Will_s Night Blue GTI daily turned track build

[Will_]

Final touches of track prep this past week. Got an alignment, installed a BFI catch can and bed in brakes. Also did some hard acceleration runs to test for boost leaks. Car is feeling really fast.

Also bought a new helmet and HANS device. Did some DIY visor tinting with film from Amazon that actually came out decent. Tracking tomorrow at Thunderhill then next Sat at Laguna.

 

[Diggs24]

daft punk videos incoming?

 

[Acadia18]

Human after all...

 

[Will_]

Track day at Thunderhill East yesterday. Was overall a very good day, resulting in a PR by about 2.8s and what I believe is a chassis record, although it may only be a record for GTIs. This was the first track day with the EQT tune and Stoptech brakes and both performed very well. I was up about 8mph on the front straight compared to my previous JB4 tune, and experienced no brake fade throughout the day. It was a nice 50F, so cooling was fortunately not an issue as it has been for me in the past.

Session 1 was best described as loose. It was about 40F and the track was very cold. I turned traction/ESC fully off and proceeded to do a full opposite lock slide into T1 at about 80mph. The combo of the cold tires, track, and my more aggressive alignment really made the car a bit of a handful to drive, especially as I was still getting used to having ~60 extra HP and coming into turns with much more speed than I was used too. I ended with a 2:05.89, about 1s faster than my previous best here, but knew there was still plenty of time to take off.

Session 2 was better and I had a bit more grip. I was in a fun battle with a M3 for the first two laps before I got by him and ran a 2:04.61. I was still overdriving the car a bit as I was kept anticipating having more lateral grip than was available. My laps were a bit sloppy and I dipped two wheels of the track in two places. Overall a solid session though.

Session 3 was the best of the day and where I ran my fastest time of 2:04.03. The track had warmed up a bit and I was able to carry a bit more speed through the lower speed section of the course. Theoretical best from this session was 2:03.497, so I was a bit frustrated to leave that much time out there, but otherwise don't have much to complain about. The fastest MK6/7 time I could find on Youtube was 2:04.1, so I am for now calling this a chassis record, but someone certainly may have me beat.

Session 4 was another very good session, although I had to abort a bit early due to running out of gas. On my final flying lap of the session I was on track for a 2:03.8 (according to the predictive feature on my app) but had to slow for a Miata in the final corner. I thought about going for a massive divebomb on the back straight but decided that would probably have been a bit aggressive for a track day.

Overall I'm very happy with how the day went and excited to see what time I can do with fresher tires. My RS4s have lost a bit of pace since new, so when they are done I plan on switching to A052/RT660 and seeing just how much time I can get out of this car. Onto Laguna next week!

PR lap:

Fastest lap from first session, testing external mic:

 

[ckuhns]

Nicely done! Hoping I can make it up to Thunderhill eventually, turns 5 and 8 sure look interesting

 

[Will_]

Who doesn’t like track photos?

 

[dood.]

Looks like a fun day! Thanks for sharing.

Curious what your setup was for your first track day and what you consider must-have modifications? Asking because we have similar cars, 2017 GTI S DSG w/ EQT stage 2, but you have way more mods. I've done some autox with my car, but no track days.

I'm thinking this is the year I finally try a track day. Before that I would plan to at least do the following.

• Intercooler (currently stock)
• Brake fluid
• Brake pads

Is a PCV upgrade required if I'm just on Indy 500 tires?

 

[Will_]

Looks like a fun day! Thanks for sharing.

Curious what your setup was for your first track day and what you consider must-have modifications? Asking because we have similar cars, 2017 GTI S DSG w/ EQT stage 2, but you have way more mods. I've done some autox with my car, but no track days.

I'm thinking this is the year I finally try a track day. Before that I would plan to at least do the following.

• Intercooler (currently stock)
• Brake fluid
• Brake pads

Is a PCV upgrade required if I'm just on Indy 500 tires?

I wouldn’t fix the PCV unless it is a problem, but I ran the first few track days on stock PCV and didn’t have any issues. The “BL” revision is a cheap fix and has since fixed all issues for me.

I would definitely do pads and fluid. The stock non-PP brakes are not great but should handle your first track day fine with proper pads/fluid.

Intercooler will definitely help but isn’t totally necessary, you will likely see decreased performance without an upgraded unit though.

I am of the opinion now that it is best to track the car as close to stock as possible then see what you really want to spend upgrade money on.

 

[dood.]

I wouldn’t fix the PCV unless it is a problem, but I ran the first few track days on stock PCV and didn’t have any issues. The “BL” revision is a cheap fix and has since fixed all issues for me.

