Boosting on a Budget- 19birel's MK7.5 Build

[DerHase]

Just got done at VIR and logged Alex's intercooler... I no longer recommend APR for what it's worth.

DO88 kept mine within 20F of ambient on the straights at VIR.

 

[19birel]

mishimoto

EDIT: I just discovered that ECS sells Mishimoto exclusively with charge pipes. Urotuning will sell it without the chargepipes making it the same money as D088, IE, APR, Uni etc.

Just got done at VIR and logged Alex's intercooler... I no longer recommend APR for what it's worth.

DO88 kept mine within 20F of ambient on the straights at VIR.

D088 was in the back of my head an my ideal choice based on Jeff's testing over on his website, but my inner cheapskate has had me looking elsewhere.

That said, in addition to CTS not being in stock, ECSs in-house intercooler apparently doesn't ship til November (Idk why they don't just list it as out of stock on their site). Uni is less than $100 cheaper than D088 & Mishimoto (and IE is in the same ballpark) so the attempt to save money is out the window, probably for the better.

It seems like between the 3, Mishimoto has the smallest temp increase but the most pressure drop, D088 has the highest temp increase (albeit still low) but the least pressure drop, and IE splits the difference in both categories. I think choosing between them is likely splitting hairs but I'll read some more and see which stands out

 

[19birel]

So I went out and did some logging tonight and did a couple Dragy runs.

My Tune
60-120 on my base file @24psi: 16.3secs DA 1,256ft

Recap of the stock results.
60-120 the Stock GTI ran 17.68secs DA -1326ft

JB4
GTI JB4 Map 5 w/E30ish 12.45secs DA -506ft
GTI JB4 Map 3 93oct 14.10secs *this was literally my third pull after installing the JB4, car may have still been adapting* DA -805ft

Posting this just as a metric of comparison as I make revisions. Will review the logs after work tomorrow and start dialing her in!

Also adjusted the car data in SimosTools, by default I had the wrong gearing and tyre diameter in there, so calc hp is actually 238

 

[MonkeyMD]

Are you still stock turbo

 

[19birel]

Are you still stock turbo

Yeah, still stock turbo. I figured it would be best to learn the fundamentals of tuning on an otherwise stock car before trying to tune for a bigger turbo

 

[DerHase]

Spied your car at 1:39 in this video:

 

[MonkeyMD]

Was that your smoke he was pointing out at the end

 

[19birel]

Spied your car at 1:39 in this video:

It felt like I was parked when he went past me haha, those GT3s sound incredible at full chat

Was that your smoke he was pointing out at the end

No someone put it off the track, my car doesn't smoke (to my knowledge at least). Last track day I didn't consume a drop of oil either so hopefully I'm save from PCV woes *knock on wood*

Small update- picked up a passenger grab handle from VW that I ordered when I had the performance monitor update. $38 for those who were wondering, so it's not bad. VW wanted $170 to install it since they won't warranty my car due to it's storied past, it look all of 5 minutes to install. The clips they use are a royal pain, but no more saggy handle!



Also reviewed the logs from my base map which were pretty clean and made my first revision. I wasn't quite hitting requested boost so I was closer to 22psi peak than 24. I increased the request a little and am now hitting 24psi and seemed to have gained about 20hp. And I dropped 1sec 60-120 despite a much higher DA.

60-120 Revision 1- 15.3 secs DA 2426 ft.

My boost curve still needs a lot of work, after peak boost it drops off fast so a lot is being left on the table in terms of mid-range and top end. Going to make some more tweaks and keep refining as i improve my understanding. Just sucks we're in a bit of a heatwave, I've been having to wait until late at night to log so I have reasonable-ish IATs. I told myself no intercooler for the GTI until I the pile of parts in my garage for my daily actually get installed haha so until then heatsoak city

 

[DerHase]

FWIW I didn't start using any oil until it was tuned. It's not much, but it's something to definitely stay on top of when at the track (never had an issue otherwise). I go through about 3/4-1qt over 2 or 3 days.

 

[19birel]

FWIW I didn't start using any oil until it was tuned. It's not much, but it's something to definitely stay on top of when at the track (never had an issue otherwise). I go through about 3/4-1qt over 2 or 3 days.

Yeah I'll definitely keep on top of that! I keep an extra quart of oil in my tool crate just incase.

Did your smoke puffs only start occurring post tune? If it's PCV related oil loss, I might have keep an open mind of catch cans still.

