What did you do to your mk7 today?

[Nineeightyone]

Picked up the car this morning. With the O2 sensor plugged in this time. Trying it without the spacer for now.

AFR’s look MUCH better. Cruising at highway speed at 14.5-14.7 instead of 12.0.

Maybe I’m just not used to a downpipe since it’s my first one but it gets..noisy when I’m getting into boost. Maybe 15-18psi at the manifold. Unless it’s an exhaust leak or the downpipe is vibrating against a heat shield lower down or something. Might have someone from the shop ride along for a minute to listen.

Couldn't hurt, but I can say firsthand when I added a downpipe and resonator to the equation from stock downpipe and just a catback, it was also a fair gain in sound. Not bad, but definitely louder/more deep than previously.

 

[Tyler230]

Couldn't hurt, but I can say firsthand when I added a downpipe and resonator to the equation from stock downpipe and just a catback, it was also a fair gain in sound. Not bad, but definitely louder/more deep than previously.

No it’s not exhaust noise. It’s harsher and more vibration than noise I think. It’s only when I request a fair amount of torque. Maybe the engine is shifting enough under that much load to move the downpipe over to touch something. Definitely doesn’t feel right. I’ll have someone from the shop ride with me later today or tomorrow. Kind of killing the new stage 2 power vibes.

 

[ChristopherNeil]

Do you have a dogbone mount? The DP could be rubbing on a brace under the car. I'm surprised they didn't test drive it after to check.

 

[Tyler230]

Do you have a dogbone mount? The DP could be rubbing on a brace under the car. I'm surprised they didn't test drive it after to check.

No upgraded dog bone mount. It’s like 60%+ throttle and it honestly sounds like rolling anti lag or something. Like a gravel-y rumble and you can feel it in the floor pan. Does not sound super happy.

 

[Salami]

2019 Golf R. Does the spacer affect fuel trim or any negative effects?

EQT recommends unplugging the secondary O2 if there are codes related to the cat or fuel trim issues.

 

[Anthony3o55]

You might just have residual oil on the exhaust burning off still.

Worst case scenario, if the oil level went low enough you may have hurt the turbo & it’s leaking oil into the exhaust now.

Typically oil smoke is “blue”, but it’s really white smoke with a faint blue-ish tint.

A even worse worst case scenario would be valvetrain damage. The valve guides on these cars are junk to begin with, so without proper lubrication that could be the source of your smoke.

And of course absolutely worst case scenario would be oil control ring, ring land or cylinder wall damage. A cheap or rented borescope can rule that out.

I am hoping for the best!

the good thing is I'm not having misfires. Barely drove it since I got the cover replaced and left it sit for now. I'll take out the spark plugs and inspect the pistons with a borescope.

 

[Nineeightyone]

No it’s not exhaust noise. It’s harsher and more vibration than noise I think. It’s only when I request a fair amount of torque. Maybe the engine is shifting enough under that much load to move the downpipe over to touch something. Definitely doesn’t feel right. I’ll have someone from the shop ride with me later today or tomorrow. Kind of killing the new stage 2 power vibes.

It's very possible then. Stock mounts barely hold up to stock power, and a tune will make notably more power. If I were in your shoes I'd do mounts anyway (because they're nearly free power, in the sense that you're not adding to potential reliability issues but making more power because less power is lost in engine movement), at a minimum the powerflex hybrid mount. I briefly touched on it here with a photo of the tools used to extract the OEM lower dogbone insert, the hybrid puck is cheap and doesn't add a TON of vibration once it settles in. But I would say figure out for sure first if it's tied to vehicle speed, engine speed, relative power request, etc to really nail it down.

 

[Tyler230]

It's very possible then. Stock mounts barely hold up to stock power, and a tune will make notably more power. If I were in your shoes I'd do mounts anyway (because they're nearly free power, in the sense that you're not adding to potential reliability issues but making more power because less power is lost in engine movement), at a minimum the powerflex hybrid mount. I briefly touched on it here with a photo of the tools used to extract the OEM lower dogbone insert, the hybrid puck is cheap and doesn't add a TON of vibration once it settles in. But I would say figure out for sure first if it's tied to vehicle speed, engine speed, relative power request, etc to really nail it down.

Thank you for the info. I took it back late yesterday. They rode with and heard it. Put it on the lift and loosened the big bolt on the dog bone mount bushing and he said he watched the engine shift/settle into position. Torqued it back down and he test drove it quick and said it should be good now. I have not had a chance to test it again myself. He mentioned he took the subframe off when he installed the downpipe so it probably had something to do with that.

Otherwise the tune seems happy. Zero knock anyway. I’ll have to post a log once I can actually put my foot down.

 

[krs]

Thank you for the info. I took it back late yesterday. They rode with and heard it. Put it on the lift and loosened the big bolt on the dog bone mount bushing and he said he watched the engine shift/settle into position. Torqued it back down and he test drove it quick and said it should be good now. I have not had a chance to test it again myself. He mentioned he took the subframe off when he installed the downpipe so it probably had something to do with that.

Otherwise the tune seems happy. Zero knock anyway. I’ll have to post a log once I can actually put my foot down.

They took the subframe off? How'd they keep things aligned, or did you get an alignment after?

 

[swcrow]

They took the subframe off? How'd they keep things aligned, or did you get an alignment after?

Was thinking the same thing.

