Make a donation

Author Topic: VW Newbie!  (Read 1526 times)

Offline StephenMcC

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 30
VW Newbie!
« on: December 29, 2016, 12:34:58 am »
Hi there,

Just bought my first VW this week, a 2005 GTI in Laser Blue.

Coming from a very boring Ford Mondeo this little thing is amazing!

Mods so far:
Revo Intake
3" Downpipe
200 Cell Cat
Resonated center section into powerflow rear section
Forge PCV Delete
Mapped locally by Autotune





Offline GolfGIT

  • Just Arrived
  • **
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 0
  • -Receive: 3
  • Posts: 16
Re: VW Newbie!
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2016, 07:12:52 am »
Nice colour & looks very tidy.
You'll have some fun in that car!
2014 Mk7 GTI, 5 dr, manual, tornado red, performance pack,
19" santiago's.

Offline StephenMcC

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 30
Re: VW Newbie!
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2016, 05:08:30 pm »
Much fun will definitely be had with this!

With the map I'm getting traction issues in 1st and second even under light throttle, would there be any mods recommended to assist that?

Offline AJP

  • Global Moderator
  • Just look at my post count
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 392
  • -Receive: 316
  • Posts: 3212
Re: VW Newbie!
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2016, 08:34:20 pm »
Tyres, suspension, mounts, bushes.

I'm on Michelin Pilot Sport 4 and they're very good. Even at lower temps they work well. Do bear in mind that you'll struggle for grip this time of year. Cold greasy roads, cold tyres, you'll always struggle. I guarantee you'll get more grip in the warmer months.

If you're on standard suspension (looks that way) you'll be getting a fair bit of weight shifting backwards as you floor it. Great in a RWD car but crap for us. Shorter travel and stiffer compression will help. But it's a compromise. Too low and stiff will make it uncomfortable.

Uprated engine mounts will go some way to preventing wheel hop. Have a read up. Again, it's a compromise between performance and comfort.

An anti-lift kit (basically a redesigned wishbone bush) will force the suspension to maintain a certain geometry. Read up; search for WALK or SALK.

These cars are getting on now. A 2005 car especially would likely have worn bushes, mounts and dampers. So you're probably falling well short of the performance the standard parts should be providing. Fitting uprated replacements means you can surpass best-case OEM performance in these areas. I'd imagine you've got a fair bit to gain if you go about it the right way.

Geometry. Make sure it's all properly aligned. Somewhere with a Hunter machine would be a good start. It's probably worth doing straight away if you have no record of it being done recently. If you're serious about improving things, get some decent bits together (springs, shocks and anti-lift would be a decent start) and get the geo done straight after.


Offline StephenMcC

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 30
Re: VW Newbie!
« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2016, 10:58:11 pm »
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 is what I currently have as well thankfully, they're less than a month old :)

going to have to have a read up on the parts available for this as I'm used to Hondas (yeah I know..) and they're fairly simple to buy for lol

Thanks for the advice!


Offline AJP

  • Global Moderator
  • Just look at my post count
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 392
  • -Receive: 316
  • Posts: 3212
Re: VW Newbie!
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2016, 06:10:27 pm »
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 is what I currently have as well thankfully, they're less than a month old :)

going to have to have a read up on the parts available for this as I'm used to Hondas (yeah I know..) and they're fairly simple to buy for lol

Thanks for the advice!
Good start then! Happy to advise. All I'd say at this point is to read through some reviews on here, search through the threads etc. You're more likely to learn which uprated parts work best through reading the forum - it's easy to read some sales blurb on a website, but going with the consensus on here is likely to get you better results.

The more research you do now the better chance you'll have of getting it right first time.

Sit on your modding money for a while. You might find some little issues crop up in the first few months of owning the car. There's also some preventative maintenance to get out of the way; diverter valve, cam follower, pcv, fuel filter, oil pick up pipe, etc. Do a search on those. I'm not saying you'll need to do them all, but they're typically deemed 'non-servicable' by VW in their wisdom, yet cause issues all too often.

Get it all running 100% before you start any serious mods. And keep reading and learning in the meantime. I'm happy to answer any questions, and there are plenty of knowledgeable folk on here that really know their stuff. Unquestionably more than me. It's a great forum. I learnt loads in my first few months of owning my GTI, thanks to the help of people on here. And I'm still learning.

Offline StephenMcC

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 1
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 30
Re: VW Newbie!
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2016, 08:24:57 pm »
Thankfully DV was just replaced with a GFB DV+ just before I bought it, along with a cam follower!

I'm going to give it a full service in a few weeks to make sure it's sitting perfect!

Offline JamieKirk95

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 15
  • -Receive: 11
  • Posts: 120
    • Email
Re: VW Newbie!
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2016, 11:54:45 pm »
Welcome :smiley: