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Golf TSI weight and mods

GeorgeTDI

Ready to race!
Location
EU
Car(s)
Golf Mk6 TDI
So my Golf will be ready this month. With all the new parts I put in, it seems it will be more nose heavy than the factory car. Between the Ebay intercooler, a steel oil pan, a steel skid plate / belly pan and some aluminum hoses, the front of the car will have say 55-60 more lbs over stock. Engine will probably be tuned from APR. Suspension will stay stock. Is that an issue for handling ? Anything I should look out for or do to improve things ?
 
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GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
So my Golf will be ready this month. With all the new parts I put in, it seems it will be more nose heavy than the factory car. Between the Ebay intercooler, a steel oil pan, a steel skid plate / belly pan and some aluminum hoses, the front of the car will have say 55-60 more lbs over stock. Engine will probably be tuned from APR. Suspension will stay stock. Is that an issue for handling ? Anything I should look out for or do to improve things ?

Track day with stock TSI brakes? I hope not. Skip the tune and invest in driving instruction and bigger brakes

Don’t overthink the weight, it’s a 3200# economy car
 

GeorgeTDI

Ready to race!
Location
EU
Car(s)
Golf Mk6 TDI
Who said anything about the track ? How would skipping the tune and bigger brakes improve any issues related to weight distribution ? And I do have bigger ventilated discs, not sure about the pads but I'll change them anyway.


Ontopic meter ---|------------
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Who said anything about the track ? How would skipping the tune and bigger brakes improve any issues related to weight distribution ? And I do have bigger ventilated discs, not sure about the pads but I'll change them anyway.


Ontopic meter ---|------------

If you’re not tracking the car you’ll never notice.

End thread.

If you were tracking the car you’d still never notice, unless it was a purpose built race car and you were a professional driver looking for the last 0.001 per lap advantage
 

-Dutch-

Drag Race Newbie
Location
RI
unless it was a purpose built race car and you were a professional driver looking for the last 0.001 per lap advantage

In which case, take a poop first. Gotta get that weight reduction...
 

GeorgeTDI

Ready to race!
Location
EU
Car(s)
Golf Mk6 TDI
If you’re not tracking the car you’ll never notice.

End thread.

If you were tracking the car you’d still never notice, unless it was a purpose built race car and you were a professional driver looking for the last 0.001 per lap advantage
Thanks for the info.

End thread is ended.

:)
 

MeltedSolid

Autocross Newbie
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'15 Golf, e36 328i
lol weight distribution in our cars. Mine was 61/39 last time I weighed it, and since then I have added at least 50lbs to the front with my transmission, and always take as much weight out of the back as possible when tracking, so it might even be 65/35 on the track. Makes it fun and eliminates the understeer.
 

Sandman GTI

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Tennessee USA
No.
Your not getting off that easy.
We must spend money.

Light weight quality wheels. 5-8 lbs each corner.
Two piece brake rotors. 5lbs each corner.
Titanium bolts. 1lb each corner.
Aluminum LCA. 2-5lbs.

And remember the wheels brake disc and bolts are rotational mass.
Weight will feel like 3 times the weight loss.

Thread open for business!
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
No.
Your not getting off that easy.
We must spend money.

Light weight quality wheels. 5-8 lbs each corner.
Two piece brake rotors. 5lbs each corner.
Titanium bolts. 1lb each corner.
Aluminum LCA. 2-5lbs.

And remember the wheels brake disc and bolts are rotational mass.
Weight will feel like 3 times the weight loss.

Thread open for business!


In that case poop twice. It's a TSI and he isn't a race car driver. So spend $2000 on all those things to reduce unsprung weight and pick up a tenth or two in the quarter. :eek:
 

Elwood

3-7-77
Location
Long Beach, CA
Install GTI (non-PP) brakes ($500 max). You really shouldn't do anything until you dress the suspension. Don 't go cheap. LCA. GTI FSB, aftermarket rear. Then, a tune.
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
He says his location is EU...so Europe??

IF so then its a 1.4TSI ..not a 1.8TSI....as we don't get that...but our 1.4TSI gets upto 140bhp & 250nm factory...

Get rid of the steel belly pan & fit the lighter VW GRP reinforced skid tray....

I swapped my factory wheels for TD PR1.2 & lost 2.2kg per wheel for the same size rim & tyre...

I then added back on 1kg in a 288mm to 312mm front brake disc swap..

I also added a few extra kg by fitting a bigger battery.....

do I notice?....the only thing that altered the handling was the brake discs & alloy wheels..nothing else did & I drive my car on the back roads....

I suspect your wheel alignment is out or a damper is shot...or the ESC settings (etc.) have been messed around too much...

the only Golfs that are noticeably nose heavy are the bigger 2lt diesels & the old 3.2lt V6...
 

