Very budget track build

[Clarkj93]

Yeah KW is twin tube across the range isn't it as well? Which I see no benefit of for my application.

Part of me was wondering the other week if you could get It modified by someone in the know, so modify the current b14 dampers valving for a Stiffer compression or just Stiffer in general with the same bump/rebound ratio and get it valved to work with Stiffer and linear springs.

I noticed that 034 motorsport have started doing static top mounts of an additional 1.5 neg camber but at almost the same price of GC without castor settings so sounds like terrible value when compared.

[pudding]

Yeah they don't do monotubes.  There are pros and cons for both types of damper but Monotubes are better for track days as as they don't bend as much in the corners and also don't suffer from oil cavitation. Road cars don't tend to push dampers very hard, so generally always come with twin tubes as they're also much cheaper to make.  KW offer a lifetime warranty on the inox V3s, or they used to at least, and you won't see that kind of warranty with monotubes 

The main negatives of monotubes are harsher ride and shorter life span.  They tend to feel the same across the brands because of how they work, except where companies like Ohlins use a 'blow off' valve to bleed off some of the high speed compression forces (riding apex kerbs etc) which gives you better wheel control. I think AST do something similar.

Bilstein and KW only get decent with their clubsport range, but you wouldn't like them on the road   

Linear springs all the way  Progressives are unpredictable and inconsistent.

The GCs are the only mount I would consider. OEM BMW bearings for the springs, which last forever, but are only £25 each when the time comes....and for the damper rods they use fairly decent Aurora spherical bearings, but I upgraded mine to NMB bearings which are heavier duty

I think the cost of consultation and revalving your existing dampers might not be good VFM vs upgrading them to adjustables, but have some chats with race experts and see what they say    It never hurts and they tend to raise things you might not have considered.

My chat with BalanceMotorsport ended up with Gaz Gold coilovers running much softer spring rates than I would have used, but it worked really well. That's why the MK7 Clubsport S broke the ring lap record.....because it used softer suspension 

[Clarkj93]

Yeah they don't do monotubes.  There are pros and cons for both types of damper but Monotubes are better for track days as as they don't bend as much in the corners and also don't suffer from oil cavitation. Road cars don't tend to push dampers very hard, so generally always come with twin tubes as they're also much cheaper to make.  KW offer a lifetime warranty on the inox V3s, or they used to at least, and you won't see that kind of warranty with monotubes 

The main negatives of monotubes are harsher ride and shorter life span.  They tend to feel the same across the brands because of how they work, except where companies like Ohlins use a 'blow off' valve to bleed off some of the high speed compression forces (riding apex kerbs etc) which gives you better wheel control. I think AST do something similar.

Bilstein and KW only get decent with their clubsport range, but you wouldn't like them on the road   

Linear springs all the way  Progressives are unpredictable and inconsistent.

The GCs are the only mount I would consider. OEM BMW bearings for the springs, which last forever, but are only £25 each when the time comes....and for the damper rods they use fairly decent Aurora spherical bearings, but I upgraded mine to NMB bearings which are heavier duty

I think the cost of consultation and revalving your existing dampers might not be good VFM vs upgrading them to adjustables, but have some chats with race experts and see what they say    It never hurts and they tend to raise things you might not have considered.

My chat with BalanceMotorsport ended up with Gaz Gold coilovers running much softer spring rates than I would have used, but it worked really well. That's why the MK7 Clubsport S broke the ring lap record.....because it used softer suspension 

Yeah all true!

 I imagine il revisit the damping when I plan to install the TT hubs I've had in the shed for over a year now, I imagine I will end up going for either:
- something cheap and generic with adjustable top mounts like yellowspeed/Bc racing
- take a punt on GAZ golds longevity but tailored setup with GC mounts
- don't tell the Mrs or the bank and get Ast's and their top mounts and boast about them to everyone

We will see when the time comes

[pudding]

The TT hubs are a good move as it drops the ball joint pivots down 50mm, which is brilliant for roll centre 

Gaz's quality issues should be a thing of the past now.  My bad experience was in 2006, but everything that could go wrong with a damper, did go wrong    Blown seals, chrome plate flaking off the damper rods, seized spring perches.....and all within 9 months of purchase    Dunno why I'm laughing as that was £1100 down the drain 

My Mrs always gets told half to a third of the real price when asked 

[Clarkj93]

The TT hubs are a good move as it drops the ball joint pivots down 50mm, which is brilliant for roll centre 

