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Will_s Night Blue GTI daily turned track build

Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
Picked up a few things last week. EQT coilovers, 15/20mm spacers for the Austins, and higher quality Motorsport Hardware studs to replace my ECS ones (and accommodate the larger spacers).
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I also had a track day at Sonoma on Saturday 11/7. Ran with SpeedSF. This was my first track day here in the GTI, although I've down a couple ride alongs and several laps behind the wheel in a friends car before. I have to say, the track is pretty intimidating. There are so many spots where its easy to upset the balance of the car, I had to really ease into things. It doesn't help there are giant concrete walls right off the track. I felt pretty comfy by the end of the day though. Set tires to 34 cold and car handled pretty much perfect all day. It was only 60F out so track/tires were pretty cold at the start of the day. On the plus side I had zero oil/heat soak issues, and no smoke from PCV blowby. BL PCV plate continutes to do its job.

Here are some laps with commentary and one of my fastest laps of the day. I definitely left a few seconds out there, but was mainly focused on learning the correct lines and not crashing today.

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Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
Some big changes in the last few weeks. Switched out my APR/Bilstein/Superpro suspension combo for EQT coilovers. @Hammersticks was kind enough to handle the install and enlarge my strut tower to enable better camber adjustment. Haven’t gotten an alignment yet but initial results look promising. Ride quality is great and so far they have been dead silent. Have the heigh set at about 1.1” lower than stock. Adjustability is fun to play with too.
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Also picked up a JB4, excited to play around with map 6 settings, although realistically I’ll stay on Map 1 99% of the time.
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In slightly less exciting news I also picked up a new impact gun and have the Audi OEM jack kit coming in the mail this week. Plan on putting that on soon.

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Next track day will be Dec 12th at Thunderhill East. I originally told myself that Sonoma would be my last one of the year but got a great price on this one and wanted to test out the new coils. May have the JB4 in by then too.
 

Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
Lots of adventures the last few weeks (all COVID approved). Visited my family on the coast two weeks ago, then snowboarding in Tahoe last week, then a track day this weekend. Almost justifies the cost of living in the Bay Area 🙃

Packed for Tahoe
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My summer tires probably weren’t a big fan of the snow

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Packed for track day
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In the paddock
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Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
About the track day. We ran Thunderhill East (Bypass), a course I’ve run once before. I ran four 20 minute sessions.

First session it was about 45 degrees out and the track was still damp from overnight rain. I went out first and had the course to myself but took it fairly easy due to the conditions. Had a good lap of 2:16ish which tied my previous best.

Prior to my second session there was an oil spill on track that delayed all the run groups. I couldn’t quite hear the PA announcements all day and was late to my run group start so only got like 4 laps in before it ended. Was in traffic the whole time anyway so nothing too exciting.

Session 3 was solid, and I improved my best time to 2:12.859. Had a fun duel with a Porsche Cayman that was similar speed to me. I kept running into slow traffic about 3 laps into the session (catching the back of the field) and it was a little frustrating because it was the same people each time that clearly should have been in the Novice group. They were very slow and not great at giving point bys. I hate to say it but one of them was a blue Golf R. Sorry buddy.

Session 4 was probably the hardest I’d ever driven the car and was good fun. I went out first but let an M2 comp and fast BRZ go by on my warmup lap. I later caught the M2 on my second fast lap and was reeling in the BRZ before we both hit traffic. I also adjusted the coilover damping to a much stiffer setting before this run. I had them at my daily setting (8F/6R) for the first three sessions but went up to 16F/12R for the last session. The car definitely had less body roll and felt tighter through the turns. I’ll probably stick with that setting for future track days. I could’ve stiffened the rear more for greater rotation but I prefer to err on the side of understeer for safety.

Overall it was a very successful day and great way to end my first track season. I got 6 days in this year, learned a lot and had a blast. Already prepping for next season. Aside from some intercooler issues that were my fault, the car ran great all year. I plan on replacing pads, rotors, fluid, dust boots, plugs, and coil packs before March. I’ll also be installing a JB4, selling my current wheel/tire setup, and ideally picking up the Apex 17x9 wheel to match with some 255/40/17 200tw tires. I want to hit 1:48 at Laguna, under 2:10 at Thunderhill East, and Under 2:00 at Sonoma. That’s about 2 second faster per track but I think all very doable.

Anyway, here’s a video of my fastest lap from yesterday.

 

uvasteven

Go Kart Newbie
Location
VA
Car(s)
2019 GTI
Great thread! I enjoyed the progression. Why the JB4 over just having you APR tune reflashed?
 

Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
Great thread! I enjoyed the progression. Why the JB4 over just having you APR tune reflashed?
Wanted to play around with the adjustability, maybe have two maps (Map 1 for normal and Map 6 for E30 blend for example) to switch between. If I eventually pickup a downpipe or IS38 this will support it. Just wanted to try something different I guess.
 

PowerDemon

Autocross Champion
Location
Richmond, VA
Car(s)
Golf GTI, Camaro ZL1
Your build is coming along nicely. Gotta love the versatility of the Mk7 hitting the slopes one day and the track the next. Bet you that Corvette owner doesn’t take it snowboarding ;) Glad to see you are enjoying the new coilovers as well, they are my first pick if I decide to go that route. Nice snag with the impact wrench, it certainly makes things ALOT faster!
 

Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
Brought home a new stablemate for the GTI today :)

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Manual with the performance pack (most bargain option of all time) of course.

Now all the sudden my GTI has become the more practical car. Might end up being the support vehicle for track days in due time!
 

Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
GTI hasn’t gotten much love the last few weeks as we’ve been driving the BRZ quite a bit, but still accomplished a few things.

Installed the Austin’s and sold my summer setup. Planning on picking up the Apex wheels when they release. Luckily Austin’s clear the brakes with 15mm spacers, which also helps them sit flush.

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Also installed a JB4 as clean as I could. Map 1 is a nice level of power so far.

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Finally, went to the mountains for the long weekend and saw some big trees. Also put some track stickers on. Goal this month is to install jack kit, fix front bumper, change oil and install new plugs/coil packs. In February I will refresh the brakes. March is wheels/tires. Late March/early April is start of track season.

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Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
Superpro front endlinks installed today. Have oil change and brake fluid flush on Monday. Then installing plugs/coils next weekend. Also, finally had both of the cars clean and got them together.

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turbojzrr

Go Kart Champion
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'19 Golf R
Superpro front endlinks installed today. Have oil change and brake fluid flush on Monday. Then installing plugs/coils next weekend. Also, finally had both of the cars clean and got them together.

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Looks like you have 2 cars that will do almost the same laptime @ Laguna Seca now.

One of them has more power than cornering while the other one has more cornering than power :)

Best of both worlds.
 

Will_

Autocross Champion
Location
SF Bay Area
Car(s)
2017 GTI S DSG
Looks like you have 2 cars that will do almost the same laptime @ Laguna Seca now.

One of them has more power than cornering while the other one has more cornering than power :)

Best of both worlds.
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.
 
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