Modifications
Power
- ECU Tune
2017-03-14
I hired
Brink Motorsports
to install an
APR
Stage 2 High Torque
tune.
Mike Brink and his people are great to work with.
With the downpipe, intake and intercooler on the required 93 octane fuel it's advertised to provide 387 bhp and 409 lb-ft at the crankshaft. Assuming the typical 15% driveline losses with a manual transmission, that's ~325 bhp to the wheels. Less without the quoted intake and intercooler I don't have. Pretty similar to other Stage 2 tunes. So probably about 100 bhp shy of the Evo, but without all the boost curve, cam, injector, clutch and noise compromises that lovely beast had. Compared to stock at 245 bhp at the wheels, that's power you can feel. And it's well into the torque curve by 2500 rpm which makes it very usable in traffic.
Downpipe- 2017-03-14 This is required by most Stage 2 tunes. I had Brink install an APR downpipe at the same time 'cause I'm getting too old for messing with this kind of stuff on jack stands.
- Clutch
2017-03-25
The factory Golf R clutch, like all VW clutches I've driven, is very
light, smooth and encouragingly easy for the beginner.
And while it holds the factory torque just fine, it's not up to an
extra 100 lb-ft.
Mine spun almost immediately in third gear and beyond which kinda
leads me to believe it had a hard life in the 5,000 miles before I
had it.
I ordered a
South Bend Clutch
Stage 2 Endurance
kit through
Brink
and had them install it.I wanted the most streetable clutch possible. Since I don't plan on adding power beyond the APR Stage 2 tune above, SBC's Stage 2 Endurance model, rated at 450 lb-ft, seemed like a good match. The clutch disc itself is dual-damped (the springs) with a full, 360° coverage of friction material. The super-grippy 4-puck clutch on the Evo behaved like an on/off switch which wasn't fun commuting in rush hour up Tumbleweed Hill and one of the reasons my wife really didn't like driving it. I don't want that for this car. The spring in the pressure plate is noticeably stiffer than the OEM unit, but again, not quite as difficult as the Evo's and VW's longer pedal travel means better leverage at the cost of some speed. The only annoyance is the chatter coming from the single-mass flywheel.
- Intercooler
2019-06-26
The maximum potential of the tune can be realized with a larger,
aftermarket intercooler.
But anything to help cool the car in Texas is a good thing.
I chose Integrated Engineering's (IE) intercooler for the potential
benefit of their
Flow Distribution System
(FDS) given the unfortunate mechanical fact of the inlet and outlet
both located at the bottom of the side tanks.
I don't know if it really does anything practical, but it seemed
logical at the time.
It mounts in the factory location between the A/C condenser and the
radiator.
Maybe not the best sandwich order for maximum charge cooling, but
there's an inherent compromise among all those heat exchangers.
But at least it's inline of the maximum airflow on the chassis.
Unlike the Evo's giant CBRD FMIC, it fit without any modifications
to the surrounding components, a feature I desired.Disassembly of the piping downstream of the turbo created simply opportunity to examine the intercooler and charge pipes for oil contamination. Its presence might be reduced by an oil catch can or aftermarket oil separator. The factory intercooler was found to have no more than a film of oil inside it. I'd prefer to avoid a catch can as some other Mk7 owners have reported side effects such as developing serious oil leaks in their cam position sensors and other odd places. A lack of oil also suggests healthy bearing seals in the turbo housing.
- Intake
- As it turns out, the stock Mk7 intake and plumbing is pretty efficient. The most significant change here would be additional noise. Many Mk7 intakes are >$400 and my goal is for this car to remain somewhat stealthy. So even though it makes fun, zoomy sounds, I'm going to skip it on the Golf.
Shifter
- Clutch Bleeder Block
- 2016-05-28
The stock clutch pedal action is awful owing to a bizarre
restriction in the hydraulic line to the throw out bearing.
The result is a delay in clutch engagement leading to awkward and
clumsy double-clutching making heel-and-toe downshifting difficult.
Fortunately the restriction was in the bleeder block between the
hydraulic hose and the slave cylinder.
I chose to replace the factory part with the
aluminum clutch bleeder block
developed by
ECS Tuning.
It was a tad expensive but installation was easy with my youngest
daughter to help bleed the system.
The problem can be solved by simply removing the plastic ring in the
OEM bleeder that creates the restriction, but I wanted to keep the
stock part intact in case I screwed up.
