Hi everyone,
Long-time lurker here, so I thought I'd finally share a bit of my experience of the golf R on track. I hope it can inspire some people, as many other posts did for me.
A little bit of background: I previously drove on track an S4, Miata (nb), and a 911 4S. The 911 was my dream car, but it was stretch financially to buy it, and it was too expensive for me to run on the track... Hindsight 20/20 I know, but I can't say you're super-rational when buying a dream car! Plus, a baby was on the way, so I got a 7.5 R DSG as a daily, trackable car - that was in November last year.
Then covid hit, I started working from home like many, and going to the track was the only reason to take the car out. I'm fortunate enough to live 20 minutes away from a race track, so I figured that this summer would be spent on the track.
I bought the car new and proceeded to almost immediately void the warranty
by flashing it ... Not that I recommend doing that, but I have zero regrets. The tune by Stratified is absolutely amazing. I worked with Alex, and he knew my objective of tuning for the track, so he smoothed out power delivery and throttle mapping, to make everything more linear. I also went with the timing based ESC. I can't recommend it enough.
To go with the tune, I added:
- CTS downpipe (catted)
- High flow K&N filter in stock box
- Removed the snow guard
- CTS turbo inlet.
I also got the COBB DSG tune, I'm waiting for Stratified to come up with their own version. If anyone has any doubt about the DSG tune, it's an absolute must-have. I couldn't stand the sluggish behavior of the box in OEM form, super unwilling to downshift to maximize fuel efficiency.
The tuning process took about 3 months, with a revision every 2 weeks or so. I was already close to the final tune before hitting the track. According to Alex, the tuner at Stratified, the car is basically maxed out on its current setup. We're at the maximum capacity of the fuel injectors. I did ask him to keep a bit of a buffer since I have to contend with -20 degrees weather in the winter. I don't know the final power figures, I don't really care...but I suspect it's about 300+ at the wheels for sure.
The track I go to is 2.13 miles with 16 turns. It's not a very fast track - it's quite tight and super intense on the brakes. So here it goes:
Drivetrain on track
The car worked flawlessly, pounded on hot tarmac in the summer in 100+ degree weather. Zero problems with the transmission, oil, engine. It took all the abuse in the world, without breaking a sweat. For a car tuned with everything else in stock form, I'm absolutely impressed. I wouldn't say I liked the tuning of the DSG in automatic. It was too eager to upshift, even in sport mode. I never bothered to flash it in the "aggressive" setting from Cobb as I like to shift myself anyway. In manual mode, the DSG responds fantastically to downshifts and upshifts, giving you the requested gear whenever you want it, even after 20 minutes of pounding. I never drove PDK, but I imagine it must be similar in manual mode. Power is perfect and pulls hard until about 500RPM before redline. Stratified raised the rev limiter by 200, so at 6800 is where the turbo is losing breath. I figure it's ok, I learned to "short shift" a bit, but it's really not annoying like it in stock. From 3000 RPM to 6800, it feels like a naturally aspirated engine; it's really amazing. Overall, 10/10 for the drivetrain.
Chassis
Let's start with the obvious: It's set up to understeer from the factory. The first mod after the first day at the track was:
- an H&R 25mm rear swaybar.
OMG, that was life-changing. I never felt a car behave so differently with just a change of swaybar!!! If you only have 300$ to put in your R, do the rear swaybar. It's BY FAR the best bang for your buck.
Suddenly the car felt connected front and rear. It didn't feel like the rear wanted to plow on its own anymore. The car became balanced, and it almost completely neutralized the understeer. The car felt almost perfectly balanced.
I have no idea why VW doesn't put a 25mm rear swaybar on the R, especially with AWD and ESC...it's still hard to lift off oversteer. You're not going to lose it unless you really provoke it. it baffles me.
The next mod was:
- 034 camber plate upfront.
I ended up with -2.2 camber at the front and 0 toe front and rear. It helped turn-in and further mitigated understeer. But the biggest difference was how much it helped the tires. More on that later I didn't touch the rest of the suspension. I love the setup, it's compliant but firm, the 3 modes are actually useful, and i don't feel it's a limiting factor at the point.
Brakes
Ok so this is obvious, but it needs to be addressed: The OEM fluid can't last a 20 min session without fading, and the OEM pads either. it can take maybe 1.5 lap balls out before fade becomes an issue and you need a cooldown lap. It's the biggest limiting factor.
For fluid I went with:
- Motul 660 - Amazing fluid, totally worth the money. Pedal fade disappeared
Pads:
- ECB Yellowstuff. They are a significant upgrade over OEM and can take a lot of abuse, but you will need to cool them down during the session. you can't attack for 20 minutes straight. Zero squealing on our out the track was a great plus.
The cooling is not adequate.
- RS3 Air Ducts.
This one was easy. Go to your Audi Dealer and order them. It's expensive for a piece of plastic held up by tie wraps... but it works.
Once I went through the Yellowstuff, I bought:
- ECB Bluestuff
Those are the pads you want, short of track-only pads. They are great, last, a long time, resist fade very well, and are relatively cheap. They don't squeal either and cold grip is absolutely fine - almost OEM like - on the street. Can't recommend them enough for dual duty cars.
