Right.....
I think sometimes when building a car, with an ultimate aim in mind, you have to start with something as close to your intentions, before starting the build.
I haven't done that....
I have had my octavia for nearly 3 years, and until only relatively recently, I left it near standard.
I wanted a fast road/track car. In my opinion, this is not an ideal target for a MKV platform car to achieve.
So, I pollybushed the entire chassis prior to going to the Nurburgring in May, fitted the NQSBBK and with the coilovers and rear roll bar that were already on there, I had a go. Car performed well, but the track revealed some weaknesses. Mainly the OE exhaust which snapped off from the turbo on the last lap, and left me with a 10 hour drive home with NO exhaust. I replaced this with a full milltek system which luckily I had already purchased as I had intended to upgrade.
The suspension was so soft, that the car was rubbing its head off when cornering, the arches were modified as much as possible for clearance, and I confess, I got carried away while it was in there, creating the visual monstrosity the car is now. I fitted whiteline front roll bar, which helped considerably. And a nice set of BC coilovers, with front camber adjustment and adjustable damping. These, however, created their own issues. Running the car at the correct spring rate and ride height, caused contact between roll bar and control arm, and occasional contact between body and driveshaft......
The front subframe had been creaking for a while, so i ordered a tyrolsport locking kit for the subframe, and a pair of adjustable droplinks. Hoping this would tackle both issues at once. It didn't... And the subframe locking kit is the biggest fight I have ever had fitting aftermarket components to a car, there is absolutely zero tolerance when fitting, the subframe is literally mm perfect to centre, great when its done, but a real challenge to achieve.
So the shorter links didn't help, so i fitted some superpro roll centre correction ball joints. No more bottom arm contact, but still driveshaft issues. Booked the car in with a good friend to have the chassis notched. Before this could be done, however, the driveshaft had seen more than its lion share of abuse, and the CV joint exploded. While at it, I replaced the shaft entirely with a solid shaft from a diesel, identical length and weight, but thinner. The car could then have the notch done.
As the car stands now, the chassis prep i started back in may, is now only just coming to fruition. And believe me, there has not been a weekend free that I haven't had to mess about in some way or another fettling the car.
What have I ended up with....
Polybushed front and rear axles with anti lift
Whiteline 24mm adjustable front and rear anti roll bars
Oz superturismo 17x8j et35
Goodyear eagle f1 225/45/17
BC Racing BR Coilovers 30 point adjustable damping, 10kg front 12kg rear spring rates,
Camber adjustable pillowball front top mounts
Porsche Boxster s calipers, dimpled and grooved disks, ferrodo pads
Braided front and rear HEL brake lines
Arch liners removed
Arches modified for clearance
Front Strut tops and scuttle modified for top mount access
Interior stealth strip
Carbon Recaro profi side mount seats
Custom seat subframes, fixed passenger seat, drivers seat on runners
Diesel drivers side drive shaft
Tyrolsport front subframe deadset kit
Adjustable front droplinks
Superpro front rollcentr/camber adjustable ball joints
Chassis notch
The car of course, now handles extremely well, and will **** an inside rear wheel fairly consistently through fast corners. Something a MKV platform car will only do normally just before it lands on its roof. But it has not been without sacrifice, and the car so far has cost a small fortune. I will ofcourse, be continuing the build, as I have the last few bits for the K04 conversion to gather, and the car will be a fairly well rounded package. I have another trip to the Nurburgring in October, which will be a nice chance to test the car's progress, and also set the roll bars and suspension stiffness up.
My advice to anyone wanting to build a fast road car, who has a MKV platform car, frankly, would be sell it and buy something else.... I certainly wish I had.
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