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Can't stop, won't stop - finally my build

Navi

Autocross Champion
Location
BK/NYC/Hamptons
Decided to start a build thread. Should have done this a long time ago because it was a bitch finding all the photos and organizing them in chronological order. Even then I couldn't find all the photos I had of the modifications I have done, so this is what I have. I’m coming from Japanese cars, and loved them all. Especially the ones that had vtec. But my 350z blew up on the highway and decided it was time for a change. Ended up getting a new GTI SE. The build has been ongoing for a while but is finally winding down and I’m starting to feel that the car is complete. Mostly this is to keep track of what I have done to the car and as a quick resource to find photos lol.

My attempt at a list of modifications (I am definitely forgetting half of the stuff):
Engine
Stratified tune (they tuned both my is20 and is38)
IS38F turbo
AWE intake
AWE downpipe
AWE track exhaust
Forge motorsports turbo muffler delete
Unitronic turbo intake pipe
Integrated Engineering Intercooler
RS7 Spark plugs gapped at .023
RS3 Coilpacks

Transmission
SRE Performance Clutch
034 shifter cable bushings
034 shifter bracket bushings
OEM S3 metal shifter bracket
KMD stainless steel clutch line
Delay valve delete
Swirl valve delete

Suspension/Chassis/Brakes/Wheels
Bilstein PSS10 B16 coilovers
HR Performance Plus coilovers
EMD Rear sway bar (why the fuck did I buy a sway bar from them?)
Super pro front end links
Super pro rear end links
Tyrolsport Deadbolt Set Front AND Rear
034 Motor mount kit
034 Dog bone mount insert
AP Racing Radical I Brakes with j hook rotors
Ferodo DS2500 pads
Enkei NT03RR 18x8.5 +45 Matte Gunmetal w/ Michelin Pilot Super Sport 235/40/18
Neuspeed RSe10 18x8.5 +45 Hyperblack w/ Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 235/40/18
Clubsport S center caps
42 Draft Design Spacers

Exterior
Avery Matte Khaki Green wrap
OEM VW Golf R front bumper
Rieger front lip
OEM Clubsport S rear diffuser
Oettinger roof spoiler
OEM Euro GTI LED Tail lights with BEC wire harness
OEM power folding mirrors
VW671 license plate bracket
Inno Roof Rack
Inno Wedge Box 665

Interior
Recaro Sportster CS seats with OEM heating installed
UroTuning matte carbon fiber steering wheel
Sportshifter shiftknob and boot
OEM 8” Glass MIB2 Screen
WCT pedal spacer
Rennline throttle pedal
Rennline throttle pedal extension
OEM frameless auto dimming mirror with homelink

Warning almost 300 photos. If you get seizures easily, don't view.

Before I even had the car, I ordered the stuff to wrap it. I used to be a professional detailer before finishing graduate school and with my new career, I knew I would not have time to wash/polish/wax as much as I would want to so I chose a different route for protection: car wrap. I did not really like any of the color offerings of the GTI either so this was a perfect idea.





First thing I did to the car was the euro GTI MK7 led taillights with BEC harness. No pics of that install but everyone knows what it looks like. Made the car look so much nicer that the mod bug bit and I wanted to do other things to the ride. Next up was the first round of mods. Intake, exhaust, coilovers, forge turbo muffler delete, shifter cable bushings, shifter bracket bushings and aluminum shifter bracket. Also put in a GFB DV+ but that did not last long. It sounded cool almost like a blow off valve but car never felt right. Felt like the car was holding boost when it wanted to let go of it. Like trying to hold in a fart. Took it out after a couple months. I’ll chalk that one up as a ricer mistake. Did use some honda urea grease on it to prevent it from getting stuck. Some people use oil, but this worked well for me. Anyone who knows cars knows that honda urea grease, honda Shin-etsu Silicone Grease, and honda bond are the shit! I could probably build a whole car with that stuff and 10mm bolts. Probably not.





