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The “Greta” Build Thread - Economy Continues To Nosedive, Tune Project STILL On Hold

MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Semi-humble brag: Been driving around the neighborhood recently and the car has been snapping some necks. Wouldn’t give the credit to the intercooler in this scenario (Exhaust is a different story) but the Adams Guard and Gloss I used after a recent wash is working great, even with the amount of pollen we’ve gotten recently.

I’m planning on doing a FULL swirl removal detail after MDW. About four years overdue :ROFLMAO:
 

MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
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Heard a rumor that each sticker applied to your car equals 5+ horsepower. Very happy with how these came out :D
 

MonkeyMD

Autocross Champion
You need more stickers like this one

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MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI

DSC808

Autocross Champion
Location
HI State
Car(s)
2016 GTI SE MT
If your going down the dark route of tuning you might want to consider APR's Direct Turbo Replacement for $1500. As others have stated; NEW AccessPort + tuning = $1450 and gets the EQT Stage 2 IS20 = 300whp ~ 340whp depending on fuel. APR's DTR gets 436hp/401tq. You also keep the stock downpipe (save some $$$) and dont have to worry about emissions. Forgot to add that this will also require install $$$$, which varies (I paid $600 at a independent shop) .
If this is a possibility I would buy a used used JB4 for ~$300, then sell it and upgrade to the DTR. Because, lets face it... you want to do it.....
 
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MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
If your going down the dark route of tuning you might want to consider APR's Direct Turbo Replacement for $1500. As others have stated; NEW AccessPort + tuning = $1450 and gets the EQT Stage 2 IS20 = 300whp ~ 340whp depending on fuel. APR's DTR gets 436hp/401tq. You also keep the stock downpipe (save some $$$) and dont have to worry about emissions. Forgot to add that this will also require install $$$$, which varies (I paid $600 at a independent shop) .
If this is a possibility I would buy a used used JB4 for ~$300, then sell it and upgrade to the DTR. Because, lets face it... you want to do it.....

I have a vague memory of tuning screwing around with the emissions on the Mustang. The Mustang was simple plug and play so before I brought it to get inspected, I’d switch it back to its default settings.

So now I have two questions:

- Are the GTI tunes more complicated than the one I owned with the prior car (SCT plug and play tuning)?
- Does anyone have rough estimates for the specs for stage one/ two tunes (or know where to find them)??
 

Subliminal

Autocross Champion
Location
Vegas
Car(s)
Slow FWD VW Hatch
I have a vague memory of tuning screwing around with the emissions on the Mustang. The Mustang was simple plug and play so before I brought it to get inspected, I’d switch it back to its default settings.

So now I have two questions:

- Are the GTI tunes more complicated than the one I owned with the prior car (SCT plug and play tuning)?
- Does anyone have rough estimates for the specs for stage one/ two tunes (or know where to find them)??
If you buy an OTS (off the shelf) tune then it's basically just plug and play

specs (crank numbers)-
 

MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
If you buy an OTS (off the shelf) tune then it's basically just plug and play

specs (crank numbers)-

So thats just numbers with the tune. Assuming the CAI, BORLA catback and FMIC should punch that number up from 310 a bit. I think I’d be comfortable with that.
 

Subliminal

Autocross Champion
Location
Vegas
Car(s)
Slow FWD VW Hatch
So thats just numbers with the tune. Assuming the CAI, BORLA catback and FMIC should punch that number up from 310 a bit. I think I’d be comfortable with that.
That's on dumpy 91 too. The intake and exhaust might add some power but it mostly makes it feel much more explosive/responsive (spools quicker). The FMIC will help it run more consistently and the car won't pull assloads of timing during the summer heat
 

MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
That's on dumpy 91 too. The intake and exhaust might add some power but it mostly makes it feel much more explosive/responsive (spools quicker). The FMIC will help it run more consistently and the car won't pull assloads of timing during the summer heat

Yeah that was kind of the objective anyway. Responsiveness is key, need to be able to set ECU to default without any complications (for emissions) and some added numbers on the specs (roughly in the 320-340HP area).

For now, this plan will do for this car.
 

