Daz_RT_04's Steel Grey Mk5 GTI.

[daz_rt_04]

I've owned my Mk5 for a coming up-to 7 months now and figured it was time I put up a proper progress thread.

Generic 'Home' picture.. 



  A list of jobs soon esculated..


ECS Dogbone insert..




Once on the ramp it had become obvious there were issues with the rear brakes. The LH caliper was partly seized along with a handbrake cable that had corroded, letting water in.


So I ordered the below;

Pagid Rear Discs
Pagid Rear Pads
2 x Handbrake Cables
TRW LH Caliper

I also decided to replace the diverter valve for good measure.



A couple days later, I'd decided since I was going to be replacing all of those components, I may aswell fit a new O/S caliper that was showing its age also 

March 1st - Cleaning Day.


Today was the 1st opportunity I'd had to give the car a proper clean, to which I'd only just discovered the number plates, which are not to my taste..

Out with the old 



I also touched up the black rims with some cheap nail varnish - Job Jobbed.



Seat badge applied - standard.




Some clean pics prior to its cambelt, waterpump, thermostat and oil (5-40 Platinum) change at Audi on the 7th.






 



My Revo intake had arrived via TSR Bridgewater - Cheapest locally. (Nope, I do not use Lynx Africa.. yet  )



Fitted.



I'd also removed the Pre-Cat - Stolen pic below..




My Heatshield finally arrived via Midnight Garage.. Not an impressive experience.

1) Delivery time (Considering Postage Paid) was shocking.
2) The heatshield required a nice polish up due to numerous marks, scratches and glue contaminates.



Fitted;



For what it is, I would definitely suggest one of these as an additional requirement of the Revo kit.


May 2016.

Well May was going to prove an expensive month.

Firstly, I'd booked the car in at Rtec for a Stage 1 remap and wanted to prep the car with any requirements needed.

Replacement of the Cam Follower (2 years and 14k old I believe).






Not too much wear to be honest, yet I wanted to change it for my own piece of mind 


I also replaced the plugs that are 23k old.

BKR7EIX Iridium plugs.

Old ones looking sh*te - Potentially a small gasket cover leak or it could be an old dropping of oil from a previous knackered PCV Valve - Will check the plugs again at somepoint.
Spark plug replacement -





Next was to finally lose the dodgy mixed budget tyres and to refurb the wheels which were not in the greatest of condition.


I'd purchased new, Genuine centre caps.. Yet the refurbing company forgot to fit them.. 


Hyper Silver Detroits, now wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport 4's - Lovely rubber! 






I'd also wire-wooled my tips 





June 1st.

Well today was remap day at R-Tec in Hinckley, 150+ miles each way.. 

Pre-checks done sitting on the ramp/dyno





And so the session began.
Admittedly, I was a little nervous of a clutch taking a boot more torque yet it proved to hold out fine, even on a 340ftlb run! (Nikki later pegged this back as a recommendation).

Standard run - 210bhp & 226ftlb's.


After some fine tweaking, a few blips later, this was the final result;

One graph with the final figures of 268bhp & 303ftlb's.




Much Much Much better! 



June 2016

I'd decided to start stock piling/sourcing some goodies for the Golf - I'd done alot of maintenance by this point and fancied treating it to some go-faster/shiney pieces.


After pricing up from a couple companies, I'd finally managed a reasonable deal via AKS Tuning for the following;

Superpro ALK
Superpro Wishbone Bushes
Revo Engine Mount Set

Having said that, again delivery seemed to drag on somewhat 


I'd also taken a punt on some cheap Brembo/Porsche calipers that were local. It had become apparent when home that these were not suitable for the NQSBBK conversion I had planned.

Fortunately, they came with brackets.. for a Mk4 


After selling the MK4 brackets on Ebay, I discussed and agree'd a deal with BrakeCaliperRefurbs to exhange the incorrect calipers for a freshly refurbed set I was after along with a Vagbremtechnic fitting kit.


Christmas in the front room... 





Also, my aircon hasn't been working for a couple months (Or since I can remember needing it) so after plugging it into a generic Snap-On scanner, it suggested the pressure within the system was too high.

So it was either the pressure switch (it had one 15months ago), a wiring fault or some other s**t.

