[golgiaparatus]

I know we aren't a car site... but a lot of people here are into this stuff, so here goes:

GTI is getting some neat mods. I've decided to keep the car but need to make it more to my liking.

(1) It's getting new suspension next week which will take it about 1.5" lower and give it more responsive steering. From what I have read it's actually more supple on small bumps than stock.

(2) APR ECU Modification. Able to swap engine programs (Stock, and HO). HO ads more boost, taking the car from 200 hp to around 260 and from 207ft/lbs to about 300.

(3) K&N Intake. Should help the car breathe better since it will be sucking more air in HO mode. Also wont be such a pain to change the air filter anymore.

(4) New rims... Getting some tasteful Sparco wheels as well.

All parts are on order except the wheels. Trying to find a place to get them locally for a fair price.

 

[stevew]

what year is it?

 

[rockarollah]

Nice stuff!

Some thoughts:

-With the ECU upgrade, does it also make sense to do the exhaust? Turbo cars usually benefit from an opened-up exhaust;
-For handling, are you looking at sway bars as well? Some cars really benefit from a bit extra roll stiffness, and since your GTI is FWD a stiffer rear roll bar could dial in some oversteer and make your car a little more neutral;
-With the drop in ride height, how will your car be over curbs, speed bumps and on rough roads? VW's have pretty low stock ride heights.

Anyways, good luck and let us know how it turns out.

For my part, I'm stuck driving a 2001 Accord. It's paid for, comfty, in good shape (80k miles) has a manual tranny, does everything really well (it's not un-fun - it handles and runs mid-high 16s), but... some days I really miss my old NX2000. Good to hear other peoople are tuning their cars and throwing down some HP.

EDIT: with the ride height drop, are you also getting camber plates? (Do you need them?) And it sounds like you're smarter than this, but... you're doing shocks with the springs too, right? I hope...

 

[Konabumm]

I've hooked my element up!!!

Thule roof rack
North Shore Hitch Rack

and I made a single person bed for the inside.

 

[IH8Rice]

the APR tune is awesome on that 2.0t engine. a know a lot of people with it and its a HUGE improvement over stock...even with the stock exhaust.

im actually buying the APR program for my g/f's 1.8t

 

[stevew]

-With the drop in ride height, how will your car be over curbs, speed bumps and on rough roads? VW's have pretty low stock ride heights.

you adapt or bust oil pans....

 

[Westy]

New rims? You using the same old spokes?

 

[kazlx]

I know we aren't a car site... but a lot of people here are into this stuff, so here goes:

GTI is getting some neat mods. I've decided to keep the car but need to make it more to my liking.

(1) It's getting new suspension next week which will take it about 1.5" lower and give it more responsive steering. From what I have read it's actually more supple on small bumps than stock.

Coil-overs? If so, you won't regret it. One of the best things I ever did to my Mustang. One of the few mods that has no negatives (besides the car being lower, if you consider that a negative). I went from regular springs (MacPherson strut design) to a coil over setup and it was night and day. The car rode better and handled better. It was low, stuck like crazy and was still pleasant to ride in. Prior to that the car was lowered on H&R springs with Bilsteins. It handled well, but wasn't so kidney friendly.

 

[boogenman]

I thought about getting a ECU upgrade for my car but changed my mind. It is a car, point A to point B.

Put a MAF sensor in 2 weeks ago, got power and turbo boost again!

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

My Jeep has got new front calipers, new rotors/pads all around, new e-brake shoes, Pro-Comp MX6 adj. monotube shocks all around and an int/ext wash in the past 3 weekends. Even put the T2 back on yesterday.

New steering stabilizer, TRE's, and tire rebalance next weekend and she'll be a happy Jeep.

 

[Total Heckler]

You may also want to consider REVO depending on the year of your car instead of doing a full ecu exchange.

 

[IH8Rice]

You may also want to consider REVO depending on the year of your car instead of doing a full ecu exchange.

i think he's talking about the APR flash which is cheaper and has more options than the REVO. and moar better

 

[Nick]

I'm skeptical about a 60hp gain with the APR chip.
That said, I always felt the best two upgrades you can make are track days and big brakes.

Post some pics!

