What Mods Should I Do Next???

[Xtr4gent]

Hey everyone,
I am new to the forums so sorry if this post is in the wrong place. I currently have a 2018 Golf R and am curious what I should do next? I live in a small city up north in Canada so anything over 91 Octane isnt available. I would prefer to bump up the performance more rather then cosmetics. Currently this is what I have done.

EQT Stage 2 ECU Tune
EQT DSG Tune
IE Intake
CTS Turbo Catless Downpipe
Resonator delete with stock muffler
IE Turbo Inlet
H&R Sport Lowering Springs
034 Motorsport Spacers (Flush Kit)
034 Motorsport Sport Front Struts and Rear Shock Mounts
Eibach Rear Sway Bar
BFI Stage 2 Dogbone Mount Insert
Forge BOV

Been running this setup for little over a year now and its been great, no issues. I know I need an intercooler but what else? Thanks in advance for the help

 

[2slowvw]

Well you already said it, an intercooler, even in Canada it is a necessity to have to keep your temps down and prevent the car from pulling timing. What kind of tires are you running? Since you are in Canada i would imagine you have dedicated summer tires since law probably has you run dedicated winter tires for half the year.

 

[Xtr4gent]

Well you already said it, an intercooler, even in Canada it is a necessity to have to keep your temps down and prevent the car from pulling timing. What kind of tires are you running? Since you are in Canada i would imagine you have dedicated summer tires since law probably has you run dedicated winter tires for half the year.

Do you have any intercooler recommendations? Currently I use Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on stock 18" Mk7 GTI wheels in the summer and dedicated winters the other half of the year

 

[gixxerfool]

Any aftermarket will do. There are a ton of threads with all the info you need to make a choice, but you can do front mount or stock location and either will treat you right.

 

[RudyH]

Do you have any intercooler recommendations? Currently I use Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on stock 18" Mk7 GTI wheels in the summer and dedicated winters the other half of the year

I went with the CTS and LOVE it. Makes a massive difference, especially when it seems the only time you get great power is when you are still stuck on your winter tires. Now it could be 25-30 C out and running great.

Otherwise, I think you will be ready for a bigger turbo

 

[jay745]

Motor mounts

 

[Xtr4gent]

I went with the CTS and LOVE it. Makes a massive difference, especially when it seems the only time you get great power is when you are still stuck on your winter tires. Now it could be 25-30 C out and running great.

Otherwise, I think you will be ready for a bigger turbo

CTS has been nothing but great for me. Had a ton of there parts on my Mk7 GTI before this car. Glad to know I am not the only one. As for bigger turbo, i am guessing I would need to upgrade fueling as well?

 

[scrllock]

CTS has been nothing but great for me. Had a ton of there parts on my Mk7 GTI before this car. Glad to know I am not the only one. As for bigger turbo, i am guessing I would need to upgrade fueling as well?

Highly recommend an intercooler and drivetrain mounts. A tune and some hard driving trashes the stock ones quickly. Get the matching BFI setup, don't bother with the rubber garbage that 034/cts/urotuning sell.

I'd also really consider getting some wider/stickier tires before going to a larger turbo. If you do go to a larger turbo, make sure you know what you want to do with the car. If you're into competitive autocross/track, modified turbos usually change your classing drastically.
For a hybrid on pump gas on an R, you can usually get away with just an HPFP upgrade/MPI. Highly recommend the latter, the increase in reliablity is worth the slight cost premium.

 

[Xtr4gent]

Highly recommend an intercooler and drivetrain mounts. A tune and some hard driving trashes the stock ones quickly. Get the matching BFI setup, don't bother with the rubber garbage that 034/cts/urotuning sell.

I'd also really consider getting some wider/stickier tires before going to a larger turbo. If you do go to a larger turbo, make sure you know what you want to do with the car. If you're into competitive autocross/track, modified turbos usually change your classing drastically.
For a hybrid on pump gas on an R, you can usually get away with just an HPFP upgrade/MPI. Highly recommend the latter, the increase in reliablity is worth the slight cost premium.

Oh I am for sure doing a intercooler soon. By drivetrain mounts I'm guessing you mean Engine AND Transmission? I dont know much about MPI, is it a crazy difficult to add? I didnt mention it but the only racing I plan on doing is 1/8th Mile drag cause thats whats local to me. But not gonna lie I want to be able to beat anyone from light to light

 

[scrllock]

Oh I am for sure doing a intercooler soon. By drivetrain mounts I'm guessing you mean Engine AND Transmission? I dont know much about MPI, is it a crazy difficult to add? I didnt mention it but the only racing I plan on doing is 1/8th Mile drag cause thats whats local to me. But not gonna lie I want to be able to beat anyone from light to light

Yeah, I wouldn't do just one. Puts more stress on the other side.
MPI involves removing your intake manifold, splicing or replacing fuel line, adding the secondary fuel rail, plus adding the wiring into the ECU. But then you get valve cleaning and a lot more fueling headroom. HPFP is much simpler but it's easy to screw up the install, I got one out of a bad batch of pre-assembled ones and it was a huge hassle to RMA and then re-sell.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

There's an aesthetic mod that doubles as a real-world performance mod: ceramic window tinting. Ceramic tints have the added benefit of limiting IR (heat) transmission, in addition to visible and UV light transmission reduction of typical tints. What this means performance-wise is that your A/C is working less frequently, since the interior heats up far more slowly. Not only does this reduce the parasitic loss from running the A/C compressor, but it reduces the air temperature, which first passes though the A/C condenser, reaching your intercooler and radiator. The gain in efficiency is quite pronounced, as the A/C cycles on less frequently--I was shocked by how noticeable this was when driving back home on the highway from getting my windows done, even though it was warmer outside than on the trip driving to the tinting shop!

Llumar (Eastman) and 3M are the big names for ceramic tint film. Both have various grades with varying IR rejection capabilities. I went with Llumar as it is supposed to stand up better to possible scratching. 7 years of use seems to have proven the claims correct.

Just something to think about.

 

[Xtr4gent]

There's an aesthetic mod that doubles as a real-world performance mod: ceramic window tinting. Ceramic tints have the added benefit of limiting IR (heat) transmission, in addition to visible and UV light transmission reduction of typical tints. What this means performance-wise is that your A/C is working less frequently, since the interior heats up far more slowly. Not only does this reduce the parasitic loss from running the A/C compressor, but it reduces the air temperature, which first passes though the A/C condenser, reaching your intercooler and radiator. The gain in efficiency is quite pronounced, as the A/C cycles on less frequently--I was shocked by how noticeable this was when driving back home on the highway from getting my windows done, even though it was warmer outside than on the trip driving to the tinting shop!

Llumar (Eastman) and 3M are the big names for ceramic tint film. Both have various grades with varying IR rejection capabilities. I went with Llumar as it is supposed to stand up better to possible scratching. 7 years of use seems to have proven the claims correct.

Just something to think about.

In general where I live its like 7-8 months of winter so AC is barely on. But Would be nice on those extra hot days.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

In general where I live its like 7-8 months of winter so AC is barely on. But Would be nice on those extra hot days.

With global warming that might not last.

 

[aloha_from_bradley]

Since you're already EQT, I'd do an intercooler and Vortex turbo upgrade.

That's one of the biggest steps you can take with the R.

The intercooler alone, even on a stock car, makes a world of difference. They are just a PITA to install.

 

[mrmatto]

Do you do any autocrossing or tracking? A driver mod vis-a-vis a performance driving class/school is highly underrated. Even if you don't track, it could be fun nonetheless.