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

[rex]

Not a lot going on, but I wanted to share with you these photos:







The story behind them is that, if the previous day I had a trackday in the GT4



I wanted to stretch the Golf's legs a bit as well. As I had a few friends competing in a national championship (the other people in the photo), I said it would be nice to accompany them and also to take some photos. I genuinely like the Golf the most of all my cars...
The other mk5 in the photos is a friend of mine (and I think also a forum member - Stefan) - he has a 2.0 TDI mk5 - 240hp, brakes, suspension, etc... You might remember him from the multitude of trackdays we shared in the past 11 years - yes, he's been tracking his car for the past 11 years and it's also a daily. Though cars these mk5's  ...

[Shoduchi]

I'm glad that you keep having fun in your Golf. The 18'' wheels look good.

[RBS]

Great mods and indeed a great chassis those MK5's

[rex]

Thank you!

[rex]

Not a lot going on, just having some fun the with (not old) mk5  .
I usually use the GT4 for trackdays but, since I am usually way to fast for the other participants, I chose to take the Golf for a spin.

And I am happy to report it is still a great car!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrKy6v1NNZo

And quite good looking (if you ask me) even with the 17 inch trackday tires

















Not quite everything went according to plan because all the sessions were interrupted by Lambda / Oxygen Sensor Errors.
It wasn't terrible because it only happened 10-15 minutes into the session and after I erased the error it all went back to normal. Well normalish - since the missfire issues is still not solved but if I change gears below 6k RPM it rarely appears.

[Shoduchi]

Always a pleasure reading your posts.

[RBS]

Having a bit of fun on the track👍🏻👍🏻 Btw... nice pictures

[rex]

I changed the Oxygen Sensor hoping that would solve all my issues.



It didn't  .

I had another trackday last weekend where the car behaved great. I only had a couple of missfires which is awesome.
Fortunately / unfortunately the highlight of the track day was when a friend of mine, driving my car, spun the car.

http://youtu.be/SEC_klUSgFg







I guess he owes me a proper clean...
And here are my best laps of the day.

http://youtu.be/l-yNNkuomjY

[Shoduchi]

I'm glad you had fun on the track day! The spin was unfortunate but it can happen when we drive on the limit.

[rex]

Yup, totally agree @Shoduchi . That's why I am not even a bit upset.
Changed the damaged parts last weekend:







The ED30 lip was also damaged but the missing bracket (linking the lower fender liner to the ED30 lip)  is not visible or important.

And, for a few years now, I was having battery drainage issues. I thought it was the GPS tracking device even if I set the device up in a way that it shouldn't have caused the issue...
But a few weeks ago, after a scan, I discovered a number of errors stored in the steering wheel computer. I did some research and the most probable cause was the ignition switch. VW released a new version for the ignition switch I had, so I decided to change it.





All good now, no more errors and no more battery drainage.

[rex]

Over the past few weeks I had some time to spare so I did a few things...
First of all, I changed the battery case. The OEM one was some sort of flimsy material and I changed it for the plastic casing.



Since I was in the engine bay I notices how dirty the engine was (never washed) so I decided to give it a nice clean. And since I was in the cleaning department I decided to give the whole interior and exterior a nice proper clean  . Before that, though, I changed the roof lining because it was sagging near the front center console (btw, since this is a common mk5 issue, I bought it from the dealer for ~300 GBP). So I took the whole interior out, installed the new roof lining, put everything back together, painted the roll cage (it gets scratched when removed) and only then I could have the interior cleaned.













All in all, very happy to have the car refreshed.
Next up: install a new 6 point harness - I want to change the 4 point one so have extra protection. And I plan to have a Nurburgring trip with the Golf this year.
And also a maintenance piece - rust is starting to appear on the door steps and I need to replace them asap.

[Sbn2k]

Hi. I am also from Romania, and currently tracking my 981 on transilvania ring. At this time i am undicided regarding the route for my next project car:
a- Modifying the 981
b- Mk5GTI
c- Mx5
I have laso seen that you have experience with tracking both 981 and MK5. How do they compare, why did you abandoned the 981?
I also left you a message on facebook.

[rex]

Sorry @Sbn2k - only now did I see your post.
My 981 and my Golf are very different. The 981 was the (almost) perfect sports car but, on track, it would show it's limits. The suspension setup was not optimal and that was visible when it came to laptimes and (especially) tire degradation. The 981 was replaced by a 982 / 718 GT4.
My Golf is much nicer (compared to the 981) to drive on the track - the suspension and the balance of the car are just right, at least for me.

And getting back on topic, the car will be 15 years old in a month. And some signs of age start to appear... I intend to fix these issues as they appear as this still is the car I like most.

Before:





After:







Lately I've become a bit obsessed with safety (might share why at some point) and I decided to change my 4 point Schroth harness with a 6 point one:



I hope to have them installed and than have one more trackday this year.
Cheers! 

[Sbn2k]

Do you track your gt4? Just went to see the dealer last week for a GT4. How could I get in touch with you? Would lie to ask you some questions

[RBS]

Nice! Still looking great