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Budget Track & DD '17 GTI

mattdelisle77

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Québec, Canada
Hi there! I must've written this post 2-3times but always ended up too shy to press the ol' mighty SUBMIT button, this time's for real.

Lemme introduce myself, name's Matt, random ass french canadian (apologies) who happens to be a mechanics in a VW Dealership. I had about 10vw's in my life already (mk2 to mk4) and loved every single one of them.

So tadaaaaaaaaam!

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Behold, '17 GTI 6MT.

Why 6MT? Call me crazy but I rather the feel of a MT drive. I know DSG is more covenient and powerful, but the feeling is too linear for me. So 6MT it is. Also I chose the Base model over AB cause I didn't want to deal with the leaky panoramic sunroof problems, and I kinda wanted the little sleeper non-LP look. :p

RIP PP Brakes tho.


SUMMER V1

Been driving for a month, totally in love with the car, so I went to my local race track to finally try my investment the right way. First impression, amazing. Really impressed on how the car is reacting through corners, even tho my local track is a low speed-ish circuit with a couple tricky corners, handling and performance was ON point. My only concern was the OEM Pirelli P7's. Great tire for comfort drive, not so great when heated up tho.

Here's a small clip of me that night recorded by a random dude I didnt even know (keep in mind I'm still bone stock on touring tires :p):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bItlFfKgAI

[EDIT]: I DONT KNOW WHERE THE ALIEN SOUNDS COME FROM JESUS ITS SCARY.



Now we have to start somewhere.

SUSPENSION

I was really happy on how the OEM suspension reacted on track, so I decided to only lower the vehicule without messing too much with the spring rate.

So I went with a Eibach Pro Spring kit. Had them on a couple of my DDs in the past and always been pleased with it so why not give it a try again. Also grabbed an used Maxton V1 front lip for a steal, and a flush spacer kit from Ledger Design to even the wheels out.

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Car is lowered, ran it for 2-3days before doing the alignment. Don't have pictures of the work itself cause I did in a hurry afterwork, took me about 45mins to replace all coilsprings. This platform is so easy to work with I swear!

Here's some pictures of alignment specs and how it looks lowered:

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Me @ Beaucefest so you can see the look with the V1 on:

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Car reacted as expected on track with the Eibach springs on, pretty similar feeling but a bit more stiff, which is great.

However, I decided to keep running the P7's on and out track. Since they are screaming pretty easily, its the best way sound queue possible in order to adapt my racing line.

Here's a video of a heat up lap at night, nothing crazy since tires and brakes were cold but you can have an idea of what i'm talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YWySSNI_zI&t=9s

Fun fact, that swapped civic was bragging for an hour about how fast his car was, oh well...



SOUND

I watched soundclips of exhaust systems for about 2week, COBB, CTS, Magnaflow, NAME IT! Call me a weirdo, but I found the best one to be a simple muffler delete.

A friend of mine hooked me up at his shop for a custom axleback delete.


BYEBYE OEM.

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Work in-progress

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[EDIT]: Not quite sure why the pictures are sideways, but eh.


FINAL RESULT

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I can say that it is the best bang for you buck mod possible. Almost no drones, quiet under 2000RPM and loud when going all-out. I'm more than happy with it

Also, since we were being under the car, I bought a 034 dogbone insert and installed it at the same time. Because, why not?


WINTER V1

Winter here are hard, so let the pictures explains for themselves.

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Pre-winter detailing

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F. :mad:


SUMMER V2

I was so hyped to start tracking again, SO HYPED! But life being life, I injured myself at work. Lumbar sprain + 2 herniated disc got me stuck in the couch for pretty much all the summer... Didn't do nothing on the car at all, I focused on my health instead.

A lot of medical appointment, gym and hard-work, doctor got me cleared in January. NOW BACK TO BUSINESS.:cool:

SUMMER V3: THE RETURN


No back-pain, feeling in shape, This summer's going to be awesome.

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Bummer.

I actually want to push harder than summer v1. To do so, I need the right gear beforehand, so I got myself a RaceQuip PRO-15 Helmet, SA2015 approved, OMP Balaclava and some Sparco Turn-One gloves in the best color possible (kidding, they were on sale. :eek:)

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Pushing harder also means harder on brakes. Since I dont plan on tuning my ECU (HP is the last thing you need in time attack), OEM brake sizes still fill my needs. However, I needed to upgrade pad compound, as well as lines and fluid. So I ordered myself some front and rear EBC Yellowstuff pads paired with OEM Brake disc.

Also grabbed some USP Motorsports SS Brake lines ft Total Racing DOT-4 Fluid.

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That black case contains a GoPro Hero 4, so I can capture all the details in 4K this year. Needless to say I'm happy to ditch that cellphone camera :D


As far as tires, I really wanted to get my hands on some Nittos NT-01's, but budget being budget, had to lower my expectations a little.

