th3_f15t '07 GTI

[th3_f15t]

A small update, in the form of new Team Dynamic Pro Race 1.2's now fitted.

[cicco]

You've done a lot of great work to this car mate

[TaylorGTi]

Very nice buddy!

[th3_f15t]

Thanks mate. Been rather under the weather of late so updates and progress have been slow, but hope to move things along within the next few weeks. Did someone mention BCS turbo back exhaust group buy..?

[th3_f15t]

So in keeping with monthly updates, I've chucked together a few photos and some text. First little change up was returning to a stock grill:


Also added some R32 rear lights:


And now running some Team Dynamic Pro Race 1.2's in an 18 inch matt black flavour:


Also signed up to a group buy for a BCS turbo back exhaust sytem which will be with me end of April all being well. Oh, and decided to get some new brakes:


Car insurance is due next month and the exhaust isn't cheap (despit being a good deal!) so slower progress over the coming months.

[th3_f15t]

Decided the NQSBBK isn't for me, so got the harder brother! 330mm discs and slightly larger Brembo calipers, nice! NQSBBK now going back for sale if anyone is or knows someone who's interested. Also got some Forge coolant pipes, need the lower ones and some fittings then I'm good to attempt that. Might make a start on my ED30 splitter this week too if I get time.

[xjay1337]

Lots of good plans 

Will look good! Hope the new brake calipers are red haha

What about some of those non-xenon xenon headlights? Would make a big difference on the front end.

[th3_f15t]

Lots of good plans 

Will look good! Hope the new brake calipers are red haha

What about some of those non-xenon xenon headlights? Would make a big difference on the front end.

Thanks man. The calipers are indeed big red Porsche calipers.

Yeah, some "show" Xenon lights would be cool as I've been eyeing them up for some time but lack of money for then due to continuiously buying other stuff has prevented them being an item. But if I fit my S3 intercooler myself, I'll likely grab a set as it makes sense to do them while the front end is dismantled.

So, it’s only taken since January of this year to sort it out, but I finally have my arm rest fully installed! The hold-up came from no access to the sides of the arm rest with the seats in, plus I needed to re-remove the centre console to fit the air duct pipework for the rear vents. So after (scarily) just under an hour later it looked like this:


One of the main access problems was this one screw:


But my perfectionist side is now happy as its all bolted back in and there are no spare screws! Every single one is accounted for and where it should be:



Really, I’d of liked to hoover the hell out of my interior while the car is in the state above, but due to personal circumstances massively changing in the last week, the location for this work is far from an ideal location. Still, it’s another job done and dusted, last job of the interior is to fit my front JBL speakers and possibly wire them up to the rear amplifier, although this is unlikely unless I can cleverly do it without removing the whole interior again. Seriously, it’s no joke that to wire up an amplifier in the rear you pretty much remove all the interior, just check my previous posts!

So what’s next for Evie then? Well, chances are that there won’t be an awful lot this month now as I need to focus on my mk4 V5 for a bit to get her running again and then sold on for a bit of profit to fund some bigger plans for Evie (not saying anything yet…). I’ve got my full turbo back exhaust on order and it’s due delivery at the end of April so once that arrives and I’ve sourced a cheap HPFP and maybe an full cold air intake (CAI) I’ll fit everything up (apart from the exhaust) and remap to finally be at stage 2+. After than it’ll most certainly be the new Porsche 4-piston front brakes with 330mm discs, and hopefully if I sell my other brake kit to claim money back, a set of re-coloured rear R32 310mm brakes too for some serious stopping power. Overall goal is to have the chassis capable of around 400bhp for future development. Oh wait, you’re not supposed to know that’s a figure I have in my head…

For now, it’s just a case of waiting for a wash (both me and Evie!) and a final money shot for the evening. Peace, ya’ll!

[xjay1337]

Nice work :) Much more comfy!!!

You shouldn't need to remove the interior to run the amp wires.
Depends how you do it, you can wire it all up behind the head unit. Don't ask me how though. I just know that's what Jairm's doing on mine!

[th3_f15t]

I'm pretty sure I can get away with running each side of speaker wire under the lower trim but just tucking it up there with a trim tool and feeding it under the rear bench where my other wires go (removing the rear lower bench takes all of 30 seconds now I'm an interior pro!). It's just that my head unit pushes out 50w per channel but my JBL 2-way run at 80w RMS (maybe 90w, can't remember) so I'm hooking them to the amplifier as it pushes out 100w @ 4ohm per channel and 150w @ 2ohm. In honesty, my front JBL run at 3ohm so who knows what they really RMS at but end of the day the amplifier within the Kenwood stereo is shockingly bad compared to even a budget Pioneer head unit.

I had thought about just bridging the last two channels into a subwoofer and running the fronts off the head unit but decided I'll do that when I go for a full custom interior. Oh sh*t, another plan you're not supposed to know about!

Forgot to mention I'll also be fitting Forge coolant hoses in the next few months once I get hold of the lower set (got the top set already) and a fitting kit or two. Got a proper set of hose clip pliers now so will make life proper easy (he says!).