Gaz's quality issues should be a thing of the past now.  My bad experience was in 2006, but everything that could go wrong with a damper, did go wrong    Blown seals, chrome plate flaking off the damper rods, seized spring perches.....and all within 9 months of purchase    Dunno why I'm laughing as that was £1100 down the drain 

My Mrs always gets told half to a third of the real price when asked 

Yeah I've wanted them on for a while, I'm so close to the arches currently which I've already folded that they'll need chopping up and wider arch extensions put on so left it for now. Bit longer as well, can't remember how much so a bit extra track width, better roll centre and more static camber achievable and less unsprung weight, win win! Ryan from Darkside told me they'll work with just the TT driveshafts and tie rods, he mentioned just bare in mind it's alarming how little thread engagement there is but all the cup cars run like this without issue. Whether that's still suitable for a car that does 2k road miles a year I don't know 

Yeah I'd hope so, the tailored option is very appealing to be honest.

Hahha someone else told me before to describe everything as a safety issue. Only thing she's ever agreed with is getting the bigger golf r setup on as she experienced no brakes from the passenger seat at Combe and was too scared to get back in after that😅

[pudding]

The TT hubs are a good move as it drops the ball joint pivots down 50mm, which is brilliant for roll centre 

Gaz's quality issues should be a thing of the past now.  My bad experience was in 2006, but everything that could go wrong with a damper, did go wrong    Blown seals, chrome plate flaking off the damper rods, seized spring perches.....and all within 9 months of purchase    Dunno why I'm laughing as that was £1100 down the drain 

My Mrs always gets told half to a third of the real price when asked 

Yeah I've wanted them on for a while, I'm so close to the arches currently which I've already folded that they'll need chopping up and wider arch extensions put on so left it for now. Bit longer as well, can't remember how much so a bit extra track width, better roll centre and more static camber achievable and less unsprung weight, win win! Ryan from Darkside told me they'll work with just the TT driveshafts and tie rods, he mentioned just bare in mind it's alarming how little thread engagement there is but all the cup cars run like this without issue. Whether that's still suitable for a car that does 2k road miles a year I don't know 

Yeah I'd hope so, the tailored option is very appealing to be honest.

Hahha someone else told me before to describe everything as a safety issue. Only thing she's ever agreed with is getting the bigger golf r setup on as she experienced no brakes from the passenger seat at Combe and was too scared to get back in after that😅

Yeah it's not something I would do to a road car.  Less thread engagement = less grip.  I never trust the usual "Mine's been fine mate" endorsements. I only trust vehicle manufacturers, and Audi wouldn't fit inner tie rods to a rack with what is it? 5 or 6 threads?    I can see why people do that though as a TT rack and rods etc is an expensive faff.....and then I can't help but feel simply buying a TT might be a better option, well, that's what Darkside did 

Tailored works really well, but whether custom will work equally well on road and track......hmmmm, not sure.

Saftey issue    That's a good one, I'll remember that in future 

[Clarkj93]

Yeah this is why I have not done it yet! Yeah in some ways I do think I wish I got a TT as they were quite  a bit cheaper at the time for a ko3 FWD one than the golf gti. I was thinking the other day though all of the variations of this platform have cons and pros. A FWD TT with the ttrs calipers and a CDL+ko4 engine would be the best mixture in my opinion. Not really interested in the 4wd options, not experienced them but all that extra weight just to get better corner exit traction and being haldex system that's on/off rather than a true 100% of the time 4wd car doesn't really sound like much of an advantage to me.

[pudding]

My missus said she'd dump me if I bought a TT, so clearly the car has an image problem....hence the lower price vs the Golf   

You could go for a Scirocco?  That's pretty much the FWD TT you're after.  It's already wide track so should just need the TT hubs for the roll centre correction....in theory 

Or get a 4WD TT if it's cheaper and just bin the prop and read diff    Completely agree about Haldex, it's horrible.

[Clarkj93]

Injectors are currently on their way back from Rtech, injector 1 was faulty so a reconditioned one will take its place. Refusing to buy new still

Still need to reinstall the front drop link, bleed the brakes and get the fuel injectors and everything back on before llandow on 24th September. As well as finish painting the wheels, thankless task I wish I never started.