 

[Westy]

I'm skeptical about a 60hp gain with the APR chip.
That said, I always felt the best two upgrades you can make are track days and big brakes.

Post some pics!

It is a turbo engine. As long as the fuel system can also deliver, increasing the boost pressure will net easy horsepower gains.

 

[IH8Rice]

I'm skeptical about a 60hp gain with the APR chip.
That said, I always felt the best two upgrades you can make are track days and big brakes.

Post some pics!

its not a chip. chips are stupid.

if you dont believe it, check their dyno sheets out. stock turbo cars arent tuned anywhere near their potential for power

 

[BurlyShirley]

Something's missing...

 

[reflux]

Cold air intake?

 

[JohnE]

Ejection seat...

 

[conor]

get bbs wheels

 

[golgiaparatus]

Wow, lets see if I can respond from memory here...

Westy... smartass comment. Yes I'm keeping my spokes. Thinking DT, what guage should I get you think?

Burly... smartass comment. F'n SWEET do those come come with installation instructions in spanish?!

Someone suggested REVO... APR is better methinks. It's a flash not a new ECU. From what I have read the APR is the best one you can get.

Someone suggested Exhaust work... I may eventually do this but you need a special downpipe to eliminate most of the restriction and then APR has to flash your ECU to stage II, which is another large power increase. May be too much for a FWD car. I'll make that call after I see how traction is with 300 ft/lbs.

Someone suggested cold air intake... K&N intake already installed. Has a cold air box, also installed. Turbo is pretty loud now compared to stock. Spool up and blow off are both easily heard. Plus the filter change/clean take 30 seconds now instead of 30 minutes.

Shocks... the GTI actualy rides pretty high for what it is and it's actually only coming down 1.5 inches. That's not much. Shouldn't affect drivability much at all.

 

[drkenan]

the APR tune is awesome on that 2.0t engine. a know a lot of people with it and its a HUGE improvement over stock...even with the stock exhaust.

im actually buying the APR program for my g/f's 1.8t

I had a GIAC chip in my old 1.8t and it was night and day over stock. But then the k03 blew in 20k miles. If you have the k03 sport, the results may be different though.

To the OP - exhaust is good if you don't want to blow your turbo.

 

[golgiaparatus]

I had a GIAC chip in my old 1.8t and it was night and day over stock. But then the k03 blew in 20k miles. If you have the k03 sport, the results may be different though.

To the OP - exhaust is good if you don't want to blow your turbo.

<---- does not want to blow his turbo. Not attracted to it at all.

 

[KleinGuy]

I plastered my Festiva with stickers. It had to have added 100 HP easy! ha

 

[JohnE]

The more Tap Out and UFC hard guy wanna be stickers the cooler.

I guess you already have an ejection seat...

 

[rockarollah]

<---- does not want to blow his turbo. Not attracted to it at all.

I'm sure you know this, but... even with a safer/more reputable chip, you're pushing the stock turbo farther out of the efficient compressor map range and making it run hotter/less-efficiently. Make sure you allow the turbo to warm up and cool down, run clean good oil, good gas, etc...

And sway bars would be good too. I tried a Mk4 1.8T GTI briefly (have driven other Mk4's such as the TDI, owned a Mk3), and for what it is it isn't very roll-stiff.

 

[jdcamb]

I plastered my Festiva with stickers. It had to have added 100 HP easy! ha

You may laugh but when the young tail can recall some high school idiot who had the same sticker on his car and can relive that back seat moment with you because of it. You win for the price of a well placed sticker.....

 

[Westy]

<---- does not want to blow his turbo. Not attracted to it at all.

There is a reason VW tuned the car to the level of HP it has now. It may be partly due to emissions standards but likely to be because that is all that the engine can reliably handle. Boost the HP and you will reduce the reliability. That may or may not manifest itself into an expensive problem down the road but the odds will certainly be increased.

In reality, that drivetrain can not put the power to the ground in the lower gears anyway. From what I hear you will have wheel spin through third gear Unless you just want smoke your tires, to really use the HP you will have to be traveling at high speeds. Not likely to happen on real roads or at reasonably safe speeds. You will probably just be better off working on handling mods.

'10 GTIs finally come with a LSD.

