Anyone autox'ing a 1.8 TSI golf or gsw?

I'm trying it out with a 2016 GSW 1.8 S.

Would love to hear about car setups, especially tires, brake pads, and dampers.

I've done 4 events so far on the stock 195/65r15s. Not fast, but fun.

Did some obdeleven tweaks to expose esc off, adjust xds, and turn off traction control.

I tell people "my Mom doesn't know I'm autox'ing her car today" [emoji41]

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Just want to send kudos for driving what you've got. You're now among the 1% that knows what it feels like to use the brakes all the way and then avoid an object, among other things! Way to go! You're headed the right direction. Will you be able to get some larger wheels at some point (17x8 maybe... )? Or are you asking about tires for stock rims?

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rex n effect said:

Just want to send kudos for driving what you've got. You're now among the 1% that knows what it feels like to use the brakes all the way and then avoid an object, among other things! Way to go! You're headed the right direction. Will you be able to get some larger wheels at some point (17x8 maybe... )? Or are you asking about tires for stock rims?

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Thanks. There's something to be said for skinny tires as it forces one to deal with the car's limits immediately Reaching out here as most are GTI.

Trying to leave my ego behind and learn how to drive first. Will upgrade / mod the car over time, tires first.

Haven't made up my mind on wheels and tires yet. Bought a set of 195/65r15s on steelies off of craigslist to spare the outer edges of my DD tires while I work on driving skills. Once they wear down, I might go with smaller diameter tires on same wheels (with aggressive compound) or go new wider wheels and tires. Need to learn more about options vs classing.

Our club has a "loose" definition of stock: no engine mods, no spring mods, no camber beyond -2, no tire width above 225 unless stock width wider, utog as low as 140 is okay.

Also has an "S5 class" for 195 or narrower tires, which is where I belong now.

Club is : drivefast.org

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I have not but i plan on doing this year.

I wish I'd seen this earlier. I've done 4 autox's with my golf, two on stock suspension, one on just rear springs because I didn't have the chance to install the fronts yet, and one on lowered springs all around. All of the autox's were post APR Stage 1 and with stock tires (195/65R15 all seasons).

The first two were on a very tight course, where 40mph is the max you would ever think of reaching, and I got the fastest time of the day on both, roughly 3 seconds faster than the next fastest which was a group of miatas. It's almost scary how well this car does in tight courses, but I imagine that would apply a bit less with the wagon.

The next two were on more open courses where just over 70mph is the fastest I hit. I'd say the first time with just the rear springs replaced was the better of the two, and amazingly fun. The car handled the slaloms like nothing else, and really transformed my idea about how rear suspension should be setup. It was amazing. The second time with both front and rear springs was filled with a bit more understeer, and I don't know if it was any faster. It is when I decided I desperately needed a rear sway bar. Both of the times on the faster course I placed around mid pack, a few seconds behind the STI's.

The way I autox is not for the competition, just for the fun of driving. Neither of the events had any rules about mods, and any winning was entirely bragging rights, which is what I find the most fun.

Thinking back it seems like I did everything entirely backwards, where the first mod to my car was massively increase the power, then I slowly began to think about improving the handling, but this car handles that increase in power astonishingly well. It really felt like the increase in power helped my time even in the super tight course. Another point to be made, I think the stock steelies with super high profile tires is probably the fastest combination in a super tight course such as with my first 2 autox's. I weighed the setup when I switched to my current setup, and the steelie setup was 4.5lbs lighter per wheel, even with my crazy light Enkie rpf1's. If you can find performance or summer tires that will fit on the OEM steel wheels or other super light 15" wheel I would recommend it. I will be going to another autox in april where I will finally be able to test out my many handling mods (in my signature) I've done since the last time I autox'd. It will be on the faster course where I think my mods will have more of an effect. I hope to be playing with the STI's this time!

I actually autocrossed my Silk Blue TSI for the second time this weekend, on the stock wheels and tires, as the tires that came on the wheels I bought don't fit on the rear.

(255/40/17s rub a bit on the fuel filler tube)

Melted solid thanks for the post. Good to hear there are some other 1.8t on thjs forum at autox.

This week, I competed in an "endurocross", which is simply an autocross with multiple laps. We did 5 laps per run, I managed 4 runs. Fun! Think I may have over-heated my pads on two runs (they warned us) as I had some odd smells at the end.

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/133057342@N05/33078967496/sizes/m/

There are some good tire compounds to put on 15x6 steels, but smaller diameter. For example in 205/50:

Nexen azenis
Bridgestone re_71
New conti extreme contact sports
Not on tirerack:
Federal rs-rr
Nitto nt05
Probably others

There are also uhp summers in 205/55




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MeltedSolid said:

It really felt like the increase in power helped my time even in the super tight course. Another point to be made, I think the stock steelies with super high profile tires is probably the fastest combination in a super tight course such as with my first 2 autox's.

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Honestly, I wouldn't go that far. All I ever suffered was traction, traction
and once again, traction. On the other hand, I don't think you need 255 wide
tires at all. Basically, I think any Golf or GTI needs this:

- better tires
- more camber on front
- LSD (GTI PP has one)
- reduced roll stiffer suspension
- better supporting seats

Can an LSD be installed on a 1.8? I haven't been able to find a good answer. There is huge power potential with the 1.8 but without an LSD I don't see much point in investing in stage 2...

I have a 1.8 and I am hoping to autox sometime this summer.

