Just bought a 2008 R36 Wagon and have $2000 spare to do some upgrades any ideas?

[Chucky007]

Hi,
Have $2000 spare cash after purchase. What would you do? Looking for some performance mod.

Cheers
Chris


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[Jakeys]

Aside from better tyres? $2000 will not get you very far in an R36 other than an air filter (EVO-MS, Forge, GruppeM maybe second hand although it doesn't quite fit the R36 and looks a little awkward but works fine) and just an ECU and DSG tune package if you shop around tuners. Some of them on Facebook like 3bar or eTuners I think are two names I've seen will do a joint package for about $1200-1500. Most places would charge that each, not for both. Air filter is mostly for induction noise though, even with a tune performance would barely be noticeable if at all. You would see less than 15Kw extra, not much, R36's are already highly tuned. If you want better handling rather than power though, and I would recommend this, maybe upgrading the Haldex, that'd end up around $1500 with labour if you go directly to HPA Motorsports and import. Then I dunno if you could afford H&R lowering springs with the leftover, or if this is even a valuable benefit other than looks, most likely you'll scrub under heavy cornering and it will be worse. Going hard in the hills just with less camber in the rear at stock height I get scrub.

You could also afford a custom exhaust but that is a tricky road to go down and will not net you performance without tuning anyway. Won't be able to afford brakes or lighter wheels or anything else I can think of off the top of my head.

[tigger73]

Just bought a 2008 R36 Wagon and have $2000 spare to do some upgrades any ideas?

Unfortunately if you're looking for power gains there's not a lot you can do for $2k. You're going to need a lot more for a turbo or supercharger conversion.

Things you could look at are DSG tune, aftermarket exhaust, wheels, upgraded steering wheel or maybe a performance Haldex controller for more 50/50 AWD split.

Edit: Jakeys you beat me to it!!! [emoji3]

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[Jakeys]

upgraded steering wheel

The R36 wheel, while it looks a little dated, is super nice, ridiculously thick, and does match the rest of the interior. Before I took my R36 I planned to replace ut but now I have the car I reckon that's a waste of cash.

[danger17]

Not a performance mod, but the best thing I ever did was upgrade my discs and pads to ATE items.. Couldn't feel any difference between ATE and stock, but brake dust was a thing of the past..

[tigger73]

The R36 wheel, while it looks a little dated, is super nice, ridiculously thick, and does match the rest of the interior. Before I took my R36 I planned to replace ut but now I have the car I reckon that's a waste of cash.

The OP has an 08 which more than likely has the Mk5 steering wheel/older buttons. Upgrading to a Mk6 flat bottom wheel is more a cosmetic upgrade but the flat bottom wheel is really nice to use.


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[Jakeys]

The OP has an 08 which more than likely has the Mk5 steering wheel/older buttons. Upgrading to a Mk6 flat bottom wheel is more a cosmetic upgrade but the flat bottom wheel is really nice to use.


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All R36 wheels were identical. They were based on the Mk. 5 R32 and featured a much thicker rim than normal with ridges at 10 and 2 and a flat extended ridge at 6. However they also had the older Mk. 5 button/horn design even for the MY10.5 as they opted not to redesign the wheel when the revised button style came in. Probably due to it being a unique shape although that last part is just a guess.

The Mk. 6 wheel has a much better button/horn design and is more sleek looking but the actual rim of it I wouldn't consider to be an upgrade... providing you have big hands.

Pic below is an MY08 overseas model with an R36 wheel swap, but this is the exact wheel on my MY10.5.



Same wheel on the left here see how the bottom shape is absolutely massive. It's flat, but it's very thick.

[tinto]

I have a set of brand new H&R Springs for an R36 wagon that I never installed.
They've been sitting in my garage in their box for a while now.
Despite the ancient thread, they're as unused as they were back when I first posted.

Click here -> http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...ers-88658.html

[3C4M Guy]

There's lots of good suggestions in these replies.

I agree with the comments about it's not worth chasing performance improvements with $2K and also not worth changing the steering wheel. After that it's really a personal choice. With a spare $2K, I would probably go for Eibach springs and Koni yellow sports shocks to firm up the suspension and provide better handling. Others might like to announce their arrival better with a sportier exhaust. A Milltek cat-back exhaust should be around $2K. tigger73's suggestion of a Haldex controller is a good suggestion, but would I do this first?... maybe not. Jakeys mentions a DSG tune - this is also a good suggestion because ultimately the standard gear change points will start to be annoying over time. Unfortunately a DSG tune like Harding Performance can cost $1,300 leaving not much change for other things.

Your choice.

[Jakeys]

Others might like to announce their arrival better with a sportier exhaust. A Milltek cat-back exhaust should be around $2K.

I left exhaust out as you won't get one for that budget unless you get something custom made relatively affordably. Milltek don't make R36 exhausts, actually most companies don't. The only ones even worth mentioning (ie. Not Bastuck) are Supersprint, Arqray and iPE. Supersprint and Arqray if you deal hunt will cost around $3k, the iPE is double that because they market mostly to exotics and charge exotic money, although it is the best system, just not double the price best.

[slipshot]

I'd concur with the remapping - my R36 was done and I could not really tell any difference at all. I'm sure it works but given it's such a highly tuned engine anyway, it may have smoothed out the torque curve slightly but as it required 98 octane anyway, it's pushing it to get much more.

[Chucky007]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I think I will go dsg tune and ecu in the first instance and do more research. Cheers


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[Lucas_R]

DNA Tuning do a tune for the R36: http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...r36-51207.html