I would definitely do pads and fluid. The stock non-PP brakes are not great but should handle your first track day fine with proper pads/fluid.

Intercooler will definitely help but isn’t totally necessary, you will likely see decreased performance without an upgraded unit though.

I am of the opinion now that it is best to track the car as close to stock as possible then see what you really want to spend upgrade money on.

Thanks for the advice. Makes sense to do things incrementally. I think I’ll do pads, fluid, and intercooler. Brake stuff considered a must. I want to do the intercooler anyway because it should help with reliability long term with a tuned car.

 

[Will_]

Track day at Laguna Seca yesterday. It was overall a fairly frustrating day as the car count in each group was huge and I dealt with traffic the entire day. On the plus side, the car ran great all day (minus some overheating on occasion) and I got to hangout with @ckuhns and his sweet track wagon.

Session 1 was a total wash, at one point I was in an 8 car train trying to pass. Best lap was 1:48.8.

Session 2 ended up being my fastest, I got one clean-ish lap on my second lap of the session, running a .1s PR of 1:46.143. Unfortunately the rest of it was spent dealing with traffic.

Session 3 was also very frustrating. I tried a few times to back off and create a nice gap for me to get in a hot lap, but each time I was defeated by slow traffic that seemingly emerged from nowhere. At one point I pulled in the pits for a drive through to get out of traffic, and when I went back out had some clear space, but then I noticed my phone mount was failing and was about to fly off the windshield. I had to go back into the hot pit to fix it. Once that was resolved, it was back to traffic, and I couldn’t get any clear space for the remaining of the session.

Deciding whether to go back to Laguna in Feb for a redemption run or running the Thunderhill 5M instead. I can absolutely run a 1:44 at Laguna, I just need to get some clear space and put it together. No idea what my goal would be for the Thunderhill 5M, but it is a really fun course to drive. We’ll see!

 

[SouthFL_Mk7.5]

Track day at Laguna Seca yesterday. It was overall a fairly frustrating day as the car count in each group was huge and I dealt with traffic the entire day. On the plus side, the car ran great all day (minus some overheating on occasion) and I got to hangout with @ckuhns and his sweet track wagon.

Session 1 was a total wash, at one point I was in an 8 car train trying to pass. Best lap was 1:48.8.

Session 2 ended up being my fastest, I got one clean-ish lap on my second lap of the session, running a .1s PR of 1:46.143. Unfortunately the rest of it was spent dealing with traffic.

Session 3 was also very frustrating. I tried a few times to back off and create a nice gap for me to get in a hot lap, but each time I was defeated by slow traffic that seemingly emerged from nowhere. At one point I pulled in the pits for a drive through to get out of traffic, and when I went back out had some clear space, but then I noticed my phone mount was failing and was about to fly off the windshield. I had to go back into the hot pit to fix it. Once that was resolved, it was back to traffic, and I couldn’t get any clear space for the remaining of the session.

Deciding whether to go back to Laguna in Feb for a redemption run or running the Thunderhill 5M instead. I can absolutely run a 1:44 at Laguna, I just need to get some clear space and put it together. No idea what my goal would be for the Thunderhill 5M, but it is a really fun course to drive. We’ll see!

View attachment 236559View attachment 236560

Super cool. Lots of great info here.

 

[Will_]

Track day yesterday at Laguna. Met up with a bunch of other VW owners from here and some I'd met through social media. In total I think we had 11 GTIs in our group (+2 more at the track that were parked far away). It was a great day overall, with lots of fast laps being put down and good conditions all day. I managed to set the fastest lap of the day with a 1:44.06, which I think may be a MK6/7 chassis record but not totally sure. Another driver Jeff in his EQT Stage 2 Golf R was right behind me at 1:44.6, we spent pretty much all day playing cat and mouse. It was interesting comparing our laps, as he was noticeably faster through the first half of the lap, but I had him for the second half. He was able to brake a good bit later than me in some places, especially coming into the hairpin, so I know I can improve there.

My RS4s are now completely shot, the driver side front tire (pictured) is chunked bad and the passenger front is leaking air. They lasted 6 track days and 6000 miles. Ordered some 245/40/17 RT660s today.

My best lap:

Almost losing it in T6:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XPSyLDFzJrU

 

[9uns]

dang. how much do you spend on tires per year?

 

[Will_]

dang. how much do you spend on tires per year?

I only go through 2 sets a year so $1600-2k depending on what tire I run.

 

[ckuhns]

That little spoiler extension thing you have on there, do you feel like it does anything for you?