Suggestions needed for first time GTi mods

[mozzzy_2000]

Hi peoples. I stumbled across this great looking forum in my quest to find out more info about aftermarket modifications to the Polo GTi and since there seems to be quite a few members here with pimped up GTi's I would like some advice if thats possible.
I've had my Polo GTi for almost 2 years now and its been an awesome little car. It really still puts a smile on my face evertime a jump behind the wheel.
But one thing that has always irked me ever so slightly is that it always feels like it just wants to go faster. I'm sure most will understand me on that point but overall I still can't see another car on the market in its price range that offers more 'bang for ya buck'.
Having said that I am finding myself wanting a bit more power & performance out of her. So my questions are as follows;
What would you suggest as a first mod? I am very intrigued by the incredible performance gain achieved with chipping, in particular the APR chipping which is available here in Perth. Would this be a good place to start? But then this leads to me to think I'll need to upgrade other areas. If you get the chipping are their other mods you will recommend as a must have?
Also what sort of increased wear 'n tear should I expect as tradeoff for such a dramatic performance gain?
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Cheers for your time!

[Blitzen]

First of all, welcome to the forum.

There are many tracks you can go down, and everyone has their own preferred ways. I have gone for mild intake and suspension Forge TIP and I/C pipes, SEAT intake and K&N filter, with the Whiteline Rear Sway Bar, Weitec lowered springs and Forge Strut Brace), and a couple of other cosmetic mods, and I have left the ECU tune and new wheels as one of the last things I will do the Polo for a while(This will be rectified over leave!!). I am also looking at a R32 brake upgrade soon too.
The guys on here have many and varied mods, so it up to you how you approach it. Some guys have gone for the ECU Tune straight from the dealer, and gone from there.

[Quest]

Welcome mozzzy_2000 !

For sure, you're in the right place to start adding some mods.
You will find a lot of things on the forum and guys other here are so a precious help that you will really appreciate !

First of all, i could advice you abusing of the search function.
The good terms will give you satisfaction !

I was like you in the past June of this year and build my project without saying a word as i wasn't a member yet. In my quest, i think i have brought together the most appreciated parts for the Pogo...as the cost of each part help to take a easier decision...

Take a look at my thread where you will find a full project divided in stage. In each stage, there is one big mod which represents a amount of money equaling approximatively $1700.

But if you want your FIRST advice ---> CHIP IT !!!
You will rediscover your car !!

Good luck and enjoy mate !

Cheers,
Quest

[Quest]

First of all, welcome to the forum.

There are many tracks you can go down, and everyone has their own preferred ways. I have gone for mild intake and suspension Forge TIP and I/C pipes, SEAT intake and K&N filter, with the Whiteline Rear Sway Bar, Weitec lowered springs and Forge Strut Brace), and a couple of other cosmetic mods, and I have left the ECU tune and new wheels as one of the last things I will do the Polo for a while(This will be rectified over leave!!). I am also looking at a R32 brake upgrade soon too.
The guys on here have many and varied mods, so it up to you how you approach it. Some guys have gone for the ECU Tune straight from the dealer, and gone from there.

As i said, there are helpfull guys other here and Blitzen is one of them !!
Cheers Ryan !!

[mozzzy_2000]

Cheers fellas! I appreciate it very muchly! Yeah I've been having a bit of a search since I made my first post and wow there's tonnes of stuff in here its quite overwhelming. Quest I shall check out your thread; it looks great. Blitzen can I ask how much you've spent getting those mods done? Also did you get your bonnet painted or can you get them like that? Looks wicked!
Thanks again
Matt

[Blitzen]

Cheers fellas! I appreciate it very muchly! Yeah I've been having a bit of a search since I made my first post and wow there's tonnes of stuff in here its quite overwhelming. Quest I shall check out your thread; it looks great. Blitzen can I ask how much you've spent getting those mods done? Also did you get your bonnet painted or can you get them like that? Looks wicked!
Thanks again
Matt

Cheers man, the bonnet was painted for me by my mate who was repairing some crash damage back in April, so it cost me a carton of Corona's!! The pin stripes cost $50 fitted i think(Memory is a bit blurry!!)
My parts list so far...:
Forge TIP-$230
Forge I/C Pipe-$130
Forge BOV-$220
Forge Strut Brace-$160
Whitline Rear Sway Bar-$200
K&N Panel Filter-$90
SEAT Intake-$160
Weitec Springs-$360
Sharan Antenna-$25
Gloss 'B' Pillars-$100
Dash Cubby-$70(I think...)
Semi Slick Tyres-$300 Each
I have also deleted the rear wiper and replaces it with a 'GTI' engraved plug in the aperture that was left by the wiper shaft.
Hahaha, thats the first time I have listed all of the prices!! I currently have some 17in wheels sitting at my mates place too, which are getting repainted. I am also thinking about fitting R32 brakes to it in the near future too, and am having the APR tune done in a few weeks.
Something you have to understand is that I have fitted all the parts myself, so labor isn't figured into the costing if you don't want to fit them yourself.

