Quebster's Neverending Story - 2015 GTI S 6MT - The Good, the Bad, the End... and the Resurrection!

All I know is my car feels slightly less perfect after a day up in the mountains , and it adds up over the life of the car. at least that was the case with the mk6 - nothing bad ever happened, not insinuating that.

Also so sorry about the wheels. Those 245 look almost stretched over the 8.5 wheel.

I have 235/40 on my 8.5 and its perfectly square with an ever so slight barrier of protection. I guess each tire is different!

In for updates on this sweet build

I have several updates!

First of all, my first 2-day HPDE track event was AWESOME! I had a blast, and the car and I did very well. I managed to get most of it recorded. I got better every session, which is all I wanted.

The only thing I had a problem with was my POS CTS DV. That thing is garbage. I installed it back before it was common knowledge to just leave the OEM DV alone. The barbs keeps popping out so my turbo just dumps boost instead of building it. I've tried using E888 adhesive to "glue" it back in and it popped out the last session on both days. You can tell in the second video, the power just isn't there in the straightaways.

Anyway, I still managed to keep up with a newer Corvette Stingray and eventually earn a pass. Very, very, VERY happy with what this car is capable of. Also extremely happy with how my 340 treadwear Firehawk Indy 500's performed. I have plenty of room to grow as a driver before I feel like I need stickier tires, and I definitely do not need any more HP right now

Some pics!







POS CTS DV:


Videos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nIUGTPU0PY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls_...omment_id=z13mfjyp1o3vs3vd223svvf5xqfjthnwx04

Other update: My Enkei wheels.

So I got Enkei's customer service number from Tire Rack, called and spoke with a guy, and as luck would have it, they have an office here 15 minutes from where I live. This morning, I took the car up there and had him and a QC guy take a look. We all agreed that it's obvious they are chips from objects hitting the wheels, but we also all agree that there should be some kind of resistance to it, and it doesn't appear that there is at all.

They were very friendly and I am very thankful for them to take the time to take a look at my wheels. They said they haven't had this happen before. They are going to get a hold of corporate or the warehouse, or whomever, and show them pictures and said they would see if we could get them replaced, but also said usually they are very hands off when it comes to any kind of damage to the wheel after they're sold.

So, that being said, I am not very hopeful, but at least they were nice enough to check everything out, hear me out, and at least agreed with me that it does seem a bit ridiculous that they would chip so easy.

I now await to hear back from them.

My first track pic! I effing love it!!




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Nice work buddy!
Time to upgrade those brakes now. ST-60's are a little over kill, 4 piston ST-40's will work just as well as the car is fairly light!

Muzdub said:

Nice work buddy!
Time to upgrade those brakes now. ST-60's are a little over kill, 4 piston ST-40's will work just as well as the car is fairly light!

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Thanks a ton! Do you really think it needs more than PP brakes? I honestly don't from my understanding, other than a good set of pads and fluid, and stainless lines. It seems to me, most people who go BBK, mainly do it for cosmetics, not because they actually need it.

The brakes were great for me., they never faded and I was using them pretty heavy. I have some Porterfield R4-S pads in. The only problem I had on the track was that I boiled my fluid, likely because it was 15k miles / a year and a half old... but that's still a theory, we'll see how they do next track session. I think with just maybe some ventilation, good fluid, good pads, and possibly an upgraded rotor will be plenty for what I will do with the car. I wouldn't mind getting some bigger rear brakes if I can ever catch someone selling the PP/R rear brakes, which probably isn't going to happen because no one cares to get rid of those!

Windows down?

Quebster said:

Thanks a ton! Do you really think it needs more than PP brakes? I honestly don't from my understanding, other than a good set of pads and fluid, and stainless lines. It seems to me, most people who go BBK, mainly do it for cosmetics, not because they actually need it.

The brakes were great for me., they never faded and I was using them pretty heavy. I have some Porterfield R4-S pads in. The only problem I had on the track was that I boiled my fluid, likely because it was 15k miles / a year and a half old... but that's still a theory, we'll see how they do next track session. I think with just maybe some ventilation, good fluid, good pads, and possibly an upgraded rotor will be plenty for what I will do with the car. I wouldn't mind getting some bigger rear brakes if I can ever catch someone selling the PP/R rear brakes, which probably isn't going to happen because no one cares to get rid of those!

Click to expand...

3:09s into your first YouTube video https://youtu.be/2nIUGTPU0PY you say "My brakes are going dude" followed by your instructor saying "ok let's cools down" I'm breaking your balls but seems to conflict with your last statement

For reference I get zero fade ever, even after 20-30 minutes of track time, they actually get better as they heat up.

PP brakes are excellent stock brakes for dd and canyons.

However, I am 100% comfortable telling you if you plan to go to the track the PP brakes are woefully inadequate, they will fade very fast which ultimately results in an inconsistent feel and degraded stopping performance. When you get a little more experience you'll find the brakes limits within 2-3 laps. Right now I imagine you get 15 minutes before it feels muchy and ineffective.

