Worst Modifications to your MK 5 thread...

[berg]

Excellent thread. I think some mods get bad reviews because they don't make that immediately noticeable difference. Sometimes all those small mods add together to make the overall car.

There are some crap mods for the Mk5 Golf though tbf. Cheap nasty coilovers for one and some of the intakes are all show no go. I suppose it depends what you want from them, some people want a fancy engine bay and are happy with stock power. Each to their own 

Happy with all the mods on my S3 so far though 

what have you done to s3 so far graeme?

[tony_danza]

can you easily reverse the limited slip diff once its in or would it be more hassle than its worth?

Considering a second hand 'box is so easy to come by, I'd buy one to diff and then swap back once you're bored with the car, rather than split the 'box again to remove it.

[hali]

for me it was

ap coilovers
and
mintex pads

[stealthwolf]

Inpro smoked indicator lights. Completely underwhelmed by them and it's too much hassle to take them off, so they're still on.

[QD MBE]

My rule with modding is this:

Never (with the exception of mapping) do anything you can't reverse back to stock and get some of your money back when you're done.

With all I did, I don't think I made my car better - I just made it more suited to what I wanted it to do. The MKV is a fine car out of the box, which is why it won so many awards.

....Making my car more suited to what I want to do is my prime motivation. Although it's far more sensible to take your advice re costs recovery, I simply don't have the heart to put her back to standard and have no plans to sell anyway. Even after 6 years I absolutely love every mile.

Worst mods? - That's a tricky one to answer. Neuspeed discharge and charge pipes probably - I didn't feel any improvement worth their high cost. Two companies I don't trust for delivering effective products are Neuspeed and BSH.

Why not BSH?  part of the reason your catch didn't work properly was the fact that VWR fitted it and left the drain open i recall.

BSH IMO is very similar to Forge, just far more realistically priced.

My worst Mod was ironically BSH engine mounts.  Nothing to do with the BSH manufacture, which IMO was better than the VWR offerings.

Fantastic manufacture, really sturdy.  Just I didn't like the effect on NVH (Noise Vibration and harshness) when fitted.  Some love the effect.

[rdfcpete]

My rule with modding is this:

Never (with the exception of mapping) do anything you can't reverse back to stock and get some of your money back when you're done.

I agree with this Mike and it's the approach I've taken with an added air of caution sometimes 

[big al]

Inpro smoked indicator lights. Completely underwhelmed by them and it's too much hassle to take them off, so they're still on.

Haha, I convinced myself there was a difference too.

My rule with modding is this:

Never (with the exception of mapping) do anything you can't reverse back to stock and get some of your money back when you're done.

I don't agree with that philosophy, it is a sensible one mind... but when you buy your car you don't instantly think about selling it on do you, you think about the miles you will be doing, and that you want to do it in your own comfort. You make the car how you like it.
(well, I did, and think that all I have done is removable)

[stealthwolf]

Haha, I convinced myself there was a difference too.

I think the issue is that I expected them to be smoked or similar. Instead, it appears the back of the indicator is blackened but the glass is still the same, so it just appears darker. I wonder whether this is an issue with illumination and the indicator being seen.

[Little_Dave]

My worst mod so far was trying to smooth my arches by using the kind help of a london double becker bus driver

[djhorace]

Dbilas made 354bhp on my MK2 Leon Cupra with "mild" settings on Stage 2 Revo. I still rate the Dbilas although I prefer my Evoms because of the noise. In my opinion its getting an unwarranted hard time here.

Carbonio is a complete waste of cash though and my biggest waste of money. Glad I bought it used and sold it on for a similar price.

Have to say that fitting uprated ARB's and WALK was the biggest let down for me.

[GNJ_Motorsport]

Excellent thread. I think some mods get bad reviews because they don't make that immediately noticeable difference. Sometimes all those small mods add together to make the overall car.

There are some crap mods for the Mk5 Golf though tbf. Cheap nasty coilovers for one and some of the intakes are all show no go. I suppose it depends what you want from them, some people want a fancy engine bay and are happy with stock power. Each to their own 

Happy with all the mods on my S3 so far though 

what have you done to s3 so far graeme?

Full turbo back Milltek with decat, ITG Maxogen, Powerflex lower engine mount insert, white DRL bulbs, Forge diverter valve and REVO stage 2 remap.

I have a set of H&R springs and Forge 11mm spacers sat here waiting to be fitted as well.

Were you happy with the stance of the Sportline B12 kit in the end?

[RedRobin]

My rule with modding is this:

Never (with the exception of mapping) do anything you can't reverse back to stock and get some of your money back when you're done.