Anyways once I got everything for the wrap… that process started. What a pain in the ass. Huge learning process BUT I did save a ton of money. Material is only 450-500 bucks. The rest is all labor and I can see why some shops charge 3200. Tedious work and your body is sore as shit afterwards. If I had to do it again, I could do it perfectly in 1/3 the time. Might switch up the color this summer, as the wrap is going to be 2 years old soon and you can tell. It is quite weathered and stained.





















Finally finished the wrap. Loved how it came out.





The car was coming together really nicely but needed some rimmies. I wanted something unique and a little different. Had my eyes on some new at the time, Enkei’s. Finally found a guy that could get me a really good deal on them. Waited 4 months for them and was the first to have them in the states in VW/Audi fitment. Flow formed, 19lbs. I really wanted Volk’s but could not justify the cost at the time. I had two sets of Volks on my old car and really am a fan of their wheels. This summer I may do either Volk ZE40 or Advan RZDF because my current summer wheels do not clear my brakes that well.





Also, WTF is up with that POS mirror they sell this car with? Had to change that ASAP rocky



Random photo that I thought looked nice before the stock wheels were shunned for storage. Haven’t used them since. Wanted to use the for winter this year, but they will not fit over my brakes  Nothing clears the AP Racing brakes. Do not buy them.



Enkei NT03RR 18x8.5 wheels mounted. Somewhere along the way, I did OEM VW window visors. I always like having windows open, even in the rain to let the fresh polluted NYC air circulate. I have run window visors in my last couple cars so why not. Honestly I don’t really like the fitment of the VW OEM visors and thought they would fit better but oh well…







Time for a drink. Thought car was almost done. Little did I know.



Decided I wanted to upgrade the shift knob because the stock one is nice, and has some cool details in it, but light as fuck.. come on plastic? I think this photo I was trying to impress a girl with some expensive juice I was trying to be healthy with, but ignore that. Best photo I could find of the BFI shift knob in magna red.



Some more random pictures.







So car was loud but slow. What if we can do loud and kind of fast? Went with COBB. Was running the MAPerformane tune at first. It is an ok tune, but I still consider it an OTS flash and would not recommend it. I was getting a ton of knock on their 93 tune. I had to run their 91 tune with 93 gas before it felt “safe.” Ended up going protuned a couple months later when I got a downpipe.

Clutch never slipped on me but I didn’t want to wait for that to happen. Upgraded the clutch to a Sachs Performance Clutch and love it. 15k miles on it and it’s just as strong as new. I beat on it pretty hard as well, and it keeps coming back for more. I had it installed by excelerate. This is the only thing on my car that I did not install myself. I have done clutches on Honda’s and Nissan’s as well as Yamaha motorcycles but did not want to risk breaking something on this car since she’s my first German. If the clutch ever goes, I’ll do it myself next time with an RSR Plus clutch. After figuring out the build quality while doing all the other mods on this car, I feel confident on being able to drop the tranny. I should not have pussed out the first time, but excl8 did a nice job regardless. Then went protune with Stratified. They have some cool cars at excelerate:









I see a snail hiding



Side note… I really like the guys at excelerate. I have gone there three times for service work and each time they have been honest and all three times finished in under the time they quoted, actually saving me money from the quote. I know some shops will charge you full price even if they finish early and pretend they didn’t finish until the time they quoted is up. I would recommend these dudes in CT for service. Even when I had an issue with my axle, they showed me so that I would not have to just take their word for it, but actually see it. I thought that was nice and transparent. BUT for retail stuff, I would not buy most things from them. Everything I have wanted from them, they have always asked MSRP and I have always found for less than MSRP, even including directly from the manufacturer!! I understand that they are a brick and mortar store and have to cover the costs of a retail space so I’m not hating on them for that, but I’m just not the customer to pay retail for things when I can get them cheaper elsewhere. I’ll let their Porsche customers do that 

Had a nice fried chicken sandwich in LES after driving home with the new clutch.