 

[krvnked]

Why I don’t trust dealerships

Took them 4 hours to diagnose that the horn was indeed broken only to be told I have to come back because they don’t have one of the two horns in stock when I made this appointment over a week ago (I feel like this was a bullshit answer, but I digress)

Cost me $50 and a purchase on eBay to no go back and do it myself like I should have to begin with and have the peace of mind to not let any kids joy ride my car

GFY Reydel VW of Edison NJ, I knew more about my car and VW than literally everyone I spoke to in my short visit at your dealership. All the technicians look under 25 And out of their element, too.

If VW of USA read these forums, let it be known, your biggest problem is not your cars breaking but your dealerships and lack of serious care when it matters most

I also heard one of the service counter techs say something very unsettling about a car when it came to warranty work when one of the garage guys came over to assess him about one of the vehicles he said something along the lines of “ONLY ORDER WHAT’S NECESSARY FOR THE WARRANTY WORK BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN THE PARTS ARE GONNA COME IN IN 2 WEEKS AND NO ONE HERE IS GONNA WANNA TAKE RESPONSIBILITY“ etc etc It seemed like the actual guy doing the work knew what parts needed to be ordered in order to do a warranty job the correct way and the “head guy” did not feel the same way. WTF???

really left a sour taste in my mouth in the middle of waiting to be told what the assessment of my car was And wondering if they were even possibly talking about my car

The way they communicate and speak with each other feels very upsetting and it makes you wonder how things are really run

And yes, they somehow broke my hood lever. It’s not about the low cost to replace the item, it’s about the lack of care used when disassembling and reassembling my car. Oh and for some reason one of the rubber grommets was not seated correctly on my APR open apex intake, it definitely did not pop out itself, so i dont know if or why they were poking around my engine for some reason because they saw i was tuned maybe? but these people have no business working for Volkswagen. As a result, my open air intake housing was bouncing around on the right side scratching up against my battery. Total disrespect I’m very pissed

I realize that these are “just volkswagen gti’s” and they are mass produced and meant to be great tools, but i treat my car like someone expects someone to treat a Porsche 911 and when you hand your keys over to a shop and trust them to do the same and they don’t, it feels like they let you be the fool and it’s your own fault for assuming anyone would work with professionalism

I firmly believe dealerships only exist to cause and create problems because they rarely leave your car in a better condition than when you take it in

 

[EpicTech]

Got this installed this morning; took about an hour or so. It took a little patience to get around the engine wiring harness because the rubber grommets are a little fiddly, but once lined up, fitment is literally perfect. I couldn't use the bracket for the Integrated Engineering SAI because of the volume of the chambers, but I'm ok with that for now.

View attachment 312324

This makes me want to hurry up and swap my Cobb black powdercoated intake for their new carbon fiber one.. uggh thanks lol.

 

[Salami]

They took the subframe off? How'd they keep things aligned, or did you get an alignment after?

And did they replace all the one time use fasteners?

 

[GTI Jake]

Why I don’t trust dealerships

Took them 4 hours to diagnose that the horn was indeed broken only to be told I have to come back because they don’t have one of the two horns in stock when I made this appointment over a week ago (I feel like this was a bullshit answer, but I digress)

Cost me $50 and a purchase on eBay to no go back and do it myself like I should have to begin with and have the peace of mind to not let any kids joy ride my car

GFY Reydel VW of Edison NJ, I knew more about my car and VW than literally everyone I spoke to in my short visit at your dealership. All the technicians look under 25 And out of their element, too.

If VW of USA read these forums, let it be known, your biggest problem is not your cars breaking but your dealerships and lack of serious care when it matters most

I also heard one of the service counter techs say something very unsettling about a car when it came to warranty work when one of the garage guys came over to assess him about one of the vehicles he said something along the lines of “ONLY ORDER WHAT’S NECESSARY FOR THE WARRANTY WORK BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN THE PARTS ARE GONNA COME IN IN 2 WEEKS AND NO ONE HERE IS GONNA WANNA TAKE RESPONSIBILITY“ etc etc It seemed like the actual guy doing the work knew what parts needed to be ordered in order to do a warranty job the correct way and the “head guy” did not feel the same way. WTF???

really left a sour taste in my mouth in the middle of waiting to be told what the assessment of my car was And wondering if they were even possibly talking about my car

The way they communicate and speak with each other feels very upsetting and it makes you wonder how things are really run

And yes, they somehow broke my hood lever. It’s not about the low cost to replace the item, it’s about the lack of care used when disassembling and reassembling my car. Oh and for some reason one of the rubber grommets was not seated correctly on my APR open apex intake, it definitely did not pop out itself, so i dont know if or why they were poking around my engine for some reason because they saw i was tuned maybe? but these people have no business working for Volkswagen. As a result, my open air intake housing was bouncing around on the right side scratching up against my battery. Total disrespect I’m very pissed

I realize that these are “just volkswagen gti’s” and they are mass produced and meant to be great tools, but i treat my car like someone expects someone to treat a Porsche 911 and when you hand your keys over to a shop and trust them to do the same and they don’t, it feels like they let you be the fool and it’s your own fault for assuming anyone would work with professionalism

I firmly believe dealerships only exist to cause and create problems because they rarely leave your car in a better condition than when you take it in

Dealership techs are generally (not all of them, but the vast majority) incompetent & careless.

Being flat rate (paid by the job, according to “book time” not by the hour) aka incentivized to rush to net higher pay.

 

[krvnked]

Dealership techs are generally (not all of them, but the vast majority) incompetent & careless.

Being flat rate (paid by the job, according to “book time” not by the hour) aka incentivized to rush to net higher pay.

Yep, just goes also by what I say and feel, which is nobody will take care of your shit the way you do, and that saying only even applies to people who take good care of their shit because most people don’t even take care of their shit unfortunately

I try to so my things last longer