2017 GTi PP at VIR

[tigeo]

To add insult to injury you're looking at paying about $1500+ out of pocket for each section of tire wall you hit at VIR. The IMSA barriers are even more.

My GTI I've noticed starts to feel REAL funny at speed after maybe 4-6 days on track because of how the tires wear. They all get "crowned" a bit from outside edgewear because struts are the devil, and inside a bit due to wheelspin on corner exit. I'm considering lowering the car a bit to just maybe help add some stability at higher speeds. Definitely don't want to go silly with full aero or anything, but this has happened now both with the RT660s and now with the V730s late in the season. It's manageable/tolerable when new, but could still be improved I think.

 

[bdollazzz]

View attachment 294424

Was just about to post a similar meme

 

[GTIfan99]

Charlotte’s oval asphalt is rough and bumpy. I was not expecting that. You can still run up to high speeds. It just rattles your fillings out. The inner Roval asphalt is decent. I’m assuming that Daytona is much smoother.

My Vmax on VIR’s back straight is 147mph. Not a lot of exit strategies if the brake pedal goes to the floor heading into T13. Heading down the front straight into T1 at 143mph you can exit stage left and have decent run-off into the fields. If you have turned in, there’s 150-200ft before you get to the tire wall. See an Audi run close to the tire wall after a front rotor came apart. Heck if the grass is wet, all bets are off as you pick up speed as soon as you go all 4 off the asphalt.

Daytona is pretty smooth, Sebring requires a visit to the dentist after a day there, so I get it.

 

[GTIfan99]

To add insult to injury you're looking at paying about $1500+ out of pocket for each section of tire wall you hit at VIR. The IMSA barriers are even more.

My GTI I've noticed starts to feel REAL funny at speed after maybe 4-6 days on track because of how the tires wear. They all get "crowned" a bit from outside edgewear because struts are the devil, and inside a bit due to wheelspin on corner exit. I'm considering lowering the car a bit to just maybe help add some stability at higher speeds. Definitely don't want to go silly with full aero or anything, but this has happened now both with the RT660s and now with the V730s late in the season. It's manageable/tolerable when new, but could still be improved I think.

Good point, tire wear is certainly part of it.

 

[victorofhavoc]

Good point, tire wear is certainly part of it.

Alignment is huge. I've found 0 toe all around or slight toe out all around is fastest and best for turn in with trail braking, but you sacrifice high speed stability a bit. Braking from high speeds wants to induce rotation unless the wheel is pretty straight, but it's totally worth it for the turn in improvement and trail braking potential.

I should revise my earlier statement to "the gti rear end feels like a twitchy feather on a track alignment at speeds where it has a lot of positive lift (100mph+)". I haven't tried the stock alignment since that's the first thing I change on any car I get .

 

[GTIfan99]

Anyone looking for a mk7 R track car?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/vwracers/permalink/3343738175916505/?mibextid=Nif5oz

 

[manu97]

Anyone looking for a mk7 R track car?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/vwracers/permalink/3343738175916505/?mibextid=Nif5oz

That's a pretty bold price for what it is.

 

[scrllock]

That's a pretty bold price for what it is.

Someone had a come-to-jesus moment financially. Too bad he cut up the chassis for that cage, he's going to take a massive hit even if he parts it out.

 

[GTIfan99]

That's a pretty bold price for what it is.

Yes and no.

Heavily modding a car isn't a great way to add value to street car and race cars are money pits you'll never get your money out of.

He went race car on a street car. Never go race car on a street car and not expect to flush a lot of money down the toilet.

 

[manu97]

Yes and no.

Heavily modding a car isn't a great way to add value to street car and race cars are money pits you'll never get your money out of.

He went race car on a street car. Never go race car on a street car and not expect to flush a lot of money down the toilet.

Yeah I don't know if he's hit the "flush a lot of money down the toilet" realization yet.

 

[scrllock]

Yes and no.

Heavily modding a car isn't a great way to add value to street car and race cars are money pits you'll never get your money out of.

He went race car on a street car. Never go race car on a street car and not expect to flush a lot of money down the toilet.

Someone replied with a link to a spec E46 as proof you can sell a track car for a decent amount. Too bad his R isn't built for spec racing, nor for the limits of any particular ruleset. Typical hodge podge suspension mods that put it in maxed out classes in most orgs.

 

[victorofhavoc]

Someone replied with a link to a spec E46 as proof you can sell a track car for a decent amount. Too bad his R isn't built for spec racing, nor for the limits of any particular ruleset. Typical hodge podge suspension mods that put it in maxed out classes in most orgs.

One of my cars was built for a purpose (nasa tt3), and it still lost tons of value. $30k car with $30k of build to it, and I bought it for 15 in late 2020 (good timing for me bad for seller). Now it's worth roughly 25k, and that's after I put an additional 6k into it.

Racecar maintenance isn't cheap, but it at least brings cost of consumables down if you choose a platform with a lot of support. The big benefit is not caring whether you have to drive it home, you can't. It'll be in the trailer whether by its own power or getting dragged in, and that's peace of mind!

 

[DerHase]

I think these cars are really lousy as a "dedicated" track car. They're not competitive in any classes, they have several reliability issues to overcome, and regardless of what is done, will still be "slow" compared to a simple C5 with reliability upgrades. With very simple stuff they're running TCR lap times at half the cost.

The sweet spot IMO is being comfortable with Spec Miata laptimes. Doesn't require tons of money to achieve, and keeping the car reliable and liveable as a daily.

But then there's the "I only need X part to go a bit faster" factor that has crept up...

 

[scrllock]

I think these cars are really lousy as a "dedicated" track car. They're not competitive in any classes, they have several reliability issues to overcome, and regardless of what is done, will still be "slow" compared to a simple C5 with reliability upgrades. With very simple stuff they're running TCR lap times at half the cost.

The sweet spot IMO is being comfortable with Spec Miata laptimes. Doesn't require tons of money to achieve, and keeping the car reliable and liveable as a daily.

But then there's the "I only need X part to go a bit faster" factor that has crept up...

I think they could be competitive in something like gridlife street class, where the main restriction is no aero and stock turbos. SCCA no way. Main downside is while these cars are inexpensive compared to a Corvette/M-car/P-car, the cost of engine/drivetrain rebuilds is still much higher than the usual 4-cylinder japanese stuff.

 

[victorofhavoc]

I think they could be competitive in something like gridlife street class, where the main restriction is no aero and stock turbos. SCCA no way. Main downside is while these cars are inexpensive compared to a Corvette/M-car/P-car, the cost of engine/drivetrain rebuilds is still much higher than the usual 4-cylinder japanese stuff.

The tcr cars (not tcr trim) were a great choice for NASA TT and ST because of their build, power to weight, and the wicked fast trans, but unfortunately because of that the DSG has now gotten hampered with penalties.

Thus is racing though... You have to drive what the cool rich kids are driving to be successful because rules are often written in ways to keep them happy and competitive.

Factory cars converted to be dual duty won't ever be. There are just too many compromises in the hot hatch form factor for suspension, weight, drive and too much temptation to "just tune it" for 100hp more.