El_bigote_AJ

Autocross Champion
Location
Las Vegas
Car(s)
2019 GTI bunny
If your going down the dark route of tuning you might want to consider APR's Direct Turbo Replacement for $1500. As others have stated; NEW AccessPort + tuning = $1450 and gets the EQT Stage 2 IS20 = 300whp ~ 340whp depending on fuel. APR's DTR gets 436hp/401tq. You also keep the stock downpipe (save some $$$) and dont have to worry about emissions. Forgot to add that this will also require install $$$$, which varies (I paid $600 at a independent shop) .
If this is a possibility I would buy a used used JB4 for ~$300, then sell it and upgrade to the DTR. Because, lets face it... you want to do it.....
Yeah, honesty… for a car that’s not been tuned yet and doesn’t already have the funds spent on a downpipe - the APR dtr kit is a no brainer. for $1500 for the turbo and tune (plus APR TCU TUNE) really gets you a much better bang for buck than a Cobb AP with TCU enabled and OTS. Sure you will have to save and spend more up front… but you’ll have an emissions complaint car year around that’s a lot more powerful than at stage 1 and 2 gti on the stock turbo. And a stage 1 and 2 gti is very easy to get bored or out grow that power level when your just using the car as a fun hooning street car.
 

MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Yeah, honesty… for a car that’s not been tuned yet and doesn’t already have the funds spent on a downpipe - the APR dtr kit is a no brainer. for $1500 for the turbo and tune (plus APR TCU TUNE) really gets you a much better bang for buck than a Cobb AP with TCU enabled and OTS. Sure you will have to save and spend more up front… but you’ll have an emissions complaint car year around that’s a lot more powerful than at stage 1 and 2 gti on the stock turbo. And a stage 1 and 2 gti is very easy to get bored or out grow that power level when your just using the car as a fun hooning street car.

Ok now this sounds like a much better idea…..
 

MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Shifting Gears: BFI DSG Automatic Knob Incoming! -

To hell with the tune budget! My OEM shift knob is showing very bad signs of wear, so it looks like that is getting replaced before anything else happens to the car.

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DSG/ automatic version has been ordered. Will conduct the DIY project as soon as it comes in on Tuesday. If anyone has any tips/ suggestions/ Loopholes for installation, let ya boy know!
 
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MuscleToMouse94

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Long Island, NY
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Shifting Gears: BFI DSG Automatic Knob Incoming! -

To hell with the tune budget! My OEM shift knob is showing very bad signs of wear, so it looks like that is getting replaced before anything else happens to the car.

View attachment 251228

DSG/ automatic version has been ordered. Will conduct the DIY project as soon as it comes in on Tuesday. If anyone has any tips/ suggestions/ Loopholes for installation, let ya boy know!

The Install (And Then Things Got Interesting…)

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After work yesterday, I finally removed the old knob. Pretty simple process pulling off the boot and removing the knob, installation was even easier.

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I tested the mechanism before installing the knob, seemed to shift ok when it moved from P down to D. After that I lined up the seam and emblem.

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And here’s the finished product! All was going well…

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…Right until the shifter refused to move from the P position. I couldn’t figure out why the shifter wouldn’t move. Then I remembered that while installing the new shifter, there is a center screw that goes through the plastic piece that locked the shifter in place. However, the plastic hole was twice the width of the screw, so when I unscrewed the knob, it became apparent that the screw was slipping within the hole.

I was about an hour or so from home and I didn’t have any tools on me, so I had to improvise to get the car moving. A light bulb went off in my head as my key ring was made of a bendable metal (RaceSeng key ring) so I snaked it through the hole and shifted the car into gear (way more smooth when shifting as the metal band was inserted, mind you).

As I was driving home, I was thinking about methods to fix this issue. I needed some sort of metal similar to the key ring band. When I got home I did some looking around the house and decided to utilize a metal coat hanger to fit the remaining space in the mechanism. I cut off a small piece that fit and it worked to perfection as I shifted the knob to test and make sure that the newly cut piece of metal wouldn’t move.

When I unscrewed the knob to double check the newly added metal piece, it hadn’t moved from its original place. The shifter has some play in it once fully installed (which is normal) but I made sure I didn’t hear anything shaking/ rattling inside the knob.

I will keep an eye on it for a while anyway (just in case) but it looks like some classic red-neck engineering saved the day!
 
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