Sunset Red 1.4 TSI(TFSI) GT Sport - daily drive & track car

[rex]

take the rear seats out 

They are out  . But the roll bar/cage weighs more (and I also have something to cover the space that weighs about 5-10kg....

I wish my R was that light though Rex......even without me in it!

Ha ha... I wish I had your power. Even .:R stock power is enough  .

[fuscobal]

Your roll-bar should have about 18.5kg, same as mine without the bar I've added ! I'm now about 90kg behinfd you @ 1467.5kg (estimated). Will do a measurement in the spring on all 4 wheels !

[rex]

Yes, I also have to do a 4 wheel weight.
But 90 kg behind me, with your amount of power is great...

[rex]

Some updates from the past week, might be of interest for other 1.4 TSI owners....
Recently I've had some engine noises when starting the engine and the engine was warm. It only happened during the first startup with the warm engine.
So I had the car checked and the result was quite expensive...
For those of you who are not familiar with the 1.4 TSI (non MWB platform), these engines suffer from a number of causes:
1. N75 -Diverter Valve (identical with the 2.0 TFSI one) that needs replacing with the latest variant.
2. Another valve that I can't remember the code that, again, needs replacing with a newer one - easy and cheap fix
3. Drive chain - some chains and tensioner have issues and need changing
4. Intake camshaft pulley - need replacing with newer variants if is broken

If the first two were already done, now I had to take care of number three and four.
These issues are similar with all 1.4 TSI engines, no matter if they are single charged or twin charged.
Unfortunately the fix is not quite cheap, only the pulley being about 400 GBP. If you add the chain, the tensioner and the labor you are rapidly approaching 800 GBP

The new and old drive chain (some other models have a difference in design between the new and the old, mine doesn't):



And the intake cam pulley:





And a closeup picture for those of you who might need the code:



Hope I don't revisit these issues because there are better things to do with the money  .

And, changing the topic, there are some things I have to do before the April/May Nurburgring trip:
1. change the J Hook rotors. These are 3 years old and have seen plenty of action (about 50 Nurburgring laps, about 7 Hungaroring trackdays and one Spa trackday). I will change them with identical rotors (supplied by DaveB)
2. make some adjustments to the brake air intakes. I found a better way to keep them from hitting the subframe bolt.
3. paint and mount the rear Votex spoiler
4. make sure the TD rim damaged in the Hungaroring crash is still ok for road/track use.

All the best!

[danishmkvgti]

I'm sorry for your trouble Rex, it clearly shows that the 1,4 engines are not something you should consider yet, still a lot of expensive issues with them.
After 6 years i'm still pleasantly surprised over what the 2,0 TFSI can take and still go strong, you should consider a mk 5 with the 2,0 and transfer the mods you can to that car IMO 

[rex]

Making an engine swap is only worth while if the current engine will brake. Other than that, it is cheaper to buy a used GTI and take some of the mods over there.
Yes, they are not the most reliable engines, but I think they are OK-ish. The first engine was faulted by the mechanics and the second one had these issues. Please keep in mind that the engine is used for trackdays and that, bigger/more powerful engines spend less time full throttle. My car is full throttle most of the time  .
Would really love to own a GTI with my mods but the current car is still far better than my driving skills. Not to mention the fact that there are no GTI in "Sunset red" color (except mk7 I think) and that fact that I am pretty attached to this car  .

[rex]

And, changing the topic, there are some things I have to do before the April/May Nurburgring trip:
1. change the J Hook rotors. These are 3 years old and have seen plenty of action (about 50 Nurburgring laps, about 7 Hungaroring trackdays and one Spa trackday). I will change them with identical rotors (supplied by DaveB)
2. make some adjustments to the brake air intakes. I found a better way to keep them from hitting the subframe bolt.
3. paint and mount the rear Votex spoiler
4. make sure the TD rim damaged in the Hungaroring crash is still ok for road/track use.

1. Done





Dave, why do the discs have different orientation for the J Hooks?

Bedding is next (first with the OEM Porsche pads and than the RS29 ones).

2. Done (with a few problems that you can read about in the dedicated thread):





3. Next...

4. Done. Even if the TD Pro Race 1.2 are not exactly the prettiest wheels or the wheels with the best finish (in fact far from that) they are really tough. The rim took a beating but now it is almost straight. If I will have any issues with this one I will replace it)

[rex]

A small update...

