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How to retro-fit the Mk8 rear suspension aero covers or stone guards to a Mk7 Golf.

S-4Motion

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Space
Car(s)
Golf Sportwagen 4Mo

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Thanks Dave, while searching I found a post from you in another thread, it looks like with a multi link rear end I can't equip a exhaust box cover.
https://golfmk7.com/forums/index.ph...tone-guards-to-a-mk7-golf.320687/post-7461052

You are getting mixed up there I was also talking about the cover for the left side exhaust box for the lower spec torsion beam cars as they usually have the exhaust under the rear seat & just a pipe behind the rear left wheel.

The cover you circled will fit any estate with a single exhaust box as per my car..the suspension cannot affect the rear where the cover sits....
 

S-4Motion

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Space
Car(s)
Golf Sportwagen 4Mo
You are getting mixed up there I was also talking about the cover for the left side exhaust box for the lower spec torsion beam cars as they usually have the exhaust under the rear seat & just a pipe behind the rear left wheel.

The cover you circled will fit any estate with a single exhaust box as per my car..the suspension cannot affect the rear where the cover sits....
Oh I see, thanks for clearing that up. Do you have the part numbers for the hardware by any chance?
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate

S-4Motion

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Space
Car(s)
Golf Sportwagen 4Mo

parapraxis24

Vdubber
Location
PNW
Car(s)
MK7.5 Autobahn DSG
Just did the MK8 aero covers a few moments ago, I went with the 4x plastic push lock thingies since I don't have rivet nut gun. Those plastic pins were used everywhere on my old G35, so long as you aren't constantly locking/unlocking them, they hold forever. Installation was easy, I jacked up one side of the car and was able to slide underneath and do both sides. The only tricky part was doing the top two clips, but if you look on from behind the axle you can wrap your hand around the front of the shield and over to get them in place. Maybe revised versions are different, but mine were marked "L" and "R" and the spring cup has a little rubber nub sticking out of it so only the correct side would snap in place (the aero guard has a circle cutout for this nub).

No driving experience yet, but my 30 min commute to work is nearly all highway so I'll report back with my findings.

Thanks for the guide @golfdave
 

burgerkong

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Ontario, Canadeh
Stop spreading false info. I already proved you and your friends wrong about the Canadian dealer prices on these parts with the photos below on another forum:
View attachment 206240
View attachment 206241
View attachment 206242

VW USA:
View attachment 206243

Either you or your "dealer" are fishy.

Also, just because using spreader rivets works doesn't mean that its an OEM kit. VW Factory doesnt use 8 rivets.


Only people that have been calling me out are you, your friend, and the owner of WCT. I'm happy that WCT helps provide the community a source for parts and great customer service while doing so, and I recognize that there's some other local shops that aren't nearly as good as WCT (they shall not be named but the previous owner of my car stopped going there when shit hit the fan) , but when there's ethics and/or dishonesty involved, it must be called out, regardless of who the party is.

RFD alert, RFD alert ;)
 

geokilla

Go Kart Champion
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Car(s)
2018 VW GTI DSG
Took a 633km round trip this weekend and my average speed was 97Km/H with an average MPG (US) of 34.8 overall. For the first half of the trip, I used 87 octane because I was curious to see if the drop in octane level would be negated by the aero cover. I got about 33MPG on the way there. For the second half, I got about 35.5MPG, and this was with a tailwind of about 35Km/H and 91 octane. Pretty sure there was 10% ethanol for both tanks. Usually I can get 35MPG to 37MPG pretty easily so it's hard to say whether it does work or not.

Keep in mind my low fuel light was on when I filled it up with 91 octane, so my tank is mostly 91 octane for the trip home. My cruise control was set to 120Km/H with the occasional 130Km/H burst for overtaking, and of course, full throttle pulls when leaving rest stations.
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Took a 633km round trip this weekend and my average speed was 97Km/H with an average MPG (US) of 34.8 overall. For the first half of the trip, I used 87 octane because I was curious to see if the drop in octane level would be negated by the aero cover. I got about 33MPG on the way there. For the second half, I got about 35.5MPG, and this was with a tailwind of about 35Km/H and 91 octane. Pretty sure there was 10% ethanol for both tanks. Usually I can get 35MPG to 37MPG pretty easily so it's hard to say whether it does work or not.

Keep in mind my low fuel light was on when I filled it up with 91 octane, so my tank is mostly 91 octane for the trip home. My cruise control was set to 120Km/H with the occasional 130Km/H burst for overtaking, and of course, full throttle pulls when leaving rest stations.

Odd??

How was stability on corners at high speed?...was the external wind noise less from the rear of car?
 

geokilla

Go Kart Champion
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Car(s)
2018 VW GTI DSG
Odd??

How was stability on corners at high speed?...was the external wind noise less from the rear of car?
There's no high speed corners on the highway. I think it is a bit more stable against the cross winds but it's hard to tell. Maybe the effect on the GTI compared to a Golf Estate isn't as great? Can't tell about wind noise either because tire noise dominated as my tires are at the wear bar and due for replacement next month. Just waiting for the wheels to arrive.
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Stability in cross winds I noticed a bit more..but yeah there is a marked difference between the hatch & estate in terms of aero...& the rear add trays & covers make a bigger impact on the estate than the hatch...but as they say "every bit helps"...
 

slimlou

New member
Location
Toronto, ON 🇨🇦
Car(s)
2018 GSW 4Mo 6MT
Part 3 of 5
Parts required

VAG ETKA illustration for VW Golf Mk7 or Mk8/Rear Axle/No.511-002 to -007,

ETKA for the Mk8 still shows the exact same drawing as below, but with the additional new Mk8 Golf/Tiguan "Splash guards" listed at the side.

Parts list & approx. costs in UK £

Golf Mk5/6/7/8, Stone chip guards:-
Item No.22:- 5Q0 511 533A,
Stone chip guard left, black rubber, £26.92 (x1)
Item No.22:- 5Q0 511 534A, Stone chip guard right, black rubber, £26.92 (x1)

Golf Mk8, Splash guards (Aero covers):-
Item No.22:- 5Q0 501 733,
Mk8 Splash guard (Aero cover) left, black plastic, £11.07 (x1)
Item No.22:- 5Q0 501 734, Mk8 Splash guard (Aero cover) right, black plastic, £11.07 (x1)

All require:-
Item No.23:- N 909 203 01,
Rivet nut M6, £1.63 (x4)
Item No.24:- N 911 335 01, Hex head bolt M6x18mm with washer (22mm dia.), £0.96 (x4)
Item No.25:- 8E0 825 267, Plastic spreader rivet, £0.24 (x4)

Modified parts to fit as per my way:-
The combi bolt/washer (Item No.24) is plain galvanised steel, & I prefer to fit marine grade A4 stainless steel if I can find it, & found the following fitted perfectly:-
M6x16mm, A4 grade stainless steel bolts (x4)
M6x25mmx1.5mm thick, A4 grade stainless steel "Penny" washers, (x4)

You could also substitute Item No.23:- N 909 203 01, Rivet nut M6, £1.63 (x4) with stainless steel versions.

EDIT:-
If you do not have a rivet nut installation tool, ignore Items No.23 & 24, & just order another 4 of the plastic spreader rivet (Item No.25.) making a total of 8 quantity of Item No.25 to purchase. Forum member "Reggie Enchilada" has used this on his car & done 140mph with no problems!

View attachment 178644
Thank you golfdave! I’ve been reading your how-to’s through various VW Facebook groups from people who’ve posted links to them. And because of this post, I’ve ordered & received the MK8 versions through e-acca.com.

and today, I took the plunge and joined this forum. I’m ‘across the pond’ here in Toronto, ON 🇨🇦, and I’m sporting a 2018 (MK7.5) Sportwagen 4motion 6MT, and I’m loving it. And with all your how-to’s, I’ll be loving it more, regardless of the fact that my bank balance will suffer...
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
Thank you golfdave! I’ve been reading your how-to’s through various VW Facebook groups from people who’ve posted links to them. And because of this post, I’ve ordered & received the MK8 versions through e-acca.com.

and today, I took the plunge and joined this forum. I’m ‘across the pond’ here in Toronto, ON 🇨🇦, and I’m sporting a 2018 (MK7.5) Sportwagen 4motion 6MT, and I’m loving it. And with all your how-to’s, I’ll be loving it more, regardless of the fact that my bank balance will suffer...

Bank balance??..whats that??....:unsure::D......

As you have a manual I would also recommend the Diesel Geek Superpin & Delrin shaft bushes..also whilst you have the centre console out retrofit the rear USB ports & ESCOFF & TPMS switches....

There is a thread on the Superpin, I didn't do it as I didn't take many pictures when I did mine...

Those two Diesel Geek parts make the biggest difference to the gear shift as they stop the slop in the gearstick mech in the cabin & allow a much better "0" position lock when you lock the mech in the cabin when doing a gearshift cable alignment. ....VW switched from all metal to all plastic for this mech inside the cabin...which makes it virtually impossible to achieve a proper neutral lock position..
 

parapraxis24

Vdubber
Location
PNW
Car(s)
MK7.5 Autobahn DSG
So after a few weeks I wanted to add my experience.

Road noise was about the same from the rear, but tires play a bigger role in my experience. The factory Pirelli tires are awful, they have zero redeeming qualities.

Stability on the highway feels like it has moderately improved, definitely no negative effects here. No idea as far as high speed cornering goes, FL roads are typically flat and arrow straight.

MPG stayed about the same on average but there have been slight improvements. Where I did notice the biggest benefit is at highway speeds, I need less throttle input to maintain speed up any slight grades. Before to maintain 70 mph going up a slight incline the display would show 25-27mpg, now it shows 27-29 on the same stretch of road.

For $15 I don't see any downside here, but I wouldn't say it was night and day in my experience.
 

golfdave

Autocross Champion
Location
Scotland (U.K.)
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf GT Estate
So after a few weeks I wanted to add my experience.

Road noise was about the same from the rear, but tires play a bigger role in my experience. The factory Pirelli tires are awful, they have zero redeeming qualities.

Stability on the highway feels like it has moderately improved, definitely no negative effects here. No idea as far as high speed cornering goes, FL roads are typically flat and arrow straight.

MPG stayed about the same on average but there have been slight improvements. Where I did notice the biggest benefit is at highway speeds, I need less throttle input to maintain speed up any slight grades. Before to maintain 70 mph going up a slight incline the display would show 25-27mpg, now it shows 27-29 on the same stretch of road.

For $15 I don't see any downside here, but I wouldn't say it was night and day in my experience.


I think as you say it depends on tyres..but also estate-vs-hatch bodyshell.....But the fact you weren't expecting much & have noticed a requirement for less throttle to maintain speed on gradients is proof of the aero dynamic advantages. Where I live is all twisty roads..some slow speed, many high speed..depending on the style of driving!!..;)...maybe that's why I notice the aero??...:unsure:...:ROFLMAO:
 
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