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Advice for new gti owner

rizyk

New member
Location
San Diego, CA
Car(s)
2017 mk7 gti sport
Hey guys,

A month ago I purchased a 2017 mk7 gti, and I am in love with it. Super comfortable, good power, crisp manual gearbox, etc. The previous owner put in a milltek downpipe and a jb4, which definitely gave the car a great boost in power (not really like it needed it tho) and an amazing sound. I have, however, been interested in selling the jb4 and instead going for a new tune and also purchasing a cold air intake. I don't wanna spend a crazy amount, but I do want to get some moderate power gains. I was pretty interested in the APR Stage 1 tune, but as I am pretty new to working on cars like this, I'm not fully sure of the process or what I should do. As for intakes, I am completely lost. Some people suggested that if I get an apr tune I should go for the apr intake, and although I don't doubt the quality, it is definitely a lil bit on the pricier side. I'd say my budget for both the tune and the intake to be around 900 use (I could probably make 400 from selling the jb4) but I could push it up to 1000 if needed. I am really new to all of this for gtis (the only real experience I had in one was when I was a toddler because my dad had a mk2 back in the day) but also cars in general; my last car was a stock 6spd 128i that I really didn't tinker with at all. I would really appreciate all the advice you guys could give!

Thanks!
 

Rennwagen

Autocross Champion
Location
SoCal
Car(s)
2016 GTI
With a 900-1k budget here's my advice.

1. Find out if the previous owner upgraded the clutch.
If they didn't, save your 1k and be ready to buy one.
If they did, move on to step 2.

2. Go with a Cobb Accessport from EQT. Black Friday sales are going on now and you can get a great deal. Don't use the preloaded tune. Pony up and get the custom tune, it is well worth the money. Black Friday sale will help.

3. Unless you're looking for only the turbo noises, skip the intake and do the basic upgrades on the OEM intake system (panel filter, remove snow grate, possibly upgrade TIP). The OEM intake flows very well. This intake advice is negated if you decide to go big turbo.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
Agreed. Buy an AP through EQT and go stage 1 EQT. Money better spent than APR.

Also agreed that if you cant verify whether your clutch has been upgraded, to budget for a clutch replacement if you move forward with a stage 1 tune from pretty much anyone
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Welcome to the forum and congrats on your car purchase. I'm going to echo what the other guys said and go with Cobb and EQT as the tuner.
 

CaptainRatty

Autocross Champion
Location
Winston-Salem, NC
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Welcome to the forum. I’m a happy EQT customer as well.
 

rizyk

New member
Location
San Diego, CA
Car(s)
2017 mk7 gti sport
Hey guys thanks for all the advice,

Considering that all of you said to hold off on the flash till I can upgrade the clutch I decided that's most likely the path I'm going to pursue. Do you guys have any suggestions for clutches? If I'm putting money into something that expensive I definitely want to make sure it is the best and most reliable part in can be. The car is a daily and I'm not trying to push it to crazy amounts but I want the clutch to be able to handle the power that a flash tune will add. I am not planning any big turbo mods or upgrades of that sort.

Thanks!
 

billbadass

Drag Racing Champion
Location
your moms house
congrats and have fun! these little GTIs are amazing cars and so much fun. Lots of cheap upgrades that provide big improvement in fun and driving too. agreed on COBB with EQT tunes. rear sway bar make huge improvement also, and lots of fun things like badgeskins etc too
 

Eman1

Go Kart Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2018 GTI
Hey guys thanks for all the advice,

Considering that all of you said to hold off on the flash till I can upgrade the clutch I decided that's most likely the path I'm going to pursue. Do you guys have any suggestions for clutches? If I'm putting money into something that expensive I definitely want to make sure it is the best and most reliable part in can be. The car is a daily and I'm not trying to push it to crazy amounts but I want the clutch to be able to handle the power that a flash tune will add. I am not planning any big turbo mods or upgrades of that sort.

Thanks!

I think this really is the best way to go for now with your budget. You can look into working on a custom map6 for your jb4, and with maybe a splash of ethanol you'll be right up there with any stage 1 tune.

Many people, myself included, will recommend a southbend clutch. I'm running their stage 3 setup and it's awesome, night and day from the first clutch that I tried. Everyone seems to have an opinion on which kit is best, so pick your poison.

An intake will do nothing for power up to 400-500Hp. If I had $200 to spend, I would look into upgrading the rear sway bar. It is hands down the largest improvement for the money that I have done to this car. If you're only buying it for wooshy noises, then you will get what you're looking for with a cheap open intake. no need to spend a fortune.
 

Nineeightyone

Autocross Champion
Location
Pennsylvania
Car(s)
20 CX5 19 GTI 10 MZ3
An intake will do nothing for power up to 400-500Hp. If I had $200 to spend, I would look into upgrading the rear sway bar. It is hands down the largest improvement for the money that I have done to this car. If you're only buying it for wooshy noises, then you will get what you're looking for with a cheap open intake. no need to spend a fortune.

All day long, RSBs are underrated. I did the H&R sway bar kit on my mk4 (26mm/28mm) and it completely changed the driving characteristics, now the car is MUCH more fun to toss around, especially in an autocross environment. I've had my GTI for about two weeks now, and I'm planning to do a RSB once the dust settles from the holidays.

I did the 034 insuction bundle which consists of turbo inlet pipe, silicone hose to replace the stock 'accordion' hose, and a higher-flow air filter, in combination with the CTS turbo muffler delete and removed the snow grate from the airbox. The car sounds great for not having any flavor of aftermarket exhaust on it, and seems like it may have gained a titch more power -- reviews on the silicone hose and TIP show it flowing a bit more air than the factory parts, and it's a nice aluminum piece rather than the factory plastic.
 
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