Brakes are a science and I know extremely little about the science, but I have picked up a few higher level facts that will help you understand why the PP brakes are inadequate for track use.
1 - the rotors are small, this provides less surface area to distribute the heat across, heat is both what your try to make and trying to very quickly get rid of, this is so that the pads, rotors and fluid are not comprised by extreme temperatures.
2 - less surface area means you have to use smaller pads resulting in less pad to rotor friction
3 - the PP calipers are a floating, this means rather than force being applied to both sides of the the rotor, the caliper essentially uses a single large piston to push the pad against the static pad on the otherside of the rotor. This results in less distributed force as it's really being applied from one side, it also results in uneven pad wear.
4 - the more pistons you have does not mean the more pressure you can apply, but typically it means more pressure
distributed evenly over a larger surface, think grabbing the rotor with pliers vs grabbing a rotor with 3 sets of pliers. It is likely that in our specific case, more pressure is applied by a multi piston caliper vs the pp floating caliper.
5 - in a decent big brake kit the pistons are not the same size, there is a small, medium and large, this allows greater control of the brake force being applied.
6 - the PP 1 piece rotor design does not vent as efficiently as a bbk 2 piece design .
7 - Even though they are smaller the PP brakes are vastly heavier, this is unsprung weight.
8 - braided lines which come with bbks do not expand when the brake fluid rises to extreme temperatures, giving constant results.

Haha, that's a lot of science! I really appreciate you taking the time to lay that all out. I don't disagree at all! However, when I said my brakes were going, later on I discovered that it was because I boiled the fluid, which is what I said was the only problem I had. I was very happy and impressed otherwise with my brakes. After I did a flush mid-track day, I went back out for a 40 minute session. I experienced no brake fade that I noticed anyway, I was very pleased.

Granted, I will only be driving harder the next time I go out, so either my brakes are fine, or I'm just not at the driving level where I need anything bigger yet. Basically... as far as what I have now, which is the PP front brakes with stainless lines, better pads, and RBF600 fluid go... they were great for me last weekend. So, that being said, I plan on continuing to use them until I determine that I need something better. If/when that time comes, I will start looking into BBK... but for now, I don't think I need it.

I'll be installing some brake ducts this week, and I'm hoping that I should be good with what I have at that point. I won't really consider upgrading to BBK until I can tell and I know that my current brakes aren't up to the task... and even then, I would need to determine if I will track my car enough to justify spending $2k on brakes!

Installed some brake ducts last night, however I maybe kinda sorta messed up. Must fix tonight. Details and pics to come later.

Still waiting to hear from Enkei, but here is my current plan of attack for my brakes:

For my DD "track car" (lol) I'm going to stick with stock calipers, I have PP up front and non-PP rear. Currently running RBF600 fluid, plan to switch to SRF next flush. I have stainless lines up front, but not in the rear, though I do have stainless lines laying around for the rears.

I'm going to get the Stoptech slotted front PP rotors and the Stoptech slotted non-PP rear rotors. I plan to run Porterfield R4-S pads all around, but I also plan to get the R4 (track version) and swap out the fronts for track weekends, and keep the street version on for AutoX. I also plan to install the stainless rear lines on next flush.

I also installed some brake ducting over the last couple of days... I had to settle with the way I did it in the picture below, I simply couldn't find a good place to mount the 3" ducting close to the caliper without something hitting it, like the tire on turn in, or the drive shaft, or worrying about the endlinks rubbing it raw. This is still better than nothing methinks, dustshileds obviously removed, and plan to remove rear rotor dust shields when I upgrade them. I think if I wanted, I would have better luck with a 2" duct, and could get a 3" to 2" adapter, mount it in the tire well, and run a 2" duct to the rotor:



I think this should suffice for what I will be doing with the car! i.e. a non-track dedicated DD car that I still want to do good work with on the track. Always trying to find that perfect balance.

I will write a more dedicated post on the brake ducting at some point. Pic of the front:

Pads are in! Still waiting on rotors. Shaved another second off my previous best for the track during Track Night in America at Motorsport Ranch, Cresson, Tx on Tuesday, pretty happy. Was smoking everyone in the novice class, will do Intermediate next time. I smoked some 'Vettes, a couple of Camaro SS 1LE's and a ZL1, and even an Ariel Atom. I was VERY happy with myself and the GTI, lol!



Also got my new Black Armor helmet in, it is very nice quality, and pleasantly comfortable! I'm not a huge fan of the white, but I plan on getting a black visor so I don't have to wear my sunglasses, and that should make it pop a little more. I'm contemplating adding soome A-10 Warthog teeth stickers where my mouth is on the helmet and decking it out in stickers, but tactfully of course.



Anyway, track days have been way too much fun. Update on the Firehawk Indy 500 tires:

Here is the wear right after another track day. So this is 3 track days and two auto crosses along with a couple months of daily driving.



I have to say, I cannot say enough good things about how good these tires felt this last track day. I ended up deflating them to where they were like 28 PSI on fronts and 32 PSI on rears completely cold which kept them around 36-37 PSI hot on track, and they felt SO good. I knew when I was going to lose grip and it felt like the limit was pretty far. They held traction very well. For $130 a tire (for 245's) I couldn't be happier.

Anyway, that's all for now. My fronts are now at 6 and 7 32nds.

My brake refresh couldn't of come at a better time, though I'm still waiting on my rear rotors from Stoptech.

Here is a shot of my right rotor with pad deposits and very little pad left:


And here is my left, rotor looks ok but there is almost ZERO pad left:


Talk about cutting it close! Definitely won't be doing any aggressive driving until I change my brakes out. I didn't think I would get to the point of needing dedicated race pads so soon. I'm sure the single piston calipers don't help in that they get very hot. I think I may need to get some 2" ducting and run my brake ducts up to the calipers/rotors.

If anyone knows of anyone with TTRS calipers for sale, let me know!


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In the DIY section here there's one for putting these brake ducts from the TT-RS on, they mount on the lower control arm and kinda direct air up at the brakes.