Ok, so I have a new clutch and a COBB AP.. why not go stage 2? Shall we? We shall. On the drive out, some nice sunlight…









Hugest bird shit ever on my car



Driving home, caught a cool pic on the Kosciuszko bridge



Did some spark plugs… Don’t remember why all 8 of them look used? I must have been checking something? Maybe comparing current plugs to old plugs while in the tuning process to see how the engine is looking? Oh well, here they are



I was getting heat soak like a mother fucker. Couldn’t decide between the Forge intercooler and IE intercooler. Both were being sold for 750 at the time brand new from their respective manufacturers directly due to some sale at the time. Everyone on the forums swore by the IE, so why not? I also could not find any info on the Forge intercooler.



Oh, it’s pretty



Next to my winter wheels that just came in. 17x7.5 sparcos with sottozero 3 performance WINTER tires. They are very good in the snow even though they are not a performance SNOW tire. Yes, I’m the only person that installs an intercooler in winter lol





Engine is shifting around too much in the engine bay with all the powaaaa. Time for some 034 motor mounts. Really recommend them. I had a failure on one but their customer service is top notch and in my opinion, these are the best for a decent idle that doesn’t break your teeth, and a direct/connected feeling with the motor/transmission and chassis. I have heard that BFI are good and probably will not ever fail compared to the design of the 034 but I just did not want much NVH increase. I had that in my old car and it sucked. I think the 034 are a perfect medium. I’ll take my chances with these motor mounts and warranty them if anything. They are that good in my opinion.





While in the engine bay, I wanted to fix the vague clutch feel. Ripped out this bullshit swirl valve and rubber line. I think I went with an ECS stainless steel line… or was it a KMD tuning line? Either way, it helped.



Also, for the rear fog lights, I ordered a euro switch and the one I got was red. From a Cupra R maybe??? I took it out and put in a Euro R switch from 245cars, but that one does not allow you to run the rear fog with the parking lights on so I went back to the skoda switch. I think I prefer the red.. reminds me of my dad’s BMWs and easier to see in the daytime. Nostalgic in a way.



First snow with this car… took her out when no one else would go out. Handled like a champ. Pun intended. Drove to depot of home, to get a shovel to shovel out my wife’s car.







All the snow is gone 



New intake came in. I was running the Unitronic intake, unitronic air intake duct, AWE tuning downpipe and track exhaust. I wanted to go full AWE (for no real good reason) so got their new intake when the redesigned it. Quality piece. Honestly I like the unitronic a lot, and it flowed more air and made more turbo. Probably made a little more power too but oh well. Urotuning hooked it up with a killer deal on black Friday last year.





Time to install the new intake. Current state:



Did an oil change also.



Hulk jizz to lubricate the motor



I installed the full underbody skid plate. Supposed to help with aerodynamics, protection and cooling… Not sure if it does any of that. But it does not help with oil changes. I am sure of that.



Out with the old



In with the new. I do prefer the fitment of the awe more. The unitronic was just so huge and rubbed against everything. This has more of an OEM feel except in carbon fiber.





Also, I kept reading about the Subaru STI S208 and was falling in love with it. Can’t afford to import one, but damn those seats.. more on that later…



I never liked the front end because it always looked like it was smiling, kind of like the s2000’s. Switched to a Golf R bumper, so now she’s always frowning. I like the meaner, more aggressive look and it will help more with cooling. I never use the fog lights anyway, so peace out to them.

Back from the body shop:





Also, I had a crazy rattling sound under my car. Took me forever to figure it out but when I finally did, turns out my BFI insert fell apart. I would not recommend it. After that I was on the quest to rid my car of any BFI part because of that, and also because of a thread on the forums about some dude with a defective clutch and they were making him jump through hoops for a refund. If you have a shitty product, at least have good customer service, damn. Done with them.



