CW MK6 Golf R (Australia)

[stephen8512]

eagle has landed...



SSR Professor SP1's.
19 x 9.0 +37 offset. SuperLow (SL) disk. 5x112 PCD.

now to find the time.....wont be for a while. Other things taking priority atm...

[stephen8512]

Got invited to attend the photoshoot for "Meet the Fans" for the VW Australia magazine "Das Auto". Lots of waiting around doing nothing. However, did see a few familiar faces at the shoot.

Should be in the next edition of VW Australia magazine










MK1 Golf vs MK6 Golf. Loved this '77 MK1...

[Hurdy]

Top work as ever Stephen. Love those group shots. 

[stephen8512]

So lot of people have PM'ed me about specs. These wheels are 19x9, with +37 offset and a PCD of 112, not the traditional 114.3 you find on most JDM wheels as that is the PCD for most if not all jap cars. It's actually a good fitment for a Scirocco R, so when I do sell, potential there for scirocco owners :)

As the PCD is suited for our cars, this means no wobble bolts or PCD adaptors. This was pretty important to me personally. As much as I know that wobbles work and are actually quite safe, if you have the choice to get the wheels in the correct PCD, why not? Also, PCD adaptors are good but the thinnest adaptors I could find were the ones from Adaptec which are 15mm...so essentially it'd be like putting on a 15mm spacer on the car, which would effectively make the car's offset a +22. Again, with this final offset figure, it would work for Evo 8's and STI's, but not the Golfs.

Since the wheels are a tad aggressive for our cars, kerscher wider guards will be ordered, which will give me about 20mm at the fronts to clear and not rub (hopefully), and for the rear, I plan to get Peter at Bodyform to look at maybe flaring them out a bit with a little bit of camber, but nothing too crazy.

Final aim is to get a nice, fat, squat look from the back without going crazy camber whilst still being able to perform daily duties. Tyres will be slightly stretched on 235's. This shouldn't be detrimental and isn't crazy stretch either.

Okuyama/Carbing chassis bracing will replace my current UniBrace UB along with KW Clubsport coilovers which will enable front camber adjustment easily as they come with camber top plates. I have camber top plates ready to be installed  on the V3 ultralows (as they are compatible) but I've decided that the ultralows might not work with these wheels. If i had gone with a 19x8.5 +45 like everyone else, then I could easily keep these coilovers and it would be happy days. But, for wheels like SSR Professors, an 8.5 width with a weak offset like that simply would not do. Professors are meant to have a bit of a step lip....and the size/spec I went for isn't overly aggressive so I think it should be okay to pull off. It just requires a bit more work.

Now to find the time to do all this. 2014 is already proving to be a busy year!

[stephen8512]

late night test fit. couldnt help myself





poke poke!

[stephen8512]

care package from VW to say thanks for being part of the "meet the fans" segment of this month's DAS AUTO magazine

[stephen8512]

There hasn't been much activity with my car over the last few months, mainly because I've been busy with other things as well as there isn't much left to do on the car now so I've just been enjoying it.

Few things which will be done in the next few months, which is mainly maintenance rather than new mods

- 60K major service + cam follower change + volant air filter clean/change + rotate wheels
- Replace windscreen wipers with new Bosch items
- Need to fix creaking noise when car goes over speedhumps. I have a feeling its the SuperPro ALK bushings...
- Going to spend a full day or two detailing the car both inside and out.
- Few little cosmetic detail changes to come
- Need to buy 72.2 to 57.1 hubrings. Preferably aluminium and not plastic. (Still looking)
- New OEM bonnet to be put on order
- DSG Tune

I also may have an opportunity to purchase a Golf R cluster with colour MFD. Probably one of the more exciting things that may be happening. However, still not 100% sure how it will work or whether indeed it'll actually work with my car. Im sure it will but it will require VAGCOM or something similar I'm guessing...will keep you all posted :)

[stephen8512]

So small update. Haven't had time to do much to the car mod wise, so I've been collecting parts again...

1) Major 60K service completed at 53K kms as the car was approaching 1 year since last major 45K service (which was subsequently done around 38K kms). Thanks to Jack at BLA for getting all this done. Will need to drop car back off there to tend to a knocking noise which Jack believes is the subframe and the rigid collars but all in all, car feels good.

