What my wife hates

A few years back I decided that I wanted a 4 cylinder daily driver. I was spending a lot on gas, I was racking miles on my truck, and to be honest there are times where driving a truck isn't optimal. I had a new job, a longer commute, and a few thousand dollars of paid out vacation and sick time from my prior job just burning a hole in my pocket.

I needed fun. I needed something that was quick. I needed something with strong aftermarket support. I needed something with the kind of style where when I look at it, I like it. A hatchback for sure, it's just a commuter and I dont have kids. Not a Honda, I didn't want the "race me bro" attention those bring. That left not many options.

I had always liked GTIs, as a kid my neighbor had a few real nice ones. When I was a senior in high school I loved the MK4, but as a broke kid there was no way I could afford one. Well, now I'm a grown up and they're cheap, so I started looking. Initially wanting a VR6, I couldn't find a solid one. I found a clean VR6 with 6 speed and no sunroof, loved it until I went to see it. It had a bad fuel pump according to the seller. I was willing to buy a pump, install it, andnif it ran i would buy it. Then I noticed an oil puddle the size of a large pizza under it, nevermind bro!

The search continued, I found a silver 1.8T reasonably priced nearby. There was also a red one about 30 minutes away for sale, and I liked red. I drove the silver one first, it was a pretty shady dealer but a cool guy none the less. On the drive he was saying "floor it! Fuck it just floor it! 6500 RPM no problem!" He was right, the car was screaming fast! It had a chip and shitty coilovers, but i was instantly in love.

In Los Angeles there are a lot of these used car salesman. Hope nobody takes it the wrong way, but the hardest ones to bargain with are the older Armenian guys. They're like natural born hustlers. I told him I have to check another out, he said waste of time his is better. I left to see the red one, got to Burbank and it was sold. It had a dent in the side anyhow.

I called the Armenian guy back trying to haggle, told him I like this one. He saw through, "Fuck that, red is ugly, you'll get tickets with red. Besides you are calling me so it's not nice, come back and buy this." Gotta admit the fucker had me. A deal was sealed and I drove home in a neglected, lowered, ten year old German designed hatchback, fun times ahead.

Over the years that followed I have been sorting out all the shitty repairs and neglect from previous owner(s). I replaced a lot of crap that isn't really fun and accumulated exotic tools like triple-square sockets, torx sockets, allen sockets, and so forth. I learned about the batshit crazy German torque practices, like "87ftlbs plus 1/4 turn". I also learned about stretch bolts, what a stupid thing to do.

I'm going to find pics of some of the repairs and updates, stay tuned.

I'll try to find the older pics of when it was really low. It was low enough that it would scrape on reflectors in the road. Seeing me drive it then was like watching a fine art form, it was a serious chore.

By the way, my wife loves my Tundra but hates this car.

Roll call of mods so far:
Koni coilovers
Powerflex low strut mounts
R32 solid arm bushings
Cupra R solid rear bushings
EBC slotted rotors and red pads
UK R32 DSG air box
AEM dry filter
Diesel Geek short shifter
ECS steel skid plate
Duralast AGM battery
Neuspeed front strut bar
Stage 1? Chip (no idea what tuner)
Scangauge2
Powerflex poly front swaybar link and bar bushings
Euro halogen projectors with fogs and glass lenses
Tinted windows
Tyrolsport huge side mount intercooler
Forge silicone intercooler pipes
Forge 008 diverter valve
Aluminum coolant pipes
Vibratechnics motor and trans mounts
"Vehicle has done the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs" sticker

 

Here is how it sat when I got it. If I find a better pic I will post it.


Interior was pretty clean. I installed a Scangauge and a European headlight switch since I added projector lights and fogs. When I bought it the car had a really crappy HID Bixenon kit, the "I will blind you but blue light is cool" kind. I got rid of that fast in favor of halogen projectors.

