow nice air flow. Also being able to close up the black mesh while keeping the roof open is great when the sun is up!
I also took the time to dyno the car with the current mods, and while I wish the numbers were higher, it was a heartbreak dyno.
The only drawbacks I had are 1. The brakes on the non PP suck and 2. I need a full exhaust to hear that glorious DSG.
Even though she is lowered, I'm not afraid to take her offroad fording streams. Before anybody asks, our intake inlet is right behind the VW logo and this stream was less than a foot deep.
Heartbreak Dyno
Current mods are:
Performance:
APR Intake
MAP 3" DP w/ vibrant cat
034 Mount Insert
Cobb v3 (+DSG) - Tuned by Alex @ Eurodyne
Majestic Intercooler
Spullen Charge Pipes
RS3 Coils
RS7 Plugs
IS38 Rev T
Brakes
2004 Porsche Cayman 4 piston Brembo Front Calipers
Stop Tech Drilled and Slotted rotors
Hawk HPS Street Pads (Front and Rear)
ECS Red Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Suspension
H&R Sport Springs
Billstein B8 Shocks
ST 25mm Rear Sway Bar
Unibrace UBQ
Unibrace XBQ
Wheels and Tires
18" VMR V701's Gunmetal
245/40 R18
The main point of this car was to build something that I could still comfortably DD but still be sporty enough to enjoy myself on mountain cruises. I have a cabin in North Carolina on US129 and try to get up there 4 times a year at least.
After first buying the car, I wanted to give her a good wash, wax, and remove all the shiny stuff they spray all over every inch of it at the dealership. I like the "natural" clean finish of an engine bay.
Impromptu photo shoot in the back of my neighborhood
After looking the car over, I decided that the first thing was to get new rotors, springs, and a downpipe. I own a DSM so I jumped on the MAP downpipe as they were always known for quality in the DSM world. Well they didn't let me down here. I also put on the JB4 at this time, but have no pictures. Yes I did get the BT addition. I will eventually go Cobb, but I like warranties. I put on the ECS flush kit for the stock wheels at this time too.
Bad Rotors
Good Rotors
MAP Downpipe. Small wonder this thing has such good gains when compared to restrictive stock. Seriously VW engineers how did you even let such a terrible stock pipe leave the factory.
ECS Flush Kit
After that I took this car up to the mountains and really put her through the paces. I was highly impressed with the car compared to some of the others in the area and kept up well with cars/bikes that would be considered outside of its class. To get to NC I drove almost 9 hours straight and I have to say that even with a terrible back (fused vertebrae) it was such a comfortable and easy ride. Also the sunroof on these cars is just impressive. I'm so glad I decided I wanted a sunroof because this thing is huge and really opens up well to allow nice air flow. Also being able to close up the black mesh while keeping the roof open is great when the sun is up!
I also took the time to dyno the car with the current mods, and while I wish the numbers were higher, it was a heartbreak dyno.
The only drawbacks I had are 1. The brakes on the non PP suck and 2. I need a full exhaust to hear that glorious DSG.
Even though she is lowered, I'm not afraid to take her offroad fording streams. Before anybody asks, our intake inlet is right behind the VW logo and this stream was less than a foot deep.
Heartbreak Dyno
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