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MK7 Mod Guide for the Clueless Quarantined Dad...

JK105

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Hello all, I'm a mid 30s dad of 3 boys here about to lose my mind with this quarantine life. So I was wondering if you guys could give me a few ideas / directions for some smaller mods for my car.
I bought my 17' GTI S, manual in late 2016 and have had almost 0 time to do anything to it since new. (new job, new kid, etc.)
The car just hit 50k miles, so I have been starting to get back into the idea if doing a few things to it finally!

I just picked up some new wheels off of a guy on here, and the process was awesome thanks again mrhee6!

Anyways any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm talking the basics here, what should be the first few things I should spend money on?


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victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
get an alignment. The factory alignment was written by accountants... You want toe zero front, all the negative camber you can get out of the front (won't be much, but better than nothing), similar negative camber in rear (maybe slightly less than front), and about 0.12 decimal degrees toe in rear.
 

aaronc7

Autocross Champion
Location
USA
Car(s)
17 S3
Hello, fellow 30s dad checking in. You've had the car long enough to know what bugs you or what you want more of---- power or suspension type mods etc.?

Power wise, your best bang for buck is going to be a tune and ethanol blend or E85 tune. Cobb accessport is your best option. You can do some hardware mods like intake or downpipe, but the gain vs $$ (and install time/effort) is hardly worth it unless you're really trying to get every last HP. You'd be better off putting an IS38 (golf r/Audi s3) turbo on if you wanted a more sizeable bump in power. I saw you have a manual, so you need to keep in mind that if you go crazy you'll have to upgrade the clutch too, so maybe the more mild options are appealing.

I did a DIY / budget intake on mine, which was a fun couple hour project. Drop in high flow filter, remove the 'snow screen' and cut open the air ducting on the driver side that leads to the airbox.

Other little stuff.... do you want to improve shifter feel? braking? suspension?
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
BFI dog bone insert ~$40
(unplug or turn off soundeckor)

Change your transmission and brake fluid $100ish. $8 transfer pump from harbor freight makes filling the transmission easier. Motive Pro pressure bleeder or child labor from your oldest son to assist in brake bleeding.

H&R RSB & Moog endlinks under $350



*subscribe to my channel, discover more poorly edited yet helpful information lol, you did say you’re bored*

Fresh cabin air filter $10-30

Fresh OEM spark plugs $40-60ish

Set tire pressures (including the spare)

Remove wheel liners and wash under the car. You’ll be amazed how much crap gets trapped behind them.

I could go on and on, especially the rabbit hole of adding power. I’m not a site sponsor here so I’ll leave all that stuff out of this.
 

OldVWFan

Go Kart Champion
Location
NW Arkansas
Car(s)
17 GTI Sport
Hello all, I'm a mid 30s dad of 3 boys here about to lose my mind with this quarantine life. So I was wondering if you guys could give me a few ideas / directions for some smaller mods for my car.
I bought my 17' GTI S, manual in late 2016 and have had almost 0 time to do anything to it since new. (new job, new kid, etc.)
The car just hit 50k miles, so I have been starting to get back into the idea if doing a few things to it finally!

I just picked up some new wheels off of a guy on here, and the process was awesome thanks again mrhee6!

Anyways any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm talking the basics here, what should be the first few things I should spend money on?


View attachment 168804
You said smaller and basics as to the mods, so I would suggest a short shift kit since it a manual, solid bushings for the shifter, a solid mount for the shifter cables, and a larger rear sway bar. All of these might cost you $600. You could upgrade the brake pads for a better bite or if money is available upgrade the front brakes to the Golf R/PP brake set up.
 

Genegenie

Drag Race Newbie
Location
North Yorkshire
Car(s)
VW Golf
"get an alignment. The factory alignment was written by accountants... You want toe zero front, all the negative camber you can get out of the front (won't be much, but better than nothing), similar negative camber in rear (maybe slightly less than front), and about 0.12 decimal degrees toe in rear."

Defo get this done as a starting point. Had a front puncture last year (aarrgghh!!), so new tyre & had the tracking / alignment done at the same time, have had car from new, all wheels perfect with no biffs or dings from 'kerbing', settings were literally a small tad out, if that, but afterwards it made such a difference to the steering; lighter, more responsive in both directions. Was pleasantly suprised, cost about £130 in total and well worth it.....
 
