Will_s Night Blue GTI daily turned track build

[turbojzrr]

It’s a nice combo. I’ll slowly introduce the BRZ to track use but it’s so new I don’t want to start ragging on it immediately. Plus I have so much work into the GTI I feel like I gotta get my money’s worth with the track time. Maybe in a year or two though the GTI May transition to the support vehicle or we’ll split track time between the two.

Makes sense.

By the way for your brembo swap, did you find the need to rebuild it with the high heat seals before install?

 

[Will_]

Makes sense.

By the way for your brembo swap, did you find the need to rebuild it with the high heat seals before install?

I am yet to rebuild it, so I am still running the original seals that came with the caliper. I plan on swapping pads/rotors in late March/April and will inspect the seals at that time. I may throw in the high temp seals but if the OEM ones still look good I will hold off. I tend to be fairly easy on brakes when I track. I also picked up some titanium shims for the new pads going in so that should help with heat transfer a little.

 

[Will_]

After what felt like a long offseason (even though it was only 3 months) I finally got back to the track, this time with +45hp and wider, stickier tires. Bought 18x9 Neuspeed RSe11R’s in gloss gunmetal and paired them 255/35/18 Nexen 200TW tires. Also did brake fluid flush with RBF660, new plugs, APR coil packs, and got an alignment. Pads/rotors still had some life so left those as is, but they are ready to be changed now after the track day.

Track day was at Sonoma Raceway. I had gone for a spirited drive after I first put on the new wheel setup and noticed a bit of rubbing on the right rear against the fuel filler neck. I picked up some 3mm spacers from Motorsport Hardware and threw them on before my first session. Luckily it solved the problem and I had no rubbing issues even at full tilt. There were a lot of VWs at the track that day. Me, a blue Golf R, a white MK6 GTI, and the coolest for sure, a Reseda Green Golf R. Only 2 in the US in this color! Also met a guy who had just sold his MK7 and picked up a B9 S4 in Goodwood Green. Awesome car.

I ran 4 20 minute sessions, and got faster each one. The car felt great all day. Zero cooling or oil surge issues to speak of. Oil only topped 250 once during my last session, after my two fastest laps. I have only ran Sonoma once before so am still learning the best line, but felt like I really held my own today. The end result was a nearly 4 second PR, from 2:03.2 to 1:59.481! Video of my best lap below.

TrackAddict data:

Next up is fresh pads and rotors, then Laguna Seca on 4/17. Shooting for a lap in the 1:47s, which would be a 2.4s PR to hit 1:47.90, but I think it is very doable.

 

[Treadup]

Just read through your thread. This is what my plan is with my GTI. I have never been on a road course but did a little autox with a CRX about 10 years ago. Nice build and great videos.

 

[Will_]

Just read through your thread. This is what my plan is with my GTI. I have never been on a road course but did a little autox with a CRX about 10 years ago. Nice build and great videos.

Appreciate it!

 

[turbojzrr]

After what felt like a long offseason (even though it was only 3 months) I finally got back to the track, this time with +45hp and wider, stickier tires. Bought 18x9 Neuspeed RSe11R’s in gloss gunmetal and paired them 255/35/18 Nexen 200TW tires. Also did brake fluid flush with RBF660, new plugs, APR coil packs, and got an alignment. Pads/rotors still had some life so left those as is, but they are ready to be changed now after the track day.

Track day was at Sonoma Raceway. I had gone for a spirited drive after I first put on the new wheel setup and noticed a bit of rubbing on the right rear against the fuel filler neck. I picked up some 3mm spacers from Motorsport Hardware and threw them on before my first session. Luckily it solved the problem and I had no rubbing issues even at full tilt. There were a lot of VWs at the track that day. Me, a blue Golf R, a white MK6 GTI, and the coolest for sure, a Reseda Green Golf R. Only 2 in the US in this color! Also met a guy who had just sold his MK7 and picked up a B9 S4 in Goodwood Green. Awesome car. ran 4 20 minute sessions, and got faster each one. The car felt great all day. Zero cooling or oil surge issues to speak of. Oil only topped 250 once during my last session, after my two fastest laps. I have only ran Sonoma once before so am still learning the best line, but felt like I really held my own today. The end result was a nearly 4 second PR, from 2:03.2 to 1:59.481! Video of my best lap below.

TrackAddict data:

Next up is fresh pads and rotors, then Laguna Seca on 4/17. Shooting for a lap in the 1:47s, which would be a 2.4s PR to hit 1:47.90, but I think it is very doable.

Thats a hell of a improvement in times! How much of it would you attribute it to car improvements vs driver mod?

 

[Will_]

Thats a hell of a improvement in times! How much of it would you attribute it to car improvements vs driver mod?

Probably 50/50. I took similar lines as last time but was more aggressive on braking in a few places. The extra power was noticeable on the front and back straights. Tires definitely were a little quicker too. I’d say like 1s from driver, 1.5s from tires and 1s from power.

