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Supporting mods for stage 2?

L26_BRO

Passed Driver's Ed
Hey guys,

Been pretty happy with my stage 1 5150 tune + DSG, only mods are FMIC and a dogbone insert.
Question for you guys is, if I were to go stage 2 what else would be a good idea to upgrade?
Car is a daily driver. Motor and trans mounts?

For the downpipe I was thinking the Depo Racing catted. Too cheap?

Unrelated to the downpipe I was looking at RSB's, any reason not to go for an under $200 25mm RSB?
Do I need to spring for endlinks for a DD car?

Thanks!
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Yes, DP definitely. Don't go cheap.... You can get great quality without breaking the bank. My RSB was Eibach for $150. Endlinks are only needed if yours are shot
 

DiscusInferno

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Kalifornia
First, does the part of NoVA you live require emissions testing? If so, then you need to figure out how to pass it before you get deep into stage 2.

RSB: H&R. Teflon-impregnated urethane bushings works as advertised, I had it on my old car for over 150,000 miles without a squeak and no maintenance required. IIrc, people have gone with Moog endlinks as a DD upgrade.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Catted downpipe, BFI mounts, H&R RSB with Moog endlinks.

Buy quality parts the first time you won’t regret it. People who buy Chinese junk for a daily driver blow my mind, if it’s a daily it needs to be reliable hence even more reason to buy parts that’ll fit correctly and last the life of the car.
 

L26_BRO

Passed Driver's Ed
Thanks for the responses.

Emissions in NoVA, the car is garaged in Richmond so no emissions :D

For the downpipe, is it worth springing for a GESI cat? It's a pretty wild range from $350 to $1200 you can spend on a downpipe.

RSB, would I want to go 24mm or 26mm?

And the BFI mounts, stage 1 or 2? Just the motor or motor + trans?
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Thanks for the responses.

Emissions in NoVA, the car is garaged in Richmond so no emissions :D

For the downpipe, is it worth springing for a GESI cat? It's a pretty wild range from $350 to $1200 you can spend on a downpipe.

RSB, would I want to go 24mm or 26mm?

And the BFI mounts, stage 1 or 2? Just the motor or motor + trans?

I have the Neuspeed 25MM RSB and it corrected the understeer to very neutral and I didn't change the end links. On the BFI mounts you'll want to stay with stage 1 if you care about vibration.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Thanks for the responses.

Emissions in NoVA, the car is garaged in Richmond so no emissions :D

For the downpipe, is it worth springing for a GESI cat? It's a pretty wild range from $350 to $1200 you can spend on a downpipe.

RSB, would I want to go 24mm or 26mm?

And the BFI mounts, stage 1 or 2? Just the motor or motor + trans?

I’m definitely a fan if the GESI cats, I bought a six pack of them this week ?.


26mm RSB (review coming, but here’s the installation).

Stage 2 mounts here, just depends on how sensitive you are to noise in the cabin. This video is a review of the DKM MS twin disk, but also touches on the BFI mounts
 

LVE2DRV

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
NYC
I am in same boat as the OP. I have a daily driver and so far close to 12k in under 7months. Wanting to go stage 2 from stock. My question mainly is for supporting mods to make sure the car stays healthy.
Would coil packs and step colder plugs be a good addition?
Coming from honda/Nissan cars, I dont see a lot of people doing oil coolers on these cars. Is there a reason?
FMIC or replacement of the OEM one?
Oil catch can.... does it really help with carbon build up ? If so what's a better option to go with the one that eliminates PCV entirely or keeps the OEM pcv in place?
DSG tune stage 1 or 2 .... since I am normally in stop and go traffic 80% of time.
Sorry to hijack the thread but figured OP will get extra info as well for his decision
 

DiscusInferno

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Kalifornia
I am in same boat as the OP. I have a daily driver and so far close to 12k in under 7months. Wanting to go stage 2 from stock. My question mainly is for supporting mods to make sure the car stays healthy.
Would coil packs and step colder plugs be a good addition?
Coming from honda/Nissan cars, I dont see a lot of people doing oil coolers on these cars. Is there a reason?
FMIC or replacement of the OEM one?
Oil catch can.... does it really help with carbon build up ? If so what's a better option to go with the one that eliminates PCV entirely or keeps the OEM pcv in place?
DSG tune stage 1 or 2 .... since I am normally in stop and go traffic 80% of time.
Sorry to hijack the thread but figured OP will get extra info as well for his decision

You're in NYC. You definitely have emissions checks. Doing a stage 2, then getting to pass emissions and revert back to stage 2 every year probably isn't worth the hassle.
 

LVE2DRV

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
NYC
I've been considering going unitronic as I'll have ability to flash back to stock and pass. Or am I wrong on that assumption somehow?
 

bdelaney4000

Ready to race!
Location
Chester, NH
You're not wrong you can flash back to stock. You then have to run a drive cycle to reset the readiness monitors to pass emissions. It's not a big thing - minor inconvenience. I just wish they offered a stage 2 file without the CEL patch since my spacer setup doesn't throw the CEL code anyways.
 

DiscusInferno

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Kalifornia
I've been considering going unitronic as I'll have ability to flash back to stock and pass. Or am I wrong on that assumption somehow?

But your downpipe will still cause it to fail emissions, do you'll either have to install oxygen sensor spacers (which is technically illegal for emissions testing) or install the factory downpipe before the emissions test.
 

DiscusInferno

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Kalifornia
You're not wrong you can flash back to stock. You then have to run a drive cycle to reset the readiness monitors to pass emissions. It's not a big thing - minor inconvenience. I just wish they offered a stage 2 file without the CEL patch since my spacer setup doesn't throw the CEL code anyways.

Unitronic stage 1 still causes readiness failures.
 

Handguns4heaRTs

Drag Racing Champion
Location
So Cal
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
Depo Racing catted downpipe is the best value DP out there. It's basically the MAPerformance downpipe at half the price. Fitment is spot on, and it's also v-band. Definitely go for it unless you don't care about price.
 

Ridebjj

Autocross Champion
Location
lasVegas
Depo Racing catted downpipe is the best value DP out there. It's basically the MAPerformance downpipe at half the price. Fitment is spot on, and it's also v-band. Definitely go for it unless you don't care about price.

Fwiw, about 2 weeks ago I installed the depo catted pipe. I installed the pipe with J spacer first and ran about 100 miles while on stage 1 and no cel. I think stage 1 does not code out said cel - though it does prevent readiness on several fronts?

Fitment was no problemo. Been stage 2 since the 16th. Be aware that it (like many dps) will make your car LOUD if left with stock exhaust, especially if you have muffler delete.
 
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