So it's been a bit since I've done an update, I'm well behind on keeping up with this post so here's a big update.
A lot of people rant and rave about sway bars, and I'm curious how the dynamics work on a FWD platform. I have front/rear sway bars on my Miata and love the results. I went with a 25MM Eibach rear sway bar to replace my PP OEM bar. I decided to leave the front alone as I hear the install is more involved and the PP front bar should be fine for the time being. I've always been a fan of Eibach products, and am definitely satisfied with the result paired with the H&R Sport Springs.
Next up, I began ordering chassis bracing to try and stiffen up this hollow bubble of a car. The GTI has some OEM type bracing throughout to connect the deep exhaust tunnel together as well as subframe bracing. Whether or not upgrading them does anything, who knows, but modifying your car was never budget conscious to begin with. So here we are.
I went with the ECS Tuning rear chassis bracing that connects to the center brace and then adds 2 new points of structure in front of the rear wheel arches. I actually did feel a slight difference in rear end rigidity, not a ton, but the car feels 'thicker' as far as flex goes.
Continuing the chassis bracing, I found the ECS Tuning rear subframe brace and thought "why not". If I'm going to try and make the car as rigid as possible, might as well throw this on. It was pretty straight forward and it's designed to add more points of contact with the rear subframe, suspension and sway bar. It looks pretty cool too. I didn't notice a ton of difference with this, but also haven't driven the car very hard yet.
Finally, some new visual modifications. I have been back and fourth since I got the car on doing the VW badges in glass black. I loved the look some days, and other days I felt it looked like a big black ball rather than a cohesive design choice. Then I found that Badgeskins or Klii (ordered Badgeskins delivered by Klii) made color matching underlays. I though these would be perfect to break up the colors and have the logos stand out a little more.
Next was the badges, I found a product on Amazon that was essentially a gloss black cover that fit directly over the rear badge. It was a perfect fit, I didn't have to mess with the OEM chrome badge and it really didn't add a substantial amount of height or width over stock. The front, however, I decided to go the DIY route. I removed, sanded and sprayed some thick lacquer. I like the lacquer spray paint because it's sticky, and if you spray a nice thick coat and hit it with a heat gun quickly after it get's tacky enough to avoid any drips or runs. You just have to let it dry for a very long time to avoid fingerprints.
After, I threw on some black/red fender badges. I wish the black was more glossy than the slate finish, but it will do. It matches the plastics close to the mirror so I don't think it looks too "off".