 

You lost me at “A few years back”... lol /jk

 

The coilovers it had sell for $400 new for front and rear, that says enough on how well it rode. I threw those in the trash in favor of a nice Koni kit.

I admit I liked the green black and gold colors. Unfortunately they clashed with the EBC rotors and red pads.


The new, installed with new shortened bumpstops, upper mounts, strut bearings and stretch bolts.



The biggest joke on the old set up was the rear springs, they were maxed out on thread, springs fully collapsed under weight and my tire was up in the fender. New ones looked promising and delivered.

 

Nice write up. Keep posting about its progress.

 

How it sat after a drive around the block, still a bit low but more respectable.



At this point I had installed a heavy duty steel skid plate, the coilovers, and brakes front and rear. It was riding okay now, no more scraping or bucking around on freeways.

 

I’ve always liked GTIs too. Can’t wait to see this build continue

 

Then it started being a VW. On the way home one day the bung for the return line on the radiator overflow snapped. Left me on a tow truck, but $30 later I was back up. While I was at it I replaced a line set for the overflow and 2 fuel lines, I noticed the clips were damaged.

 

A few months later, I noticed that some jackass used worm gear hose clamps on my plastic coolant flange. Guess how I noticed that? On the side of the freeway when my coolant dumped.


Good news is, I got a set of 4 aluminum flanges and a new coolant switch for $100. Worm gears won't hurt there but at some point I'll put the proper spring clamps on. Spent a few hours at my buddy's house getting back to driveable.

 

I had a 92 GTI in red. Ill have to look for pics but I wish to this day I still had it.

 

The idea behind this car is to have some performance without looking like its racer style. I am after subtle mods, or even the "OEM plus" mods. I couldn't help thinking the stock intake was a little restrictive. I studied and found an OEM upgrade, the airbox for the R32 with DSG in the UK has a much larger intake track from the box to the bumper. I ordered one up for $100 and carefully monitored the scangauge to see if it was well spent. On my normal commute I went from 32 mpg to 34 mpg, and it did feel quite a bit stronger on acceleration. I was surprised, and best of all it's a factory part and smog guy doesn't notice. I was pretty happy how responsive the motor was to this, being my first turbo car it's amazing.





Monster huh? This part is the opening where the intake tube opens behind the headlight.



Can't even tell.

 

Went to get smogged one day, it did not pass because the SAI was not working. I was surprised since I could hear the pump kick on every morning. I went home to diagnose.

This is the Kombi valve, I unhooked the feed from the pump to the valve and disconnected the vacuum line. I ran a mityvac to the vacuum port, turned the motor on and applied vacuum. I could hear the idle change, so the Kombi was fine.


Under this plate are two solenoids and a check valve. I ran a test using my scanner and could hear the solenoid that passes vacuum to the Kombi clicking like a clock, safe to say it worked.


Looked more and found several breaks in the many vacuum lines. Irritating but at least it's the cheapest of fixes in this chain of unnecessary parts.



I took the breast plate off, carefully disconnecting the solenoid wiring and vacuum clamps. This is what it looked like. The problem is obvious right?

Swapped all the hoses out and reinstalled. To my surprise it idled much smoother and ran a lot stronger after this. One of those solenoids is the N249, which controls the diverter valve (blow off). I'm sure you Toyota guys were dying to know that.


Ran the test on my handheld, passed. Took it back to smog and passed right away, plus it ran way better. That Sec air sys was previously saying "not ready".

 

Got windows tinted too. As much as I liked the fishbowl look and the subtle blue glass, the leather in Summer was killing me.


It came out a little darker than I hoped, but it's because of the blue glass.

 

very nice....i feel your pain...

here is my German money pit that i love, and my wife hates....calls it the "clown car"....

 

Get on vwvortwx.com if you aren’t already. One of the greatest, well organized auto forums I’ve been a part of. I had an MK4 VR6 for 11 years. They’re a hell of a lot of fun, but be prepared for lots of wrenching.

