Help! New to dubbing!

[Golfer]

Hey guys.

Just a few short months ago I stepped out of my nice torquey (fuel thirsty) XR8 into an OBD1 MK3 Golf GL 8v in order to save money on insurance and fuel. I thought I would forever regret the move, but there's just something about the little golf that has me mesmerised. So here i am on a new forum, in a new car, and with no clue how to start getting the most out of my new golf. In all honesty i don't know a lot about VW's but I'm hooked, and more than willing to learn. To give you some idea about what i want to do-

1. Wheels and tyres (What is the best combo and how big can i go LEGALLY?)
2. Suspension (What is avaliable for OBD1 Mk3's?)
3. VR6 Kits (Arches and side skirts, can they be fitted to a GL?)
4. Induction and Exhausts (What is the best way to go? What size and type?)

I have a million things I would love to do just because it is such a fun economical little car to swing around in, so these are just a starter. As a starting out Golfer, i know little, but want to know lots, and i'm sure i'm not the only one in this boat. So please all of you who have been through all the drama help me out and let me (and all the other poor 8v + Mk3 owners) know where we can look for affordable and affective upgrades for our cars???

Thanks everyone, I look forward to many happy years using these wonderful cars, this wonderful site, and getting to know you all - John, Gold Coast, Qld

[SOHC]

Hi and Welcome to the forum John! I also have a Mk3 but all stock and its a late 95 model.

Wheels I think 16" would be best suit?
Shocks I think there are many... I think? but known that 95 and 94 golfs got different types of shocks.
VR6 wheel archs and kits sure will go on the GL, as any Mk3s.
Exhaust I know nothing about it... but I heard that Remus would be great on VR6?? if you have the cash lol

Anyway hope you enjoy here.

Cheers
Carlson

[golf-kart]

- 16x7” suit the car well, however I think you can legally go 17’s (ask your insurance company).
- Decent springs with matching struts and a rear sway bar will improve the handling.
- All the VR6 paraphernalia will fit the GL. (arches, VR6 front lip, factory tinted tail lights, seats, etc…)
- Induction : I ‘swiss cheesed’ the bottom of my airbox… I noticed that it spins a bit more freely, sounds great, but doesn’t give much if anymore power. Get a nice aftermarket pannel filter. (note pic: don’t swiss the top of the box!).



- Exhaust: some people say don’t go any larger than 2” as this can have a negative effect on performance. Get a nice euro muffler.

This was my car:



I miss it.

[BLKMJC]

Nice looking car, really fat looks similar to VR6!

I also have similar Q's for a friend. He got a 94 MK3 Golf and would like to lower/wheels. What is the offset? I know the wheels are 4x100, ET?

Where can he purchase wheels, 15's or 16's that fit without any spacers?

Thanks,

BLKMJC

[brackie]

Welcome!

Welcome, Golfer. You've made the right choice by getting into a Golf. There are a lot of people on this forum with mk1s but a growing number of mk3 and 4 owners. Keep asking the questions...you'll get the answers!

[Golf Loon]

Welcome to the forum, all wheel and tyre questions can be answered in the wheels and tyres forum.

VR6 bits all fit onto Mk3. I have a set of VR6 arches I will sell and my friend has the sidekirts.

There are lots of suspension and tuning bits available, but probably better to choose the wheels first.

[Golfer]

Thanks everyone for the huge response to my questions. Having a look around the site there are some great looking Mk3's to be seen. I love the way they look with the VW genuine kits just dropped with wheels. It seems there are too many rice burners up here on the coast and the euro look is still unique. Nice car golf-kart, i like that wheel style, but it is difficult to find a style to suit a white car

Thanks Golf Loon, my next project is finding and fitting a set of wheels, so i won't get too serious about suspension until i get that out of the way. All the same, i have been told that whiteline make reasonable stuff for the 3, especially swaybars. Being on the gold coast has its advantages and disadvantages. There are a lot of tuned cars here, but most parts if we want good stuff out of the factory we have to look to melbourne, and shipping costs are getting expensive. A little local knowledge would probably help, But i've been slack owning a falcon the good parts were avaliable everywhere.

I am not sure but i think the offset for the wheels is 35-45mm. I have been looking at the 16x6.5 with 205/45 tyre combo and the offsets are within that range. As this is the very next project any input is most appreciated

Excuse my ignorance guys, but what is a nice euro muffler? I have absolutely no experience with euro cars, so feel free to baby me!

[Bug_racer]

Hey there


1 ) You can legally go 1 inch larger safely so 16's are good . I was driving around on 17's . Its probably easier to get a good set of 17 inch tyres . I never had an issue with cops and 17s so you can go that way if you like

2) Firstly we dont have OBD here in Aus . OBD 1 and OBD 2 makes no difference , thats a US only thing .
As for the suspension , whats your budget ? Inmotive has limited edition coilover kits for mk3's for $2k . You get height and rebound adjusting . Ive found with suspension its always best to spend that bit extra to get a quality package

3)Sideskirts etc will fit buts its important to note that the mk3 came with 2 different types of sill skirts , 1 with one without . Hard to explain unless you get 2 mk3's side by side .

4)Best to make a cold air induction set up . Being a 1994 its probably a 2E engine which I'll have a chip available for shortly . The swiss air box mod is a big no-no . Cams are plentiful and Giac can probably do a chip to suit the cam you buy . Anything bigger than around 260 will need a different chip to work properly . Exhaust , stick to 2 inch , 2 1/4 if you want power above 6k rpm

[Golfer]

I gathered the swiss air box has potential to be a HAI because of the lack of cold air in that area, but i just pulled the air box off 5 minutes ago, and low and behold there is a beautiful hole right down to the ground and all that lovely cold air. only one problem, it's filled up with a carbon canister!!! Anybody have any experience with moving the canister and utilising that hole? Oh and sorry, my bad about the OBD, i just noticed that there were 2 different builds of Mk3's in Oz, and made a stupid assumption...

[h100vw]

I have a few panel filters for sale.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=1655

Before throwing suspension on I'd make sure that the std suspension bushes are in good order. I my experience the front wishbone bushes are likely to be on their way out. Same set up as my 98 A3 and they have died on that with 120K on it.

The rear axle bushes were a very common MOT failure in the UK. Not expensive to buy but a big DIY job to replace with std ones. Poly ones go in much easier.

And like the man says, don't drill the top of the airbox, unfiltered air is not a good idea.

A 2 litre is never going to set the road on fire but if you have some money to spend it'll go to 110KW. You'll need headwork, a cam plus a chip to get the fuelling correct. It should still be fuel efficient as well which is a bonus.

Gavin

[Golf Loon]

No reason you cant move the cannister and put a pod filter through into the wheel arch.

[DubSteve]

How about using a pod filter will that do it any good

[Golf Loon]

Should make it brethe better

[golf3]

Hey Golfer...

You have private message
(don't know if you have read it yet, sent it a week ago)

[Golfer]

Sorry Golf3 still getting used to the forum. I thought I'd post a few pics of my new baby, sort of a 'before' set of shots...