Mike's 1.8 TSI 5MT Build Thread

Cool, on the bright side, at least you know it could take a little bit of a beating up to this point, so it must be in decent shape since it lasted that long. I like your thread, keep up the good work!

Love the black mirror caps! I just got a set for my PW '16 Golf. Your car is coming together really nicely. I'm anxious to hear what your impressions of the JB4/IS20/1.8T are. It should definitely fly! How are those Pilot Super Sports treating you?

Cheers.

Lookin' good! Although I may be slightly biased.. our 1.8Ts could be twins almost haha

Toledospeed- I hear ya. The owner is an engineer who has previously owned a variety of performance oriented turbocharged cars. He hadn't tracked the car but did a few drag runs. He was reportedly very good about oil change intervals and letting the car warm up to temp before hitting high revs, so I figured it was safe. Let's be optimistic and hope were both right! Thanks for the kind words.

Trollin86- Nice! I love the pure white... and the contrast makes it that much better. I'll be sure to be active about the jb4 & is20 1.8 progress once it gets started. And I love the PSS. NVH is certainly increased from my plush 15" Xice Xi3s, but that is to be expected and really doesn't bother me. When it comes to tires my far and away #1 priority is traction and braking, on both wet and dry roads. Road noise, rolling resistance and treadwear warranties are infinitely less important to me than safety. With that said, Michelin does pretty well on all accounts but is #1 when it comes to performance and safety. Easy choice IMO. They are fun though. Taking the turn on a cloverleaf on ramp, while heavy on the throttle in 2nd gear and hugging the corner, you can really really feel how good these tires are. It's great. Can't wait until I get my suspension set up proper and get the power mods in to really take full advantage of these tires.

SK VeeDubR- just peeled at your thread againn and wow, you aint kidding! Did you paint your side skirts yourself?

I picked up a jb4 and just sent payment for an ultimate racing catted downpipe.

I'm not planning on messing with the intake or the rest of the catback, other than to maybe add a resonator if the downpipe drone is too much. I think I can just use the oem resonator on the stock catback, and if that isn't satisfying then I can replace that one or even get crazy and add an additional one somewhere else on the exhaust. Someone in the is20 install thread also suggested wrapping the DP, which I'll look into.

I also have my finger on the trigger for some ed's reps golf R headlamps w/ HIDs and the LP grill to match.

For the next few weeks I am super busy as my semester comes to a close, but pretty soon there will be a lot happening with this car!

-Suspension overhaul
-Ed's reps
-Full votex kit
-IS20/jb4/downpipe

She will be fast, fun and sexy! I'm excited!

the dogbone insert what does it actually do. I kind of understand it but not really?

So your car has what is called a dogbone mount so that the transmission case can be softly attached to the subframe of the car. It is basically a plastic ring surrounding rubber molding that surrounds a metal piece. This all sits up into the bottom of the subframe behind the transmission case. This metal piece has a bolt that runs through it to hold the actual dogbone, the metal arm that runs to the transmission case, in place. The factory mount is designed for ride comfort and to mininize noise/vibration/harshness (N/V/H). Unfortunately this means that there is a lot of play in the drivetrain. To many, the stock mount makes the car feel sloppy when you accelerate or shift. Hard acceleration can also result in "wheel hop."

So the idea behind an aftermarket dogbone mount insert is to place a new piece of metal in the voids of the factory mount. This reduces the back and forth travel that the Dogbone is capable of, and greatly reduces drivetrain movement when shifting or accelerating.

After installing an insert, many say that the car "feels the way it should have come from the factory." Others however contest that the additional N/V/H that is produced from adding an insert is unbearable.

I personally only noticed significantly increased N/V/H while lugging the engine around 1200 RPM (which you shouldn't be doing anyway!) I also feel some while shifting into first sometimes, but it's not too bad.

Here is a video that shows the reduction in travel. You can see how stiffening up this movement will translate to some vibration to the cabin.

https://youtu.be/8SRDpOG2qdQ

Most people agree the 034 insert is the best low cost solution to the sloppiness of the factory mount.

https://store.034motorsport.com/mqb...golf-gti-r-8v-audi-a3-s3-billet-aluminum.html

I like mine but after about a year I decided to try out the revo mount, which actually replaces the whole bottom half of the mount rather than simply adding an insert to the existing mount. I'll be installing that in a few weeks.

As far as an easy, fast, cost effective solution, I say start with the 034 insert and see how you like it.

https://youtu.be/MEvzAjg_bJs

Note: many people will refer to this 034 insert as a "dogbone" or as a "mount" when in reality it is just an insert for the actual mount for the actual dogbone. I hope this distinction prevents you from being confused when others fail to identify it exactly accurately. I'm sure I've been guilty of this plenty of times. Generally people know what you mean, especially with the 034 insert as 034 does not make a separate replacement mount or dogbone. Revo does replace the actual mount. And HPA replaces the mount AND the actual dogbone. Cost increases pretty dramatically, so start with the 034.