More drinks



Random photos





I’m a glutton for big brakes, and I autox in my past cars. When this build is done I have hopes to graduate to road courses, so time to sort the brakes out. Ended up finding a used kit. I would not recommend anyone buying used brakes. This was such a pain in the ass. Misrepresented by the seller, and the guy on the forum was not even the owner of the brakes.. he was the middle man for his friend selling them etc etc… Took forever to get but finally got them. They ended up work well and I’m happy with them after sorting them out.



Wheel locks and spacers for the new brakes



Guess what.. the brakes do not fit. But then I saw a Golf R with neuspeeds running the same brakes at Tyrolsport. I will not quit just yet:

 
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Navi

Autocross Champion
Location
BK/NYC/Hamptons
Attempting to get them to fit:





Ok they fit with no wheel weights. Time to static balance instead of dynamic balance so there aren’t any vibrations. Stanced out:



So cleannnn:







Had a crack in my windshield for a while, and it kept getting bigger with the Bilstein coilovers and the bumpy ass NYC streets. Finally replaced it with OEM VW glass. Man sure does make it easy to clean the dash and dress it with 303 without an windshield.



Also, finally got around to wrapping the Golf R bumper and installing it. Came out perfect.







Found a twin



Found a cool location for photo shoots, and it’s only 4 blocks from my apartment. Hollerrrrr











Random photos with some crazy lighting





Stage 2 was quick but car still felt slow. Let’s change that







I picked the worst time to buy a brand new is38F. The Tomioka and EQT both dropped like 1 month later. And Littco came out with quite a few nice offerings. Oh well. I’ll rock the is38 till it dies. Hopefully never though. I’m on a pretty conservative protune. But if anything happens, I will definitely go with Littco. For the purposes of my car, I do not want anything more than an is38x turbo. I have plans to build an evo 8/9 or skyline after this build, and that is where I will really chase 500 whp. Nothing too crazy.

Also, I was running the CTS intake pipe, but I didn’t care for the quality of it much. When Unitronic dropped theirs, man it looked nice, so I jumped on it



Also finally got a torque wrench that I can use on my lugnuts



Then things started going downhill. Got a tire pressure light. Had a nail.. had to get that plugged.



Then the motor seemed to vibrate more than usual. Checked my engine mounts and looked like one was starting to fail. It’s a two piece construction and looked like they were starting to separate from each other. Called up 034, sent photos and they sent out a replacement no charge. Great service and fast.





Next, my axle took a shit. From being lowered the cup part of the axle got bent and put a hole in the axle boot (more photos later of this later). Spraying axle grease everywhere.







While I was trying to figure out the axle issue, more parts were still coming in. Wheel studs came in. Should have done these a long time ago…



For some reason I keep forgetting to buy mechanic gloves





Outcome was worth it though



Remember that is38 I got? Time to install









What a royal pain in the ass. Finally got out that itty bitty turbo




Getting the is38 in and bolted up



More squeaks.. found the culprit





Superpro was great to deal with. There was actually a redesign of the front end links and they sent out the new ones after telling them the issue I was dealing with as well as sending them photos. Really nice guys over there. They took the time to explain things and help out. Will definitely keep using their products. But fuck Bilstein.

Randomly saw my friends car with a flat parked on a side street with a flat





More squeaks.. 034 mount failure. I bought these through ECS initially and they sent out replacements no questions asked. Great customer service. Not sure if it’s the mounts themselves or just the design of the suspension and the stress they put on the mounts. I imagine the same thing would happen to stock mounts, maybe worse? Hard to tell. Either way, replaced the mounts with the same 034 mounts. All the sounds were gone after swapping them out and everything feels solid now. You can see the failure here:





Also got a spring compressor to help with the install. Probably should have gotten one of these years ago cause I’ve shot a good amount of pressurized strut bolts. No casualties though.



So happy that the car doesn’t make any squeaks, rattles or noises, that I jizzed all over her



Then went to see my homie in CT.. carchrism5. Cool dude. After we linked up, we went to a cars and coffee and excelerate cohosted with FCP. Awesome event.



