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JK105

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Wow! Thanks for all of the responses already, super cool community here!
I guess my idea of smaller is different than what others might think haha
I'm thinking more on the level of intake, plugs, down pipe, exhaust, maybe a tuner, or just smaller bolt-on ideas, etc...
Are intakes a good mod or no?

Again wow thanks for the help guys super cool.
Sounds like an alignment on these new wheels / tires is a must...
They had 7k miles on them from the guy I got them from.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Wow! Thanks for all of the responses already, super cool community here!
I guess my idea of smaller is different than what others might think haha
I'm thinking more on the level of intake, plugs, down pipe, exhaust, maybe a tuner, or just smaller bolt-on ideas, etc...
Are intakes a good mod or no?

Again wow thanks for the help guys super cool.
Sounds like an alignment on these new wheels / tires is a must...
They had 7k miles on them from the guy I got them from.

Intercooler upgrade, tune, clutch, mounts (dog bone at minimum) and downpipe before messing with an intake. There’s only at most about 10whp to be had from an intake which is minimal compared to the effectiveness of all of thee above.

APR is king of the OTS tunes and EQT via Cobb AP if you want to pro or dyno tune or plan to run E85 blends and or a bigger turbo other than a plain ol is38.

Feel free to shoot me an email if you want me specific advice. I’m at work, but we’re down to 96 flights per day from 700 so I’m bored out of my mind till 23:00

jlbaun26@gmail.com
 

KyACRASH

Autocross Newbie
Location
Fort Walton Beach, FL
Car(s)
2015 GTI 6MT, 04 R32
nice car! the black wheels look so good on the white car. I wish I had a car that untouched right now to do some fun DIYs with all my spare time...

Being a 6MT, I would start with shifter mods. Have a read through this thread, there are lots of projects you can do, some quick and easy, some more expensive and challenging. I have done all of them I think lol. I really liked the OEM Audi short shifter combined with the Dieselgeek superslider and bushings. The Dieselgeek superpin is also a huge upgrade, but requires removing the entire center console.

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-make-a-mk7-6mt-suck-less.349809/
Other than that, because you kept OEM wheels, get yourself a good flush kit and lower that beauty! You don't need to splurge on coilovers, but with the mileage your car has I'd recommend replacing the shocks and springs.
 

wlfpck

Ready to race!
Location
United States
All of this comes down to what you want and if you want to tune or not.

If you're looking for small stuff to tinker with to pass some time:

1. Turbo inlet pipe (90 degree elbow). CTS just released a new version that is cast aluminum. Priced pretty reasonably. Looks like a quality product.
2. Remove "snow grate" from existing intake box.
3. Replace intake tube with silicone or carbon fiber intake tube.
4. Turbo muffler delete.
5. New tires... not sure if your wheels came with tires or not... but get some stickier tires. Summer is approaching.

Again these are little things here and there. Gives you something to tinker with and everything on this list other than tires, are all below $100. In fact...each of these are all below $75.

If you want a bigger project or more stuff to do...

6. Intercooler.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
nice car! the black wheels look so good on the white car. I wish I had a car that untouched right now to do some fun DIYs with all my spare time...

Being a 6MT, I would start with shifter mods. Have a read through this thread, there are lots of projects you can do, some quick and easy, some more expensive and challenging. I have done all of them I think lol. I really liked the OEM Audi short shifter combined with the Dieselgeek superslider and bushings. The Dieselgeek superpin is also a huge upgrade, but requires removing the entire center console.

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-make-a-mk7-6mt-suck-less.349809/
Other than that, because you kept OEM wheels, get yourself a good flush kit and lower that beauty! You don't need to splurge on coilovers, but with the mileage your car has I'd recommend replacing the shocks and springs.

Building off of this, while adding spacers it’s a good time to switch from wheel bolts to extended studs.

That way if you change spacers or wheels down the road you won’t need to rebuy a different length bolt a second time
 

daconchslop

Autocross Champion
Location
SC
Car(s)
ACS SE/Tech
If you aren’t ready to commit to a full tune the JB4 is a great bang for the buck and you can recoup $ when you are ready to move into larger mods. I found it to be a great starting point.
 
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