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Street Touring Hatchback (STH) discussion/setup

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
Awesome choice no question, I’d say the Clubsports are more in-line with Ohlins compared to v3. Also just to note, Clubsports feature a twin valve technology to keep the wheel planted when experiencing high impact such as hammering over the curbs 👍🏼
I did't hear good things about KW customer support, and the price is higher, but it may be worth it for bump and rebound on separate adjusters.
 

JackRabbitSLIM

Go Kart Champion
Location
OHIO
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
The only way to raise the front, is to go stiffer, and I'm not sure that's the best choice right now to fight front travel.

You can raise your perches and, yes, change your pre-load. It's super easy to change and change back, probably easy enough to do between runs. You cannot hurt anything by trying this. Add 2 clicks of rebound in the front if it makes you feel better. I would make sure I have enough travel and get the toe sorted out (1/8" to 1/4" TOE OUT rear) before doing anything with the rates.

-Spring pre-load can only affect your handling when the pre-load exceeds the dynamic corner weight, which can only happen on the unloaded side of the car.
-Dampers also damp the swaybar spring force. The total spring force, as seen at your outside damper, is almost 3x your coil spring force (with the OE front bar) mid-corner. Did Ohlins say anything about which bars are supposed to be used with their dampers? You tried the stiffer front bar, when you had it installed did you feel that you had damping issues? What about that big rear bar you're using? Those bar changes affect the forces that you have to damp waaay more than changing your spring pre-load (again, I'd argue that pre-load has 0 effect). Why get shy about all of it over some 10's of lbf when it comes to ride height?
 
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xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
You can raise your perches and, yes, change your pre-load. It's super easy to change and change back, probably easy enough to do between runs. You cannot hurt anything by trying this. Add 2 clicks of rebound in the front if it makes you feel better. I would make sure I have enough travel and get the toe sorted out (1/8" to 1/4" TOE OUT rear) before doing anything with the rates.

-Spring pre-load can only affect your handling when the pre-load exceeds the dynamic corner weight, which can only happen on the unloaded side of the car.
-Dampers also damp the swaybar spring force. The total spring force, as seen at your outside damper, is almost 3x your coil spring force (with the OE front bar) mid-corner. Did Ohlins say anything about which bars are supposed to be used with their dampers? You tried the stiffer front bar, when you had it installed did you feel that you had damping issues? What about that big rear bar you're using? Those bar changes affect the forces that you have to damp waaay more than changing your spring pre-load (again, I'd argue that pre-load has 0 effect). Why get shy about all of it over some 10's of lbf when it comes to ride height?

Ohlins was not involved in the purchase of the kit. I didn't ask any questions of the vendor because I knew that I just needed to get the shocks then sort out the rest later. It is my experience that venders that don't customize the kit, don't have the knowledge to help the buyer.

I've gone back to the OEM front bar, and ran the rebound fairly low in the front compared to the rear, at the last event. 16 clicks off of full stiff. I ran it lower to rule out too much rebound causing the understeer.

550s are installed and at the same ride height, noticeable difference, but not bad.

I've got a new front right noise that is cyclical with wheel speed. I checked the wheel nut, and it moved a bit when tightened. Maybe a bad bearing?

Anyway, at this point, I think it's clear that my issue is rear spring related. Next even is a two day Divisional, next weekend.
 

bfury5

Autocross Champion
Location
CT
Finished my 986 brakes today. Don't plan on these helping me be any faster, but I always hated how the non-pp brakes felt even with upgraded pads. bought these used from another forum used and took the time to rebuild / paint them. All-in not bad. Paired them with new rotors, pads, stainless lines and fluid. Pedal feels much better, the smaller piston area helps the brakes bite earlier in the pedal and everything feels very linear. Plus, they look sweet.

IMG_20200801_183847.jpg
IMG_20200801_191823.jpg
 

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
Finished my 986 brakes today. Don't plan on these helping me be any faster, but I always hated how the non-pp brakes felt even with upgraded pads. bought these used from another forum used and took the time to rebuild / paint them. All-in not bad. Paired them with new rotors, pads, stainless lines and fluid. Pedal feels much better, the smaller piston area helps the brakes bite earlier in the pedal and everything feels very linear. Plus, they look sweet.

