2017 GTi PP at VIR

[xXDavidCXx]

OK. So my PowerGrid endlinks came in. For those who want more camber, the inner fender comes into play. These are sealed and lubricated. To gain more wiggle room you will need endlinks with heim joints/rod-ends. These have a slimmer profile than SuperPro/ Whiteline ball joints, with and angled chamfer at the back.

Below are some photos. These are 9mm slimmer in profile compared to my current SuperPros. Nothing against SuperPro they make a quality product.

I will be installing my CSS swivels to see what camber I gain for my fall track events. Currently at -2.5, so let’s see where it ends up after the alignment.

I plan to shave my end link tabs to provide some additional wiggle room.
View attachment 187628

What part number is this?

 

[Mini7]

105 (M12) was all that was on the packaging

I requested 325 center to center. M12 studs. I’m around stock ride height. And I think these were listed as 305 to 325
I can measure the range tonight.

 

[Mini7]

So the minimum center to center is 310mm and the max 330mm maybe 335mm

 

[Mini7]

CSS SWIVELS & SUPERPRO LCAs

Just got the car back from alignment.

I’m super stoked. Looking forward to the track. The GTi feels more like my Mini. The front end is feeling responsive. Much more to my liking and what I have been looking for. Will see whether this translates to improved car speed on track. Had some rear toe out prior to the alignment which was making the rear loose on my Monday evening shakedown to check for squeaks and knocks are all the work.

Gained a full degree of additional camber with my CSS spindle change. Was at -3.5 before the toe adjustments. The Vorshlag camber/caster plates gained the additional 1-degree of caster claimed. No rubbing issues with my tires, so I am good there.

Will see how she rides over the next couple of weeks. Need to get used to the car again, it feels that different.

Not entirely happy about the additional 1” ride in the rear. For now, I will be leaving it there. Will see if it settles a little, but I doubt it. Swift Springs do not lose much height from my experience. So it looks like I will need those 7” 12k’s and helper springs. But will wait on that for now.

Sooooo…….CSS Spindles will work with SuperPro 018K LCA’s without any clearance issues. They add a full degree of camber per side. My original plan was to sell these when I got the Verkline LCA’s. But I was curious to see whether these would play nicely together and it seems that they do. No tire clearance issues with my MPS4S 255-35-18 on RSE10’s 18x8.5 ET45’s. This is with the additional caster provided by the Vorshlag top mounts.

For the folks who don’t want to go to metal bearing top mount, you should get -3 degrees of front camber with 034/SuperPro fixed camber plates, CSS Spindle & SuperPro LCA. While still running a decently wide tire under the fender. The track will be the final clearance torture test.

Installed:
CSS Spindles
New front ABS Sensors
New Lemforder LBJ
R Lower Fender Liner
PowerGrid Front End-links
FAG Front Wheel Bearings
New Front Rotors
New Rear Rotors
SKF Rear Wheel Bearing
8” 12K Rear Swift Springs
3DM Motorsports re-valved Ohlin’s

Barry Battle the owner of 3DM, has been great to work with and knows his stuff when it comes to shocks. He is an Ohlins Dealer and provides re-valve discounts to folks who purchase Ohlins from him. Great value and incentive to get your Ohlins coils from 3DM Motorsports. FWIIW – Ohlins USA recommended that I go to 3DM Motorsports for my “track-spec” re-valve.

Wanted to give everyone a quick update. Will post photos and more details, as I work through my track-prep to do list.

Stay healthy folks!

 

[victorofhavoc]

Nice! That's a lot of castor to run! How much does camber change at full lock?

 

[victorofhavoc]

Also, I still think you've got too much toe in the rear , haha.

 

[GTIfan99]

CSS SWIVELS & SUPERPRO LCAs

Just got the car back from alignment.

I’m super stoked. Looking forward to the track. The GTi feels more like my Mini. The front end is feeling responsive. Much more to my liking and what I have been looking for. Will see whether this translates to improved car speed on track. Had some rear toe out prior to the alignment which was making the rear loose on my Monday evening shakedown to check for squeaks and knocks are all the work.