2) Car got into a little accident a few weeks back. Three lane road (Pennant Hills Rd), I was on the right most lane. 4WD towing a caravan was in the middle lane. My car was situated between the 4WD and the caravan when suddenly, the guy starts merging into my lane without any indication. I honk my horn thinking he will stop but he kept coming. Slam the brakes and luckily, the rear driver side of his caravan scraped the passenger side quarter panel of my car only. It also damaged my OSIR mirror covers and the actual mirror unit, but aside from that, it was all cosmetic as it just scraped it. Suspension and the integrity of everything was intact, which was a relief. Immediately took it to Axel at VCDC and within a week, it was all fixed. Covered through the other guys insurance. New panel, new mirror unit and new OSIR CF covers. Wheels were also scraped and this was also fixed.

It sounds worse than what it really was. Guy was an older bloke, apologised, swapped details, went through insurance, hassle free. Now, the car is back in my garage and booked in with Dave at Reflect Effect to get the quarter panel and mirror covers re-opticoated. Axel did a fantastic job as always. The panel has been properly colour matched, wheels have been repaired and freshened up and the end result is flawless. Cannot thank him enough.



3) Colour MFD sale fell through from the guy in the UK. Won't be getting my hands on it unfortunately. Still on the lookout for one though...

4) Bought some new replacement wipers. Bosch Aerotwin A980S. Very good wipers with streak free finish. Feels brand new again.

Purchased them from here : http://au.bosch-automotive-shop.com/en/products/details/-/productdetails/3397118980

For those that want the VW OEM wipers (which I believe is the same brand but more expensive due to it being labelled a VW OEM Part), then the VW Part code is 1Q2998002. Should fit MK5 Golfs as well as MK6.



5) SSR SP1 centre caps purchased. These are the "B-Type Low" caps. There are also the "B-Type Super Low" and "B-Type High". Difference between the caps is basically the "thickness", or how much the cap protrudes out from the centre. The ones I got are 22.71mm thick and should tie in nicely with the wheels (when I finally put them on).

Also, I'm thinking of getting a custom "R" logo made up in place of the SSR logo...but we'll see how that goes.





72.2 to 57.1 aluminium hubrings also ordered from SSR Japan.

6) Decided to remove "R" logo badge from the front grille and instead, fit the white insert for the front VW badge. I previously had this badge when I purchased it from Bold-Sport (as can be seen by my previous post here), but at the time I didn't like it for two reasons. One, I felt it didn't look good with the white housing and chrome "R" logo and two, the actual housing from Bold Sport was a chinese copy, not a VW OEM item so it wouldn't "click" into the grille as nicely as the OEM one did.

I had a spare housing lying around (VW Part code : 5K0 853 601 F) so I got Axel to spray the housing in candy white while he was repairing my car and have now removed the "R" logo from the grille. Only thing is, by removing the R logo, it has left these two holes where the logo used to be, but they are barely noticeable. I might do a DIY later on and dremel it off, or just substitute my grille for a TSI grille which is essentially the same thing without the holes.

Now that the R logo is no longer there, it looks better with the white housing. Still a bit iffy with the look of it to be honest, but thats what I said initially about having a black VW badge instead of a chrome one, and I came around to it in the end. We shall see what happens...

(old photo but looks like this without the R logo now)





7) 3D Design carbon vents ordered through Budi at Autotechnik. These are the same as the vents on Justin's MK5 R32. Originally designed for the 1 series BMW, the bonnet will be cut and made to fit these vents. Also, it will be a new VW OEM bonnet that the vents will be used on.



Only dilemma I have at the moment is whether to keep the vents carbon, or to get them painted in Gloss black? I had thought of wrapping them in gloss black vinyl but not sure how the vinyl will hold up overtime with heat emanating from the bonnet. Once I get these in my hands, then will make a decision. For now though, I'll most likely keep them CF as it will tie in with the CF Garage Vary front lip and the CF OSIR mirror covers.

Focal IFVW Speaker kit purchased. Will be looking at upgrading the rear door speakers too as well as Dynamat. Most likely be going to Marty @ FHRX to do the install. 

