Sandman GTI MK7 PP DCC Lighting Pkg - The Journey begins!

[Tk_mkv1]

I agree the 5 spoke is a historic design in many ways.
Over the years I am sure there have been hundreds of different designs.
These 3 however seem so similar.
It would be one thing if there were years between the models, but they are all sold now and are all new in 2015-2016.
I guess like everything else it is about fashion.
This must be the fashion for wheels.
Fashion designs come and go and come back again.

Being a young guy myself, i'm also a fan of 5 spokes and not some fiero looking wheels the stance guys get.


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[Sandman GTI]

Iron-X

While washing my car this weekend I noticed that I have more rust stains on the rear hatch. So, after washing I pulled out the Iron-X cleaner.
I learned about this product from other forum members so I am covering it here in case others are not aware of it's benefits.

Over time on cars, Iron Oxide particles will collect on the paint and continue to rust. It comes from car brakes, road, rain, dust, etc Irong Oxide is everywhere. On dark color cars this does not show much but is present. On light color cars like my white GTI they show up very easily.

After washing the car, spray the Iron-X on one body panel at a time. (you can dry car first or apply over wet car. Either way works for me). Let the Iron-X sit for 5 min. (Watch the magic show) The iron Oxide will turn purple and create streaks down the car. Then with a micro fiber cloth wipe that panel down to make sure the Iron-X reaches all parts on the panel. Then hose off with water. Move to next panel and repeat until done.
After this I go back over car and wash it with snow foam again to make sure all Iron-X is off car. Then dry and wax as normal.

The bottle I show below will do my GTI twice. Might need to do light color cars every 6 months. My bottle is Cherry scent but smells like a skunk.
After I open bottle to use, I keep it in my storage building and not the garage. Smell is not super strong but you will not want It near the house.
I purchased from ECS Tuning but you can Google "Iron-X" car cleaner and get from other sources.

Others like to use clay bar to remove Iron Oxide but I find Iron-X works very well. After using Iron-X, I normally go over the car with clay bar also to pick up anything left over.

Give it a try if you have a light color car.
It will remove those red dots from the paint.

Edit - GET LEMON SCENT!!!!!! MUCH BETTER THAN CHERRY THAT SMELLS LIKE A SKUNK!!!!!!

 

[Sandman GTI]

Sillguards Door Moldings

Edit: New German Performance Racing now sell this in the USA. Look them up.

I recently ordered and installed a set of SillGuards from RGM (Richard Grant Mouldings Ltd). I learned of this product from forum members.
The painted door sills on my GTI look very exposed so I have been watching for a good option to cover. This product looks and fits well.

What to watch for?
Make sure you follow directions. Main thing is to slide them in place once you have removed the first strip of 2 way tape. If you try to place some like I did the first rear section you get the alignment off. For the record, this is the strongest 2 way auto tape I have seen. I was able to get it off and repostion but it was a work out. The directions are clear and easy to follow, just stick with them and do not get creative. Practice fit first because once fully in place it will be hard to remove with out chemicals.

Order info:
I emailed them as they do not normally ship direct to USA from on line order. Once in touch and letting them know what I wanted the process went quick.

RGM - Richard Grant Mouldings Ltd.
Units K4/K5 Cherrycourt Way
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire
Great Britain
LU7 4UH
Tel - +44 (0)1525 853888

Item Code DSP202 - 5 door 4 piece Sillguards VW GTI MK7

Cost - $30
Shipping $40

Good Quality made product. Not bulky but still very rigid and fits perfect.

 

[ChattMkv]

If you are ever in Chattanooga and have a couple free hours then take a drive from Chattanooga using Hwy 127 to the town of Signal Mountain, TN. This is a very twisty road that is one of the steeper climbs I have been on. The road must have been based on a donkey trail. Some turns are so sharp and steep I had to go into 1st gear (DSG) to pull the incline and turn. The drive on 127 then heads onto Dunlap, TN, This section of the road is faster and has a long down hill stretch with several tight turns. From Dunlap, you can head back on 4 lane 111 back toward Chattanooga. Was a perfect day and nice weekend.

Lived in Dunlap and Chattanooga my whole life. That's just one of many fun mountain roads around here. If you're ever in the Chattanooga area again let me know and I can gladly show you a few more.

 

[Tk_mkv1]

While washing my car this weekend I noticed that I have more rust stains on the rear hatch. So, after washing I pulled out the Iron-X cleaner.
I learned about this product from other forum members so I am covering it here in case others are not aware of it's benefits.

Over time on cars, Iron Oxide particles will collect on the paint and continue to rust. It comes from car brakes, road, rain, dust, etc Irong Oxide is everywhere. On dark color cars this does not show much but is present. On light color cars like my white GTI they show up very easily.

After washing the car, spray the Iron-X on one body panel at a time. (you can dry car first or apply over wet car. Either way works for me). Let the Iron-X sit for 5 min. (Watch the magic show) The iron Oxide will turn purple and create streaks down the car. Then with a micro fiber cloth wipe that panel down to make sure the Iron-X reaches all parts on the panel. Then hose off with water. Move to next panel and repeat until done.
After this I go back over car and wash it with snow foam again to make sure all Iron-X is off car. Then dry and wax as normal.