Excelerate also found out why my axle was leaking grease. As I said earlier.. that cup thing that the axle mounts into was bent and put a hole in the boot. Either I could get a new axle, replace just that end piece (CV), or reboot it. I chose to reboot it for now to see if it would pierce through the boot again. Been fine for many many miles so I will live with it for now. This was a common problem with s2000’s so I figure even if I change my axle, it will happen again.





Checked out a local civic type r meet. None of them would run me for fun. At least they keep their stock cars so shiny. smh





I hold these dear to my heart… evo 8/9:











Went to cali for my friend’s wedding to get away from wasting time on the GTI. His parents wedding gift to him was a dope ass benz



Came back and found another type R on my way to my parents house to change out those engine mounts that were separating. Also has some 034 rear suspension mounts to install.









Fed the car some heroin



Washed my winter wheels to sell because they will not clear the AP Racing brakes. Going to miss them b/c they were valiant in doing their job. Nice, cheap and light.





Replaced some torque to yield bolts that I did not have initially when my 034 mounts took a shit and I had replaced them a couple weeks back. Had to use a crazy contraption to torque them.





Got this cool key chain from the guy that bought my rims. Apparently it’s one of the owners/founders of blipshift. Nice guy.



Went to another CTR meet. Some youtuber named JR14 showed up. Definitely not a fan of him or his content but here’s a pic anyway.





New winter wheel/tire set up came in that will actually clear my bbk.









Um weird, but the wheels did not come with valve stems… First time this has ever happened to me and I’m a wheel whore, always buying wheels. Did some quick research and all the valve stems seem the same, so got some JDM WedsSport valve stems, bc JDM YO. They are a good price and good quality. Very happy with them. And JDM YO



My work desk is becoming a garage bench:



Mounted and balanced for winter. Weirdly, these tires are asymmetric and non-directional so they look a little strange mounted on the car. One side of the car, the tires face one way and on the other side, they face the same way. For example the Left side tires looks like it clears snow directionally to the left, under the car while the right side looks like it clears snow directionally to the right perimeter of the car instead of under it. So all the snow is going to one direction if you can understand what I am trying to understand in some convoluted way. Thought tirerack fucked up my order but I called them and this is normal for Michelin Alpin PA4. Tech told me he gets this phone call at least 10 times a week.



Bye bye summer mode



Welcome winter mode

 

Navi

Autocross Champion
Location
BK/NYC/Hamptons
Better brake clearance than my summer wheels, but still tight





Got a package



Awesomeness really was inside



Side note.. I’ve been wrenching on cars for a long time and I consider myself better than the average mechanic but yet I was not using power tools. Wasted so much time cranking by hand. Ended up getting an impact gun earlier this year and was using it even for the screws in the fender liner. Figured that was a little idiotic, so got the power ratchet. Works like a charm.

Met up with Chris again before going on some VW/Audi drive to a brewery. Forgot the name of it. But technical difficulties led to a cancellation and bullshitting around the garage while Chris did a valve gasket job on a E34 BMW. Was much fun. Oh yeah, fuck Bilstein.





Was looking at random car stuff and found more inspiration. Land Rover Discovery Recaro seats!!! God damn these are nice. Ok, working on a plan…



Heel toe sucks in this car. Did a WCT performance pedal spacer which helped but was still not enough. Added the Rennline Throttle pedal and throttle pedal extension. Perfection finally:





Back to the Recaro plan.. Chris got me in contact with a shop. Shop came through for me. Things escalated fast from a phone call. 2 Hours later was parked next to some real track cars, unlike my poser golf economy hatch on steroids:











Well figured I’m in the car most of the time, so maybe I should class it up and make it a little nicer:









Random pictures I thought were cool the day of the Europa foliage cruise. Was a lot of fun getting lost and finding my own way with no cell phone service in the middle of fucking no where. It was also hilarious randomly passing Audi and VW stragglers all throughout the mountains who were also lost. Somehow I made it to the endpoint without being ate by a black bear. Was still fun. I would do it again.