I have a new set of PSS but I would hate to rip thru them quickly.... maybe I can find a good deal on a beater set of wheels and tires. I know... it seems kind of crazy to invest in grippy tires and then not use them when you need them most.... but I think I'd rather have them long term for DD use than melted away by the end of the summer thanks to a few good autox/track days... I dunno... thoughts?

To my knowledge NA spec Golfs should come with a MQ250-5F / 0A4 or 02S
or similar gearbox. This basically the same as Euro spec Golf 1.6 TDI do come
with, and a very similar design as the 6-speed version used on many Euro and
Asian VAG cars with similar output.
Check Quaife, Peoloquin and Wavetrac websites if they list their LSD offerings
for the "MQ250-6F / 02S" gearbox (if you have a manual). If it helps, it's the
same as on the Audi A3 1.8 TFSI and Seat Leon and Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI,
Passat 1.8 TSI and Golf 1.4 TSI 140/150 HP (all with 250 Nm torque and FWD).
If in doubt give Peloquin a call. Peloquin is a US based company.
Don't mind. If I were you I'd run these PSS. Drive just a tad smoothly, that's
quicker than most would think. Even if it adds a 1/100 of a second, it may de-
crease 10 or 20 percent of wear on your car at the same time. Anyways that
is by far quicker than running A/S tires.

Wow, very informative response, thank you.

Someday I'd like to swap out my clutch and when I do, I'd love to chuck an LSD in there.

But in the meantime, I'm looking at local autocross dates in Mass and thinking about getting an SCCA membership.

The more I think about it, running the PSS seems fine... I'm sure I could burn them up quickly if I really wanted to, but I doubt I am going to be driving all that fast or hard my first few autoX events anyway. And hell, they are meant for this kind of abuse.

I was trying to figure out what class our 1.8s would be in... I was kind of confused by all the classes... it seems like 1.8 golf's were actually in a few different categories?

MikeF1021 said:

Wow, very informative response, thank you.

Someday I'd like to swap out my clutch and when I do, I'd love to chuck an LSD in there.

But in the meantime, I'm looking at local autocross dates in Mass and thinking about getting an SCCA membership.

The more I think about it, running the PSS seems fine... I'm sure I could burn them up quickly if I really wanted to, but I doubt I am going to be driving all that fast or hard my first few autoX events anyway. And hell, they are meant for this kind of abuse.

I was trying to figure out what class our 1.8s would be in... I was kind of confused by all the classes... it seems like 1.8 golf's were actually in a few different categories?

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I think the most recent 1.8 golfs are in GS, which is too bad as GTIs are as well. So out-gunned from the getgo.

What's worse is Fiesta ST is HS and has superior power to weight.

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Nice! There's nothing at all wrong with autoxing a GSW. It's the same exact car as a Golf plus an extra foot of hatch. Weighs less than 100lbs more.

As for stock class mods, i'd start with 225 wide RE71Rs and a big rear sway bar. That'll get you most of the way there. Add Koni yellows after that. Do keep in mind classing if you intend to autox, being stuck in a class way over your head for a dumb mod quickly saps the fun out of things.

Also, I'd look up your local SCCA chapter. You'll find running with real rules far more rewarding.


I have a "real" race car, but i intend to autox the GSW 4Motion with the wife a few times this year and i expect it to be damn fun!

TXBDan said:

Nice! There's nothing at all wrong with autoxing a GSW. It's the same exact car as a Golf plus an extra foot of hatch. Weighs less than 100lbs more.

As for stock class mods, i'd start with 225 wide RE71Rs and a big rear sway bar. That'll get you most of the way there. Add Koni yellows after that. Do keep in mind classing if you intend to autox, being stuck in a class way over your head for a dumb mod quickly saps the fun out of things.

Also, I'd look up your local SCCA chapter. You'll find running with real rules far more rewarding.


I have a "real" race car, but i intend to autox the GSW 4Motion with the wife a few times this year and i expect it to be damn fun!

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Thanks. Had a blast at an all day event today. Co-drove with an instructor, me as a passenger for five runs and he as a passenger for 5 of mine. Got some good direction and even used some of it effectively. Times got close to a Golf R but the driver's pretty new to autox.

Since it's a 1.8T S, sticking to scca stock classing means 6" rim, either 14", 15" or 16" diameter. 14s don't clear brakes and 16x6 wheels are rare, so conforming to SCCA -> 195 or 205 tires.

Our club has a special class for stock cars with 195 or narrower, so I plan to run in that and still remain GS compliant w/SCCA. Anyway, came in 3rd today in that class behind a miata and a fiero.

You're right about GTI similarity. Good dampers, sway, and aggressive compound, even in 195-205 would make the car very competitive with a stock GTI. Of course the GTI owner could respond similarly.

Damn Miatas ruin it for everybody



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I also did a racing event today! The first Whiskey Garage Driftcross of the year; I participated in the autocross section.

I am really happy with my suspension setup. After adjusting the front dampers to 9/30 and rear to 15/30, the coilovers in combination with the rear sway bar had the car near perfectly balanced. Whenever I got it loose it was either just a tad bit of oversteer or a smooth 4 wheel drift. The only think I noticed was a bit of turbo lag because the course was setup with a lot of 25mph sections, which is just before the sweet spot for the IS20 in 2nd gear.

My times seemed to reflect what I felt, with my best time of the day being a 48.7s where the fastest time I heard was a 44.5s set by a heavily modified S2000 with a crazy driver. Only 3.2s behind the leader compared to last time where I was a bit over 7s with a similar group of cars. There was also a Focus ST with what seemed like very similar mods to me (minus the turbo swap) who got a 48.5s.