Back in a MK7- Learn me what the cool kids know

[Cemetery]

Just acquired a 2017 Golf R 6MT a month or two back with full intentions of keeping it stock. After 1000 miles, the slave/TOB went out and was covered under the warranty that was sold with the car. Since the trans was dropped, I opted to throw in a Sachs performance clutch.

So since I have the clutch, why not tune. Planning on APR since I am not chasing any power goals, but feel free to input. Here are a few questions I have:

• What plugs? When I had my GTI, everyone recommended RS7s... seems like that's not the case anymore.
• Does the Golf R have a hard torque limit that is sent to the rear wheels? My understanding is up to a 50/50 split (150ps front 150ps rear). If you increase engine power, will the Haldex supply over 150ps to the rear without a tune/controller?
• With this clutch, I have minimal chance of crankwalk. Right?... Right??
• Any other things I missed while driving multiple other cars over the past 5 years?

 

[hans611]

Glad to have you back

• I still run NGK RS7s, a lot of people still do... they are still probably the most popular, an easy OEM+ upgrade but the Denso Iridium plugs have gained a lot of popularity as of late, at least in this forum
• The rear Haldex is a clutchpack... with the default tune, it will always clamp at the same pressure... as you increase the power, it will tend to "slip" more and not supply as much tq as you would like... there is a Universal Motorsports tune that allows you to increase the clamping pressure and transfer more power...
• Apart from the OEM clutch, and using a clutch with the OEM DMFW, the consensus is that yeah those are the nicest on the crank, the Sachs and the RSR.....
• Lately the forum has become obsessed with the PCV system lol, I personally recently swapped my original "-AG" one with a "-BL" revision, still testing it out.....

Now that you have the clutch, dont forget to get a clutch stop, a WCT throttle pedal spacer and a Euro short shifter, thats how it should have come from factory....

Most of the guys here now run EQT, I do so myself as well... I also wasn't chasing power, but for the same price as an APR tune, you get a Cobb AP, which can be very useful... unlike APR that havent really improved their tune since the car came out, EQT has really fined tuned it....

 

[scrllock]

Just acquired a 2017 Golf R 6MT a month or two back with full intentions of keeping it stock. After 1000 miles, the slave/TOB went out and was covered under the warranty that was sold with the car. Since the trans was dropped, I opted to throw in a Sachs performance clutch.

So since I have the clutch, why not tune. Planning on APR since I am not chasing any power goals, but feel free to input. Here are a few questions I have:

• What plugs? When I had my GTI, everyone recommended RS7s... seems like that's not the case anymore.
• Does the Golf R have a hard torque limit that is sent to the rear wheels? My understanding is up to a 50/50 split (150ps front 150ps rear). If you increase engine power, will the Haldex supply over 150ps to the rear without a tune/controller?
• With this clutch, I have minimal chance of crankwalk. Right?... Right??
• Any other things I missed while driving multiple other cars over the past 5 years?

If you're on the stock turbo, use the stock plugs. People really like NGK Rutheniums and those are stock heat-range, but should fire more cleanly.
APR will tell you to use NGK racing plugs, but I never noticed a big improvement with them. I never had a problem with RS7 plugs, but I hate gapping them so I'm using APR's pre-gapped plugs now.

Yes, it will only send up to half of stock torque to the rear unless you do a haldex tune or standalone controller. There is an upper limit to what the stock controller can do, since there is a blow-off spring that it uses to calibrate max pressure. Iroz sells a spring with their syvecs package, Tunezilla sells one and also has a haldex tune now iirc. I don't know of anyone who has data on what the upper limit is without the spring.
There are also aftermarket haldex clutches that increase engagement without extra pump duty, but these are an aggressive option and known to break axles.

Not a manual owner, can't answer that.

I think nearly all of the off the shelf tunes are mid. If you have really good gas I'd consider Unitronic. APR and EQT are both pretty boost-happy for an aging IS38. If you don't plan on keeping the car forever, EQT is probably the easiest to sell off with the AP, though.

 

[krs]

Don't get sucked in by 034's marketing and prices.

My haldex tune was noticeable from back to back autocross days. Not sure I would have paid the money if I don't autocross heavily though.

Crankwalk is old wives stories, not much in regard to that floats around nowadays.

