All Things Mk5 > Performance Modifications
Shall I jump on the slope?
driver rider:
So I've had my car for a while and due to London house prices I will be keeping it for the foreseeable future. I have decided that I want to give my car a new lease of life. I am already getting it fully serviced and with all new fluids etc. I'm flirting with different ideas.
The first thing I want to do is fit springs and anti-roll bars to tidy up the handling. I find the car rolls a little too much when your keen! This I am pretty sure I will be doing. Is there anything else I can do to sharpen the handling up and feel of the car?
I need an exhaust. Want more noise but it's a daily so nothing silly. What should I be looking at? I want to take it on track days as well so it must not exceed decibel limits of UK track circuits. What options have I got? I want something that just sounds more purposeful than what I currently have. Just a little more sound when I'm giving it some beans would be lovely.
I am also looking at getting an intake. Who should I be looking at in terms of brands etc? Are there any drawbacks to fitting an intake. Im in two minds about this worried about reliability and also that I may not even like the sound but lets see (or hear lol). What are the advantages of an intake?
Lastly I will be getting a remap done. I have decided that I will be going with R-tech for this. I want to do the remap after getting engine mods etc done in order to make the most of the mods.
Any help or ideas is much appreciated. Thanks gents and ladies ;-)
AJP:
Handling-wise, H&R springs are very good and work well with oem shocks, and as well as anti roll bars look into an anti lift kit. The Superpro kit is well regarded. A dog bone (lower engine) mount insert also tightens things up nicely for little outlay.
Exhausts; if you're just after a subtle increase in noise then a cat back from Milltek or Powervalve (Resonated and Prestige options, respectively) will provide that. You can also do a pre cat delete on the standard downpipe along with that to open up the flow a little bit and gain some extra power. This alone creates a slightly deeper note, so along with a non-shouty catback you should get some nice tasteful noises. Bear in mind that a full turbo-back exhaust, or specifically a bigger downpipe with a decat or sport cat will net the best power gains, but it doesn't come cheap if you do it right. Again, Milltek and Powervalve are good.
Intakes; the jury's out. Some swear by them, others think they're a bit 'Emperor's New Clothes'. My personal opinion is that if you use a good kit, such as Revo, ITG or Ramair, and then get a custom map that gets the best out of it, they will help flow, and give you a few more ponies. Some people find them a bit noisy, but I guess that's subjective.
If you can stretch to it, a fuel pump (HPFP) upgrade will be a great mod. Loads of extra low and mid range torque. I'm personally going to do the fuel pump before and even if I get an intake.
driver rider:
--- Quote from: AJP on May 16, 2016, 05:44:18 pm ---Handling-wise, H&R springs are very good and work well with oem shocks, and as well as anti roll bars look into an anti lift kit. The Superpro kit is well regarded. A dog bone (lower engine) mount insert also tightens things up nicely for little outlay.
Exhausts; if you're just after a subtle increase in noise then a cat back from Milltek or Powervalve (Resonated and Prestige options, respectively) will provide that. You can also do a pre cat delete on the standard downpipe along with that to open up the flow a little bit and gain some extra power. This alone creates a slightly deeper note, so along with a non-shouty catback you should get some nice tasteful noises. Bear in mind that a full turbo-back exhaust, or specifically a bigger downpipe with a decat or sport cat will net the best power gains, but it doesn't come cheap if you do it right. Again, Milltek and Powervalve are good.
Intakes; the jury's out. Some swear by them, others think they're a bit 'Emperor's New Clothes'. My personal opinion is that if you use a good kit, such as Revo, ITG or Ramair, and then get a custom map that gets the best out of it, they will help flow, and give you a few more ponies. Some people find them a bit noisy, but I guess that's subjective.
If you can stretch to it, a fuel pump (HPFP) upgrade will be a great mod. Loads of extra low and mid range torque. I'm personally going to do the fuel pump before and even if I get an intake.
--- End quote ---
Hi thank you for such a helpful post.
I don't want to spend too much on the car its on well over 100k now however I do feel it'll make me enjoy my car that little bit more and for longer. Perhaps my money would be better spent on a full turbo back exhaust and not bother with the intake. When you say some people complain of too much noise is it the case of too "hissing and wooshing"?
In regards to handling I will look into getting lower engine mounts. Is this the anti-lift kit you where talking about?
http://www.awesomegti.com/shop-by-brand/superpro/superpro-anti-lift-kit-for-mk5-mk6-golf-type-chassis/
I don't know that I can stretch to a HPFP as that would mean I'd be looking at a stage 2 map?
AJP:
Yes, that's the anti lift kit.
As for mapping, if you're doing all the mods first and then mapping, the map won't cost you any more or less regardless of which 'stage' it is. You can do the whole works and go straight to a stage 2, 2+, 3 map, or beyond, depending on mods.
The 'stage' thing is more a marketing thing. Like a benchmark. Certain tuners require specific mods to work with their specific stages of map, but with R-Tech it's fully bespoke so you can have your own mix and match of mods of your choice and it'll be mapped to the best of their potential.
That said, R-Tech do stick the 'stage' label on their maps, roughly according to mods. So their Stage 1 is standard hardware (or pre cat delete), Stage 1+ is standard hardware (or pre cat delete) with an uprated fuel pump, Stage 2 is a full exhaust/decat downpipe, intake, uprated intercooler, Stage 2+ the same as 2 but also with an uprated fuel pump.
It's worth noting that these are guidelines rather than requirements with R-Tech. I know of someone on here that just had an uprated panel filter and full powervalve, and the map he got was labelled Stage 2.
I'm rambling a bit here, but in the simplest terms, a full exhaust qualifies you for Stage 2, and an uprated fuel pump is the '+'.
As for the intakes, a few people on here have taken them off and gone back to the standard panel filter as they found them a bit too hissy and wooshy, like you say!
bbfb10:
@driver rider
Check out my build thread. Most of my mods were done cheaply by waiting until the part l wanted came up at a price l could justify. My car is on 158,000 miles and hasnt missed a beat.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version