I have no problem with the caliper design and single-piston. Pads were worn out evenly. I might want to do a monoblock from the TTS later, but with Motul 660, the RS3 air ducts, and ECB Bluestuff, I have no complaints left for the braking system.
EDIT: with OBDEleven, Disable XDS! it doesn't help (in fact it slowed me down) and it boils your brake faster.
Tires
So the OEM Continental are a disaster. They are terrible. It's not a track tire, sure, but they really aren't up to the task.
The grip is OK, but then they overheat easily (camber plate adjustment helped with that) and the sidewall is too soft. I destroyed the tires and when they were done, you could barely the upper half of the "continental" wording was erased off the tire. Ouch.
The second set of tires was Hankook RS4 - 235/45R17. What a tire my friends. They are absolutely amazing. When you factor in the cost on top of it, it's a no brainer, in my opinion. The sidewall is not flexing at all, even at 25 PSI. They heat up quickly and keep their temp quite stable. You can make them greasy if you really go out like a maniac for 20 minutes, but it's hard. THe treadwear is remarkable and there is no issue in the rain (except pouring and standing water.... you will aquaplane a bit_).
I had 2 track days in the rain and they hold up remarkably well. However, when they let go in the wet, they SNAP on you. Let's say I had a couple of cold sweat moments in the rain on the track...but on the highway back home, no issues. The ESC tuned by Stratified is again remarkable, barely making loss of power noticeable.
Conclusion
It was a great summer, all things considered. Being able to track so much was great. The Mk7 R is a fantastic platform. It's not as precise and dancing as a 911 and it's not as light as a Miata. But as an overall package, it's hard to beat. I just slapped on winter tires and will go to drop my kid at daycare with it. Can't beat that.
If you have a limited budget, Brakes, rear swaybar, and camber plate are your must-haves. The power is adequate stock and in manual mode, the DSG works great.
The only downfall I have with it is its weight. It's heavy. Nothing can be done about that really if I want to keep it serviceable for the family as well.
In the future, I'll probably do the subframe inserts and dogbone. I'll eventually do a catback as well so that it sounds what it's supposed to! but performance-wise, the OEM catback is not a limiting factor with stock turbo/injectors anyway. Eventually, I'll want to do hybrid turbo + Port fuel injection + fuel pump...but that's not really a priority right now. I don't need more power as I'm not dragging the car.
So there it is, I hope this post helps someone, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know below!
Stay safe!
Long-time lurker here, so I thought I'd finally share a bit of my experience of the golf R on track. I hope it can inspire some people, as many other posts did for me.
A little bit of background: I previously drove on track an S4, Miata (nb), and a 911 4S. The 911 was my dream car, but it was stretch financially to buy it, and it was too expensive for me to run on the track... Hindsight 20/20 I know, but I can't say you're super-rational when buying a dream car! Plus, a baby was on the way, so I got a 7.5 R DSG as a daily, trackable car - that was in November last year.
Then covid hit, I started working from home like many, and going to the track was the only reason to take the car out. I'm fortunate enough to live 20 minutes away from a race track, so I figured that this summer would be spent on the track.
I bought the car new and proceeded to almost immediately void the warranty
by flashing it ... Not that I recommend doing that, but I have zero regrets. The tune by Stratified is absolutely amazing. I worked with Alex, and he knew my objective of tuning for the track, so he smoothed out power delivery and throttle mapping, to make everything more linear. I also went with the timing based ESC. I can't recommend it enough.To go with the tune, I added:
- CTS downpipe (catted)
- High flow K&N filter in stock box
- Removed the snow guard
- CTS turbo inlet.
I also got the COBB DSG tune, I'm waiting for Stratified to come up with their own version. If anyone has any doubt about the DSG tune, it's an absolute must-have. I couldn't stand the sluggish behavior of the box in OEM form, super unwilling to downshift to maximize fuel efficiency.
The tuning process took about 3 months, with a revision every 2 weeks or so. I was already close to the final tune before hitting the track. According to Alex, the tuner at Stratified, the car is basically maxed out on its current setup. We're at the maximum capacity of the fuel injectors. I did ask him to keep a bit of a buffer since I have to contend with -20 degrees weather in the winter. I don't know the final power figures, I don't really care...but I suspect it's about 300+ at the wheels for sure.
The track I go to is 2.13 miles with 16 turns. It's not a very fast track - it's quite tight and super intense on the brakes. So here it goes:
Drivetrain on track
The car worked flawlessly, pounded on hot tarmac in the summer in 100+ degree weather. Zero problems with the transmission, oil, engine. It took all the abuse in the world, without breaking a sweat. For a car tuned with everything else in stock form, I'm absolutely impressed. I wouldn't say I liked the tuning of the DSG in automatic. It was too eager to upshift, even in sport mode. I never bothered to flash it in the "aggressive" setting from Cobb as I like to shift myself anyway. In manual mode, the DSG responds fantastically to downshifts and upshifts, giving you the requested gear whenever you want it, even after 20 minutes of pounding. I never drove PDK, but I imagine it must be similar in manual mode. Power is perfect and pulls hard until about 500RPM before redline. Stratified raised the rev limiter by 200, so at 6800 is where the turbo is losing breath. I figure it's ok, I learned to "short shift" a bit, but it's really not annoying like it in stock. From 3000 RPM to 6800, it feels like a naturally aspirated engine; it's really amazing. Overall, 10/10 for the drivetrain.
Chassis
Let's start with the obvious: It's set up to understeer from the factory. The first mod after the first day at the track was:
- an H&R 25mm rear swaybar.
OMG, that was life-changing. I never felt a car behave so differently with just a change of swaybar!!! If you only have 300$ to put in your R, do the rear swaybar. It's BY FAR the best bang for your buck.
Suddenly the car felt connected front and rear. It didn't feel like the rear wanted to plow on its own anymore. The car became balanced, and it almost completely neutralized the understeer. The car felt almost perfectly balanced.
I have no idea why VW doesn't put a 25mm rear swaybar on the R, especially with AWD and ESC...it's still hard to lift off oversteer. You're not going to lose it unless you really provoke it. it baffles me.
The next mod was:
- 034 camber plate upfront.
I ended up with -2.2 camber at the front and 0 toe front and rear. It helped turn-in and further mitigated understeer. But the biggest difference was how much it helped the tires. More on that later I didn't touch the rest of the suspension. I love the setup, it's compliant but firm, the 3 modes are actually useful, and i don't feel it's a limiting factor at the point.
Brakes
Ok so this is obvious, but it needs to be addressed: The OEM fluid can't last a 20 min session without fading, and the OEM pads either. it can take maybe 1.5 lap balls out before fade becomes an issue and you need a cooldown lap. It's the biggest limiting factor.
For fluid I went with:
- Motul 660 - Amazing fluid, totally worth the money. Pedal fade disappeared
Pads:
- ECB Yellowstuff. They are a significant upgrade over OEM and can take a lot of abuse, but you will need to cool them down during the session. you can't attack for 20 minutes straight. Zero squealing on our out the track was a great plus.
The cooling is not adequate.
- RS3 Air Ducts.
This one was easy. Go to your Audi Dealer and order them. It's expensive for a piece of plastic held up by tie wraps... but it works.
Once I went through the Yellowstuff, I bought:
- ECB Bluestuff
Those are the pads you want, short of track-only pads. They are great, last, a long time, resist fade very well, and are relatively cheap. They don't squeal either and cold grip is absolutely fine - almost OEM like - on the street. Can't recommend them enough for dual duty cars.
I have no problem with the caliper design and single-piston. Pads were worn out evenly. I might want to do a monoblock from the TTS later, but with Motul 660, the RS3 air ducts, and ECB Bluestuff, I have no complaints left for the braking system.
EDIT: with OBDEleven, Disable XDS! it doesn't help (in fact it slowed me down) and it boils your brake faster.
Tires
So the OEM Continental are a disaster. They are terrible. It's not a track tire, sure, but they really aren't up to the task.
The grip is OK, but then they overheat easily (camber plate adjustment helped with that) and the sidewall is too soft. I destroyed the tires and when they were done, you could barely the upper half of the "continental" wording was erased off the tire. Ouch.
The second set of tires was Hankook RS4 - 235/45R17. What a tire my friends. They are absolutely amazing. When you factor in the cost on top of it, it's a no brainer, in my opinion. The sidewall is not flexing at all, even at 25 PSI. They heat up quickly and keep their temp quite stable. You can make them greasy if you really go out like a maniac for 20 minutes, but it's hard. THe treadwear is remarkable and there is no issue in the rain (except pouring and standing water.... you will aquaplane a bit_).
I had 2 track days in the rain and they hold up remarkably well. However, when they let go in the wet, they SNAP on you. Let's say I had a couple of cold sweat moments in the rain on the track...but on the highway back home, no issues. The ESC tuned by Stratified is again remarkable, barely making loss of power noticeable.
Conclusion
It was a great summer, all things considered. Being able to track so much was great. The Mk7 R is a fantastic platform. It's not as precise and dancing as a 911 and it's not as light as a Miata. But as an overall package, it's hard to beat. I just slapped on winter tires and will go to drop my kid at daycare with it. Can't beat that.
If you have a limited budget, Brakes, rear swaybar, and camber plate are your must-haves. The power is adequate stock and in manual mode, the DSG works great.
The only downfall I have with it is its weight. It's heavy. Nothing can be done about that really if I want to keep it serviceable for the family as well.
In the future, I'll probably do the subframe inserts and dogbone. I'll eventually do a catback as well so that it sounds what it's supposed to! but performance-wise, the OEM catback is not a limiting factor with stock turbo/injectors anyway. Eventually, I'll want to do hybrid turbo + Port fuel injection + fuel pump...but that's not really a priority right now. I don't need more power as I'm not dragging the car.
So there it is, I hope this post helps someone, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know below!
Stay safe!
Last edited:
.
