Is 87k too many miles to tune a car?

[OCT0PUSCRIME]

Hey all,

First post here, but I've been lurking a bit. I just purchased a 2016 Golf TSI 1.8 with 87000 miles on it about a month ago. I am very happy with this vehicle so far, it is really reminiscent of my first vehicle, a MKIII Jetta, but upgraded. I love it and it seems to have been taken care of very well.

Anyway, I am naturally a tinkerer and there a couple things I would like to do to the vehicle for a little bit of fun. Namely a JB4 to start off and if I want to do more stuff down the line, definitely upgrade the clutch, but I am undecided how much I am going to mess with it. My question is, should I not do the JB4 or any mods at all? I see most of the cars that you guys mod around here tend to be pretty low mileage, like sub 40k. Is 87k to risky to star modding the car? I am worried the mileage is too high on the stock parts, especially the clutch, and I don't want to unwisely tinker where I shouldn't and blow my clutch a week after I put a JB4 in, although the clutch does feel to be in good condition. What do y'all think?

 

[Reggie Enchilada]

Tuning is a dice roll regardless of mileage. Most people won't have major issues with a conservative tune, but the chance of failure is always there regardless of being stock or aftermarket tuned. You might want to save for a clutch before you tune just in case it needs to be replaced sooner rather than later. I'm sure you know that it will need to be changed eventually, but there's no way of knowing when that'll be beforehand. These cars do take very well to mods, just make sure to do your research before changing anything. One thing to ask yourself before changing anything is if you can afford to fix it if it breaks as a result of the change.

 

[OCT0PUSCRIME]

Tuning is a dice roll regardless of mileage. Most people won't have major issues with a conservative tune, but the chance of failure is always there regardless of being stock or aftermarket tuned. You might want to save for a clutch before you tune just in case it needs to be replaced sooner rather than later. I'm sure you know that it will need to be changed eventually, but there's no way of knowing when that'll be beforehand. These cars do take very well to mods, just make sure to do your research before changing anything. One thing to ask yourself before changing anything is if you can afford to fix it if it breaks as a result of the change.

Makes sense to me! I like the last sentence. It helps put things in perspective. Wouldn't want my new car to be a dud because I'm dumb and break something I can't afford to fix.

 

[Reggie Enchilada]

One other thing to keep in mind would be the supporting mods that are needed. The stock intercooler is a weak point. It can barely keep up with the stock power level. It's a requirement for tuned cars unless you like having one good WOT pull, then feeling like you're towing a trailer for the next pull. The modding rabbit hole can get deep fairly quickly. Once you get a taste of how much the car wakes up once tuned, you'll soon start craving for more.

There's probably some maintenance that needs to be done as well. Changing all of the fluids, carbon removal on the valves, replacing spark plugs, etc. Those need to be factored in also. Carbon buildup is a concern on DI engines, with the amount of buildup varying from car to car. Since it's just a Golf TSI, there's a good chance that the previous owner only used spicy water (87oct.) instead of a top tier 91 or 93 octane fuel. I'm not belittling the TSI's, they're great cars. It's just that most people who buy regular Golf's aren't enthusiasts and don't understand that turbocharged cars love higher octane fuel. If you do decide to get a JB4, you need to use at least 91oct. or preferably 93oct. fuel.

If it were me, I'd prioritize the maintenance first, then get the clutch ordered, and then install the JB4 and IC at the same time.

 

[OCT0PUSCRIME]

One other thing to keep in mind would be the supporting mods that are needed. The stock intercooler is a weak point. It can barely keep up with the stock power level. It's a requirement for tuned cars unless you like having one good WOT pull, then feeling like you're towing a trailer for the next pull. The modding rabbit hole can get deep fairly quickly. Once you get a taste of how much the car wakes up once tuned, you'll soon start craving for more.

There's probably some maintenance that needs to be done as well. Changing all of the fluids, carbon removal on the valves, replacing spark plugs, etc. Those need to be factored in also. Carbon buildup is a concern on DI engines, with the amount of buildup varying from car to car. Since it's just a Golf TSI, there's a good chance that the previous owner only used spicy water (87oct.) instead of a top tier 91 or 93 octane fuel. I'm not belittling the TSI's, they're great cars. It's just that most people who buy regular Golf's aren't enthusiasts and don't understand that turbocharged cars love higher octane fuel. If you do decide to get a JB4, you need to use at least 91oct. or preferably 93oct. fuel.