£50 punt





= Working Aircon 


Sunday 31st July 2016 - Fitment of the NQSBBK, Superpro ALK, Superpro Wishbone Bushes and Revo Engine Mount Set 


Prior to fitting, I'd applied some VHT paint to the centre of the discs (ideally, 7mm off centre) to help prevent getting a 'Rusty Ring' 




Kit all mocked up;




I'd opted for Brembo Discs and Textar pads - This being as I like the brands and being a road car, a harder setup isn't really required for me.


All fitted;





Wishbone bushes cooking along nicely in the background 





I would heavily recommend getting the tracking checked ASAP afterwards for the ALK and Bushes, this being as I had a 3 Degree discrepancy between the front wheels 




So there we have my 7 month progress.. Its been expensive!

[AJP]

That's some progress. Some thoughtful mods too. Should get the power down really nicely. How are you finding the Revo engine mounts?

The graph looks excellent. It's holding torque really nicely; I'd imagine the intake is helping things flow miles better at the top end. You'll get better peak torque when you get round to binning the standard downpipe and mapping accordingly. As worthwhile as the pre cat delete is, you're still limiting what the turbo can do until you open things up with a 3" downpipe. I think the standard pipe is less than 2.5"... It's just not enough!

[daz_rt_04]

That's some progress. Some thoughtful mods too. Should get the power down really nicely. How are you finding the Revo engine mounts?

The graph looks excellent. It's holding torque really nicely; I'd imagine the intake is helping things flow miles better at the top end. You'll get better peak torque when you get round to binning the standard downpipe and mapping accordingly. As worthwhile as the pre cat delete is, you're still limiting what the turbo can do until you open things up with a 3" downpipe. I think the standard pipe is less than 2.5"... It's just not enough!

Thanks for the kind words @AJP

I have considered a downpipe numerous times, although I'm slightly concerned of the noise levels?

I'm sure I'll end up buying one and getting Niki to tweak things - Then it'll be a clutch no doubt 

[Octoparrot]

Some nice tastefull mods, like the silver wheels so much better than the black 

[AJP]

I guess I was in your boat at one time; happy with Stage 1 and happy with the refinement noise-wise. Then inevitably the tuning bug bit (I honestly swore I'd keep this one close to stock when I bought it).

I ended up getting a full Powervalve system, based on two things: big power gains, proven. And the fact that the valved version was quiet and tasteful off boost, but a real howling animal on full beans. It was a bit of a punt - I'd watched the videos, read reviews on here - but I knew that one man's 'quiet and reserved' could be another man's 'drony and loud'. But anyway, I got a group buy going and took the plunge. Long story short, it works. It's quiet when you want it to be, and sounds incredible when you want to make progress. I don't feel self-conscious rolling round a town centre because it's really just a deeper note with a few burbles and crackles on the over run when you're off boost. I'm running 345lb/ft now, with the R-Tech Stage 2 map, which is almost 50lb/ft up on the 290 odd I got with Stage 1 R-Tech before the Powervalve.

As you mention the clutch... well mine started slipping as soon as the Powervalve was fitted, still on the Stage 1 map. Which was a pain in the arse, but proof of the power gains if nothing else. I've got an uprated Helix clutch now, good for 400lb/ft.

It really boils down to how far you want to take it. I'm kind of resigned to the fact that I'm going for big power, so I'm glad the clutch is out of the way.

[Martk19871]

Good read, loving the breaks. Are you based in the South West then? Also did you hit 210bhp with just the Revo intake? I've not long fittetd one.

[shoaybmakda]

Did you find it to be a massive change after you fitted the ECS dogbone mount insert? I'm thinking of getting one myself @daz_rt_04

[Martk19871]

Good read, loving the breaks. Are you based in the South West then? Also did you hit 210bhp with just the Revo intake? I've not long fittetd one.

I just realised you did the decat, probably to do with that   

[daz_rt_04]

I guess I was in your boat at one time; happy with Stage 1 and happy with the refinement noise-wise. Then inevitably the tuning bug bit (I honestly swore I'd keep this one close to stock when I bought it).