With all I did, I don't think I made my car better - I just made it more suited to what I wanted it to do. The MKV is a fine car out of the box, which is why it won so many awards.

....Making my car more suited to what I want to do is my prime motivation. Although it's far more sensible to take your advice re costs recovery, I simply don't have the heart to put her back to standard and have no plans to sell anyway. Even after 6 years I absolutely love every mile.

Worst mods? - That's a tricky one to answer. Neuspeed discharge and charge pipes probably - I didn't feel any improvement worth their high cost. Two companies I don't trust for delivering effective products are Neuspeed and BSH.

Why not BSH?  part of the reason your catch didn't work properly was the fact that VWR fitted it and left the drain open i recall.

BSH IMO is very similar to Forge, just far more realistically priced.

My worst Mod was ironically BSH engine mounts.  Nothing to do with the BSH manufacture, which IMO was better than the VWR offerings.

....Firstly to correct you: VWR did fit my BSH catchcan but it was me who didn't close the drain properly.

Why not BSH? - Several reasons. Very basic and crude design when compared with Forge, and I'm not just talking about eye-candy. I really dislike the way that BSH constantly trash their competitors and shout about how good they think they are. They're very two-faced in their attitude re markets in America and abroad.

I assume that when you say "realistically priced" you mean you think it's good value for not much money. Unfortunately I bought cheap and ended up paying twice, as one generally does. Each to their own of course and I respect that others (such as yourself) will have different/opposite opinions about various suppliers/manufacturers. But anything BSH for me will be a no-no regardless of cost or how good others on the internet say they are.

[QD MBE]

My rule with modding is this:

Never (with the exception of mapping) do anything you can't reverse back to stock and get some of your money back when you're done.

With all I did, I don't think I made my car better - I just made it more suited to what I wanted it to do. The MKV is a fine car out of the box, which is why it won so many awards.

....Making my car more suited to what I want to do is my prime motivation. Although it's far more sensible to take your advice re costs recovery, I simply don't have the heart to put her back to standard and have no plans to sell anyway. Even after 6 years I absolutely love every mile.

Worst mods? - That's a tricky one to answer. Neuspeed discharge and charge pipes probably - I didn't feel any improvement worth their high cost. Two companies I don't trust for delivering effective products are Neuspeed and BSH.

Why not BSH?  part of the reason your catch didn't work properly was the fact that VWR fitted it and left the drain open i recall.

BSH IMO is very similar to Forge, just far more realistically priced.

My worst Mod was ironically BSH engine mounts.  Nothing to do with the BSH manufacture, which IMO was better than the VWR offerings.

....Firstly to correct you: VWR did fit my BSH catchcan but it was me who didn't close the drain properly.

Why not BSH? - Several reasons. Very basic and crude design when compared with Forge, and I'm not just talking about eye-candy. I really dislike the way that BSH constantly trash their competitors and shout about how good they think they are. They're very two-faced in their attitude re markets in America and abroad.

I assume that when you say "realistically priced" you mean you think it's good value for not much money. Unfortunately I bought cheap and ended up paying twice, as one generally does. Each to their own of course and I respect that others (such as yourself) will have different/opposite opinions about various suppliers/manufacturers. But anything BSH for me will be a no-no regardless of cost or how good others on the internet say they are.

Thank you for correcting me.  That is not what I remember, from the car park in Adenau, anyhow not going to get wrapped round the axle over that. 

I agree ETTO. 

I think the BSH catch can that I had (large capacity with dipstick) was fantastic.  the BSH engine mounts were so much better engineered IMO than the VWR variants, and more realistically priced (pity I hated the effect it had on the car's driveability!   ).

Robin, as you say ETTO.   

[berg]

Excellent thread. I think some mods get bad reviews because they don't make that immediately noticeable difference. Sometimes all those small mods add together to make the overall car.

There are some crap mods for the Mk5 Golf though tbf. Cheap nasty coilovers for one and some of the intakes are all show no go. I suppose it depends what you want from them, some people want a fancy engine bay and are happy with stock power. Each to their own 

Happy with all the mods on my S3 so far though 

what have you done to s3 so far graeme?

Full turbo back Milltek with decat, ITG Maxogen, Powerflex lower engine mount insert, white DRL bulbs, Forge diverter valve and REVO stage 2 remap.

I have a set of H&R springs and Forge 11mm spacers sat here waiting to be fitted as well.

Were you happy with the stance of the Sportline B12 kit in the end?

yeah only got it on a couple of weeks ago - is miles better much better suspension mod than walk and arb's but then more expensive and suppose you would expect uprated springs and shocks to make more of a difference