Peskarik: Edition 30 Oettinger Stage 2

[Peskarik]

My Edition 30 will be 2 years old next week..  

Initially I was thinking about Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, love those cars especially in Alfa's "milky white" paint. Always turn around and watch when 147GTA drives by.  
Learned to drive in Alfa Romeo 164, and that was a really good car, which both me and my father tortured when we both learned how to drive, and it took it all in stride and never went broke, even though we bought it when it was 5 years old, and kept it for 5 years. The whole family (including my mom) had trouble to separate from 164 when time came to change rides. I remember how we went from Alfa to Volvo S40, and my left foot kept slamming into the floor when I depressed the clutch pedal in Volvo.   Alfa's clutch was so heavy, and now I kind of went full circle with that issue, but more about that later.

Anyway, was pining over 147GTA, but they were all second hand by then. Looked into Volvo S60R. Audi S3 was too expensive. TypeR and ST were dismissed very quickly. Once saw a pic of tuned GTI, and it caught my eye. Started reading internet, read about Edition 30, got interested. Went to dealer and saw candy white Edition 30 with black wheels, and that was it really, love at first sight. 2 minutes and I was ripe to buy the car. Which I also did.  

That is how it looked the day I picked it up and went for a run-in in Swiss Alps:






That was really special to see the thick snow in the middle of 30 degree summer. 

[Rich]

Where does the Oettinger bit come into here - bit confused lol 

[Peskarik]

Ah, yes, the Oettinger bit.  Totally forgot about that sighing over those photos

Anyway, after 20000km and many hours on www.golfgti.co.uk forum where I got acquainted with crazies    like Hurdy and RedRobin, I got infected with tuning bug.

It started somehow small but still with a bang. I went to Oettinger, changed the air filter to K&N one, and got Stage 1 map, which Oettinger proclaims produces 300hp and 410Nm of torque.
The change was obvious on the road. It was a totally different car. In fact, I got a heavy speeding ticket going back home after the map, as I was having too much fun on the highway. 180CHF it cost me. But OK, I had higher fines before.  

Next was the suspension mod.
I went back to Oettinger and got KW Version 2 installed, together with 10mm spacers on the back. Did not get any spacers on the front, as I was afraid of rubbing and Oettinger did not have smaller width centered spacers, and they did not recommend uncentered ones.
The drop was 30mm, according to Oettinger, and KW settings on Sport, but not REAL Sport, as Oettinger guy told me.

That is how it looked after the suspension mod:







As you see, I could not even stick one finger in between the arch and the tyre.

Some more pics:






The car looked mean, but the problems were obvious right from the start:
1) Hard ride.
Now I knew the roads in Switzerland were not THAT good. Driving German autobahn was also scary, as there are many joints and seams, undulations, and the car goes over them really hard, everything transmits into the cabin. I was scared to push over 220kmh, as I was afraid something would break or fall off. Also, I was afraid of rubbing (see below). That, even though, before I even started tuning, I went 230kmh on French highway.

2) Rubbing.
There was rubbing in the back, on the right side. I was now really looking at the road surface ahead and trying to avoid holes. There was a piece of metal sticking from inside the rear right wing, and that was touching the tyre. I had that metal piece filed down, and that improved things, but over bigger holes still had rubbing in the back.
I also had rubbing in the front, primarily when turning over curbs (and these were pretty small and smooth curbs).

One day I had 2 people in my car (plus moi, the driver), and I slowly turned right over a very low curb to get on the side road to a garage, and the front right tyre got caught in the metal of the arch, bending it out and destroying the paint. Now I have to repaint the whole right wing.
That was it, I had the car lifted 5mm. Though I left the spacers there. They make the car look that much better, in my opinion.  

[Rich]

Nice


Oettinger are quality... but at a price !

[Peskarik]

After the initial suspension mod I was driving the car for months, but very carefully, because of the rubbing issues.

I've even driven it on summer tyres (Exalto) in winter, over snow and ice. (I know that was the most stupid and irresponsible thing, so no comments, please).

