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Turbojzrr's build: low NVH streetable time-attack car with warranty - 2019 R

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
Thanks for checking out my build thread. New to these forums, I have a 2019 R with 5k miles in the San Fransisco Bay Area.

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I'm a turbo car guy and have owned an R32 GTR's and 6 Nissan 240sx with various engine swaps. I also currently have 2 RR bikes (CBR600RR and CBR 1000RR) and hence my handle. My daily driver right now is a 2009 JCW Mini (turbo) and I bought my Golf to replace it to enjoy daily but the golf is way too nice and clean for me to drive it every day so I kept it for good times only. It has still not seen rain after 5k miles and one year of ownership.

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This is my first ever VW and it came as a result of growing up and not wanting to drive to work and be seen by co-workers with the likes of the Civic Type R. It also helped that the Golf's got ranked top 10 in many magazines which prompted me to go in for a test drive. I ended up falling in love with the car and justified it logically with the VW 6 yr 72k mile warranty.

Why I'm modding and tracking this Golf:

I found it interesting that Randy Pobst from Motor Trend posted a 1 second quicker time-attack lap time than a 2019 Subaru STI RA at Laguna Seca. At the same time, our local track day / time attack organizers (www.speedsf.com) ranked the Golf R a full class below the STI and in the same class as an ND Miata. This makes it severely underrated in my books.

There hasn't been anyone who've won a time attack with VW's in any class for as far back as I can see on speedsf.com and I am hoping to make good on that poor rating and try to win in my class and represent.

These are my current mods:

Brakes:
- Front EBC Bluestuff Pads
- RS3 brake ducks (slapped on with no modifications, so far so good, not hitting drive shaft or brake caliper even on full turn!!)
- Motul 660 fluids

Cornering:
- H&R 25mm RSB
- SuperPro ball joint RSB end-links

Engine:
- No mods

Mods Not Yet Installed:
- TC105x 18" wheels
- Michelin 235/40/18 Cup 2's
- EBC blues for rear

All I'm going for right now is track reliability and keeping my car fast but within the S5 class according to SpeedSF's class calculator

I live in a condo so its really difficult to mod my car but so far so good.

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RS3 Ducts with no mods on 2019 R, it fits like it was meant to be!

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My next planned purchase is the Clubsport steering knuckles to add an additional 0.8 degree of camber to the car to improve front end grip without adding NVH. I have no other mod plans for the time being.

I'm very new to VW's so any suggestions on how I can go faster without additional performance points added would be much appreciated! I'm also looking for trustworthy shops in the Bay Area so those recommendations would be great as well.
 
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Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
So far so good! I relate to the condo/apartment situation. Can’t wait till I have a garage or house. I’m sure I’ll see you around at a few SpeedSF events this year!
 

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
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Attempted the rear 25mm H&R sway bar install when I finally received the replacement hardware and SuperPro ball joint end-links.

Removal went without a hitch on rhino ramps. I didn’t bother to disconnect the oem end link from the sway bar and removed them together. Just needed to raise one side slightly to get the old bar and contraption out.

I followed HumbleMechanic’s sway bar video and bought all the tools in his links but didnt realize that his links are missing the triple square. Being new to vw’s I also didn’t know that triple squares are not the same as torx.

Using torx bits, I proceeded to round out one of the sway bar bushing M8 triple square bolt during torque down and then worsened it by trying my luck with an allen key. I did loctite blue each new bolt and hopefully that extra 90 degree turn that I couldn’t make wouldn’t come back to haunt me down the road.

That sway bar end-link was also hard to torque down due to torque wrench hitting the rear springs. I gave it as much as my arms can muster on an 8 inch long wrench. Hopefully it ends up close to 45 NM.

Weather being cold now that bracket which holds the bushing was super tight. I heated it up a tad with my cooking / searing torch and it came loose very easily.

Test drive: people had told me that it makes a huge difference, but I still was amazed nevertheless. Golf now feels like a super agile Miata. Somehow the turn-in was significantly increased and though I can’t say for lift off oversteer or neutral handling as I didn’t go fast enough, I did notice that this car feels so much more balance with the 25mm bar.

No added NVH just yet so all is good.
 

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
So far so good! I relate to the condo/apartment situation. Can’t wait till I have a garage or house. I’m sure I’ll see you around at a few SpeedSF events this year!
I look forward to some driving advice from you as you seem to frequent all the Bay Area tracks! Definitely looking forward to that.
 

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
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I gave up waiting for Cup 2s to arrive. Waited 2 months as my order at Costco stayed in “order accepted” state. Went to tire rack and got a set of A052’s which should be just as good.