The bottle I show below will do my GTI twice. Might need to do light color cars every 6 months. My bottle is Cherry scent but smells like a skunk.
After I open bottle to use, I keep it in my storage building and not the garage. Smell is not super strong but you will not want It near the house.
I purchased from ECS Tuning but you can Google "Iron-X" car cleaner and get from other sources.

Others like to use clay bar to remove Iron Oxide but I find Iron-X works very well. After using Iron-X, I normally go over the car with clay bar also to pick up anything left over.

Give it a try if you have a light color car.
It will remove those red dots from the paint.

View attachment 6162

I have a leftover of that for my white mk6, excellent product. It'll just eliminate lot of it at first, but another time, it'll go away.


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[Sandman GTI]

Lived in Dunlap and Chattanooga my whole life. That's just one of many fun mountain roads around here. If you're ever in the Chattanooga area again let me know and I can gladly show you a few more.

Sequatchie Valley is a pretty drive both on the main road and the road over to the side of the valley. We go this way when driving down to Alabama.
The next trip to Village VW will be in 3,000 miles for the 10,000 mile service and likely some paint work. I hope they will give me a loaner. It is a 1.5 hour drive and you are on Eastern time so it is a hard trip in the afternoon during the week.

 

[Sandman GTI]

I have a leftover of that for my white mk6, excellent product. It'll just eliminate lot of it at first, but another time, it'll go away.


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I think Iron-X is a good product. Glad someone shared before I received my car.
Smells some. My wife could smell it in the house last time I used it.

 

[Sandman GTI]

Car and DRIVER - Lightning Lap!!!!

If old news, sorry.
I live in the back woods of life.

I have been looking for the CAR and DRIVER "Lightning Lap" Article to come out agian this year.
It is in the October 2015 issue.
Last year the MK7 GTI was in it but with a base model. The PP was not available in USA.
This year they had a PP car but did not have the same car as last year. Last time was a 4 door, DSG. This time a 2 door Manual.
Why can they not get the same car so we can test and compare the PP package, not the fact, we had two different set ups?
Anyway, the GTI 2 door ran 4.7 seconds faster than last year.
Yes the 2 door with manual is 59 pounds lighter, and this could have an impact.
But, the PP looks like it did well.
I was surprised the R only beat the GTI PP by 2.3 seconds.
An Audi S3 beat the R by 1 second.

Yes the R will win every time, but the GTI performed well with brakes and LSD on the car.

The Corvette Z06 was top with a time of 2:44.6 (30 seconds faster than the GTI). It beat a 911 GT3 by 5.8 seconds.
Compared to the R/GTI matchup this was an whipping.
Not a big Corvette fan but can appreciate a good run and win.

Yes, we all do not race our PP cars but I think when one comes down to selling a PP car, it will be easier to find a buyer and negotiate a better price.

Thoughts?

 

[DW58]

Firstly congratulationson your thread and a nice car.

Mine arrived!
My first thought was to go safe and order black.
Then I like the silver.
Finally I picked the red to add some color to interior.

The red as shown on Ebay looked like a bright red but the color is a little more calm.
I still like.

After reading about other installs and suggestion to use two wasy auto tape, I had planned to go that route. Looking at the paddle extension they fit the OE paddles perfectly. I felt adding the 2 way tape might not look as good due to it spacing the extension out more from OE paddle. It would not affect use but looking at the set screws I decided to install them as designed and not use the two way tape. If I could find very thin tape then that might be a good option, but the tape sold near me is thick (1-2mm).

How does it work and feel?
They are not small. It will take some getting use to seeing them spin around while driving.
At the 9 and 3 position they shift as well as OE, maybe better with less effort. I also do not have to locate the paddle like I sometimes do on the OE set up.
At 10 and 2 position you can shift the paddle all the way out to very tip.
Feels good not having to drop hand down to shift when I hold wheel in this location.
At 8 and 4 postion you can still shift but you are using the part of the paddle extension that is closer to the OE paddle. You can not go to the very bottom of the extension and shift. The angle is to far off to get leverage.
Not an issue but just for info.

Bottom line, I really like. I like the look. They are big but remind me of the paddles used in cars featured in "Need For Speed" Movie.
In driving it takes less thought to locate the paddles. With the OE I find I search for the paddles. Not a big issue but the extensions just make it better. I also thought the set screws stood out too much in pictures but in person they are very small. Very Small.
In my picture you can see they do not show up a lot.

Sold on Ebay by dealer hiuda123.
Tittle - VW Golf R GTI Scirocco
Cost - $69

Specify in note section color and if you want company logo on or off. Mine are left off.

Get you some!