Not my photo but you get the idea...




Last few things to purchase :

- OEM VW Bonnet (Aug-Sep)
- 355x32 Brembo 6 pot calipers with slotted front and rear rotors (Oct-Nov)
- Custom mould interior CF trim (Nov-Dec)
- Kerscher wider front guards (Nov-Dec)

Then, finally, I'll be done.... maybe bigger turbo or something later on but not for a very long while...a maxed out K04 making some 220kw at all 4 wheels I believe is plenty enough for a daily driver.

[stephen8512]

Picked up the 3D Design twin vents for the bonnet from Autotechnik today. Many thanks to Budi for sourcing these and bringing them in.

I wish I took a photo of the box it came in. For a pair of vents, they were contained inside a box which was as big as the box my Scorpion TBE came in, with the inside of the box having a plethora of bubble wrap. No chance of the vents getting damaged with all that wrap/box.

I have to say, it really is a very nice bit of kit. I said that I would consider painting these Gloss piano black, but the CF is just so nice and I don't think I can do it. In any case, when these are installed, the front should tie in nicely with the front Garage Vary CF lip and the OSIR CF mirrors.

They come factory with this silver mesh at the opening of the vents. From memory, Jose had left his off completely on his old R32. I don't mind them to be honest, but I will ask Jack at BLA to get some black Porsche mesh to replace these (if I decide to keep them).

The 3D Design vents also come with these rain/water catchment trays. Once the vents are installed, I'm guessing the idea is you can pop the bonnet and screw these in for when there's rain pouring down so that water doesn't get into the engine bay. Only thing is, it may not have clearance in the engine bay when I try and shut the bonnet with them on...but we'll get to that hurdle when the vents are installed on the bonnet...let's get that done first...

Anyway, enough blab. Here are some photos

CF weave so nice...




Certification of authenticity




Rain catchment tray




A reminder of how these vents look when properly installed. Photo credit goes to Jose (JIG) and for these photos of his old (Justin Fox's current) MK5 Supercharged R32






...and a mock-up of how the vents will look when it will be on my Golf R.




The SSR Wheel caps I ordered for my Professor SP1's finally arrived. There were so many variations of these wheel caps. I opted for the "low" caps (i.e they don't protrude out as much when installed)




And just a few small purchases. OSIR keyfob thing as the rubber buttons were starting to get quite worn and had a few scratches and scuffs




Also bought these. OSIR aluminium carpet locks. Just a little minor detail thing which should tie nicely with the JCAPS aluminium billet wheel cover for my Recaros.



Didn't take a photo of them installed but looks like this.

[danishmkvgti]

Regarding the Kerscher Front fenders, i have them on my mk 5 gti and they are 30mm wider than stock on the mk 5. Are you sure they are only 20mm wider for the mk 6?

[rex]

Jake, as far as I know they are 25mm wider on the Mk5 Golf.

About the bonnet vents... If that's a style look you are after, it is a great mod.
BUT if you want better cooling of the engine, it's not... For the vents to be affective you need to place them as far away from the windscreen as possible. I've done some reading and if the vets are where you put them, you will only have a better cooling when stationary. Otherwise, in that place, there is a lot of pressure when the car is moving and air can't escape. For better cooling you need something like this (or just mount the vents lower):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92015964@N06/10744318413

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92015964@N06/10744095176

[stephen8512]

Hey rex. Thanks for your input :)

Yeah these vents wont be as functional as the one you posted up and the mock-up photo was just that : a mock up just to get an idea of how it'd look. :)

I will probbaly mount these lower than whats shown in the pic but it's going to be both aesthetic as well as functional, but again, not as functional as that other bonnet on the MK5. I just really liked the look and aggressiveness of these vents and thought it'd flow with the MK6's lines nicely

[stephen8512]

It's been a while...
 
Finally out of storage...shall be on the car very soon

 
And finally, vents to be installed in the coming week or 3 :) Mesh to be substituted with porsche black mesh
 

[stephen8512]

teaser :


 

[stephen8512]

So got the car back...with added vents :)
 
Took some super quick snaps of the car in its current state.