Got them mounted at TireRack’s recommended installer and it turned out well so far, no scratches during install and weighed in at 39.2 lbs the whole package.

First event I plan to attend (weather permitting) is Jan 30 or 31st at Laguna Seca. Hopefully can set a decent lap time.
 
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daconchslop

Autocross Champion
Location
SC
Car(s)
ACS SE/Tech
Interested to hear how the A052s hold up. Thought they were more of an autocross aimed tire. Or is it class rules choices?
 

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
Interested to hear how the A052s hold up. Thought they were more of an autocross aimed tire. Or is it class rules choices?
I think you're right that it is more of an autoX tire, and seems like most 200TW tires are going to be wearing faster than cup 2s or not responding as well to heat. It was between this and the RE71R's which from what I heard responds even worse to heat?

I will report back soon in about two weeks as I tend to be one of those that won't get off the track until smoke comes out of my car.
 

daconchslop

Autocross Champion
Location
SC
Car(s)
ACS SE/Tech
It was between this and the RE71R's which from what I heard responds even worse to heat?
Also more for Autocross. I run them on my summer wheel setup and they’re fantastic dry traction on the street but I’ve heard they don’t hold up well at the road course where it’s constantly being pushed over many laps. I’ll let others speak to that.
 

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
Also more for Autocross. I run them on my summer wheel setup and they’re fantastic dry traction on the street but I’ve heard they don’t hold up well at the road course where it’s constantly being pushed over many laps. I’ll let others speak to that.
True. Curious what do you find holds up better to many consecutive hot laps?
 

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
If anyone is curious, the OEM 19" Englishtowns with 235 width tires weigh in at 46.2 Lbs.

The new wheel and tire combo with TC105X and A052's at the same width and 18" diameter (one inch smaller rim) come in at 39 lbs for a total savings of 7.2 lbs, not as much weight loss as I would have imagined considering I went down an inch on rim and went with a super light weight rim..

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Got the 43 offset 235 width wheel tire combo tested and seems to fit but front wheel looks like it might rub under a big bump

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Before and After

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Autobahn

Autocross Champion
Location
Huntington Beach, CA
Car(s)
'18 Golf R
Tires look meaty for a 235 👍🏼

I have some Eibach springs and SuperPro camber plates if interested which worked really well. I think they only have around 1500 miles on them.
 

jdmwol2ks

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
MK7 GTI (To be)
Love the weds! I use to have a set on my S2000 as well. I'm also local as well and just picked up a new GTI for DD/light track duty as well. Catch you at the tracks!
 

turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
Some updates:

My golf went to laguna seca for our first time. It did well but brakes were constantly a problem with either smoking, rumbling, pedal pressure loss and also getting unwanted rotation during heavy breaking.

I already got EBC blues, removed the R logo flap, added RS3 brake ducts.

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I did a bunch of research and decided on RSL29 pads and macan calipers. I’m not a fan of adaptor brake plates and I feel that the pedal feel should retain the stock feel if properly blead.

The Macan Calipers are huge! I didn’t think it would be this big. Pic for reference. I bought this from Sunset Porsche and it wasn’t the cheapest but they’re also the only ones with it in stock. Also got the red rubber grease and Techna-fit lines. The instructions from this forum was extremely helpful!

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Planning to install it as is without painting mainly because I am not a fan of mismatched front and rear caliper colors. I don’t want to take off my rear calipers to clean and paint so I’m leaving it as is.

Due to the hunt for cornering speeds, I felt that it is not where the golf shines off the assembly line. Rather than ruining an amazing daily driver with harsh NVH mods like spherical ball joints and hard camber plates, I am taking the cornering modding to another car and leave the Golf R to doing what it does best which is AWD power and amazing looks and utility.

I picked up a Miata where it has the opposite problem of not enough power but tons of handling out of the box.

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I managed to do PPF myself and it turned out ok! It was about 1/3 of what shops had quoted me doing it myself vs their install. I bought it directly from XPEL. I did the whole front end including the head lights. I felt the golf head lights are very large and prone to damage.

Having only 7000 miles on e odometer, I already got a few small chips from road debris. If they crack, these headlights would truly be expensive to replace.
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I did it in my garage so the visibility was poor and there were some air bubbles.

to get rid of the bubbles, I bought some insulin 32 gauge needles from the pharmacy and was able to poke a hole (at an angle nearly parallel to the surface) and press out the air. The result was quite good and the imperfections are not noticeable at all. To seal the edges, I got some 3M primer.

Everything worked out pretty well. 3M 94 primer with the drug needles that can be found all over the streets of SF.
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