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Hi Everyone.
It's been a little while since I was online, but I've now finished the majority of the modifications to the Pirelli and thought I'd drop you all a thread to show you how the car is going.
The idea of this thread is to document the car as it stands, through its genesis back in November 2008 until Today and maybe beyond!
The story began on November the 2nd, 2008. I'd owned a MkV Golf before, a basic 1.6 litre trendline, which I bought in March 2005 - shortly after they were released in Australia.
Although quite sedate in the performance department, it was a wonderful car. Both myself and the wife loved it dearly, but it unfortunately had to go in late 2007 when our family grew beyond the size of the golf. It was sad to see it go, but there was no other choice at the time. We bought a huge Mazda CX9 which was brilliant for what we needed - but it wasn't a golf (I'm sure you guys all know what I'm talking about).
Fast forward to Mid October 2008. I heard a rumour a new "Pirelli" edition Mk5 was coming out similar to the spec of the amazing Golf Edition 30 that the Brits had a year earlier. I also heard it was the very last of the Mk5 GTI's before the new MK6 was released in Early 09.
I did a bit of surfing and came across the pictures of the Pirelli. Now I know the yellow isn't for everybody, but I was absolutely blown away with pictures as soon as I saw them. Not only that, but the great list of hardware on the Pirelli (Namely the K04 Turbo, the strengthened engine and the bodywork) made it highly tempting. A few days later on the 2nd of November, I went into my local VW dealer. I'd decided I wanted one and was going to order one on the spot.
I wanted a Yellow, 4 door, and I wanted it loaded with all the major extras available. Satellite Navigation, Bi-Xenon's and Rear Parking Sensors. I opted out for bluetooth - as I hate mobile phones. Call me strange, but I reckon they're the curse of modern society..
Anyway, only 3 yellow ones coming into WA I'm told. 2 already ordered (this was only days after it's press release)... We might be able to get you the last one, and by chance it has all the fruit you want on it. A couple of anxious days later, I find out the car is mine... I also find out, to my dismay, that the car hadn't even been built yet - and delivery is expected in about 14 weeks (yeah, 3.5 months).
Not to be deterred, I ordered the car. All excited, I forgot about it for a few weeks, then I cracked up google to find out what people were doing with their Mk5s...
Then like a moth to a flame, I came across the Harding Performance website and all the mods they had available for the Mk5.... A few emails later, the seeds had been planted, and even before I'd received the car - the idea of "Project Pirelli" came into being. A couple of emails later to the guys at hardings, I'd decided I was going with the APR kit. The main reason was great local backup, relative good pricing compared to others, plus they had pretty much everything I wanted to buy all available together.
Fast forward to delivery day. The car ended up coming a little earlier, early February 09. By then I'd already had a plan set out and was ready to put it into action!
The plan was to upgrade the car in a series of phases. I'd also set myself a criteria for making any decisions on the direction of the project. I wanted to be very precise and strict with my goals, as I've seen too many projects go off the rails when a goal wasn't defined from the outset.
The criteria for the upgrade was:
a) The mods had to be tasteful, and keep the car looking conservative and relatively original. Of course the car could be made to look better, but not at the cost of taste or performance. For those of you who know me, you'll know I hate car bling. Performance yet no "fast and furious" styling.
b) All of the parts had to be arguably best of breed. No cheap second-rate components, and only the best of each type of component. The components had to work together, look like they belong together, and perform at the top of their class.
c) Nothing goes on the car unless it adds performance.
d) No gimmicky mods, or mods that added questionable performance gains were to be considered.
e) The car was only to be worked on by consummate professionals with the utmost of care.
f) Time was expendable - it doesn't matter how long it takes to get something in, or get something done - so long as it added to the quality of the car. Money was also expendable. If it meant it took longer to get the money together rather than putting on second-choice or inferior parts - then so be it. No compromises.
So I picked up the car early February, and this is what she looked like.
Other than the open vents near the front foglights, the car is completely stock standard.
It was now ready for phase 1.
Phase 1
With only 600ks on the clock, the car went into Quattro Motors to have the APR tune installed. The car was out within a couple of hours, and I honestly couldn't believe what I was feeling.
The standard car is already a beast - but with the tune it becomes quite savage. Sure it has considerable turbo lag, but the tune fully opens up the potential of the K04. The exhaust note changed, with noticable 'pops' coming out of the rear during gear shifts. The car was powerful, yet under control before the tune. After the tune, the increase in power pushes the FWD very close to its limit.
The additional power was like a drug, and it only fortified my decision to progress with the project.
For anybody with a Pirelli - you have to do this basic mod. Even if you don't want to go onto anything else, this should be the very minimum.
Within a few days, I'd confirmed with all the suppliers involved in the project to start ordering the respective parts.
Phase 2
The next part of the project was to install the APR exhaust and 328mm brembo brakes.
I'd originally wanted to buy the larger brakes, but they simply wouldn't fit under the standard Pirelli wheels. The decision was made to put on slotted, rather than drilled rotors - and they were ordered as a package along with the full exhaust. These were installed on the 12th of March.
The standard brakes are tiny compared to the huge brembos.
Not only are the brembos bigger and more powerful, they are considerably lighter than the OEM brakes. This reduction in rolling resistance can only assist in greater acceleration and braking.
Next, on with the APR full exhaust system. This thing's a monster.
Leaving the store was quite a shock. The noise coming out the the exhaust was just AMAZING. The first few blasts had me laughing so hard I almost drove into the back of a Magna. Driving like a grandpa it's very little different from the normal exhaust - but when it's angry, people will know about it from miles around.
The car was remapped, and the performance increase, although not as noticable as the tune, was up quite considerably. This was also likely due to the reduction in sprung weight on the front wheels....