 

[jdcamb]

There is a reason VW tuned the car to the level of HP it has now. It may be partly due to emissions standards but likely to be because that is all that the engine can reliably handle. Boost the HP and you will reduce the reliability. That may or may not manifest itself into an expensive problem down the road but the odds will certainly be increased.

In reality, that drivetrain can not put the power to the ground in the lower gears anyway. From what I hear you will have wheel spin through third gear Unless you just want smoke your tires, to really use the HP you will have to be traveling at high speeds. Not likely to happen on real roads or at reasonably safe speeds. You will probably just be better off working on handling mods.

'10 GTIs finally come with a LSD.

Not to undermine what you're saying but I think I would go with someone really knowlegeable about cars like Blue, burly, or me. I say go for it. Reliablity is overated just ask Blue.....

 

[blue]

'10 GTIs finally come with a LSD.

Not a real one.

GIAC software, IMO, (at least for VW 20v turbo motors) provides the best usable gains (and yes, between 40-60bhp is the norm - the engine is very detuned stock). It can handle quite a bit of power before needing internals upgrades. A friend has been running a GT28RS (I think) at just under 300WHP for about 75k miles with no issues (unitronic software). Only hardware upgrade needed to accompany the software flash on a stock car is an aftermarket diverter valve. You'll tear the stock one shortly.

Dropping your car won't increase handling prowess, only screw with the suspension geometry of your MkIV. Stiffer stock height springs combined with solid dampers will improve it, but a thicker rear sway will provide the greatest noticeable difference (at least it did for me). Camber plates also bueno.

All that said, no newer VW is a performance car. Driving them is an uninspired experience akin to running my dishwasher these days.

I should start a thread about swapping the 350 into my Porsche...naaah.

 

[Westy]

Not a real one.

GIAC software, IMO, (at least for VW 20v turbo motors) provides the best usable gains (and yes, between 40-60bhp is the norm - the engine is very detuned stock). It can handle quite a bit of power before needing internals upgrades. A friend has been running a GT28RS (I think) at just under 300WHP for about 75k miles with no issues (unitronic software). Only hardware upgrade needed to accompany the software flash on a stock car is an aftermarket diverter valve. You'll tear the stock one shortly.

Dropping your car won't increase handling prowess, only screw with the suspension geometry of your MkIV. Stiffer stock height springs combined with solid dampers will improve it, but a thicker rear sway will provide the greatest noticeable difference (at least it did for me). Camber plates also bueno.

All that said, no newer VW is a performance car. Driving them is an uninspired experience akin to running my dishwasher these days.

I should start a thread about swapping the 350 into my Porsche...naaah.

VWs never have been performance cars, they are funner than average economy cars. What compromises the performance of newer VWs? Lack of: torque steer, body roll, jettisoned trim?

 

[rockarollah]

It's not the engine internals I'd be concerned about with chipping/boosting, but the turbo itself. I know it's apples and oranges, but my friend's dad's S4 went through several turbos on the chip. They're not cheap.

What's your Porsche?

 

[jutny]

changing a turbo on one of those is easy though.

as a b5 S4 owner, don't even talk to me about blowing k03's...

 

[IH8Rice]

It's not the engine internals I'd be concerned about with chipping/boosting, but the turbo itself. I know it's apples and oranges, but my friend's dad's S4 went through several turbos on the chip. They're not cheap.

What's your Porsche?

i know of 5 people with either the GIAC tune or the APR tun on their GTI's or GLI's with no issues.

 

[golgiaparatus]

I'm sure you know this, but... even with a safer/more reputable chip, you're pushing the stock turbo farther out of the efficient compressor map range and making it run hotter/less-efficiently. Make sure you allow the turbo to warm up and cool down, run clean good oil, good gas, etc...

And sway bars would be good too. I tried a Mk4 1.8T GTI briefly (have driven other Mk4's such as the TDI, owned a Mk3), and for what it is it isn't very roll-stiff.

Mk4 and Mk5 GTIS are completely different animals, especially in the handling department. I know the stock turbo will be pushed a bit harder. I'm not racing the car so the turbo wont be running hard very much... only when the car needs a kick in the pants.

The GIAC that you mentioned before is a perfectly reputable company BTW... 2nd most popular ECU upgrade on the market next to APR (which is what I'm getting). From what I know the 1.8's ran more boost than the 2.0 and they failed more often.