Gained a full degree of additional camber with my CSS spindle change. Was at -3.5 before the toe adjustments. The Vorshlag camber/caster plates gained the additional 1-degree of caster claimed. No rubbing issues with my tires, so I am good there.

Will see how she rides over the next couple of weeks. Need to get used to the car again, it feels that different.

Not entirely happy about the additional 1” ride in the rear. For now, I will be leaving it there. Will see if it settles a little, but I doubt it. Swift Springs do not lose much height from my experience. So it looks like I will need those 7” 12k’s and helper springs. But will wait on that for now.

Sooooo…….CSS Spindles will work with SuperPro 018K LCA’s without any clearance issues. They add a full degree of camber per side. My original plan was to sell these when I got the Verkline LCA’s. But I was curious to see whether these would play nicely together and it seems that they do. No tire clearance issues with my MPS4S 255-35-18 on RSE10’s 18x8.5 ET45’s. This is with the additional caster provided by the Vorshlag top mounts.

For the folks who don’t want to go to metal bearing top mount, you should get -3 degrees of front camber with 034/SuperPro fixed camber plates, CSS Spindle & SuperPro LCA. While still running a decently wide tire under the fender. The track will be the final clearance torture test.

Installed:
CSS Spindles
New front ABS Sensors
New Lemforder LBJ
R Lower Fender Liner
PowerGrid Front End-links
FAG Front Wheel Bearings
New Front Rotors
New Rear Rotors
SKF Rear Wheel Bearing
8” 12K Rear Swift Springs
3DM Motorsports re-valved Ohlin’s

Barry Battle the owner of 3DM, has been great to work with and knows his stuff when it comes to shocks. He is an Ohlins Dealer and provides re-valve discounts to folks who purchase Ohlins from him. Great value and incentive to get your Ohlins coils from 3DM Motorsports. FWIIW – Ohlins USA recommended that I go to 3DM Motorsports for my “track-spec” re-valve.

Wanted to give everyone a quick update. Will post photos and more details, as I work through my track-prep to do list.

Stay healthy folks!

View attachment 188783

What are you using for top hats right now?

 

[xXDavidCXx]

CSS SWIVELS & SUPERPRO LCAs

Just got the car back from alignment.

I’m super stoked. Looking forward to the track. The GTi feels more like my Mini. The front end is feeling responsive. Much more to my liking and what I have been looking for. Will see whether this translates to improved car speed on track. Had some rear toe out prior to the alignment which was making the rear loose on my Monday evening shakedown to check for squeaks and knocks are all the work.

Gained a full degree of additional camber with my CSS spindle change. Was at -3.5 before the toe adjustments. The Vorshlag camber/caster plates gained the additional 1-degree of caster claimed. No rubbing issues with my tires, so I am good there.

Will see how she rides over the next couple of weeks. Need to get used to the car again, it feels that different.

Not entirely happy about the additional 1” ride in the rear. For now, I will be leaving it there. Will see if it settles a little, but I doubt it. Swift Springs do not lose much height from my experience. So it looks like I will need those 7” 12k’s and helper springs. But will wait on that for now.

Sooooo…….CSS Spindles will work with SuperPro 018K LCA’s without any clearance issues. They add a full degree of camber per side. My original plan was to sell these when I got the Verkline LCA’s. But I was curious to see whether these would play nicely together and it seems that they do. No tire clearance issues with my MPS4S 255-35-18 on RSE10’s 18x8.5 ET45’s. This is with the additional caster provided by the Vorshlag top mounts.

For the folks who don’t want to go to metal bearing top mount, you should get -3 degrees of front camber with 034/SuperPro fixed camber plates, CSS Spindle & SuperPro LCA. While still running a decently wide tire under the fender. The track will be the final clearance torture test.