More pics (some before suspension work):











And some encounters (still before suspension work):
The black one was driven by a nice blond.  



for next one, I just stopped in the middle of the road and went to take a picture.   That was the first white Edition30 I encountered after 1 year of driving:


Regular GTI obviously with suspension mod:

[illyun]

Nice write up Peskarik    I noticed that Hurdy and RedRobin were blamed mentioned for your modding bug... funny that, as I blamed mentioned them on my write ups after modding my car.  They've got a lot to answer for    
Finally, don't you get points in Switzerland or is it just a fine?!  

[Peskarik]

After some time I noticed Oettinger Stage 1 was not enough anymore.
Especially as once on highway I could not decimate a disel Golf MkV (though I was accelerating from 6th gear and about 120kmh). 
I needed a fix, basically. I knew it would be expensive, because, as someone rightly noted, Oettinger comes at a price. Especially in Switzerland. (ABT is even more expensive, though).
But I thought, what the hell, money is there to make and spend, and I want to go through a tuning phase, to remember it when I am an old guy driving something more mundane, a Ferrari perhaps. 

So I went to Oettinger and got Stage 2 done:
1) S3 intercooler
2) 3-inch exhaust from cat
3) Carbonio intake
4) HPFP
5) Oettinger map, on paper 330hp/460Nm (optimized for Shell Power 100 juice, which I anyway always put into my car)

After talk with Hurdy, who is my ambassador of tuning  , I decided to get downpipe with 200-cell cat installed as well.
And I lifted the car 5mm at that point.

The change was obvious, my Oettinger representative showed me what the car can do when he drove it like he stole it. I never drive like that, so that was an eye opener. With free exhaust and HPFP the car feels much more, how to say it best, serious. Taut. Together. I like it a lot. 

Lifting the car up produced this:



hard to notice, but it is now not as low as before:



the pipes with Oettinger logo:

[Peskarik]

I have never considered any external mods, as I find the car looking nice as it is, but two small mods I wanted to do nonetheless:

1) black VW badge upfront
2) open fog grills

I've done these mods a few days ago.
Two hours ago  the car looked like this:



The right open grill (if looking at car from the front) came with a diffusor that leads the air towards the arch, while the left was open, and now I am thinking what all the water and dirt will do to the bolts that are right in there:



Towards winter I'll probably replace the left open fog grill with the closed one.

[Peskarik]

Just a picture of a GTI of an acquaintance in Moscow. They cover the roads with special reagents that melt everything in minus 10 degrees weather, erode your shoes, and feel oily to the touch.
That is about an hour after he had it washed.  




If anything, the roads in Switzerland are very clean! I've driven my Ed30 in autumn and winter and did not wash it for two months, and it was very very white still!
That pic is taken in February, I believe, and I haven't washed the car for 2 months:

[illyun]

 

OMG    and I thought my car was dirty 

[illyun]

After talk with Hurdy, who is my ambassador of tuning  ,  

  Hurdy, you simply have to put that title into your sig somewhere  

[illyun]

JonnyC must be the King of Tuning then 

[Peskarik]

Back to modding:

A day after Stage 2 it was obvious the clutch has had it.  
It was slipping in 4th,  5th, and 6th gear at 3000rpm.

That was no fun, so I ordered Sachs Clutch kit right away. That is disk with organic surface (not sintered) and reinforced clutch
cover.



Finally had the parts installed last Friday.

Stalled the car twice before I could move away the first time.   That reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson stalling FQ400 in the episode where he ran it against the Lambo.  

Pedal movement is much shorter now, and the pedal is heavier, just like it was on our beloved Alfa Romeo.  
Now have to run it in and get used to heavy clutch.  
The car is very aggressive now, especially when moving away in 1st, so I guess no winter driving unless I buy winter tyres.

[Peskarik]

Next "mod" is already next Friday.
The mod is in a box in my living room and looks like this:



It's RNS510 I bought on Ebay. 

[Peskarik]

Next mods that will happen for sure are:

1) VF Engineering engine mounts (unfortunately VWR do not reply to emails, as I was ready to buy their parts.)
2) OZ Racing Alleggerita alloys in 8x18 size