I ended up getting a full Powervalve system, based on two things: big power gains, proven. And the fact that the valved version was quiet and tasteful off boost, but a real howling animal on full beans. It was a bit of a punt - I'd watched the videos, read reviews on here - but I knew that one man's 'quiet and reserved' could be another man's 'drony and loud'. But anyway, I got a group buy going and took the plunge. Long story short, it works. It's quiet when you want it to be, and sounds incredible when you want to make progress. I don't feel self-conscious rolling round a town centre because it's really just a deeper note with a few burbles and crackles on the over run when you're off boost. I'm running 345lb/ft now, with the R-Tech Stage 2 map, which is almost 50lb/ft up on the 290 odd I got with Stage 1 R-Tech before the Powervalve.

As you mention the clutch... well mine started slipping as soon as the Powervalve was fitted, still on the Stage 1 map. Which was a pain in the arse, but proof of the power gains if nothing else. I've got an uprated Helix clutch now, good for 400lb/ft.

It really boils down to how far you want to take it. I'm kind of resigned to the fact that I'm going for big power, so I'm glad the clutch is out of the way.

I've just taken a look at the Powervalve costings..  I may look a downpipe that is suitable for the standard system.. and take a leap of faith 

Do you have a progress thread on the go?


I to had the best intentions of keeping this neigh on stock when I bought it 

Oh and the Revo Mounts as you asked @AJP , I like them!
You do get some vibrations on idle and driving along feels a bit buzzy at low speeds, you also find youself hearing more general engine noises yet I would suggest the Pro's outweigh the cons;
- Improved gearchanges
- Less kangaroo/rocking motions
- Improved engine note when pressing on (I didn't imagine this happening)
- Power feels like its delivered better

[AJP]

Haha, we all say "I'm keeping this one standard"!

I don't have a build thread, never bothered. But if you've got any questions, fire away. Got a few pics knocking about somewhere too...

[daz_rt_04]

Good read, loving the breaks. Are you based in the South West then? Also did you hit 210bhp with just the Revo intake? I've not long fittetd one.

I just realised you did the decat, probably to do with that   

The standard run consisted of the Intake, Pre-Cat removal and running on Shell V-Power - It had recently been serviced also.


Yeah I'm based in Shepton Mallet, not too far away from yourself 

Did you find it to be a massive change after you fitted the ECS dogbone mount insert? I'm thinking of getting one myself @daz_rt_04

I wouldnt say it was massive, there is a little difference though - It does aid less rocking motions/cleaner shifts, although I'd recommend looking at the bush within the dogbone arm also as that appears a little weak! 

Interestingly enough, I took the ECS one out to fit the Revo counterpart and it seems the ECS one is a little firmer! Doh!

[AJP]

Couple of the Powervalve. Went for the R32 rear as I'd already colour coded the skirts and fitted an ed30 front.

I've since adjusted the exhaust slightly so it sits a few mill higher and fills the valance cutouts better.

These are the 'R' style tailpipes, which are more angled (30 degree) and a bit bigger than the other traditional R32 tip option (15 degree I think).

I love it. Yes, it was a fair chunk of money, but it's worth every penny for me. Best mod I've done.

[daz_rt_04]

Couple of the Powervalve. Went for the R32 rear as I'd already colour coded the skirts and fitted an ed30 front.

I've since adjusted the exhaust slightly so it sits a few mill higher and fills the valance cutouts better.

These are the 'R' style tailpipes, which are more angled (30 degree) and a bit bigger than the other traditional R32 tip option (15 degree I think).

I love it. Yes, it was a fair chunk of money, but it's worth every penny for me. Best mod I've done.

Thats a lovely looking car! I do have a colour coded rear bumper in my to-do list also 

The exhaust does look good and works as a nice package.

[AJP]

Thanks mate. It's not far off how I want it cosmetically, just a few bits like ed30/R32 rear lights, xenons etc. Doesn't take much work to get a mk5 looking nice!

Colour coding makes a huge difference, makes it all look a bit classier I reckon.

[daz_rt_04]

Thanks mate. It's not far off how I want it cosmetically, just a few bits like ed30/R32 rear lights, xenons etc. Doesn't take much work to get a mk5 looking nice!

Colour coding makes a huge difference, makes it all look a bit classier I reckon.

Yeah I do like the Look of R32 rear lights, are you thinking genuine Xenons or copies?