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I am considering tracking my car in the near future...looking for suggestions/tweaks

up4speed

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Long Island
Car(s)
2015 GTI
If this is your first track day, don't get caught up too much in preparing the car. Make sure it passes an honest tech inspection and go with it exactly as it is; all season tires, street pads, open differential, whatever. What you want to get out of your first track day or three, with an instructor in the passenger seat, is learning track etiquette, lines, braking and turning points, and how to be as consistent as possible lap after lap. At your first track day you're not going to be spending a lot of time really beating on your car so you don't need competition grade parts on it.

After your first couple of track days then open your wallet when it's clear to you what you need to push it a little bit harder.

Also, maybe XDS is different on the mk7, but on my mk6 it's amazing and even with the extra heat generated with the track pads I use I haven't melted anything by standing on the brakes from 120 to 50 mph every couple of minutes.
Definitely not my first track day, but it will be the first with my GTI.
I don't mess around when I drive, I'm always driving hard (compared to typical drivers). My brakes are lacking for street use, so I don't need to wait to upgrade. That's something I definitely need. I also can't properly accelerate out of corners on the STREET using the stock tires, so I obviously need a good set of extreme performance tires as well.
 

up4speed

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Long Island
Car(s)
2015 GTI
Again, please don’t dump money into the non PP brakes.

Just do the RS3 ducts and fluid, get a feel for the car and go from there. Money spend on your current brakes will go a lot further on literally any other set up.
The ducts and the fluid seem like definites.
However, my thinking on brakes (at least in the beginning) is to just take the stock pads and rotors off and save them, so I can put them back on if I decide to sell or trade the car in. Then add the best stock sized rotors that I find, along with a set of Ferodo DS2500's. Those changes cost very little.
I can always add a big brake kit later on if I feel like it's necessary. I just don't want to spend the money until I know I would put the time and effort into going to track days. If I do a lot of days, then I don't mind spending the money.
 

up4speed

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Long Island
Car(s)
2015 GTI

launchd

Drag Racing Champion
Location
New York
Car(s)
2023 M3LR, 2021 A7
Wavetrac LSD (as mentioned) depends on model, paid $1200 for mine.

I would suggest NOT trying to do this yourself.

$900-1200 in labor depending on shop’s hourly rate.

A little over $2500 with tax was my total.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
I'm pretty handy doing my own repairs, but this job seems very involved. I don't think it's something that I would tackle. How much would this complete job cost with parts and labor?

No idea I've never priced it but the parts, the Wavetrac, prices are on the link I provided.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Wavetrac LSD (as mentioned) depends on model, paid $1200 for mine.

I would suggest NOT trying to do this yourself.

$900-1200 in labor depending on shop’s hourly rate.

A little over $2500 with tax was my total.

Are you happy with it?
 

launchd

Drag Racing Champion
Location
New York
Car(s)
2023 M3LR, 2021 A7
Are you happy with it?

Yeah :)

Hard to really justify the cost honestly, but I went with the S trim because I knew I wanted a pure mechanical diff over an electronically controlled one. The difference is definitely noticeable and I have zero regrets.
 

DarkArrow

Drag Racing Champion
Location
OC
Car(s)
'18 R
No idea I've never priced it but the parts, the Wavetrac, prices are on the link I provided.

There's some additional bits and pieces you need in addition to the Wavetrac, that Autotech doesn't list. IIRC, you need to add about $160 in ARP bolts and other odds and ends. I never saw anywhere on Wavetrac's site that you need them, but AFAIK, they're required. Luckily Autotech is fairly local to my mechanic and he was awesome enough to go drive out there to pick up the extra bits so he could finish the car on time. If anyone is in OC, EMD Auto is such a blessing to have a high quality, reasonably priced shop local.

I'm pretty handy doing my own repairs, but this job seems very involved. I don't think it's something that I would tackle. How much would this complete job cost with parts and labor?

It is a very involved process, and I wouldn't want to tackle it either. I've seen case castings can all be different and you might need to grind away at part of your casing to make the Wavetrac fit correctly. I paid an extremely reasonable $400 on top of a clutch job to have the Wavetrac installed. I will probably be one of the lowest costs all in, at a total of $1635 (not including the labor to remove the transmission, since that was part of the clutch job I was going to do anyway).

To add to launchd's response to Jim's question, I, too, am very happy with this. While slightly different, since I'm in an R, I can feel a difference driving around town and around a track. I'm not sure if this is the best way to describe it, but the front wheels find more grip and make the car feel more like my old WRX AWD than a haldex FWD with power kicked to the rear after slip.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
I haven’t priced it out yet, but I’m considering buying a second transmission to install the LSD when I finally pull the trigger on that.

You completely disassemble the transmission, and the drill out a bunch of hardened rivets to remove the original so separating all of that labor from R&R the transmission itself would be nice since my car is a daily driver.

I haven’t looked at market prices on used 6MT, but if given they’re in extremely low demand and there’s a million crashed mk7 out there that might be the way to go
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion

GTIfan99

Autocross Champion
Location
FL
Hankook RS4s. I'm very happy with them.

I just got a third set of wheels that are getting a set of RS4's. I've been using RE71R's for both autocross and track, but they don't like tracking in FL heat. Everyone locally is raving about the RT660 for autocross, so those will replace the RE71R's.

Anyway, I can't imagine your pushing super hard if you're using 200tw tires with non-PP brakes and xds on on the track or you're home track is pretty easy on breaks if you aren't getting excessive heat. FIRM is my home track and it's brutal on brakes and lots of tight corners that keep the xds pretty active. I melted center caps and my buddy melted a caliper piston in his FiST, which uses brakes as a fake diff too. I guess there is no one answer, as driving style, tires, track, and ambient temps can all make a huge difference, but xds does heat up the brakes on track, that's just the reality of it.
 