[th3_f15t]

So, time for an actual update in keeping with the monthly progress. This month it's all about being a hypocrite! I've always voiced an opinion that a full CAI on a K03 turbo engine as overkill and kills torque lower down the rev range... Well I decided that I needed one anyway regardless as retail therapy is always a winner, right?

So, just to guage how big the cone filter is on the RamAir intake, I put it next to a 1 litre water bottle. Oh my, what a big cone filter you have grandma:


So got outside and began removing the engine cover and old set-up. Here's a tip people, get yourself a set of hose clip pliers as they will save you both time and skin on your hands. Seriously, this one tool was worth the £30 I paid for a whole set of various pliers:



Seriously, took longer to get the rubber air feed from the air box to the turbo off than the hose clip. Those pliers made it all of a 10 second job and I'm not even joking! So, all stripped off in about 15 minutes:


I needed to "borrow" some of the engine rubber mounts to fit the RamAir heat shielding:


Quite an easy kit to fit, but a single piece of pipe work like the Revo kit would of been even simpler but at £155, I'm not complaining in the slightest! All finished about 20 minutes before sundown:



I'll write up in another post what I think of it, I'd also like to get back onto the AmD Tuning rolling road to see just what a difference it makes over my original set-up. The reason I need to use AmD is although their figures a generous to say the least, because my original power run was from there it's the only way to make a fair comparison between a panel filter and full CAI. I won't be too interested in total power gain, more about how it's affected the power curve and where the peak power/torque now are.

Future plans for the next month? Well, as some of you may be aware I'm working on a mk4 Golf V5 so once I've got that finished up and running, I'll make some serious progress with Evie. Yes, I've gone back to naming my car as now she's the only girl in my life... SO if all goes well with the mk4 I'll be confident enough to fit my 330mm Porsche front brakes, S3 intercooler and if I can source one, a HPFP all ahead of getting a full turbo back exhaust fitted. Basically, if you haven't guessed, stage 2+ is officially happening! Target is 275bhp but I'd love to start aiming for 300bhp+ (a hint to future plans as well all know the K03 limit lies around 285bhp). For now, peace...

[bbfb10]

Looking good bud, really liking the way this is going.

[th3_f15t]

Initial impressions of the intake are like this... I've lost a noticeable amount of torque below 3000rpm which is expected but beyond this its pulling smoother and slightly quicker. There is a constant noise as the intake draws air in under any acceleration over 2000rpm but the noise it makes when you let off to change gear is addictive.

Got to tweak the positioning of the kit as the filter is making contact with the cooling pipes and I need to sort this before fitting Forge silicon pipes. Generally I'm happy but having to adjust my driving style to compensate for the difference in power delivery.

In other news, I'll be renting a proper garage space from May so progress with the mk4 V5 will speed up which means I can get it into service to pull the mk5 apart for some serious upgrades. Stay tuned...

[th3_f15t]

So lately, things have been a bit up and down for me, struggling with things in my life but as ever, the Golf has helped me through. May of been a bit crazy with buying things, so got to sort that all out (hence the current large amount of things for sale on the forum!) and then get back on track. I do have a master plan for the GTI but it's gone way off course right now. Still, getting it into a magazine though, so here's some shots that'll be used (hopefully) to get this back into the main light. My mk4 Golf V5 has stolen a lot of attention lately...





So what's next for the GTI? Well, I have my S3 intercooler and a HPFP to fit as well as waiting for my Powervalve full turbo back exhaust to arrive. Next month I plan to get the GTI into the workshop and use the V5 for a month or two while I go over everything engine-wise to finish up and get her ready for a stage 2+ map. Going back to AmD Tuning as I really rate their stage 1 map and customer service and they're local enough to me (despite since moving away from the area). I know R-Tech's reputation but I'm going back to my own plans from a year ago which has AmD Tuning stage 2 featured heavily in it, for reasons I won't share right now.

Interior wise, save up and sort it! I half-arsed it and it p***'s me off that it's not finished the way I want to so I'm going to save up, strip it all out and start again. Literally. Again, the V5 will come into service while I get seats re-done in stages. Had toyed with some custom Cobra Misano seat, if someone offers me the right month for my R32 buckets then it may be a go ahead... Oh, and did someone say cage?

Brakes and suspension, well, got my 4 piston Porsche 330mm front brakes sat waiting to go on, and may also get round to re-painting my R32 rears now I can use a shot blaster myself. Get all the brakes upgraded one last time and then it's exactly the way I want it chassis wise. Suspension really need for nothing, maybe some 3-way adjustable coilovers at a later stage if I feel the need.

Bodywork plans are simple enough. Fit the ED30 spitter I've had laying in my collection of bits for nearly a year now, USA smooth grill and general tidy up if my re-spraying skills prove good enough. Going to practise on the V5 first and get my eye in, then tackle it myself to save a ton of cash.

So that's my plans, lets see how things pan out over the rest of the year.

[th3_f15t]

So in a change of heart and mind, I've put this car up for sale. Let me explain why...

Mk6 Golf R.

Enough said really. I've loved this car and will probably regret selling it but my desired mk6 Golf R has popped up at a local VW dealer so I think it's time to upgrade.