[mozzzy_2000]

Yeah having some mechanical knowledge would save you a heap! Unfortunately the only mechanical knowledge I possess(if you can term it that) is building and racing R/C Nitros! Haha, yeah funny but actually not that far from the 'real' scale.
Anyway your list of mods, even though just parts, is not as expensive as I imagined although I'm guessing some of that would actually be quite dear in labour had you paid for it?
I have an incredibly addictive personallity so I wont be supprised if I get bitten by the modding bug! lol I didn;t realise how much can be done until I came across this site. This is going to be very interesting...
Cheers

[Quest]

Hey Matt !
It seems you are so excited like i was when i discovered this forum, aren't you ? lol !
If you want a full write-up of mods i can forward you a xls file which contains all you need to know including parts number, links, price...

Cheers,
Quest

[VW GTI]

Yeah having some mechanical knowledge would save you a heap! Unfortunately the only mechanical knowledge I possess(if you can term it that) is building and racing R/C Nitros! Haha, yeah funny but actually not that far from the 'real' scale.
Anyway your list of mods, even though just parts, is not as expensive as I imagined although I'm guessing some of that would actually be quite dear in labour had you paid for it?
I have an incredibly addictive personallity so I wont be supprised if I get bitten by the modding bug! lol I didn;t realise how much can be done until I came across this site. This is going to be very interesting...
Cheers

Blitzen's mods aren't really too performance enhancing. The intake mods will help a little.

My APR Software and downpipe cost almost the same as all that, but it's taken the car from ~90kw atw to 131.8kw atw.

[RhysQ]

g'day matt,

welcome to the forum....have you got any pics available of your car.

as mentioned there are a wide range of mods to obtain for these little cars but the first are foremost modification recommended to anyone is getting your ECU re-flashed (chipped). it is a completely different car......oh and how does 0-100 in the very low 6's sound! a little better than the 8.2sec VW quote standard

go to www.goapr.com.au or www.dubaddiction.com.au for some of the quality mods available. also, the owners of these businesses are frequent memers of this site (Guy H [apr] and Tim [dubaddiction]) so good advice and prices are a PM (private message) away.

hope you enjoy the forum mate, i haven't ever heard a disgruntled member!

check out my vPic gallery for my list of mods and pics if you like.

Cheers,
Rhys

[Quest]

g'day matt,

welcome to the forum....have you got any pics available of your car.

as mentioned there are a wide range of mods to obtain for these little cars but the first are foremost modification recommended to anyone is getting your ECU re-flashed (chipped). it is a completely different car......oh and how does 0-100 in the very low 6's sound! a little better than the 8.2sec VW quote standard

go to www.goapr.com.au or www.dubaddiction.com.au for some of the quality mods available. also, the owners of these businesses are frequent memers of this site (Guy H [apr] and Tim [dubaddiction]) so good advice and prices are a PM (private message) away.

hope you enjoy the forum mate, i haven't ever heard a disgruntled member!

check out my vPic gallery for my list of mods and pics if you like.

Cheers,
Rhys

Rhys forgot Shaneth (Eurokraft). You will find FORGE, SEAT and Whiteline parts !!
EnjoY !!

[pologti18t]

The best value mod is the APR/GIAC etc reflash.

[RhysQ]

Rhys forgot Shaneth (Eurokraft). You will find FORGE, SEAT and Whiteline parts !!
EnjoY !!

yep sorry about that, shaneth.......oh and GT3 (Neil) as well, who has NGKA TECHNIK www.ngka-technik.com.au.

[Quest]

Yep ! NGKA for good suspension !!

[mozzzy_2000]

Gee thanks fellas for all your advice! Yes sub 7sec times is what's gettin' my blood pumping at the moment! Haha Thats an extraordinary power gain making it faster than a stock golf GTi. All I can say is wow! lol

No I don;t have any current pics at the moment. I took some when it was brand spankin' new but lost those on my laptop. I bought a red one, leather interior, tinted windows and paint glaze. It's amazing actually how many people think its a golf would you believe. The red duco is very eye catching in our West Aussie sun. The perfect summer car I reckon.

Hey Quest yeah send me that parts list. That would be a massive help! Can you send it via PM?

Got a couple more questions re: the APR chipping if you guys would indulge me some more.

Does chipping automatically void warranty?
Because of the added power gain, does this put extra wear 'n tear on the engine or is it a matter of just tuning the engine differently to get the most out of the engine? ie. making the engine run to its full potential?
With the extra power gain from chipping, does this cause any 'bottlenecks' in the system? For example would I need to look at improving the air intake or any other areas?
Are you guys experiencing better or worse fuel economy with the APR chip?

I have always used BP Ultimate 98 since I got it except maybe a tank or two of BPprem95. Ultimate 98 is the best in the west as we dont have any ethanol based fuels here nor higher RON fuels. My experience with a city cycle is that it uses more than the claimed 7.9L/100km at around 10L/100km however the best I've done driving in the country was an average of 5.8L/100km which totally blew me away. And I've tried all sorts of experiments driving sedately as opposed to aggressive and I have found it makes little difference. I have actually noticed that it seems to be slightly more efficient driving on the aggressive side rather than sedately. Go figure.

Is any else here from Perth, West Aus and ifso who are best people to take my car to? Currently I have found Quattro motors, who are local APR retailers. I have spoken to them and they seem to be a good & experienced establishment. Are there any other Perth businesses worth investigating?

Thanks again guys for all your great help in getting me started on what could become my next 'addiction'! lol