Also, the ECS part does have a slightly larger inner diameter.
Not sure I buy into the
aluminum-is-always-better-than-plastic
rationalization since they both plug into a flexy, plastic-bodied
slave cylinder, but whatever.
- Shifter Bracket and Solid Bushings
- 2016-06-23 The stock Mk7 Golf shift linkage is fairly crisp from the factory, but I feel any little bit improves the feel of precision. The Volkswagen stamped steel bracket replaces the stock plastic part that holds the transmission end of the shifter cable sleeves. The cables move relative to this mount point to actuage the shift lever sticking out of the transmission. Tyrolsport brass bushings replace the stock rubber bushings, holding the bracket onto the transmission case. Neither addition noticeably increases cabin noise.
Chassis and Suspension
- Spare Tire Kit
- 2016-06-25 Mk7 Golf Rs don't come with a spare tire. Many other new cars don't either, possibly to save expense or weight or something like that. But this is wrong. So I fixed it.
- Audi Wheels
- 2017-05-17 The stock 19" VW Cadiz wheels are acceptably attractive, but the short sidewall of the 235/35/19 tires lends a harsh ride without significantly improved handling. I've always liked the Audi TTR wheels, so I added a set of Hartmann replicas from Achtuning to my Golf.
- Chassis Bracing
- 2018-09-11
I
really miss the unparalleled chassis rigidity of the
Evo.
You even notice it in the Golf's body creaks slowly rolling into my
driveway at a slight angle.
I added the
Unibrace
UBQ
to replace the two stamped VW braces across the drivetrain tunnel. This reduces my ground clearance slightly at the center of the body so I don't recommend it for lowered cars. (I've already had to apply a protective spray of flat black to a couple low-speed scrapes.) Eventualy I may also add an XBQ to rigidly join the rear shock towers. Apparently the XBQ is built-to-order which incurs a long lead time. It also requires installing Nutserts for mounting and easing removal. I'll add the XBQ eventually as I'm confident it will make a greater impact than strengthening an already somewhat braced powertrain tunnel.
- Rear Anti-Roll Bar
- 2018-12-17Compared to the Turbo S and the Evo, this car plows like a Deere. I had decent results adjusting tire pressures but I ended up adding an H&R 25mm rear sway bar. It definitely makes it easier to induce oversteer (especially on my current, worn tires) and rotate the car in a controlled manner.
- Front Anti-Roll Bar
- 2019-08-21 I hadn't planned on adding a front aftermarket anti-roll bar since this car understeers pretty badly in stock trim. A stiffer bar typically increases understeer. But since I was already in there to replace a prematurely worn front suspension component that was causing an obnoxious clunk, I had Brink also put a front sway bar on the job order. If I had been thinking straight, I would have specified a matching H&R front bar like the rear, but they put on their default APR anti-roll bar with new end-links. I slipped the end-links into their less stiff adjustment holes. The impact to understeer seems to be negligible while firming up the roll of the car noticeably. Would I have incurred the required unbolting of the subframe and resulting realignment cost otherwise? Probably not. So even though I hadn't planned on it, the front sway bar turns out to have been a worthwhile investment.
- Performance Brake Pads
- Once the factory consumables wear out I'll upgrade the brakes to a good street/autocross pad and rotor combo. The factory calipers are plenty adequate for any kind of driving on the street and, doubtless, anything I could manage on a road course.
Exterior
- Jack Pads
- 2017-05-27 I'm a lot more comfortable bracing my floor jacks against these rubber and plastic pads than I am the potentially bendable pinch welds.
- LED Taillights
- 2017-12-30 I added the 2018 Mk7.5 Golf LED taillights with their dynamic amber turn signals and rear fog light.
- Power Folding Mirrors
- 2020-02-29I rather like the power folding
mirrors on our
Passat VR6.
They're easy to get around in the garage and tight parking spaces
and provide a helpful visual clue from far away that the doors are
locked.
But in all honesty, I performed this mod just because I liked what a
cool gizmo it is.
As an added bonus, the mirrors I bought came with puddle lamps
as well as paintable white caps and glass.
I swapped over my factory black caps.
It's going to take some getting used to the aspherical blind spot
curve in the driver's mirror.
I'm going to give it a chance but I still have the option of
swapping back to my factory flat glass.