It's been a little while since I was online, but I've now finished the majority of the modifications to the Pirelli and thought I'd drop you all a thread to show you how the car is going.
The idea of this thread is to document the car as it stands, through its genesis back in November 2008 until Today and maybe beyond!
The story began on November the 2nd, 2008. I'd owned a MkV Golf before, a basic 1.6 litre trendline, which I bought in March 2005 - shortly after they were released in Australia.
Although quite sedate in the performance department, it was a wonderful car. Both myself and the wife loved it dearly, but it unfortunately had to go in late 2007 when our family grew beyond the size of the golf. It was sad to see it go, but there was no other choice at the time. We bought a huge Mazda CX9 which was brilliant for what we needed - but it wasn't a golf (I'm sure you guys all know what I'm talking about).
Fast forward to Mid October 2008. I heard a rumour a new "Pirelli" edition Mk5 was coming out similar to the spec of the amazing Golf Edition 30 that the Brits had a year earlier. I also heard it was the very last of the Mk5 GTI's before the new MK6 was released in Early 09.
I did a bit of surfing and came across the pictures of the Pirelli. Now I know the yellow isn't for everybody, but I was absolutely blown away with pictures as soon as I saw them. Not only that, but the great list of hardware on the Pirelli (Namely the K04 Turbo, the strengthened engine and the bodywork) made it highly tempting. A few days later on the 2nd of November, I went into my local VW dealer. I'd decided I wanted one and was going to order one on the spot.
I wanted a Yellow, 4 door, and I wanted it loaded with all the major extras available. Satellite Navigation, Bi-Xenon's and Rear Parking Sensors. I opted out for bluetooth - as I hate mobile phones. Call me strange, but I reckon they're the curse of modern society..
Anyway, only 3 yellow ones coming into WA I'm told. 2 already ordered (this was only days after it's press release)... We might be able to get you the last one, and by chance it has all the fruit you want on it. A couple of anxious days later, I find out the car is mine... I also find out, to my dismay, that the car hadn't even been built yet - and delivery is expected in about 14 weeks (yeah, 3.5 months).
Not to be deterred, I ordered the car. All excited, I forgot about it for a few weeks, then I cracked up google to find out what people were doing with their Mk5s...
Then like a moth to a flame, I came across the Harding Performance website and all the mods they had available for the Mk5.... A few emails later, the seeds had been planted, and even before I'd received the car - the idea of "Project Pirelli" came into being. A couple of emails later to the guys at hardings, I'd decided I was going with the APR kit. The main reason was great local backup, relative good pricing compared to others, plus they had pretty much everything I wanted to buy all available together.
Fast forward to delivery day. The car ended up coming a little earlier, early February 09. By then I'd already had a plan set out and was ready to put it into action!
The plan was to upgrade the car in a series of phases. I'd also set myself a criteria for making any decisions on the direction of the project. I wanted to be very precise and strict with my goals, as I've seen too many projects go off the rails when a goal wasn't defined from the outset.
The criteria for the upgrade was:
a) The mods had to be tasteful, and keep the car looking conservative and relatively original. Of course the car could be made to look better, but not at the cost of taste or performance. For those of you who know me, you'll know I hate car bling. Performance yet no "fast and furious" styling.
b) All of the parts had to be arguably best of breed. No cheap second-rate components, and only the best of each type of component. The components had to work together, look like they belong together, and perform at the top of their class.
c) Nothing goes on the car unless it adds performance.
d) No gimmicky mods, or mods that added questionable performance gains were to be considered.
e) The car was only to be worked on by consummate professionals with the utmost of care.
f) Time was expendable - it doesn't matter how long it takes to get something in, or get something done - so long as it added to the quality of the car. Money was also expendable. If it meant it took longer to get the money together rather than putting on second-choice or inferior parts - then so be it. No compromises.
So I picked up the car early February, and this is what she looked like.
Other than the open vents near the front foglights, the car is completely stock standard.
It was now ready for phase 1.
Phase 1
With only 600ks on the clock, the car went into Quattro Motors to have the APR tune installed. The car was out within a couple of hours, and I honestly couldn't believe what I was feeling.
The standard car is already a beast - but with the tune it becomes quite savage. Sure it has considerable turbo lag, but the tune fully opens up the potential of the K04. The exhaust note changed, with noticable 'pops' coming out of the rear during gear shifts. The car was powerful, yet under control before the tune. After the tune, the increase in power pushes the FWD very close to its limit.
The additional power was like a drug, and it only fortified my decision to progress with the project.
For anybody with a Pirelli - you have to do this basic mod. Even if you don't want to go onto anything else, this should be the very minimum.
Within a few days, I'd confirmed with all the suppliers involved in the project to start ordering the respective parts.
Phase 2
The next part of the project was to install the APR exhaust and 328mm brembo brakes.
I'd originally wanted to buy the larger brakes, but they simply wouldn't fit under the standard Pirelli wheels. The decision was made to put on slotted, rather than drilled rotors - and they were ordered as a package along with the full exhaust. These were installed on the 12th of March.
The standard brakes are tiny compared to the huge brembos.
Not only are the brembos bigger and more powerful, they are considerably lighter than the OEM brakes. This reduction in rolling resistance can only assist in greater acceleration and braking.
Next, on with the APR full exhaust system. This thing's a monster.
Leaving the store was quite a shock. The noise coming out the the exhaust was just AMAZING. The first few blasts had me laughing so hard I almost drove into the back of a Magna. Driving like a grandpa it's very little different from the normal exhaust - but when it's angry, people will know about it from miles around.
The car was remapped, and the performance increase, although not as noticable as the tune, was up quite considerably. This was also likely due to the reduction in sprung weight on the front wheels....
) street.
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