Decided to tidy up the brake ducting in the hope it will also attract a bit more air as I'm not convinced they're doing much at the moment, I thought it would make a small difference and help cool the ball joints/bearings but so far not convinced after seeing how hot everything got at Pembrey. Will likely take another look at making a v2.0 of this ducting in a few months





Llandow is probably going to be last one of the year so want to spend it doing some experimenting with different ARB stiffness and tyre pressures as I have a feeling 33-34 hot is actually too low as when using a tyre tread guage I can see the tyres are wearing far more on the inside and outside edges than the centre. Which is why I have bought a cheap skates version of pyrometer to check the tyre temperature is a steady decline from the inside edge outwards and not up and down or major drops of temp between sections of the tyre to ascertain the best tyre pressures.



May experiment with rake settings as well just to play with more rear rotation and see how it responds.

Am very much looking forward to lightening this heffa thing I must say over the winter. Not sure what winter mods will be on the list yet, should only really focus on reliability points and upgrade worn things but tempting to just go faster !

[pudding]

I don't blame you as injectors are silly money at the moment!

I found mine felt better in the corners with the factory rake removed, i.e. lower at the back, and also better under braking.  That's road use though, but often what works well on a fast road car usually translates to the track as well 

[Clarkj93]

I don't blame you as injectors are silly money at the moment!

I found mine felt better in the corners with the factory rake removed, i.e. lower at the back, and also better under braking.  That's road use though, but often what works well on a fast road car usually translates to the track as well 

Yeah not paying nearly 1000 pounds for that sorry! With all 2nd hand injectors out there getting on in age I imagine though it will be a fairly common practice now for many tfsi owners as only a small percentage are going to pay those prices for what is considered now to be a cheap-ish car most of the time.

Lower COG maybe outweighs the extra front grip/loose rear that large rake gives...

[pudding]

Yep it's ridiculous. Injector replacement plus Walnut blast is getting on for a £1500 job now 

The rake is mainly there for high speed stability and rear load capacity on FWD cars, neither of which are particularly relevant to a track car     To me the car feels better balanced with the rake shifted, and indeed all FWD cars I've owned...... in the same way the car feels more planted after filling up the tank.  Rake feels like lifting up a corner of a table on turn-in, very tail led, but levelled off, the whole table corners at the same height, it's more front led and the rear just follows faithfully rather than influencing..... really bad analogy but hope it makes sense 

[Clarkj93]

Yep it's ridiculous. Injector replacement plus Walnut blast is getting on for a £1500 job now 

The rake is mainly there for high speed stability and rear load capacity on FWD cars, neither of which are particularly relevant to a track car     To me the car feels better balanced with the rake shifted, and indeed all FWD cars I've owned...... in the same way the car feels more planted after filling up the tank.  Rake feels like lifting up a corner of a table on turn-in, very tail led, but levelled off, the whole table corners at the same height, it's more front led and the rear just follows faithfully rather than influencing..... really bad analogy but hope it makes sense 

Yeah rear load capacity was my thinking. Mine is set on almost the lowest setting on front and not far off that on the rear and there is some natural rake anyway. Was just watching the mini challenge cars last weekend which have crazy amounts of rake and got me to thinking!

[Clarkj93]

Injectors came back from RTech along with some branded sweets! Nice aye.



The hpfp been driving me crazy lately, just constantly leaking, ended up replacing the rubber hose and bamboo connector which connects the low pressure fuel line to the hpfp, 45 quid for that tiny little brass union



I replaced them as it was leaking quite a lot thinking I'd messed something when removing but the new one still leaked annoyingly! When I took it off originally I could have sworn I saw something fall out of the hpfp, I tried VW and Aks tuning and both were sure there wasn't any kind of washer there and nothing they can see in the diagrams and nothing they stock or sell. I decided to just get some m6 nylon washers from b and q, fitted one and boom no leaks! No idea if it's just mine that needs this for whatever reason or if all hpfp's have this but it's just not listed. Drove me a bit mad anyway taking it on and off god knows how many times.

And now it's actually running it idles so beautifully when the injectors have just been cleaned, never lasts long I've found but is satisfying

It's going to be fun stripping this thing down after Llandow, if anyone wants interior bits let me know. Not going to be fully stripped to keep it relatively safe still with oem seatbelts and air bags but anything I can remove without impacting safety or air con will likely be removed!=

[pudding]

Yes mate, there is an aluminium washer under each brass fitting apart from the schrader valve one     Everyone makes that mistake 

Glad it's sorted for now, but you will need to get the proper washers in there at some point 

I could do with a few interior bits.  Let us know when the great strip down commences