If it were me, I'd prioritize the maintenance first, then get the clutch ordered, and then install the JB4 and IC at the same time.

Sounds good to me. I didn't know the intercooler was a weak point, that's the first I've heard of this. I can already tell modding is a rabbit hole lol. There's so much I want to do to it, but I'm sure I will only get some done. Is there anything while doing maintenance I should keep in mind before installing JB4? What I mean by that is, if I change spark plugs before I install JB4 should I gap them different or will the gap stay they same? Also, I will be running 93 once I install JB4 as it is readily available where I live.

How would you recommend carbon cleanup? That's something I've never done on a vehicle. I will do some searching, but if theres anything VW specific I should know, that'd be great!

 

[Reggie Enchilada]

I'd change all of the fluids and the spark plugs before the JB4. That includes a DSG service, oil change, brake fluid flush, clutch bleed, top off coolant with proper VW coolant, etc. Stick with the stock heat range spark plugs until you get a downpipe and switch to Map 6 on the JB4, then get one step colder plugs like the RS7 ones.

As for the JB4, I believe Map 4 is the lower output setting. Once you get an aftermarket downpipe, you can change to the Map 6. There's a very good chance that you'll get clutch slip even on Map 4. With 87k on the clock who knows if the clutch had been changed previously. As for the IC, it's the most important supporting mod that you can do. Another thing to keep an eye on is the drivetrain mounts (engine, transmission, and dogbone). Even brand new OE mounts don't last long on a tuned car, let alone ones with 87k on them already.

 

[Jovian]

As long as the car has been taken care of you should not have any issues tuning it at that milage. My 2016 GTI was originally tuned at 28k but went in for a custom dyno tune at 72k and did amazingly. Im currently just a bit over 100k miles right now. Keep up on your maintenance and you should be fine.

 

[MeltedSolid]

Most of the reason we have low milage cars around here is because the car has only been around for 5 years and haven't had the chance to put more miles on it. iirc, Ironshade's car is at over 120k miles and he's making more power than ever.

Also, being still on the stock intercooler myself, I would say it's not as necisary as some may make it out to be, especially in colder climates, but if it gets warm the heat soak can be bad.

 

[goodvibes]

Just broken in. Go for it. There's no reason to think there's greater risk if it's been properly maintained.

 

[MonkeyMD]

Clutch should be fine. I've been stage 1 which is more than you can get out of jb4 (without e85) for 94k miles. Currently at 97k. Clutch is still fine and I hammer it. Of course these is variance from car to car.

I say jb4 by itself is good enough. You won't need anything else really until you get to 300hp + or live in a warm climate like melted mentioned

 

[MeltedSolid]

I feel like unless you get super unlucky, clutch is a non-issue until at least IS20 on the 1.8. Different story for the GTI.

 

[Father Seth]

As mentioned before, as long as the car has been well maintained there should be no issues. I got my 1.8t Slushbox Auto at 30k miles about a year ago, and had it tuned by 31k. I'm at 50k now and was regularly in the canyons (about once a week) pushing the car before COVID and its still in good condition other than plenty of rock chips. Just upgraded to IS20 without any worries.

I don't know anything about the clutch though, MeltedSolid and MonkeyMD both are big contributors here and give lots of helpful info though so I'd trust what they say about it.

 

[Ironshade]

For what’s its worth. I went is20 at 10k miles. Then went is38 at 60k miles. I now how 124k on the car.

 

[OCT0PUSCRIME]

Clutch should be fine. I've been stage 1 which is more than you can get out of jb4 (without e85) for 94k miles. Currently at 97k. Clutch is still fine and I hammer it. Of course these is variance from car to car.

I say jb4 by itself is good enough. You won't need anything else really until you get to 300hp + or live in a warm climate like melted mentioned

Nice, that gives me a lot of piece of mind. My clutch feels really good, although I've only ever owned crappy cars and trucks in manual so an okay clutch probably feels like a dream to me lol. My biggest fear was install JB4, blow clutch within a week. I am glad so many people are saying otherwise, although of course it could still happen, I am less worried.

 

[OCT0PUSCRIME]

Most of the reason we have low milage cars around here is because the car has only been around for 5 years and haven't had the chance to put more miles on it. iirc, Ironshade's car is at over 120k miles and he's making more power than ever.

Also, being still on the stock intercooler myself, I would say it's not as necisary as some may make it out to be, especially in colder climates, but if it gets warm the heat soak can be bad.

That's good. I live in Michigan so pretty cold most of the year. I'm not really worried about heat soak up here most days.