 

[golgiaparatus]

There is a reason VW tuned the car to the level of HP it has now. It may be partly due to emissions standards but likely to be because that is all that the engine can reliably handle. Boost the HP and you will reduce the reliability. That may or may not manifest itself into an expensive problem down the road but the odds will certainly be increased.

In reality, that drivetrain can not put the power to the ground in the lower gears anyway. From what I hear you will have wheel spin through third gear Unless you just want smoke your tires, to really use the HP you will have to be traveling at high speeds. Not likely to happen on real roads or at reasonably safe speeds. You will probably just be better off working on handling mods.

'10 GTIs finally come with a LSD.

Yes, yes, I know all that. People run these engines to 70k miles with stage 2 (320hp) and 3 kits (380hp) on them with stock internals. 50 more hp isn't that much more. The only part that I am worried about at all is the turbo... but if it fails it will be replaced by something more beefy. I wont be pushing it hard enough to blow though.

As for spinning through 3rd gear. No problem... I have a foot that is totally adjustable.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Not a real one.

GIAC software, IMO friend has been running no issues. Only hardware upgrade diverter valve.

Dropping your car won't screw your MkIV height but a thicker rear will bueno.

All newer VW car. Driving them is dishwasher days.

I should start 350 into my naaah.

Depends on what kind of performance you are talking about. Will my Mkv ever be a track superstar, no. Will it ever accelerate like my pissed off monte carlo, no. Will it handle like a LotusExige, no.

Will it be a fun daily driver that can carry my bike in the back that's not underpowered like a stock GTI. Hell yes it will.

I'd like to hear the 350 into a porsche story. Was it a 944? I cant imagine you'd try putting a small block in a 911... that'd put you in a ditch real quick.

 

[KleinGuy]

You may laugh but when the young tail can recall some high school idiot who had the same sticker on his car and can relive that back seat moment with you because of it. You win for the price of a well placed sticker.....

Haha, that is true. I get a lot of compliments on my "Bike Naked" sticker and the one that says "Livin' Large".

But as far as car mods go, I want to do more to my Mustang. It has aluminum heads, cam, intake, longtubes etc. I'd like to put a blower or turbo on it, but its still pretty lively when I hit it with a 175 shot.

 

[cannondalejunky]

i have a 2003 wrx with a few mods...I've got a bellmouth cat-less downpipe, some ebay special exhaust back (still sounds great), perrin cat-less up pipe, gm boost control solenoid, stage II tune, and an aluminum radiator (not necessary, but when my stock one blew i figured why not).

Really that's all the mods I want to do since it's my daily driver. The stage II tune with the gm solenoid makes for virtually no turbo lag...which is nice because stock, wrx's have pretty bad lag

 

[Leppah]

Lower the car if you want it to look a little better. Make sure the bump stops get trimmed down. If you want it to handle better and you're on a tight budget, get a rear sway bar like someone else was saying. Also get some cheap KYB adjustable struts. I think they're called AGX's.
As far as not having traction, you can drive with finesse. You don't have to stomp the pedal to the floor everywhere you go. If you want to learn how to really drive your car without killing it, go autocross it. There was a guy out here that had a 1.8t years ago with a bunch of mods to it. He was always in the top three in the street mod category. That's probably the hardest category to race. But, it's mostly driver too.

Change some of your inter cooler piping. Those things are kinked as eff. They're pretty cheap too. I highly recommend getting a cat-back exhaust too. That helps a turbo car a lot.

Coilovers are nice, but usually a lot more money than springs. Unless you're just getting some of the Ground Control sleeves and springs. Those actually work pretty good too. I had some on my old Rabbit.

If you're just making your car peppy for driving around, i'd do the catback, a rear sway bar, and some lowering springs. Then i'd probably look at messing with the ECU.

 

[blue]

There was a guy out here that had a 1.8t years ago with a bunch of mods to it. He was always in the top three in the street mod category. That's probably the hardest category to race. But, it's mostly driver too.
.

Erik? He still does.

Chevy 350 into a Porsche 944 (okay, 924S). Is the summer project. The best news is that the hardest thing to source thus far has been a hood.