Update..The car is fantastic now, already sent Mark from VWR the list of parts / work to be completed on the next visit!! So excited ha..
So I picked up the car on Friday from the VWR premises, the car had a fresh set of spark plugs, the engine had its first service and the car was corner weighted and set up! The car weighed in at 1330kg, with half a tank of fuel, so around 1310kg with a dry tank! I have calculated that I have removed just over 110kg from the car, so I was expecting the weight to now sit at around 1260kg, obviously its a little porkier from the factory than VW make out..
Also I had some lovely goodies fitted!
The Quaife ATB LSD diff is amazing, quite good fun leaving two fat black lines behind you!! The biggest difference is felt when exiting the corners, its amazing, but just as you would expect really, having had 1 wheel drive for so long, its nice to have both front tyres working for you at the same time! Also grip in a straight line is improved 100%!
There is no pulling when driving normally on steady throttle as the diff is a gear type and the only movement you feel is when your flat out over an un-even road, even then its really not a problem, this is a massively worth while mod, even for a standard car!
I had one of the front damper inserts replaced as it was soft (from new) its far better now, but still, im kind of waiting to see how long they last! Bit disappointed really, but you get what you pay for, and even the Koni dampers dont seem to be great! Not what you would expect from such a name..
I also had the VWR 'Race' lower engine mount fitted, this is amazing, for sure its not for everyone as its completely solid, so the vibrations are a little harsh on pulling away..
Picture shows the 'road' gearbox and engine mounts and the 'race' lower engine mount, there is a 'road' lower engine mount but as I already had the full VF engineering kit this wouldn't have really been a big step forward.
The fitting is a little more involved than any of the other lower engine mounts, the intermediate sub frame is dropped and the old insert is pressed out, then the new solid aluminum mount is pressed in.. there is ZERO movement now, the car is now amazingly precise and responsive on throttle, and forget about any wheel hop!!!
I had a Forge 'Twintercooler' kit delivered to VWR but unfortunately there wasn't quite time to fit it.. Its amazing piece of kit, really great finish, and from all of the reports I have read its going to make the car run much cooler, which should make some great increases in power and torque throughout the rev range! Ill write another update once I have this fitted, should be this week as I need it for Santa Pod this Sunday!!
I went for the black hoses to keep the subtle look. That core is going to look amazing behind the middle grille!! Very mean!!
The last few things that I had done at VWR was to remove the rear wiper from the car, this was for a couple of reasons. One I really like the look of it, makes the rear end much cleaner! And two it saves a bit of weight! Then I had the rear bumper bar removed, this is a really heavy steel bar which sits behind the rear bumper, it would prevent the bumper from cracking in a little hit, it plays no part in safety from rear impact etc, if it did then I wouldn't have removed it.. It weighed in at just over 10kg's so well worth removing!
(Excuse the dirty car)
Oh! And.. Got myself a little more of the Gold heat tape and finished off the intake pipe! A custom heatshield is being made as we speak which should feature a bit more GOLDD! And im having a venturi cold air feed from a set of open fog light grilles made up too.. This should keep the filter nice and cool, and away from the radiant heat of the coolant pipes that it currently sits above..
So that's about it for now really! Heres a couple of pics from the other day, a local meet.. Shows the car at the new ride height and you can just about spot the exhaust too.. Also gone back to the chrome VW badge, just looked too much having it all black on the front end, much happier with the look now!
Going to have a couple of little bits done this week for the Santa Pod meet, which ill keep a secret until then haha..
Jonny
