MK5 Golf GTI
All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: BeezerDiesel on April 29, 2009, 03:44:47 pm
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Skip the first bit if you're easily bored:
Hard to believe that the mk5 GTI has been around over 4 years now, but it has and VW have sold lots of them.
Now, I normally buy a car, slightly modify it getting bits at the best price I possibly can then sell it again after a year as something else has caught my eye. The bits I bought are stripped off and sold on again to fund the next round of mods on the incoming car.
Still awake?
Okay, so here I am having owned the GTI now for well in excess of my usual 12 months and can't think of any other car I really want. My GTI has suffered like all the others in the global financial meltdown and lost masses of money, and the only car I would really consider swapping it for would be a newer mk5 GTI which doesn't make much financial sense to me as it would be nearly identical. So I spent money on a big service, cam-belt change etc and got thinking; we've been here before in the mk2 days.
The mk3 came out and ordinary people who wanted a new number plate bought a mk3, GTI lovers hated the mk3 and decided to wait until VW came up with something better so spent the money on making their mk2 a better GTI, modifying it but trying to keep the GTI balance. So here we are again, the mk5.5 has arrived costing R32 money and you can get a good K04 equipped mk5 GTI for nearly ten grand less or a KO3 example for another five grand less than that.
Down to business: to modify the 200PS GTI you need to play to its strengths just like modding 8v mk2s back in the day. You can buy a high revving, high horsepower car off the shelf in the form of an ED30 or Pirelli.
The KO3s strength is it's low rev pick up and mid-range urge IMO, and as the things have been around a good few years there must be owners who have spent some money that was well invested and other money on mods that they found in retrospect that were a waste of cash.
So purely looking at the standard 200PS GTI, where is the best invested go-faster money after the re-map? Who actually has some good or bad experience of bolt on mods they would share?
Educated opinions always welcome but real world experiences would be good. There must be an awful lot of early mk5 GTI owners around that can't afford or justify a newer model that want to make the best out of an early model without spending silly amounts of cash.
Sorry about all that my fingers got carried away, but now you know where I'm coming from..... :smiley:
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thats an excellent post!! :happy2:
ive done s3 cooler, forge dv, milltek tbe, carbonio, coilovers, short shifter and various other mods and my car feels rapid!! you dont even really need a KO4 (unless you want big numbers) as ive raced various KO4s and there not that faster!
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Thanks for the reply Joe.
Specifically though, what do you consider the best mod in cost versus improvement? I would probably uprate my GTI bit by bit to keep my interest going and to keep costs under control (wife has just ordered new windows so money situation poor at present!).
For example we can safely say in isolation the re-map is the best VFM as you get 40bhp straight away for your £250 - 500 outlay, but what comes next on the value for money list? :happy2:
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well i always wait till i find the best price for a mod, for example i got my full tbe R32 style for 750 and OSIR carbon wing mirror covers for 150 instead of 300 :rolleye:
im not one for ever paying full price for things, especially in the aftermarket car parts world :happy2:
so for VFM after a re-map id probably say S3 cooler as they can be found cheap, are easy to fit yourself and the gains are noticable whilst driving! :happy2:
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I think you'll enjoy the remapped car even more by upgrading the suspension, be it just springs, springs and shocks or just a WALK kit.
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^^agree^^ susspension after re-map, or maybe even before! coilovers all the way! :happy2:
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i would get the walk kit first :happy2:
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Already got FSD shocks, not going to uprate the springs though. My daily driver is a mk2 Ibiza GTI and it has Bilstein/Eibach and the Golf's comfort is much appreciated after rattling around in the Beezer all week!!! :laugh:
WALK kit is a definate interest though, read much about this on the forums and magazines and it seems very highly rated. Thanks guys.
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WALK, dropped springs and some used R32 stoppers.
Rear ARB
Remap & panel filter
You could have a good looking, nimble and quick GTI that stops too for less than a grand :happy2:
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Already got FSD shocks, not going to uprate the springs though. My daily driver is a mk2 Ibiza GTI and it has Bilstein/Eibach and the Golf's comfort is much appreciated after rattling around in the Beezer all week!!! :laugh:
The MKV's suspension is so sophisticated, it can take a good drop without virtually any loss in comfort :happy2:
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WALK, dropped springs and some used R32 stoppers.
Rear ARB
Remap & panel filter
You could have a good looking, nimble and quick GTI that stops too for less than a grand :happy2:
Excellent :happy2:
Been keeping a lookout for some reasonably priced R32/Cupra brakes for a while.
Does the RARB make a lot of difference to the Golf? I had a Polo GTI 1.8t before the Golf GTI (had to sell it as it knackered my back) that was far far more nimble than the Golf but really needed the RARB. However I always thought the Golf's roll control was half decent as it was, just the turn in is much slower than the Polo. Another area I must look at then :happy2:
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The stiffer rear ARB will tweak the natural inbuilt understeer out of the front, quickening up the turn in, the WALK will help with this too. 2 minute job to fit, so costs are minimal, the front you have to drop the subframe and such, so can be time consuming/costly.
Doing both ARBs will obviously help with body roll, but both aren't entirely necessary.
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Cheers, Tony D
And going back a few posts, how much are the S3 intercoolers compared to the Forge Twintercooler? :smiley:
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Cheers, Tony D
And going back a few posts, how much are the S3 intercoolers compared to the Forge Twintercooler? :smiley:
The S3 IC with hoses will set you back around £300 whilst the Forge Twintercooler is close to £600.
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Cheers, Tony D
And going back a few posts, how much are the S3 intercoolers compared to the Forge Twintercooler? :smiley:
Just picked up a S3 cooler minus the hoses for £150. :wink:
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Cheers, Tony D
And going back a few posts, how much are the S3 intercoolers compared to the Forge Twintercooler? :smiley:
Just picked up a S3 cooler minus the hoses for £150. :wink:
I'm guessing this was a one off? :surprised:
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I'm guessing this was a one off? :surprised:
Ebay. :wink:
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S3 coolers can be found very very cheap, matt can also get a very good discount on new items, i think around 270 for the cooler and hoses! :happy2:
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£276 for the IC and pipes - again if I decide to sell my car I will have a new one boxed available...
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£276 for the IC and pipes - again if I decide to sell my car I will have a new one boxed available...
Thanks for the pricing (I'm guessing this is through Matt?), and keep me in mind if you do sell your IC and any other bits for that matter. But really you don't want to sell your car. :smiley: