Got the car back from star yesterday OMG !

[gobbleplease]

Just got my car back from star performance yesterday, after having the following fitted.

Cam belt
water pump
cam follower (Fine No Damage)
VWR fast road engine mount
Eibach antiroll bars
Powerflex wishbone bushes
Whiteline antilift kit
KW V1 Inox coilovers
Blueflame Exhaust
AP racing Pro 5000 Front BBK

I am both   and at the moment, blueflame never supplied any clamps for the exhaust so makeshift ones have been fitted untill the correct clamps arrive, but got to say the sound is   , i absolutly feckin love it ! and to think it will only get better as the next 2000 miles roll in.

All i can say is with all the handeling mods is im blown away, the weather was good here yesterday and i gave it a little chuck about some twisty roads, I sware to god the car laughed at me and said "is this all youve got Bryan ya tool" the handeling is amazing i never felt at any time like the car was going to give up its line, it is superbly damped and as sharp as a tack !
It has taken a little bit of getting used to the the turn in but im fine with it now. If you jerk the wheel just a tiny, weeny little bit the car sharply and quickly, without drama just goes straight where you want it with out a hint of roll, honesty amazing . Setup wise i went for a conservative drop of 20mm and hard on the rear antiroll bar, i will reserve judgement for the ride quality at the moment as usually after a few weeks it changes but at the moment im pretty impressed and thought it would of been a bit harder

Engine mount, again acceleration seems to be crisper and there is a little more vibration throught the pedal but again i expected more, so im pretty happy with this too.

Brakes  .................................... mmmmmmmm This was the bit i was looking forward to most. Im having major problems with them though. (if anyone with a BBK could help me out here that would be great).
Lets start with the good bit, the AP Pro 5ks are ultra light weight and they feel superbly ballanced with the rears, ( Tryed to catch them out by braking firmly on a corner )  the power is suberb as well not grabby at all, superbly modulated and very progressive. Now then, the brake calipers and everything, hubs ect ect were brand new with only second hand discs supplied, first off the discs were supplied as two offside discs so slight issues already, but ive aranged for new discs anyhoo and continued with the fitting, so after the fitting i test drove it and majour noises were coming from both front brakes which were getting progressivly worse ! so we had a look and what was happening was as heat got in to the disc and expanded it the disc became too big and started to rub off the caliper, solution a small shimm was added to space the caliper up a bit problem solved although now i still have masses of noise and more ! See list below :-

1) Discs - 2 offside discs supplied - Could this be causing the Noise under braking ?
2) Discs - After a little driving i noticed that there is hundereds of little pitted cracked marks in the discs that look like they have came from a bad cast - Could this be causing the horrible noise under braking ?
3) Pads - When the pads are fitted there is play in them ? about 1mm movement is this normal for such brakes ? Could this be  adding to the noise
4) When im coming off the brakes for about 20 seconds after there is a slight rubbing noise like the pads/pistons arnt retracting correctly

like i said the noise is a really harsh grinding noise, quite worrying   but the brakes actually function fine and stop the car as i would expect. Anyone ? thanks  

Anyway to end on a good note, my project is nearly complete and a few more goodies arrived over the week which i was going to fit at the weekend but the brakes take prority at the moment, My RNS 510 arrived its looks brand new ! so well chuffed, this will be fitted and the centre dash will be covered in carbon fibre as it has a few airfreshner burn marks from the previous owner so this will hide that. Also my ITG intake was going to be put on this weekend as well as my newly aquired s3 intercooler and then it was off for a remap on monday and that was it job done bar the fitting of my ed 30 front splitter which i still need to have painted. Cant wait to have this car finished and enjoy it  

[Lukeduke]

All sounds good apart from brakes  . Just out of interest how much would need to be set aside for such mods and fitting?

[GTIjames]

good modding session gobble 

re your brakes - i would just go very easy on them or avoid driving it until your new discs arrive as its really not ideal running them with wrong disc on one side - you might damage the pad etc

the rubbing noise is most probably due to the disc not been for the correct side of the car or the disc is warped

once you get the news discs make sure you bed them in properly - AP should provide instructions for doing this correctly as it differs between manufacturers

anyhow

 

[gobbleplease]

All sounds good apart from brakes  . Just out of interest how much would need to be set aside for such mods and fitting?

coilovers £700
ARBs £280
WALK £130
Engine mount £ 150
Brakes - you will struggle to get the ones i have but you are looking at about £1600
bushes £30

fitting and alignment for the lot was £500
The timing belt waterpump service including all parts and cam follower was £300

[gobbleplease]

good modding session gobble 

re your brakes - i would just go very easy on them or avoid driving it until your new discs arrive as its really not ideal running them with wrong disc on one side - you might damage the pad etc

the rubbing noise is most probably due to the disc not been for the correct side of the car or the disc is warped

once you get the news discs make sure you bed them in properly - AP should provide instructions for doing this correctly as it differs between manufacturers

anyhow

 

Thanks James.

ive tryed filing a chamfer on the disc groove to quiten them down, too no avail i have noticed that there is majour grooving on one of the internal faces of the discs already after only 40 miles ! indicating some majour rubbing ! ill need to get some spacers and see what i can do with it, its obviously not been set up properly

Ill get some pics up in my build thread once ive sorted the brake issues

Does anyone know where i can get some brake spacers / shimm ?

Does anyone know

[Nasir]

good modding session gobble 

re your brakes - i would just go very easy on them or avoid driving it until your new discs arrive as its really not ideal running them with wrong disc on one side - you might damage the pad etc

the rubbing noise is most probably due to the disc not been for the correct side of the car or the disc is warped

once you get the news discs make sure you bed them in properly - AP should provide instructions for doing this correctly as it differs between manufacturers

anyhow

 

If the discs were warped they would vibrate under braking?

[gobbleplease]

APs sorted !and as thought my best mod yet !

I would also like to thank Dave B for his help and patiance. id also like to thank him for a well engineed well put together pair of stoppers, also none of the problems faced were anything to do with the brake package.

[DaveB@Vagbremtechnic]

Nice one Bry, you had me totally stumped as to what it could have been! 

I think you're showing amazing restraint at the moment - Id be taking out a full page in the Daily Mail......

Glad you like them bud

[keith]

Did Star provide all the bits you had fitted?

[owen lcr]

OHHH NO, i think i can hear another STAR horror story brewing...

[DaveB@Vagbremtechnic]

Hi Bryan

AT LEAST to repair the damage they have caused

1. New Rotor
2. New CP3215D54 Pads in DS2500

After the damage is sorted its up to them to try to keep you as a customer - service and a remap maybe...

You could have had your wife and kids in that car on the way home bud

Plus they hurt my feelings........PRICELESS!!! 

[owen lcr]

All im going to say is GOOD LUCK. you will need it

[gobbleplease]

All im going to say is GOOD LUCK. you will need it

please expand mate, have you had problems dodgy dealings with them before ?

You don't come from or work in falkirk do you ? your car looks familiar !

Ill let you know what happens tomorrow Dave ta !

[Toast]

Hope Star sort it out for you mate     I've had them work on my car numerous times and can't fault Jim and his family very helpful and I'll be using them again