Well I am always driving up and down the highways to see my parents and family. The GTI is a little too small for a wife and a 16 month old with all his toys, stroller, food, diapers, and other stuff. I figure he will want a bike soon as well. What to do? Could get rid of it and put the is38 and Recaros in a new Tiguan R Line. But I’m not ready to do that… yet.. (foreshadowing… soon, soon? the guys in Europe have already done this and are running high 11s. Seems like a nice poor man’s SQ5, and objectively looks better) So time to become a real VW fanboy and rock a roof box. First tried a Rhino Rack. Fitment was complete shit and so was quality. Returned it. Almost went with a OEM VW roof rack but last minute decided to try out the Inno system. Glad I did. It is amazing. Quality and fitment are 10/10. Packaging was nice also:













Next mod was a Clubsport S rear diffuser. I’ve had my eye on this for awhile. Kept putting it off because of the shipping cost lol. Finally said fuck it. Wanted a little better aero in the rear because the GTI does not feel that stable at high speeds. Could be the bad roads also though. Either way I figure it would not hurt, and I really was starting to hate the plastic honey comb pattern. I successfully got rid of it on the front. Might as well get rid of it on the rear. I will probably paint the GTI sideskirts gloss black this summer so that everything is gloss black and matches nicely. I took a lot of photos of this modification because I feel none of the current photos online do the rear diffuser justice. Really a nice piece.















Ok, back to the recaro build which I threw on the backburner because I was trying to figure out how to get the most OEM build without any airbag lights. Turns out you need the passenger occupancy sensor connected so that the remaining airbags will function correctly and so that the passenger airbag light above the hazard light does not flash. Then you need air bag resistors so that the airbag light on the dashboard does not flash because of the side airbags. Originally I really wanted heated Recaros. I was going to go all in with Sportsters in the full leather and heat. As you can see from the previous photos, I got the basic Sportsters with vinyl and dinamica inserts. Really glad I did this. First of all I saw the full leather recaros in the store and the leather they use is complete shit. Second, with all my research, I learned that the passenger occupancy sensor is built into the heating pad!! Can you believe that shit? I did not. So I double checked with two different VW part guys at two different dealerships. It is true. So I ended up buying all 4 heating pads (ass and lower back for each seat) from OEM seats. This worked out better because it was bothering me that I would have dummy heated seat buttons on the dash since the recaro heated seats have their own buttons. Now, since I’m running OEM heat pads, I can wire them up to the OEM harness in the car and still have full functionality of the three stage heating from the OEM buttons. SCORE. So this recaro seat install becomes a build within a build:



This is the passenger seat heating pad with occupancy sensor built in. Crazy to see that the side bolsters are heated as well!



Tearing apart new seats was kind of sketch but had to do it:



Ew gross. After seeing this, I vacuumed and carpet extracted the shit out of this carpet with 210*F water.



Figuring out how to get these damn seats heating pads to fit. Lots of cutting was required. Arts and crafts.



Finally making some progress.. all buttoned up. And finally got the wire harnesses from the dealership.



Made some janky ass resistors to code out the air bag light for the time being. I know they are wired dangerously, but I needed a quick fix while I waited on a better solution. More on that soon.



Gorilla Glue and felt were used





Ok, I see how the heating pad fits in the OEM seat



But how the fuck is it going to fit in the Recaro?



Man this might be difficult:





Not bad, we got it. Perfect fit.



Trick was a lot of cutting and being careful to cut away excess felt, but not cutting the wires for the heating elements.





Cheap amazon soldering kit finally came. Time to fix that janky airbag resistor. (The resistor worked by the way. No airbag light).