I still hope to get a MK4 R32 someday.

 

Also, ECS Tuning is one of the greatest places for OEM and aftermarket parts. Very fair pricing.

 

clean !

 

+1 ECS is great - used to be able to do local pickup before they got huge online. Went in once to pick up an A4 air bypass pipe (mkV noisepipe delete) and they had a lambo in their shop with the entire rear off/engine exposed. The mechanics were upgrading the ECS owners turbos in his personal car. Clearly they were doing okay then!

Speaking of diverter valves, the stock ones are garbage - I've replaced mine twice: once with Forge/then an upgraded stronger OEM. Bladders tear on them or they develop a leak. Definitely a wear and tear item IMO

 

I really like that gold one, its clean and the black headlights are so subtle against the windows. The orange MK5 is nice too, I don't see that color often.

Good call on the DV, I put a Forge 008 in pretty early, forgot to mention it. Also running the MK5 style Hitachi bolt in coil packs with the adapter plates for more reliable spark, and copper Denso "chipped" plugs. There are so many little items I can't recall all of them.

I buy from ECS sometimes, but lately I have had better experiences with Urotuning. Parts and pricing are about the same but the customer service is better. I replaced the ignition switch and tumbler, they called me before shipping to warn me not to turn the key at all until the part is installed. If I did it would lock up and theres no leverage to get it out. If they hadn't called I guarantee I would have turned the key as soon as I opened the box.

 

i find the forged diverter valves are junk. 710N is the route to go IMO (at least on my porsche, assume you can do the same on yours)

 

Might depend on the application. I'm spiking around 22psi and holding around 15psi. Not sure how much of that hits the DV but for almost 3 years the DV has been apparently functional. When I swap the downpipe out and get Unitronic stage 2 tuned I will take the DV apart and inspect it. I'm running the weaker of the 3 springs, I'll see what the diaphragm looks like.

710N looks like it would fit, and would look much more inconspicuous than the blingy Forge. I forgot to swap the stock one in for smog inspection and the guy eyeballed it but didn't flag me. Looks like the 710N is stock on 225 TT cars but not sure if that's the same as what comes on the AWP motor. Once I get other stuff done I'll look into that option, thanks for the heads up.

 

you reminded me i need to put my stock exhaust and cats back on before i smog my turbo next month.....i took it in catless last go around and my smog guy passed me...but berated me

 

Did I just hear that right?

You're gonna have to bring that sweetness over to TX and line up against my SHO!

 

That would be fun! It isn't much for quartermile runs but from 45 up this little car rips hard.

Just put new tires on it, hoping to get a free weekend to freshen up the suspension. I'm considering getting a big side mount intercooler before Summer hits, this thing doesn't like Summer temps at all.

 

Parked between an MK5 and an MK7 today. Not because I wanted to, but I took a late lunch and the parking lot at work was full.


Took a good look at the rear bushings too while my new tires were being mounted.

 

Here’s my old mkv. Had a love hate relationship with that thing. It was a blast to drive but man was it a piece of S***. Was a victim of the infamous timing chain tensioner failure. Set me back 5 grand in rebuilding the motor. Leaked oil from places unknown. Check engine light turned on if you even looked at it wrong.

 

That's a nice one.

 

New tires, they're real sticky. My last tires were cheap Hankook because I figured my camber problem in the rear would eat through them, and I was right. Since I plan to fix that problem soon I got nicer Falkens.

In a few weeks I'm gonna lift the car about an inch, swap those dreaded rear bushings, swap the control arms and throw in R32 bushings. I can't wait to hit some mountain roads after that.

 

U ever checked out ABD Racingwerks in riverside? Had a couple buddy’s swear by them as a great shop when they had VW

 

I used to see their stickers on VWs. My older brothers buddy had a sweet Scirocco with lots of their parts on it. I haven't gone there myself but would love to check it out if I'm ever in town on a weekday.