View attachment 5754

I'm interested to see these - they look excellent. I had paddle-change in my first Mk7, liked having this option, but in the 21 months I had the 2013 Mk7 I hardly used them - this surprised me, but in reality the DSG is so damned good that I hardly ever used the gearbox in manual mode, and only used the paddles occasionally to change down a cog or two when entering a restriced speed area.

I came across this over the weekend. Since getting 2 new Border Collies I have been looking for a better way to carry them in the GTI when I have a need. I have dog boxes now, but will be tight for two and then I have to have back seat down to do so. With this there is little room left for stuff.

Petego Pet Tube Car Kennel (Large) - $169

I ordered and it will be in by end of month.
I like that it zips up and is self contained.
Might help keep flying hair down. I hope.

Jo is the red one.
Roxie is the black one. She never will sit for pictures, blurry.

Over the years I've tried various options for carrying dogs - my current one is the best I've ever come accross - from German and even crash tested!

My English Cocker Spaniel "Katie Morag" in her crate

Let me out Dad!

While washing my car this weekend I noticed that I have more rust stains on the rear hatch. So, after washing I pulled out the Iron-X cleaner.
I learned about this product from other forum members so I am covering it here in case others are not aware of it's benefits.

Over time on cars, Iron Oxide particles will collect on the paint and continue to rust. It comes from car brakes, road, rain, dust, etc Irong Oxide is everywhere. On dark color cars this does not show much but is present. On light color cars like my white GTI they show up very easily.

After washing the car, spray the Iron-X on one body panel at a time. (you can dry car first or apply over wet car. Either way works for me). Let the Iron-X sit for 5 min. (Watch the magic show) The iron Oxide will turn purple and create streaks down the car. Then with a micro fiber cloth wipe that panel down to make sure the Iron-X reaches all parts on the panel. Then hose off with water. Move to next panel and repeat until done.
After this I go back over car and wash it with snow foam again to make sure all Iron-X is off car. Then dry and wax as normal.

The bottle I show below will do my GTI twice. Might need to do light color cars every 6 months. My bottle is Cherry scent but smells like a skunk.
After I open bottle to use, I keep it in my storage building and not the garage. Smell is not super strong but you will not want It near the house.
I purchased from ECS Tuning but you can Google "Iron-X" car cleaner and get from other sources.

Others like to use clay bar to remove Iron Oxide but I find Iron-X works very well. After using Iron-X, I normally go over the car with clay bar also to pick up anything left over.

Give it a try if you have a light color car.
It will remove those red dots from the paint.

View attachment 6162

Iron-X is a great product, but it stinks!

Not sure about availability in the US, but I initially moved from Iron-X to Wolf's Brake Duster, and later to GTechniq W6 - I now use only GTechniq products for my entire detailing routine.

New car handover is on Tuesday, then I have to start from scratch. This car wasn't planned, but my 21-month old Mk7 hatch died a month ago - Volkswagen still don't know what is causing it, but there's a massive electronic error which keeps immobilising the car and causing major failure (ABS, Steering, Electoric Handbrake, ACC etc. etc.).

I've bumped up your thread score from **** to ***** - well done.

 

[Sandman GTI]

DW58,

Thanks for reply.
I love my paddle shift extensions.
I drive paddle shift almost 100% when by myself. Not a fast driver but I like being able to control my nimble car better.
In comfort mode the car feels dull, but does get better gas milage.
I mainly drive short distances (10 miles) so using paddle shift is fun for me.

I have seen custom dog carriers for the hatch of a GTI, but most look to be from European suppliers. I have had a hard time tracking down the best one I found but it is also costly. $$$. I will try my expandable one for the first time this weekend. I think my dogs will like. Border Collies are a burrowing breed and I think they will like the tunnel feel.

 

[thecytochromec]

I'm surprised of the number of gun-toting VW owners out there.

 

[DW58]

Accommodating doggits is very much dependant upon breed. My Cocker is large for her breed (38lbs) and extrmely energetic (read mad) - the crate I have for her came from a German maker and cost me around $650 before shipping.

Like you, most of my journies are around 10-15 miles, largely on narrow country roads (typical here in NE Scotland) but I'm quite happy to let the car change gear for me - I'm partially disabled and use of my legs can be a bit restricted.

 

[DW58]

I'm surprised of the number of gun-toting VW owners out there.

Ha-ha - I wondered how long it would be before someone spotted the Nightforce sticker. That's on my son's box - mine has logos from many others on it.

This is the view forward of the car.

 

[Sandman GTI]

Low Washer Fluid Alarm!

OK VW I get it!
I am low on windshield fluid.
I do not need a reminder 6 times in the 6 mile drive to work!
It is not like I am low on oil.

Just had to say it.
Guess I will stop and buy some today.
I wanted to order some OE VW fluid but have not had time.
I did locate on line. If still selling.

Local VW dealer did not carry VW fluid.
Just cheap stuff and I can buy that anywhere.

A 10 mile drive to town after work, so I will hear it 10 times more.

 

[DW58]

I use Einszett Kristall Klar concentrate, much better than the Volkswagen stuff - someone posted a US link to it a couple of days ago - very cheap.