 

[Will_]

Stock exhaust back on today. Forgot how quiet these are but enjoying it so far. I always felt like a jackass accelerating quick around town with a loud exhaust. Now it’s just a quiet purr with a few pops here and there.
Old:

Stock:

Also, goddamn Civic Type Rs are fast on track. A stock FK8 CTR will do like 1:55 at Sonoma and 1:44 at Laguna Seca. For reference Randy Pobst did 1:50.1 at Laguna Seca in a stock GTI and 1:46.9 in a stock Golf R. I got some work to do.

 

[9uns]

beefcakes. how much camber are you running?

 

[Will_]

beefcakes. how much camber are you running?

2.5 front and 2.0 rear

 

[Curryninja]

Are you running an aftermarket DP with your setup? I don't see it listed in the build

Loving the posts I went through all of them and it's nice to see the videos. Hopefully this'll prep me more for my first track days.

 

[Will_]

Are you running an aftermarket DP with your setup? I don't see it listed in the build

Loving the posts I went through all of them and it's nice to see the videos. Hopefully this'll prep me more for my first track days.

I have the stock downpipe, though am planning on picked up a catted downpipe soon to add some performance and a little more noise. I didn’t want to add a downpipe before going back to stock exhaust as having downpipe + muffler delete would be awfully loud.

 

[turbojzrr]

I have the stock downpipe, though am planning on picked up a catted downpipe soon to add some performance and a little more noise. I didn’t want to add a downpipe before going back to stock exhaust as having downpipe + muffler delete would be awfully loud.

curious what prompted the return to stock muffler? I thought it'd sound pretty bad ass?

 

[Will_]

curious what prompted the return to stock muffler? I thought it'd sound pretty bad ass?

I guess there were three factors. One, I was kinda just tired of the drone in some situations and felt it was a little too loud. Two, I been thinking about getting a downpipe and maybe IS38, but the combo of downpipe + muffler delete would blow sound at Laguna and be way too loud, so I wanted to get something quieter before doing that. Third, I plan on buying a Verus rear diffuser, which may not have fit with my exhaust due to the large tip size. It will fit stock though. So that combo, combined with me getting the stock unit for free, led me to going back to stock. It is really quiet now though so downpipe may come soon.

 

[Will_]

Since last update I've installed a Schroth Quick Fit Pro and wrote a write up on how to do so: https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...ll-schroth-quick-fit-pro-in-a-mk7-gti.383853/

I'm happy to report it did a great job keeping me in my seat at that track this weekend. Speaking of which:

Track day yesterday at Laguna Seca. It was a somewhat frustrating day for mainly two reasons, traffic and heat.

I ran all sessions at 34psi cold with 16F/12R clicks from soft on the EQT dampers. This is my go to track setup. Nexen's seem to like the 34psi.

First session was absolute garbage. Their was some confusion at the start of our run group as the session before had been red flagged, and I ended up going out a few minutes late. On the first lap a Miata broke down, and they sent a tow truck out (they do hot tows to keep things running). Some idiots decided to buzz the tow truck at full speed and the whole session got black flagged. Didn't help the guy with the Miata didn't have any tow hook in. I didn't get below 1:55.

Second session wasn't much better. Our group (low intermediate/point by required) had multiple people in it that probably should've run in novice due to their lap times. The disparity in pace was a bit much, the fastest guys running mid 1:40s while the slowest were running 2:20s. I lapped a guy twice in fifteen minutes, like bruh. Had a fun little battle with three Veloster N's though. I don't know their best lap times from the day but I believe I was the fastest as I overtook them all. Trying my best to represent GTIs.

Third session was better. Our group does self gridding with a slow lane/fast lane in the pit lane, and people organized themselves much better this time. Had a 1:48.4 this session and a few other relatively clean laps in at 1:50. Unfortunately this is where I started to run into heat (or maybe bad gas) issues. My car kept cutting power going up the the hill towards the corkscrew. It was fine on other straights but would cut out around 4.5k RPM in 4th on the way up towards the corkscrew. Could barely break 90 whereas I'd normally be at 100 at the top of the hill. It was only 75F and oil temps were around 255-260 so I'm leaning towards bad gas more so than heat soak, but hard to know.

Fourth session was best. Traffic had cleared out a bit. Got two good laps in. 1:47.58 and 1:47.54. My best lap would have been 1:46.8ish if I hadn't run into traffic at T11. I'm confident next time I'm out there I can get into 1:46s. High 1:45s possibly with a clear track and car not cutting power. Regardless, this was nearly a 3s PR, so I'm very happy with it. I backed off about halfway through the session though due to a) being out of gas and b) the brakes starting to go. The brakes started to feel like the rotors were coated in gravel or something. Rough and uninspiring. They are due for a change anyway.

Overall, car and I made it home in one piece without any significant issues, so its a win for the day. Not an ideal day, but nothing I can really be mad about (except getting terribly sunburnt on my left arm - oops).