I would really like to re gear 1st, it's just wayy too long.
I'll be the first to admit that my 2nd gear has gotten notchier because of my driving habits having launched it a zillion times because to get the box into 2nd gear requires the synchro to REALLY have to grab onto the cone because of the excessive rotational speed difference, which leads to lots of synchro wear due to the dog pushing the synchro down until it manages to slow enough to allow the dog over into the teeth of the synchro and thus into the teeth of the gear.
I feel like the consequence of this is that your 2nd gear's gate gets crappy really quickly after use.
35k 2015 6mt
Also I feel like the increased time to slide the dog turns into extra shift fork wear as well. The whole feel of "getting into 2nd" is crappy 35k miles later because of compounding effects of shift key wear and synchro wear all due to excessive ratio differences. If I ever open the transmission I'll completely regear it and certainly replace and hopefully upgrade the synchros or shift keys.
1 more thing - my main gripe - perhaps only complaint - with this car at all is specifically that mastering 1st to 2nd is actually HARD, and I've never felt that way about any gear in any car before.
stop and go driving - i shift out of 1st at ~1800rpm and it's smooth as butter and weak
getting going from a stop - i can either a; shift real early at 1600-1800 and lay into 2nd and let it wind up, OR B; i really spin 1st out into 3,500rpm to allow a little more time for me to comfortably get into 2nd and slide the clutch in. Option A is good for when I'm just going and totally day dreaming. Option B is my general go to since, well, shit it's a GTI. It does kind of bug me that I've got to let it out so much. God forbid I try to do a hop betwen 2k and 3k, it's this insanely awkward zone to figure out timing! You've really got to shift quick as all hell if you're letting 1st out into this zone, and sometimes the shifter can't find the gear in this zone even though this is where I "feel the engine wants to change" the most. It's the fact it feels right but doesn't operate like how it feels like it should that bugs me about the ratio right between 2k-3k, for me personally.
beat the idiot in the other lane - I ride first out into 5k-6k because if I'm generally close to 80%+WOT, and throw it before that range then I'm slipping the clutch a TON and the shifter doesn't love to find the gear. Once you get it high enough the shifter finds the gear like butter, finally, but it's not forgiving until you really ride it up if you're trying to really move
launching with 3-4k drop - there are a few ways to skin this cat, but I aim for 6k generally because once the grip's there it winds up SO fast that it's easier to coordinate a 6k drop down to around 4k. If you hit 2nd any lower than 4k because it has an issue finding the gear you're really asking for trouble and the power and turbo spool is almost GONE. If you hit 2nd 4k+ then you're going to be rocking a shit eating grin, no doubt, and sometimes even skip the wheels (feels GREAT).
But I reiterate that the entire problem I've got is that I've - and this seems like a common theme - really got to "find it or grind it" if I want to make sure the general operation goes off without a hitch **at the expense of the dog and synchros! it doesn't make me feel good about it all the time unless I get real lucky with the synchro hitting at right spot. Getting lucky with synchros due to excessively long gears? Regearing is project #2, definitely.