 

[Cemetery]

Glad to have you back

• I still run NGK RS7s, a lot of people still do... they are still probably the most popular, an easy OEM+ upgrade but the Denso Iridium plugs have gained a lot of popularity as of late, at least in this forum
• The rear Haldex is a clutchpack... with the default tune, it will always clamp at the same pressure... as you increase the power, it will tend to "slip" more and not supply as much tq as you would like... there is a Universal Motorsports tune that allows you to increase the clamping pressure and transfer more power...
• Apart from the OEM clutch, and using a clutch with the OEM DMFW, the consensus is that yeah those are the nicest on the crank, the Sachs and the RSR.....
• Lately the forum has become obsessed with the PCV system lol, I personally recently swapped my original "-AG" one with a "-BL" revision, still testing it out.....

Now that you have the clutch, dont forget to get a clutch stop, a WCT throttle pedal spacer and a Euro short shifter, thats how it should have come from factory....

Most of the guys here now run EQT, I do so myself as well... I also wasn't chasing power, but for the same price as an APR tune, you get a Cobb AP, which can be very useful... unlike APR that havent really improved their tune since the car came out, EQT has really fined tuned it....

APR is 450 right now which is why im leaning towards that, although the AP does sound nice.

Already have a clutch stop I printed and a EuroImpulse knob which shortens the throw a little (sits less high)

Any reason to swap out the PCV if I am not having any issues? I may do a track day or two next year, but I save an e46 M3 that does most of the track work.

 

[Cemetery]

Don't get sucked in by 034's marketing and prices.

My haldex tune was noticeable from back to back autocross days. Not sure I would have paid the money if I don't autocross heavily though.

Crankwalk is old wives stories, not much in regard to that floats around nowadays.

Thanks for the feedback- well aware of 034 lol. Ive been gone but not too far away. Here has been my fleet since my GTI is totaled. Only one missing is my A4.

 

[hans611]

APR is 450 right now which is why im leaning towards that, although the AP does sound nice.

Already have a clutch stop I printed and a EuroImpulse knob which shortens the throw a little (sits less high)

Any reason to swap out the PCV if I am not having any issues? I may do a track day or two next year, but I save an e46 M3 that does most of the track work.

Well Ill still vouch for the throttle spacer, I came from a MK5 that has a floor hinged throttle pedal, it was so nice to heel and toe, didnt realized how spoiled that was was... With the MK7s top hinged throttle, I was having trouble reaching the throttle with my heel unless I was braking super hard... a nice little blip during light braking was so awkward, but I guess it varies and some may not see the issue... the spacer basically made it possible for me, although it will never be as comfortable as the MK5's

Mostly preventative, my car had past 50k mi and the PCV is known to start giving issues then... I was also tuning it, which tends to increase the chances of it failing as well... its also a 2016 and had one of the first revisions, so i wanted to slap on it the latest for peace of mind....

edit: Once you track the car, you will really expose any PCV issues you have, this thread below has the latest knowledge on the subject:

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...v-and-why-catch-cans-are-bullshit-imo.429130/

 

[The Fed]

I'm still on the stock tune, only because I found a major manufacturer that got into the "mechanical breakdown contract" business and sells them to anyone with a 30-day wait period unless you take it to the selling dealer. But my last 2 GTIs were tuned, and I try to keep up. How many miles are on your R? Of course, it depends on how much extra power you intend to add. If you keep it at a reasonable level, you (hopefully) won't break anything. If IIRC, the Haldex pump hydraulic pump develops 450 PSI. You might want to pull the pump and make sure the "filter" screen is clean and change the fluid. I think ECS makes a kit with new pump to casing bolts and screen. I don't think the screen is available separately from a VW dealer in the US. If you don't already have a VCDS, I always recommend buying one and regularly scanning the car. Last I looked, the 3-VIN version is about $200. Is your R part of the few VW extended warranties? You might want to check.

 

[Cemetery]

45,000 on the clock. I don't have any extended warranties from VW that I know of.

Going back through the paperwork, haldex fluid was changed at 35k. No mention of a screen/filter being cleaned or replaced.

Saw that my coolant was just below min yesterday... I'll top it up but looks like my pump may be leaking. It doesn't seem like too bad of a job and it'll give me an opportunity to clean the valves.

 

[Treadup]

I really like the diesel geek sigma six short shifter as well as the super pin. I’ve played around with a few different shift knobs (BFI and Boomba) and found that Billetworx had great weight and height for me.