Installed:
CSS Spindles
New front ABS Sensors
New Lemforder LBJ
R Lower Fender Liner
PowerGrid Front End-links
FAG Front Wheel Bearings
New Front Rotors
New Rear Rotors
SKF Rear Wheel Bearing
8” 12K Rear Swift Springs
3DM Motorsports re-valved Ohlin’s

Barry Battle the owner of 3DM, has been great to work with and knows his stuff when it comes to shocks. He is an Ohlins Dealer and provides re-valve discounts to folks who purchase Ohlins from him. Great value and incentive to get your Ohlins coils from 3DM Motorsports. FWIIW – Ohlins USA recommended that I go to 3DM Motorsports for my “track-spec” re-valve.

Wanted to give everyone a quick update. Will post photos and more details, as I work through my track-prep to do list.

Stay healthy folks!

Any reason for such little camber in the rear, compared with the front?

 

[Mini7]

Also, I still think you've got too much toe in the rear , haha.

Small steps grasshopper. Haven’t been to the track yet this year. Lol.

With the rear spring rate increase, toe out up front and slightly more aggressive rear pad compound; I have changed plenty on my setup. So was a little conservative with the the rear toe. I will dial that down as I learn and get used to this new setup.

Don‘t know what the camber gain is with the increased caster. Should help in the slow hairpin turns at VIR. I had the adjustment on the Vorshlag plates, so I’m giving it a try. Using the next two events as some test and tuning before the take off slicks come in the winter for next season. On center feel has a nice resistance on the highway with the added caster. Will likely need to dial some camber out for daily driving.

 

[Mini7]

What are you using for top hats right now?

Vorshlag Caster/ Camber plates.

 

[Mini7]

Any reason for such little camber in the rear, compared with the front?

Kept the rear the same as on my previous alignment. Didn’t expect to get -3.5 up front and with my rear ride height increasing 1”, I didn’t think I would even get to -2 at the rear. My before measurements was -1.9 which surprised me. I wanted to keep a little wiggle room to the fuel filler hose on the rear. I don’t know how much adjustment was left in the stock setup.

I have Verkline adjustable upper rear arms so I can dial in more in the future. Will shoot for 1-degree less than the front.

12k rear springs is definitely the right way to go. Front and rear suspension is synchronized over bumps. Just a single chassis movement now.

 

[Mini7]

PowerGrid Endlinks

One of my concerns about gaining more negative camber was inner fender clearance.

I sourced a set of PowerGrid front end-links. These have a much slimmer profile than my SuperPro end-links, which were nibbling the sealer out of the inner fender welded joint.

Another mod was to slim down the profile of the mounting bracket on my Ohlins. It sucks to do this on such nice coilovers but rather that, then shearing the bracket off.

Here are some photos.

 

[victorofhavoc]

You gained most of the camber at the bottom of the suspension. So that should have moved the endlink further from the body, no? I'd expect clearance to be great now!

 

[Gvazquez]

Kept the rear the same as on my previous alignment. Didn’t expect to get -3.5 up front and with my rear ride height increasing 1”, I didn’t think I would even get to -2 at the rear. My before measurements was -1.9 which surprised me. I wanted to keep a little wiggle room to the fuel filler hose on the rear. I don’t know how much adjustment was left in the stock setup.

I have Verkline adjustable upper rear arms so I can dial in more in the future. Will shoot for 1-degree less than the front.

12k rear springs is definitely the right way to go. Front and rear suspension is synchronized over bumps. Just a single chassis movement now.

Are you still running 8k front springs? Alignment is super aggressive and can't wait to hear your feedback at VIR

 

[Mini7]

8k front springs and 12k rear springs.

For daily driving the camber is a little too much. -2.5 to 2.75 is OK from a wear perspective.
Extreme toe will kill tires in a heartbeat. Faster then camber ever will.

I will be at VIR in two weeks and then again two weeks after that.

Will dial out .5 to 1 degree of Camber For daily driving. Caster won’t hurt anything. I’m really curious how this translates to car speed at VIR.
Will keep you all posted. The stopwatch will be the judge.