First of all I saw some coolant marks where the red arrows are and, considering what happened to fuscobal (he lost all the coolant and prety much had to change the engine), I decided to take no chances and replace as many hoses I can:





I have purchased (and I will buy more) some other hoses but I replaced only the ones that were leaking at the moment.
I think most of our cars are beginning to be old and we must consider changing the rubbery parts because rubber is not meant to last for long.

Then, I installed my K&N Cold Air Intake:





Even though I install this CAI a few times every year (mostly before trackdays) I love the sound it makes in comparison to the OEM Air Filter. The car sounds like is has 4xx bhp and a Blow Of Valve. In spring I go for the Revo Performance map (usually in winter I have the stock map) and the addition of the CAI and summer tires makes the car feel completely new. I love this thing and this way I am never bored  .

Then, this week I painted an installed the OEM Votex rear spoiler (wing).
I am not convinced it will be of any worth on the track but the item was at a discount and it is a nice and subtle mod that I wanted to do.
I like the way it cam out:









The new wing is not 100% ok, since there are about 5mm uncovered:





But this is the case with all the Votex wings I've seen so it may not be a "defect", it could be a "feature".

Next is to have the car serviced and than Nurburgring (1-2 May)  !
Thanks for watching! 

[Tfsi_Mike]

Prevention better than cure! How much did it cost you for the replecent hoses & clips?

[rex]

The hoses can't be bough piece by piece. There are codes that replace 1/2/3 hoses at a time.
I've bought the 2 hoses and connector that you see in the picture plus another 2 linked hoses.
Combined they were 25 GBP. The clips don't come with this but they can be reused from the original ones.

[omeydz]

Looking great rex!!

Had some similar issues when looking for roof spoilers which wouldnt have that uncovered bit for my MK6 and all the votex ones are uncovered a little bit.

I eventually opted for a Golf R version and thatll cover it fully. Makes the lines of the car and bodywork more smooth

Hows the engine after the timing work? I just gave mine major service and no problems yet so all ok for the moment :)

[rex]

The GTI rear spoiler required a new tail light and the investment was too large...

At first the engine didn't seem to be ok. But after I installed the CAI and did some logs it appears to be as strong as ever.
I sent my logs to the REVO dealer and he said that the logs look better than on any 1.4 TSI (122bhp) they have seen. This was the case last year also. The boost at readline is significantly bigger that stock (as you would expect) but also 0.1-0.2 bar greater than other REVO cars. Not to mention that this map is not the most aggressive one. So everything appears to be ok....
I am curios of how the car compares to Acidutzul's one (2.0 TDI + remap). We will have some runs on the way to Nurburgring. He is my reference point and I am his .

[omeydz]

Ah right! As long as you got rid of the loud chain rattling noise and you got all your power thats the main thing!! I still get a 5 second rattle on a cold morning but all good after that so I rekon Im fine!

Iv not mapped my car yet but Am very interested in the K&N CAI. What model is yours so I can have an a look around for one? Any noticable power differences in addition to sound improvement with this CAI?

Cheers Omar

[rex]

Yes, no more rattle noises.

I have the K&N 57s-9500 Cold Air Intake. I guess you can find it on EBAY, K&N sites, etc. I think it costs around 200 GBP. It is for 1.2 TSI, 1.4 TSI, 1.6 MPI/FSI and 2.0FSI. Really easy installation...
There is a difference in power. I measured the car with the OEM filter and than with the k&N CAI a year later. The difference was of 10bhp. Weather was not the same and dyno runs are not identical but I would say that a 5bhp increase is about right.
But, the biggest difference is the noise it makes. I don't use the lid (as you can see in the photo) and the difference comparing to stock is HUGE. As I said before, it sounds like I have at least 3xx bhp under the hood and like I have a BOV. But, there is a intake noise when full throttle that I kind-of hate (you can hear it in my videos). Some people find this noise interesting, though.
But all in all, I doubt you will feel any difference in power with this CAI and stock map. In order to benefit from it you will need a remap.

[omeydz]

Yep seriously considering that CAI. Your driveby youtube vid is more of a flyby!!!

Iv found the CAI £114 not bad!!