Ok now the wires are much better and safer. Also had to get new bolts b/c the stock triple square bolts for mounting the seats were having clearance issues. Had a little difficulty finding the bolts I needed locally so ended up getting them online. Grade 10.9 zinc plated



Ok in the middle of my build my car wanted to take a shit. Incredible shit. Turned the steering wheel and heard a pop. Thought it was spring binding. Went to drive and every bump I would hear what sounded like driver side suspension was going to fall out the car. Limped car to parking garage (thankfully this happened 4 blocks from my car garage) and a took a look at the suspension. Well this does not look normal:





Left car in garage for a couple days trying to figure out what the hell to do and see how Bilstein would handle this. Everything was installed by me, torqued to spec, with specs verified with Bilstein over the phone during the installation. All bolts were replaced with new bolts. They did not want to help. Fuck Bilstein. I recommend not to buy any of their products. I purchased from them for the lifetime warranty. It does not mean shit. I even had pictures and videos of the install and sent it to them. They still said they failed due to overtorquing. Not sure how that is possible unless they are blind.

So how to fix this? I was tired of tearing the suspension apart every time a 034 Mount failed and now this Bilstein shit was the last straw. Overnight parts from Japan.





Time to pack the car and get her towed back to my parents house to do some work in the garage out there. Decided to pack all the shit I have accumulating in my apartment since it was starting to look like the home of hoarder.





Everything fit and I have one functioning Recaro seat and one OEM seat lol

Flatbed this bitch







Finally made it to Long Island. Man the tow truck driver was scary as fuck. He did a crazy maneuver on the highway, cutting in-between two 18 wheelers, then looks at me laughing and says “that was dangerous, we could have flipped. We are top heavy right now.” In my head I’m thinking, yeah no shit. I was sweating by time we got to the destination. But made it alive. Time to tear the suspension apart and bid the 034 mounts and Bilstein coils bye bye. Forever. POS. Oh yeah I just got an alignment two weeks ago and had also used new bolts on the suspension install so now I have to get new bolts and replace them. AGAIN. And align. AGAIN. FML.











Oh yeah, I had to wear patient examination gloves because I ran out of mechanic gloves. Man these gloves suck for car work.

Would like to mention that the H&R Street Performance Plus coilover kit is amazing. Do not confuse this with the regular Performance kit. The Plus kit comes with a camber plate that eliminates the oem/034 strut mounts. The construction of this kit is amazing. Much better than the Bilstein. They are not as stiff and less track oriented but the suspension as a whole feels way more tight because of the construction of the camber plates and how the suspension can twist underneath it without binding since it has its own built in bearing system. Everyone that drives my car says the same thing. It is not as firm as the Bilstein’s but somehow the car feels tighter and more composed. Riddle me that?

Oh funny thing.. I ordered a 2x4 since I had no way to get to home depot unless I wanted to take a $40 uber through Brooklyn. I swear by the 2x4 method for suspension installs on this car. Too bad it came a day late. SMH. But I learned you can order a 2x4 on amazon. Society has progressed quite far. And now I have it for next time the suspension takes a dump, so great.



Roof box finally came after 3 weeks of waiting:







Some other small parts here and there. One of the first mods I did was the power folding mirrors from china and the mirror switch wasn’t working well for adjusting the mirror. Sometimes it would not register adjustments. Got kind of annoying because I always use it to parallel park. Ordered a new one from Germany. Hopefully it is better quality. Also got Clubsport S center caps because I am sick of people thinking I stole my wheels off a Focus RS. (that’s a joke)





New rear brakes. Porterfield R4S. Ordered from lpi racing. These guys are very knowledgeable and their customer service is far and above most shops I’ve dealt with in my life. I really recommend them.



Time for more drinks



Winter mode in action





More drinks cause it is cold outside and I want to warm my insides



I was still mobbing around town with the passenger seat being nicer than the driver seat so figured it was time to finish that recaro install. For some reason the driver side heating pads were on back order from Germany so I had to wait on that. Who else on here is buying these heating pads and making me wait?





FINALLY



EW peep that ugly dirty ass BFI knob. I have a fix coming.



I still wanted to clean up the air bag resistors I made before because the way I had it was with that white/green hobby wire sliding onto the pins in the car. Soldered and heat shrunk they looked clean but I wanted something plug and play and even cleaner of an install. I ordered the OEM plugs from the seat and the wires that go with those plugs and made plug and play resistors. BINGO. Finally a clean install that I am satisfied with.