- Euro Mirror Caps
- The factory Golf R mirrors have a black cap on them above the turn signal light regardless of body color. I'd prefer if they were just blue like the rest of the body, so I supposed I could have them painted. I'm considering replacing them with the aluminum-look Euro caps, but after seeing how jarringly bright the white caps that came with my folding mirrors looked against the dark blue, that's not gonna happen. Maybe if I hung out with more Audi S-car folks with their aluminum mirror caps, but I don't anymore. I suppose carbon fiber caps look similar enough to the stock black and don't stand out too much from the dark blue paint that they could be an option, but that's not me and I don't see them advertised anymore.
- Remove Dealer-Installed Stripes
- Seems like I hardly notice those pinstripes on the sides anymore. Hopefully a little heat, polish and patience will get them off for me at home.
Interior and Comfort
- Armrest Storage Bin
2016-05-28 Vehicles in the US are required to have a latch on an opening compartment. Mexican-built Golfs and GTIs have a latch on their armrest lid enclosing a handy compartment. German-built Golf R armest lids have no such latch. In the rest of the world (RoW) they open. In the US they are clamped shut.
Fortunately there is a solution. VW/Audi armrests normaly lock into several heights. This is accomplished with a set of ratcheting gear teeth on the hinge. The hack VW used to federalize the Golf R armrest involves screwing down fixed gear teeth that lock into this hinge. The workaround to get into the armrest compartment on US cars is the removal of the fixed gear. Be careful with the 4mm allen screw heads because they are soft and easy to strip and probably held in with Loctite. (I ended up drilling out one because…stupid. Or careless.) Make certain to get the hex bit fully seated in the head. Consider using a small impact driver if you can get the tool in the tight space.
- Software Tweaks
- One of the nice things about owning a VW or Audi is VCDS, a.k.a. VAG-COM. If there is a feature implemented in any world-wide market and the associated hardware is installed on your car, you have access to enable it in software.
- LED Footlights
- 2017-06-18 I updated the single, yellowish LED footlights in the front with LEDs matching the rest of the interior lighting.
- LED Interior Lights
- I'm considering changing any incandescent or weak/yellowish interior bulbs with low energy, bright and consistently colored LEDs. The German-built Golf R, for the most part, already has LEDs in every socket I've checked, though I did upgrade the hatch light with a brighter, whiter array.
- Frameless Mirror
- 2017-08-04 I liked the look of the frameless rear view mirror in our 2017 Passat so I put one in the Golf too. It also adds a convenient HomeLink® transmitter and a primitive 8-point compass. I bought a kit that works with the R's rain-sensor. (Be sure to get the right one if your car doesn't come with rain-sensing wipers.)
- Boost Gauge
- Not exactly critical to the task of driving (fast), but it's nice to help diagnose if the power seems low. I have a Bluetooth OBDII scanner I connect to my phone using the Torque Pro application which I can use as a boost gauge with a variety of display formats, peak, min/max and graph over time. But it's not always convenient to have my phone or a tablet mounted in the car and there is a perceptible lag even with the fastest scanners. So I might like a mechanical or even one of those expensive stepper motor electronic boost gauges one of these days. Many VW vendors make it easy to match the R's uniquely difficult-to-read blue gauge lighting.
- Dash Cam
- 2017-11-03Dash cams are getting quite popular. They're great for recording evidence in the unfortunate event of a traffic mishap, if that ever happens. I managed to capture a number of amusing and infuriating antics of my fellow drivers with the dash cam I had in the Evo. I picked up an Ampulla Cruiser 1080p/720p front/rear camera on a great "Black Friday" sale. Unfortunately the rear camera has not been the most reliable. I would have rather had my current favorite, a BlackVue DR470-2CH, for its features and stealth.
-
Shift Knob
- 2021-12-25Despite the techy, German look of the Mk7 Golf, I'm nostalgic for the old '60s American cars, especially Pontiacs. I installed this white, spherical knob from Billetworkz because it reminds me of the Delrin knobs frequently found on those cars equipped with a Hurst shifter. And, well, the Corvair too. At 450 grams of 304 stainless steel, it adds a fair amount of momentum over the stock knob's 117g for an satisfying kachunk! going into gear. I was afraid the silver shift pattern laser-etched through the powder coat of white would be too light, but it looks great. (I also picked up an actual Delrin knob in case I wanted a true to original look and feel. TBD.) Removing the stock VW knob was a bit of work — I may have ruined the one-way plastic compression clip that clamps it to the boot.
Garage