GTIfan99

Autocross Champion
Location
FL
Some good info on XDS:

https://www.carwow.co.uk/guides/glossary/what-is-torque-vectoring

To me, your times should be better with this on vs. off?

Times will absolutely be better, but on a non-PP car, you will overheat the fronts, so they're better for a few laps then the car starts understeering and brakes get soft.

You guys kill me. As far as I know, I'm the only one in this thread that has tracked both a non-PP mk7.5 and a PP mk7.5. I'm telling all of you, that xds will overheat on brakes on 200tw tires on any track that's demanding on brakes. I'm not an expert or professional driver, but I'm telling you my experience with my non-PP GTI, which I still own, and my PP GTI.

I wouldn't turn xds off on a street car for either a non-PP or a PP, or a track driven car with a LSD, but controlling the brake heat generated on track with a non-PP brakes out weighs the benefits of xds on a non-PP car. I grew up at the track, both parents autocrossed and club raced. I raced carts as a kid, autocrossed and tracked my whole life and have never seen any car heat up the brakes, hub, wheels, tires as bad as my non-PP GTI, except the FiST that melted a brake piston the same day. I stopped tracking the non-PP car that day due to concern of causing damage to the wheel bearings from that kind of heat. The only other GTI at Daytona last fall was a non-PP and went home after the first session due to brakes overheating. He didn't listen to me about turning xds off and had almost complete brake failure going into the bus stop 15 minutes in. In the months after that, I autocrossed the car and tested with xds on and off. The difference in front tire and brake heat is massive with it on and off. The car will absolutely intersteer more and you'll need to be a little easier on the throttle pedal on corner exit, but ON TRACK, by lap 3, you will be better off with xds off. Since then, I've done the same tests with my PP car, and xds on or off has no perceivable affect on brake temp or tire temps in autocross or tracking.

If you're going to track a non-PP car longterm, LSD and front brakes are necessities. Until then, turn xds off for your safety and the longevity of you pads, rotors, tires, and bearings.
 
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up4speed

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Long Island
Car(s)
2015 GTI
Times will absolutely be better, but on a non-PP car, you will overheat the fronts, so they're better for a few laps then the car starts understeering and brakes get soft.

You guys kill me. As far as I know, I'm the only one in this thread that has tracked both a non-PP mk7.5 and a PP mk7.5. I'm telling all of you, that xds will overheat on brakes on 200tw tires on any track that's demanding on brakes. I'm not an expert or professional driver, but I'm telling you my experience with my non-PP GTI, which I still own, and my PP GTI.

I wouldn't turn xds off on a street car for either a non-PP or a PP, or a track driven car with a LSD, but controlling the brake heat generated on track with a non-PP brakes out weighs the benefits of xds on a non-PP car. I grew up at the track, both parents autocrossed and club raced. I raced carts as a kid, autocrossed and tracked my whole life and have never seen any car heat up the brakes, hub, wheels, tires as bad as my non-PP GTI, except the FiST that melted a brake piston the same day. I stopped tracking the non-PP car that day due to concern of causing damage to the wheel bearings from that kind of heat. In the months after that, I autocrossed the car and tested with xds on and off. The difference in front tire and brake heat is massive with it on and off. The car will absolutely intersteer more and you'll need to be a little easier on the throttle pedal on corner exit, but ON TRACK, by lap 3, you will be better off with xds off. Since then, I've done the same tests with my PP car, and xds on or off has no perceivable affect on brake temp or tire temps in autocross or tracking.

If you're going to track a non-PP car longterm, LSD and front brakes are necessities. Until then, turn xds off for your safety and the longevity of you pads, rotors, tires, and bearings.
This makes complete sense. And obviously since you have direct experience wirh it, I’m putting a lot more value on your opinion.
I didn’t look through the menus on my OBD 11 yet, however, is it either on or off? Or are there different levels of settings. Do you think on a track that isn’t very tight, would it be a good idea to just leave one of the very low settings, If there are any?
I would imagine that if you are very careful about smoothness, especially accelerating out of Apex, I would think that it would improve the situation. Especially if there are long straights to cool the brakes in between each time.

I would also imagine if the system is off on a tight track, the understeer would start to begin to get frustrating if it is difficult to modulate the throttle as the turbo kicks in.
this is obviously a situation of creating a lesser of the evils.
I guess before my first track day with the GTI, I will have to experiment, to see how the car reacts, and feels during aggressive driving, and adjust my driving style. I would rather deal with the pros and cons of rear wheel drive! Lol.
but since I’m not willing to track any of my rear wheel drive cars at this point, I guess I will have to make it fun and deal with the “issues” 😜
It’s a balance, because I’m trying to keep the car as stock as possible, and also not spend too much money since I’m not going to be tracking it too often, and it is not a dedicated track car for me.
 
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GTIfan99

Autocross Champion
Location
FL
This makes complete sense. And obviously since you have direct experience wirh it, I’m putting a lot more value on your opinion.
I didn’t look through the menus on my OBD 11 yet, however, is it either on or off? Or are there different levels of settings. Do you think on a track that isn’t very tight, would it be a good idea to just leave one of the very low settings, If there are any?

No, IIRC, it's off, weak, normal and strong or something like that. Just turn if off until you get a LSD. Once you get one, turn it back to whatever default is. Keep a excel spreadsheet with default and what you change it too, plus any security codes for each thing you change. It'll help you keep track. I didn't do that and I regret it.
 

GTIfan99

Autocross Champion
Location
FL
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Not going to lie, I miss RWD too, but the GTI is just a better all around car.
 
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