Golf R Observations and Questions

[triode12]

Thank You.
Great forum!
Stage two will do.Yes would like to do some track days. 6 a year,
Tune i $1695, Air $575, Fuel pump not needed as yet, inter cooler $2000, Exhaust varies in prices full $4000 and yes must first listen for drone, half Not priced, down pipe $2500 plus labour for install.
This is an inexpensive tune.

r36 / r soon.

There are other brands of downpipes and exhaust systems besides APR which work out a lot cheaper than that. Cogdoc just did a group buy for 42DD and the DP alone came to around $800 landed.
I would research more on the intercooler. The one in the R is only not that much different to the S3 intercooler (difference is plastic ends caps). Perhaps add a forge twincooler to the existing IC would have more gains than replacing the intercooler itself.

[REXman]

There are other brands of downpipes and exhaust systems besides APR which work out a lot cheaper than that. Cogdoc just did a group buy for 42DD and the DP alone came to around $800 landed.
I would research more on the intercooler. The one in the R is only not that much different to the S3 intercooler (difference is plastic ends caps). Perhaps add a forge twincooler to the existing IC would have more gains than replacing the intercooler itself.

Hey,

So Is that right about the cooler? Is the only difference the ends of it? So the actual core is the same? That's surprising, cause vie heard a lot of dominating S3 vs R cooler talk.

Which does make sense mind you at face value cause the car costs more, but anyway there you go.

Hey what are these downpipes? $800 is more my alley, any link or pic of them? Is 42DD tbd brand?

Thanks!

[Corey_R]

There are other brands of downpipes and exhaust systems besides APR which work out a lot cheaper than that. Cogdoc just did a group buy for 42DD and the DP alone came to around $800 landed.
I would research more on the intercooler. The one in the R is only not that much different to the S3 intercooler (difference is plastic ends caps). Perhaps add a forge twincooler to the existing IC would have more gains than replacing the intercooler itself.

No, that's not correct. The S3's intercooler is about 50% thicker than the R's - so it's more than just the end cap difference. I've still got the pictures from the S3 Stage III conversions where they've got the Stage III Intercooler, next to the S3 intercooler, next to the GTI intercooler. The R uses the GTI's intercooler.

As for 42DD. They make a "modular exhaust package". This is their link for the downpipe. It's a much cheaper product than competitors such as Milltek and APR, and well, it should be. It's not even a Mild Steel exhaust, let alone a Stainless Steel exhaust. It's an aluminized steel exhaust!

[Lex200]

I'm planning to replace the stock DSG paddles. Step one is to disconnect the fuse for the steering wheel airbag before removing the steering wheel cover.
Unfortunately, the manual does not specify the fuse locations. Can anyone provide a diagram of the fuses and their functions?
Thanks
Lex

[Corey_R]

I think most people just disconnected one of the battery terminals and left it at that...

[Lex200]

I think most people just disconnected one of the battery terminals and left it at that...

Yes but that produces error codes that others have said will hopefully resolve after driving but might require resetting by the dealer.
Identification of the fuses should be possible and would be a simpler solution.

[Corey_R]

Sorry. I presumed that you want to pop the fuses because that's what the instructions say. The instructions also say to disconnect the battery too...
Of course, one for multiple reasons and makes the other redundant

[HPSOV]

Yes but that produces error codes that others have said will hopefully resolve after driving but might require resetting by the dealer.
Identification of the fuses should be possible and would be a simpler solution.

I rang my local VW service centre (Artarmon) when I did my paddles to get their advice. They didn't have a fuse diagram 'at hand' for the R, and told me to just disconnect the battery. They did warn it might throw up error codes that would require clearing by them.
In the end I had to disconnect the battery twice (the horn didn't work after my first attempt at putting it all back together, but I didn't realise for some time), on both occasions I got the ESC warning light which cleared after I drove a few metres. Disconnecting the battery is no different to just changing a flat battery, and I'd be pretty dissapointed if I had to pay a dealer to reset some codes everytime I did that!

[Pepe]

Yep, same as HPSOV, just disconnect it and leave it 15. Provided you put it all back together the way you took it apart, you'll get error warnings that disappear straight away.

[triode12]

No, that's not correct. The S3's intercooler is about 50% thicker than the R's - so it's more than just the end cap difference. I've still got the pictures from the S3 Stage III conversions where they've got the Stage III Intercooler, next to the S3 intercooler, next to the GTI intercooler. The R uses the GTI's intercooler.

As for 42DD. They make a "modular exhaust package". This is their link for the downpipe. It's a much cheaper product than competitors such as Milltek and APR, and well, it should be. It's not even a Mild Steel exhaust, let alone a Stainless Steel exhaust. It's an aluminized steel exhaust!

If what you say is true about the R's intercooler i.e. that it identical to the GTI's stock intercooler, then the Pirelli's intercooler is different yet again. Admittedly, my research was done almost a year ago, but I distinctly remember that the Pirelli's intercooler was different (larger) to that of the GTI - i.e. the roughly the same dimensions as the S3 intercooler only with plastic end caps. And the comparisons people were making between them concluded that it was not worth the effort upgrading the Pirelli's IC to the S3 IC because the gains (if any) were minimal - the APR intercooler was recommended instead or the Forge twin cooler addon.

I am assuming of course, that the Pirelli engine is the same as the R. I would think it silly for VW to uprate the engine to 195kw (Pirelli is 169kw)and stick an IC that is smaller than that of the Pirelli's.

[G-rig]

All of the intercoolers differ a bit, I remember Guy saying there was some cost cutting on the R so isn't exactly the same as S3.. People doing big mods would most likely replace it anyway.

[Corey_R]

Hey triode12, I've heard as well that the Pirelli's IC was larger than the GTI too.

But it is 100% true about the Golf GTI and R having the same intercooler. Here are some pictures. I hope Guy_H has no issue with me borrowing his photos!
This is from the "build photos" of Guy's Stage III S3 a few years back:

You can see the APR Intercooler on the left, the S3's in the middle, and the GTI's on the right.

And this is from the build photos of Guy's Stage III R.

You can see the APR Intercooler next to the R's intercooler. You can clearly see that the R's thickness and end caps are identical to the GTI.

[dave_r]

You can see the APR Intercooler on the right, the S3's in the middle, and the GTI's on the right.

APR on the left you mean? And to me, that S3 item looks a "touch" wider than the GTI on the left? Might be the angle of the photo?

[Corey_R]

APR on the left you mean? And to me, that S3 item looks a "touch" wider than the GTI on the left? Might be the angle of the photo?

*doh*

Thanks, fixed that up.

Yep - the S3 intercooler is definitely wider than the Golf R/GTI intercooler.
This is why some people used to upgrade their GTI's to the S3 intercooler as a cheap alternative to the aftermarket products.

But back to the original point of all this. Whilst I've heard good things about the Forge twin-cooler, since the Golf R's IC is not the same or as capable as the S3 IC, to me it makes more sense to address that deficiency first before adding 2nd intercoolers.

[FastGolfR]

Ok I will get a blue one. It is a great colour and different from all those white ones being ordered.