Bay Area Drive / Car Work

Hey all, just purchased a Golf GTI MK7.5 and I love it so far. I was curious to see how the Golf community was in the bay area and I stumbled upon this forum. Do you all have meetups? Let me know!

At the moment we don't really have meetups beyond going to the Sonoma Raceway dragstrip, but that could be open to change.

Copernicus said:

Hey all, just purchased a Golf GTI MK7.5 and I love it so far. I was curious to see how the Golf community was in the bay area and I stumbled upon this forum. Do you all have meetups? Let me know!

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What part of the bay are you located in? It would be great to do a meetup this weekend. I was trying to get something going, but response has been minimal.

For once I'm actually free, I have all of Saturday off as well as Sunday afternoon. Would love to meet up somewhere for a drive.

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Sparky589 said:

For once I'm actually free, I have all of Saturday off as well as Sunday afternoon. Would love to meet up somewhere for a drive.

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Awesome, hopefully more people chime in. I guess posting somewhere in GD to get some more advertisement for the local folks who don't always make it down here in the forum would help.

I've got next Saturday off too, yea, lets do something.

Im looking to see what you all would recommend for the first modifications I will install on the GTI. Im getting the windows tinted next weekend so thats already being taken care of. Any suggestions? I was also looking into the APR Plus Tune or the APR Stage 1 or 2. Does anyone have experience with these tunes/ know the long term affects it has on your vehicle? Any information or suggestion would help!

Copernicus said:

Im looking to see what you all would recommend for the first modifications I will install on the GTI. Im getting the windows tinted next weekend so thats already being taken care of. Any suggestions? I was also looking into the APR Plus Tune or the APR Stage 1 or 2. Does anyone have experience with these tunes/ know the long term affects it has on your vehicle? Any information or suggestion would help!

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Best first mods are light weight wheels and good tires. After that a dogbone mount to help put the stock power to the ground is a good idea. If you want to tune and keep your factory warranty, a piggyback is your best option. It violates your warranty, but isn't detectable, unlike a flash tune (APR or other). If you want a flash tune, the APR plus is your best option if you want a warranty. It won't be the factory warranty, but rather APR's warranty which can be a hassle to deal with.

As with any power modifications, adding additional horsepower can end with a blown engine or turbo. If you want to modify the car, it become a pay to play game. Get ready to pay out of pocket if something goes wrong.

So a list:

1. Lightweight wheels
2. Good tires (we can run summer tires all year long here in the Bay)
3. Dogbone (also engine and trans mount upgrades if desired)
4. Tune or Piggyback
5. Intercooler
6. Suspension (coilovers or upgraded struts and springs)
7. Sway bars
8. Larger Turbo
9. Upgraded fueling (E85)
10. Meth
11. If you went with a off the self tune, you would need a custom tune by this point.

This isn't an end all be all, and some things are out of order depending who you talk to, but a general list of suggestions.

Edit: That is also assuming DSG, if manual a clutch would be needed before or after a tune depending on your preference.

Stage 1 was my first ever mod

Rear sway bar for me, honestly that coupled with the crappy stock TSI tires was some of the most fun I've had with my golf. Traction was incredibly easy to break, and the car turned into this tail happy mess.

Also are we still down for a meet this Saturday? Would love a chance to get to see some more Mk7's.

I was contacted by another forum member to do some work on his car this Saturday, we are planning on starting at 12. Shouldn't take too long dynablinks and mk7.5 tails with wiring harness. So once I'm done with that I'm game to go on a drive or whatever. People are welcome over while we are working.

Would love to actually, 7.5 tails have been on my bucket list for quite some time so having a chance to see/install them in person would actually be quite nice. I know Melted is also free for the day so we might meet up with him as well.

Hey guys, new to the forum and new to VW's in general. Love to meet the local community and get to know more about these fun little cars in general.

Im free anytime after 12PM tomorrow as well. =)

Alright guys and gals, Rainier and I will be at my shop to do some work on his car at noon (12ish), anyone and everyone is welcome to join us. If you are interested PM me (I'll pm you after this Sparky, and text Melted).

Edit: Looks like Sparky will be joining us. All others welcome for the work, or a drive after. We still need to make plans for the drive.... Highway 1 is always fun.... but depending on weather can be bumper to bumper with people going to the beaches. The drive from my shop to Pt. Reyes is really fun and not as crowded normally.

So this weekend was a success. We got Rainier's mk7.5 tailights installed as well as the dynablinks. He got them all coded up despite issues with the coding instructions (typos) and I discovered a mis-installed pin for the left turn signal (our fault, not an issue with the wiring harness). Rainier and MeltedSolid had to head off afterword, but Sparky, his friend with a C5 Allroad and I went on a drive of highway 1 to the beaches and back to four corners. Even with some small traffic, it was a great drive.

I'm looking to get a South Bay drive going, maybe not this upcoming weekend, but weekend after for sure. Hopefully that will let some other people in the area put it on the calendar and make it down. If anyone has mod work to do and want to use the shop just let me know and we can make it happen as well as another informal drive.