 

[DerHase]

There was discussion about PCVs in the OS chat recently. The MK8 system looks promising. Adding a catch can increases restriction and otherwise only helps if it’s chugging enough oil to bog the car down.

Almost every aftermarket PCV runs PRESSURE in the crankcase at idle and low load. Which would pump oil past the rings even quicker. Just ends up in a can instead. Some are better than others, but really nobody has as much R&D into them than VW has.

 

[19birel]

There was discussion about PCVs in the OS chat recently. The MK8 system looks promising. Adding a catch can increases restriction and otherwise only helps if it’s chugging enough oil to bog the car down.

Almost every aftermarket PCV runs PRESSURE in the crankcase at idle and low load. Which would pump oil past the rings even quicker. Just ends up in a can instead. Some are better than others, but really nobody has as much R&D into them than VW has.

Yeah there was a similar discussion going on over Audizine in the B8 section regarding this. The general consensus was a catch can that utilizes the OEM PCV was the safest bet if one was compelled to run a catch can. I reasoned that based on my A4's valves not looking terrible (relatively speaking) at 95k when I did my carbon clean that I'd forgo a catch can on that car and added meth to help slow future build up to an extent.

My thought for this car, if the PCV struggled on track, was a catch can that uses the OEM PCV, but if the MK8 PCV potentially eliminates the issue I'd be willing to give that a go for simplicity sake.

 

[19birel]

Update & observations- TC/ESC seem to be invasive even in a straight line, according to Dragy I'm 1 sec slower 60-120 with it on. The road isn't perfectly straight so maybe the steering input makes it intervene, but I've learned to shut it off despite no traction issues. Also my Dragy starts to lag when the batter hits ~50% or so. I was struggling to understand how the car felt faster, was showing higher calc hp readings, but was 1 sec slower. Recharged the dragy, same tune, new personal best time lol. Anyways new data below

Revision 4 60-120 14.48secs @1744ft. DA

Now I suspension is something that's on the list for this car but I wasn't planning to do in the immediate future. However a great deal popped up on facebook that I couldn't ignore- $350 for a lightly used (4k miles) set of Koni Special Active dampers and Eibach Pro-Kit springs.



The caveat is that this setup came from a MK8 GTI, given that MK7 coilovers bolt onto MK8s I know it'll all fit, the only grey area is the springs. Again it should be fine, but the great price was worth what I figure to be a small gamble. Plan is to get 034 Camster plates to install with them.

Also finally got my Pitt Race track sticker for the underhood collection

 

[DerHase]

Update & observations- TC/ESC seem to be invasive even in a straight line, according to Dragy I'm 1 sec slower 60-120 with it on. The road isn't perfectly straight so maybe the steering input makes it intervene, but I've learned to shut it off despite no traction issues. Also my Dragy starts to lag when the batter hits ~50% or so. I was struggling to understand how the car felt faster, was showing higher calc hp readings, but was 1 sec slower. Recharged the dragy, same tune, new personal best time lol. Anyways new data below

Revision 4 60-120 14.48secs @1744ft. DA

Now I suspension is something that's on the list for this car but I wasn't planning to do in the immediate future. However a great deal popped up on facebook that I couldn't ignore- $350 for a lightly used (4k miles) set of Koni Special Active dampers and Eibach Sport springs.



The caveat is that this setup came from a MK8 GTI, given that MK7 coilovers bolt onto MK8s I know it'll all fit, the only grey area is the springs. Again it should be fine, but the great price was worth what I figure to be a small gamble. Plan is to get 034 Camster plates to install with them.

Also finally got my Pitt Race track sticker for the underhood collection

I'll be curious to see what you think of those shocks with lowering springs. I have them with stock springs and they're fantastic, though people running them lower seem to get mixed reviews. Might want to check how much bump travel you have prior to torqueing everything down and may need to trim the front bump stops a bit, maybe the rear too.

 

[19birel]

I'll be curious to see what you think of those shocks with lowering springs. I have them with stock springs and they're fantastic, though people running them lower seem to get mixed reviews. Might want to check how much bump travel you have prior to torqueing everything down and may need to trim the front bump stops a bit, maybe the rear too.

I'll look into that for sure! I'm hoping to install these in time for my next track day at pitt race next month. I just need to get in gear and finish getting my daily up to snuff

I also typo'd the springs are Eibach Pro-Kit, not sport (not sure sports are even available for the 8) which are advertised are pairing well with OE dampers so theoretically these shouldn't lower it beyond the range of effectiveness for the Konis.