I finally went with a set of Falken Azenis RT615K in 17'', mounted them on my OEM Brooklyn wheels so I can only rip them on track. Grabbed myself a set of rep wheels for street only use. Since I'm not driving like a maniac off-track, rep wheels will be more than enought for me.

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After all, I'm pretty happy with the look!

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GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Congrats on the car and first post! We don’t bite, and always happy to lead a hand/check out new builds.

I also have a white base model 6mt gti, 2016 as a daily and just today graduated to its first track day
 

mattdelisle77

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Québec, Canada
Congrats on the car and first post! We don’t bite, and always happy to lead a hand/check out new builds.

I also have a white base model 6mt gti, 2016 as a daily and just today graduated to its first track day

Thanks! how did it go?

Track videos other wise its just a DD!

Thats all i have for now, a single heat up lap :eek: I'm actually setting up the GoPro setup tomorow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YWySSNI_zI&t=10s

Welcome and great first post.

Thanks mate!
 

mattdelisle77

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Québec, Canada
Small update today, received my clutch pedal bumpstop yesterday. At first, I wanted to make my own one since there's a lot of DIY available, but when searching for something else, found one already plug-and-play on eBay for a minimal cost. So why bother? let's try it!


Welcome!

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the difference between both are not even comparable

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In place

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At first, I thought it was too much, but decided to give it a shot since it took me about 4seconds to install it. Went for a little drive and needless to say, it is WAY better. Coming back from the gym it felt like it always been this way. :)


Then, told you already that I got myself a GoPro Hero 4 to record future track session, was wondering where the hell should I put it since I don't have a sunroof glass, and wanted a quite wide angle to actually see myself driving..



Eureka!:D

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Since no one ever sitted on my back seat in 2 years, and because I'm planning to remove that said back seat for weight reduction, that dome-light became quite useless, not that it ever been useful at the first place but eh. :D


Socket glued in place:

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And the final result

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Here's a picture of the POV:

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As I'm more interesed in seeing my own mistakes rather than the track itself, I do believe that POV will do the trick. Anyways, I can always change it later during summer :D


Oh, and a bit of goodies...

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VW Magnetic cellphone holder!

Since the cellphone laws are pretty strick here, and officers can fine you even tho you're not using your cellphone at all (Actually someone this week got a fine for paying with his cellphone in a drive-thru service... 485$.... AMAZING!), the best way possible to avoid these misadventures is to actually rest your cellphone on a holder, where officers can actually sees that YOU'RE NOT USING IT.

6$... what a steal!
 

mattdelisle77

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Québec, Canada
FRIDAY NIGHT WRENCH

Sorry for the late response, as many of you might know, being a mechanics isn't only a 8 to 5 job :(.

I've been quite busy at work since it's tire changing season here, + helping other buddies working on them insane projects that I'm more than glad to be part of.

PSSSTTT... MK2 Jetta Coupe TDI AWD... MK4 R32 Turbo 450WHP Track car.... MK2 Jetta Carrat 16v ITB Track car.... :D:D:D:D

I LOVE MY JOB.



Back to our main subject!


I had a bit of time friday night after work to give some love to my almighty GTI:p So I went away installing my USP Motorsports SS Brakes line, EBC Yellowstuff up front and Redstuff in the rear finishing with complete replacement of brake fluid with some Total Racing DOT-4.


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Front brakes replacement went like a charm, as expected, pretty ''plug-and-play''. I even kept the same rotors cause they didn't even have much kilometers on them, no rust or any kind of warp, so I say why not, worst case I'll replace rotor on another day:rolleyes:


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Rear one on the other hands.. Redstuff pads didn't properly fit into the caliper mount. Seems like they had a thicker frame build than the OEM ones, the outside ones were OK but couldn't manage to get one in on the inside. BUMMER.:mad::mad:

USP Motorsports SS Brakes lines were pretty easy to install as well, perfect built quality for low price, I do recommend them. Just to give you an idea on how easy it was, it took me about 2hours to clean/replace front brakes and sadly only clean rear, replace all 4 lines + complete liquid flush.


Sadly I only have those pictures, since my goddamn iPhone went out of batteries. iPhones and low batteries, name a more iconic duo ?

I'll take more picture when I'll do rear replacement with other pads.

Until then, I've been arguing with my buddies about my front lips, I do feel like it's definitely missing something up front, I don't like it this way, but keeping in mind that I've already crushed 2 front lips on track and I kind of don't wanna spend another 300$ on a lip that I'll most likely break again, I need to find something that'll fit both worlds.

I recall seeing something on Zac Ross's build thread that he had a custom lip made with EZ Lips or something like that, I'll need to check it out again

WE'LL SEE I GUESS
 
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