View attachment 181371View attachment 181372
Did you need to change the brake programming with OBD 11 to change the feel?
 

bfury5

Autocross Champion
Location
CT
Did you need to change the brake programming with OBD 11 to change the feel?
Nope, I just left everything as is. I still think there's some funky electronic stuff that mutes a lot of the direct feeling I want, but with a general lack of knowledge as to what some of those settings actually change I opted to leave everything alone.
 

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
Ohlins was not involved in the purchase of the kit. I didn't ask any questions of the vendor because I knew that I just needed to get the shocks then sort out the rest later. It is my experience that venders that don't customize the kit, don't have the knowledge to help the buyer.

I've gone back to the OEM front bar, and ran the rebound fairly low in the front compared to the rear, at the last event. 16 clicks off of full stiff. I ran it lower to rule out too much rebound causing the understeer.

550s are installed and at the same ride height, noticeable difference, but not bad.

I've got a new front right noise that is cyclical with wheel speed. I checked the wheel nut, and it moved a bit when tightened. Maybe a bad bearing?

Anyway, at this point, I think it's clear that my issue is rear spring related. Next even is a two day Divisional, next weekend.
Raised the fronts about 3 turns to bring all heights to about 26 inches +/- 1/6 of an inch.

Noise went away when I tightened the axle bolt.
 

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
Quick update from the track at Lincoln, the front end is more composed and the rear is somewhat more lively, but I never had to counter steer. So I’m going to up the rear spring rate to 650 before tomorrow’s event.

Also, I emptied at least 15oz of oil from the catch can over 9 runs.

I’m getting bad engine performance at the end of the run. Full throttle at about 4K and no power, no accel.

At one point, my co-driver reported the check engine light came on briefly.

Considering I have to empty the catch can every run, maybe I need a larger capacity.

It’s not full after each run, but the car blows black smoke during the power cut at the end of the course.

Oil temps post run were mid 240s.

One more data point, the gas level is in the red, could I be fuel starved and oil clogged? But it only happens on the right hand turn to the exit.
 
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bfury5

Autocross Champion
Location
CT
Quick update from the track at Lincoln, the front end is more composed and the rear is somewhat more lively, but I never had to counter steer. So I’m going to up the rear spring rate to 650 before tomorrow’s event.

Also, I emptied at least 15oz of oil from the catch can over 9 runs.

I’m getting bad engine performance at the end of the run. Full throttle at about 4K and no power, no accel.

At one point, my co-driver reported the check engine light came on briefly.

Considering I have to empty the catch can every run, maybe I need a larger capacity.

It’s not full after each run, but the car blows black smoke during the power cut at the end of the course.

Oil temps post run were mid 240s.

One more data point, the gas level is in the red, could I be fuel starved and oil clogged? But it only happens on the right hand turn to the exit.

The only thing you did to the front end was lower the rebound, correct? In addition to upping the rear to 550lb
 

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
What about the oil causing detonation?

I hear a distinct clicking during when the ECU pulls power that I thought might be rubbing, but now I’m not sure.

I’ve heard detonation before when I had a Subaru. Sounded like sand rattling in a tin can. This is different. Maybe it’s traction control limiting the power?
 

GTIfan99

Autocross Champion
Location
FL
Quick update from the track at Lincoln, the front end is more composed and the rear is somewhat more lively, but I never had to counter steer. So I’m going to up the rear spring rate to 650 before tomorrow’s event.

Also, I emptied at least 15oz of oil from the catch can over 9 runs.

I’m getting bad engine performance at the end of the run. Full throttle at about 4K and no power, no accel.

At one point, my co-driver reported the check engine light came on briefly.

Considering I have to empty the catch can every run, maybe I need a larger capacity.

It’s not full after each run, but the car blows black smoke during the power cut at the end of the course.

Oil temps post run were mid 240s.

One more data point, the gas level is in the red, could I be fuel starved and oil clogged? But it only happens on the right hand turn to the exit.

Just do the S3 PCV. No one can tell the difference or will ever care.
 
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