First cheap Mods to your GTI -

[Chris1H]

Hi All,

Whats your favorite/first small mods on the mk6? For me it would have to be:

Seat Inserts
These are around £12.50 off ebay. They are a small metal badge with a sticky back. They then simply stick into the insert of the seat. One of the first things many people do! Probably the easiest of any mods possible to the car!



LED footwell lights and interior lights.
Swapping all these makes a real difference to the interior. Makes it brighter and gives a much better look! Be careful when taking the plastics off as they are quite brittle! The new mk7 golf comes with LED inside bulbs...  Especially the Footwell lights. I changed mine to a crisp white light but many change them to blue/red.

Front & Rear VW Badges
A tricky little mod! Plenty videos on youtube showing how to change them but the rear pops off quite well!See below video

The front however is very tricky. Depending on the age of your mk6 it may have different fitment of grill. For mine (2011) you have to twist it. I found the below video great for showing how to do this!

Front Headlight bulbs.
See below picture. There is three different bulbs in the main headlight not including the indicator. The one circled is the sidelight. This you can easily change to a w505 LED which will give off a brighter sharper light instead of the normal halogen bulb in there at present. The bulb to its right is the DRL bulb. This comes on during the day. This gives off a very yellow color to which they can easily be changed for a more white/blue off ebay. The main headlight to the left a normal H7. Osram night breakers are a good option for this one but there is many topics on the net for which H7 is best! 

The alternative to these are HIDS for the front. This is something i haven't tried but many people have and gives a alternative cheaper option that getting xenons! I Personally havent tried them as they "blew" my BCM on a previous car! Another option would be just putting in xenons.




Rear Lights to LED's
Carnt personally comment on this too much as mine is a 2011 and comes with LED as standard (see pic below). However earlier models only come with the standard halogen ones. I see alot of people changing theirs! They do change the whole back end of the car and make it look way better! and look way newer! Some coding will be involved but they fit in the exact space.




Anyone have any other ideas, please comment and I will Add it in!!!

[th3_f15t]

See, I'm a performance man, so for me the first modifications would be:

Air filter upgrade (panel filter)
DV upgrade
Cat-back exhaust
ECU Remap

Do it in that order and you'll be amazed by the time you have a re-map just how different the engine is with, frankly, nothing much more than stock parts. Along with these modifications a set of decent sports springs and decent tyres will allow you to really enjoy the new found power. Also make sure to use 98/99 RON (high octane) fuel for improved engine performance and economy.

As for brakes, the cheapest option would be to upgrade from the 312mm front brakes to the R32/6R/S3/Cupra R 345mm brake set up, a complete replacement (calipers, carriers, discs, pads and lines) and it all bolts on without modification and will fit behind all 17/18 inch OE alloy wheels without issues. The stopping power of this kit is good enough on my stage 2+ Golf R for road use so they're seriously good value for the cost of them. If you go stage 2 some decent pads will further enhance their performance.

If you're in the market for a decent stereo upgrade that has potential for going to a full sound system but don't want to loose all the OE features of the stock unit, then look at the Kenwood DNX525DAB upgrade (official VW approved unit). These can actually be sourced and fitted through the main dealer but you'd be better off sourcing it yourself through eBay and fitting it at home or get someone local who's confident enough to do it (you'll save hundreds of pounds).

Just my 10p from my recent years with the 2.0 TFSI and mk5/6 Golf chassis. If anyone needs more help with any of this feel free to drop me a message, always happy to chat about modifications!

[th3_f15t]

hi ive got the mk5 tdi se and i find the engine very noisy is there anything you would rec that i can do to make it bit more quiet? newbie

This is the Mk6 Golf section, so unlikely you'll get answers here! Try in the Mk5 General section.

[GT-eye]

Nice list of mods you have there

[Dooge]

I thought I'd chuck in my 2 pence. I went with the seat plaques and they are great, just a nice finishing touch! My car already has a stage 1 map supposedly running 270  I would be tempted with a decent intercooler, but I dont fancy anything that will add noise as its a daily and family car.

Any other mods people recommend? Colesy on here recommended Powerflex engine mounts, can anyone tell me how many there are on the mk6's? any negative effects?