Another steering wheel photo.. because I love it.



Starting to accumulate a lot of junk in my parents basement. Glad it is not in my small ass apartment though. Better them than me 



Centercaps installed



Oh, also installed some deer deterrents. Not sure if they work or not but might as well.



Adjusted the pedal a little for better heel toe action



Had to get an alignment again. Waited a week for the suspension to settle which it did. If anyone tells you suspension does not settle, they are wrong. Every coilover I have had, on every car, has settled. I waited a week for it to settle. Then adjusted height to even out everything. Then alignment. Took three guys to figure it out. That scared me a little. But they figured it out. I trust these guys. RCT Performance in Westbury. I’ve been using them for 12 years and they used to build Supras for SEMA back in the day. They also helped build me a custom exhaust for a car I had at the last Philly Sema show about 10 years ago.





EZT had a nice sale on the radio I’ve been looking at for a while. That coupled with the ebay black Friday coupon and I scored this for 629 delivered. Not bad.







I was surprised, the larger glass screen really made a difference and helped lift the quality of the interior. At least in my opinion.

Random pic:



Finally got storage boxes for all my microfiber towels and detailing stuff that I keep in the parking garage. Before I was leaving them in my car.



More random tools. Finally got a set of picks. Never had any. Was always using screw drivers to jimmy things open. Also got a punch set for removing the pins that hold in my brake pads in the front AP Racing calipers. And for smashing windows.









My birthday gift from the wife was this bauce ass shift knob and boot from sportshifters. Hand made, high quality. Heaviest knob they sell is 400g and that’s the one I went with. It’s awesome. Really helped with the feel of shifting. Hard to explain, but the shift movement feels more precise and deliberate.







Leftover is the dilapidated BFI knob. Not even worth selling. Initially I was impressed with the knob, but the leather did not withstand time and it honestly is not weighed that much. Even raceseng knobs are heavier. I am excited to see how well the sportshifter set up will hold up. Based on both out of the box, new vs new, the sportshifter is a higher quality product.

I also got new mechanic gloves that do not rip like the healthcare gloves lol. Win.





Visited Chris again cause he hooked me up with a tool set from Costco and I had to pick them up. Nothing broke this trip. Fuck Bilstein still though.



Ordered some small backing plates to sort out the gloss black B pillars on my car. Mine are trashed. Will post results once the weather warms up. Hopefully soon because every time the sun shines on them, I am embarrassed.



The bitch approves. Not to be confused with the wife.



No codes from the recaro install or any other modifications. That’s a win.

 
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Navi

Autocross Champion
Location
BK/NYC/Hamptons
Man the golf R bumper is a little more complicated than it looks. It is shit 7-8 different pieces that all clip together plus a lower spoiled. They all do clip together and bolt right up but it's not just the bumper. Couple more trim pieces and grills. Everything is separate.

The fog light wires are tied up and zip lock bagged to prevent moisture. Not having then connected does not trip any codes. Which is weird because everything else trips codes in this car.
 

Faceman

Autocross Newbie
Location
Long Island
Car(s)
'17 GSW 4Mo
Great thread, thanks!

That tire shop was familiar, Traction Plus in Ronk?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

Navi

Autocross Champion
Location
BK/NYC/Hamptons
Stable Energies in NJ. They stock them. You would not believe my face when they told me they even have the sliders and VW specific seat brackets in stock. They also told me that Griffin Motorworks is the only other "real" Recaro distributor in the US, and they are in Cali. They probably stock everything also.
 

eventhorizon

Go Kart Champion
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
Stable Energies in NJ. They stock them. You would not believe my face when they told me they even have the sliders and VW specific seat brackets in stock. They also told me that Griffin Motorworks is the only other "real" Recaro distributor in the US, and they are in Cali. They probably stock everything also.

fawking awesome! thanks brotha mang!!!!!!
 
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