GeorgeTDI

Ready to race!
Location
EU
Car(s)
Golf Mk6 TDI
Well the man said open it up. Then open it up :rolleyes:

So it's a US model 1.8 TSI manual imported to Europe. The thread was about addressing any potential issues arising from using heavier parts in the front (IC, skid tray, oil pan etc.), which GTI Jake says it's not a problem and Melted Solid says it might even be beneficial to the car's overall handling. Although I thought making it nose heavier would increase understeer (and rear heavy would increase oversteer) ? I'd like a clarification on that if possible.

Since this is going toward a mod thread, I am interested in that too. I have changed the title accordingly. The car was bought damaged and has now almost been repaired. I have put in the larger IC, ordered IC discharge and turbo inlet pipes, will also try a 63mm catless exhaust with free flowing mufflers if it's not too loud. May use a Powerflex insert and GTI rear sway bar depending on how it drives. It has the larger 312 vented discs, 16" 7.5 wheels with 225 tyres. I won't change suspension or go larger than 16" because I want a soft ride. I would have stayed at 15" but tyre options were way worse and all the mechanics got sad :) Tune from APR will follow, which one depends on whether I keep the larger DP or the stock catted exhaust.

I am still thinking about which belly pan to order, steel is safer with all the shit I find on the roads, but probably noisier than oem or aftermarket plastic. I'm not sure which one of those would be safer to sustain the car's weight, which can happen in winter on ice/snow, or with some high curbs etc. The steel pan is fastened to the metal frame, not plastic elements.
Lightweight forged wheels big LOL :), I got a set of nice alloy wheels, used in good shape for about 115 EUR. Any other ideas feel free to express yourselves :)
 
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golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Well the man said open it up. Then open it up :rolleyes:

So it's a US model 1.8 TSI manual imported to Europe. The thread was about addressing any potential issues arising from using heavier parts in the front (IC, skid tray, oil pan etc.), which GTI Jake says it's not a problem and Melted Solid says it might even be beneficial to the car's overall handling. Although I thought making it nose heavier would increase understeer (and rear heavy would increase oversteer) ? I'd like a clarification on that if possible.

Since this is going toward a mod thread, I am interested in that too. I have changed the title accordingly. The car was bought damaged and has now almost been repaired. I have put in the larger IC, ordered IC discharge and turbo inlet pipes, will also try a 63mm catless exhaust with free flowing mufflers if it's not too loud. May use a Powerflex insert and GTI rear sway bar depending on how it drives. It has the larger 312 vented discs, 16" 7.5 wheels with 225 tyres. I won't change suspension or go larger than 16" because I want a soft ride. I would have stayed at 15" but tyre options were way worse and all the mechanics got sad :) Tune from APR will follow, which one depends on whether I keep the larger DP or the stock catted exhaust.

I am still thinking about which belly pan to order, steel is safer with all the shit I find on the roads, but probably noisier than oem or aftermarket plastic. I'm not sure which one of those would be safer to sustain the car's weight, which can happen in winter on ice/snow, or with some high curbs etc. The steel pan is fastened to the metal frame, not plastic elements.
Lightweight forged wheels big LOL :), I got a set of nice alloy wheels, used in good shape for about 115 EUR. Any other ideas feel free to express yourselves :)

So a USA spec 1.8TSI imported into Europe???....:confused:...

I recon your 16"x 7.5 rims with 225mm wide tyres could be causing problems...... masses of sidewall flex & tyre weight...VW standard fits 205mm wide tyres for 16inch..

I live in the Highlands of Scotland, loads of bad roads & snow, grit, potholes etc.....225wide & 17" is ok & standard fit for VW & it runs on standard VW sports suspension....

My alloys are low pressure cast not forged...so cheaper than forged, but strong & used in the BTCC & by VWracingline…...I run a stronger set of 5 spokes for winter which are still 2kg lighter than the VW alloys it came with.

I have run the VW OEM skid tray (GRP) for 4yrs now & had NO problems hitting chunks etc....& it is fastened to the cars metal frame...

You say the car was damaged??..I recon the wheel alignment is still out...plus the weight/size of your wheels will make the steering response slow & heavy....what is the offset & make of the wheels you have??
 

GeorgeTDI

Ready to race!
Location
EU
Car(s)
Golf Mk6 TDI
The wheel alignment will be redone after repairs are finished. Wheels are made by Autec with 45 offset, about 9.1 kg/rim (their figure, I haven't weighed them yet).

The part about wheel weight is interesting. You're saying a wheel+tyre combination of the same overall size and model will be heavier for 16" than for 17" ? In this case 225/50/R16 is heavier than 225/45/R17 ? I thought that for the same size and width, combinations with smaller rims were lighter. If anyone has experience with this I would like to hear from them.
 
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