Remy's MK4 GTI

[remy]

Hey guys, I bought a '03 Golf GTI MK4 about 2 months ago and I've spent a bit of money on it recently, so I figured I'd start a build/piccies thread. Totally love my car and I've got some plans in mind, but will be taking my time.

Here's a pic I took a while ago about a week after I picked her up:



I went on a cruise organised by syhm1984 (big thankyou for organizing) and met some really awesome QLD members that day, but I also got a tanned arm and slight sunburn I use my car for work, and the sun was really starting to ***** me off so I sent it off to the tinters. Not a great pic, but atm the only one I have...I'll post better pics later:



The previous owners were an older couple in their 50's, and they serviced the car fairly regularly. I have a full log-book history, but despite that I still felt uneasy because while the mileage was fairly low the car had been in storage for quite some time. It wasn't long before the computer threw up the "Service Me" message, and I wanted the timing belt and oil changed anyway so I booked the car into Prestige & Performance at Coorparoo.

I just want to take a moment to say that Mike and his team have been great to deal with so far, and he also gave me a great deal on the KW V3 coilovers:



I also decided to get new strut bearings and mounts since I'm going to install coilovers, so I bought some Febi Bilstein ones from Tooley Import (PM me for more info). I could've got them cheaper from the UK, but I decided to support a local Aussie business and also wanted the parts sooner rather than later. I was expecting delivery of a couple of days, but to my surprise the parts were shipped express and I received them the next day! I was a bit concerned at first because I had to send my credit card info via fax/email, but having dealt with them now I can say they are legit and I can recommend them:



Picked up 4 cans of Plasti Dip off eBay for $80 bucks from a seller named 'caswellaustralia', and they arrived quickly aswell. Found out about him from Lito (big thanks) so once the coilovers are in I'll do my rims and hopefully the car will have a new look.

I picked up a trolley jack off eBay that looks pretty good so far, but I'll reserve comment til after I've used it to install the coilovers. I've also got a new Pioneer head unit that I'm gonna pick up later tonight or tomorrow, so I'll post pics of that when I can.

It's going to be a busy weekend when I finally get some time to work on the car

[YoungDubber]

Dope MK4 man! Good purchase, sweet colour too

[Lito]

good to see the mods starting to happen mate, should look sweet slammed! what colour you plastidiping your wheels?

[JedR32]

Looking good mate! I'll be picking my car up after having the V3's put on tomorrow so I'll let you know how they go on the .:R32 haha
Make sure you're at our next Euro Meet!

[fuzion]

makes me miss my mk4! very nice mate! keep us updated

[Water Boy]

Clean car!

[remy]

good to see the mods starting to happen mate, should look sweet slammed! what colour you plastidiping your wheels?

I got white Plasti Dip because I wanna give it a try and see how it looks before I order some rims. I found a company that lets me customize my order with stuff like offsets and colour, so we'll see how it goes. Now that you've gone orange, I don't feel so guilty using white

So my buddy is visiting from America and I got him to bring back a head unit for me since the stock one can't play MP3's and has no Aux input:


The red actually matches better than it looks in this photo


My friend that has the tools and know-how to install coilovers just doesn't have any time these days and he's heading overseas soon, so looks like I'll just take my car to a shop to install the coilovers. Hopefully get it done before the next meet...no, it HAS to be done!!

[Lito]

pls tell me more about this company that offers custom wheels, i need moar hellaflush-ness. Ill probs be heading back to white soon, orange is fun but i feel too conspicuous

[remy]

pls tell me more about this company that offers custom wheels, i need moar hellaflush-ness. Ill probs be heading back to white soon, orange is fun but i feel too conspicuous

There's a couple of boutique houses that do them, but one that I've been looking at is Rotiform. They're kinda expensive though so not sure if it's worth it, but rims won't be happening for a few months yet so I've got time to think about it.

Finally got the coilovers installed and I went with a modest 30mm drop. I could go further, but I'm worried about changing the geometry of the suspension and I drive around a fair bit for work so for now I've decided to keep it at a low maintenance height.

Also plastidipped the rims white and I love the contrast!

BEFORE:


AFTER:

[55ASI GTI]

Remy's MK4 GTI

Are the plates REMEMEN or something ?

[remy]

Nah mate just standard plates at the moment, probably save the personalised ones until after I've got my rims and stage 2.

[JedR32]

WOW I really dig the white wheels and the drop looks good
How you finding the KW's?

[remy]

KW's have been great so far but I've kept them on the factory-shipped setting. I might increase the damper and rebound settings on the front, but we'll see how it goes. Right now I'm trying to hunt down a rear sway bar and also some bracing, know of any places? Kinda wanna get a European brand cos I'm a bit of a brand-whore

Really wanna take her out to the track now, but I'm not so sure about Lakeside because I've never actually driven on a track (only passenger) and I know Lakeside is very unforgiving. Gotta pop my cherry at some stage though, right?

[team_v]

KW's have been great so far but I've kept them on the factory-shipped setting. I might increase the damper and rebound settings on the front, but we'll see how it goes. Right now I'm trying to hunt down a rear sway bar and also some bracing, know of any places? Kinda wanna get a European brand cos I'm a bit of a brand-whore

Really wanna take her out to the track now, but I'm not so sure about Lakeside because I've never actually driven on a track (only passenger) and I know Lakeside is very unforgiving. Gotta pop my cherry at some stage though, right?

We haven't had any incidents at Lakeside yet (there was a silvia that went into the gravel on the hairpin) and there have been a couple of cars take a wide corner at QR but everyone drives within the limits and it's not timed at Happy Laps so you don't have to push it past where you can't control the car any more.

[JedR32]

KW's have been great so far but I've kept them on the factory-shipped setting. I might increase the damper and rebound settings on the front, but we'll see how it goes. Right now I'm trying to hunt down a rear sway bar and also some bracing, know of any places? Kinda wanna get a European brand cos I'm a bit of a brand-whore

Really wanna take her out to the track now, but I'm not so sure about Lakeside because I've never actually driven on a track (only passenger) and I know Lakeside is very unforgiving. Gotta pop my cherry at some stage though, right?

Defs take it to happy laps. It's an excellent way of getting comfortable on a track. And a truckload of fun and giggles! haha

Good to see you're enjoying the V3's I'd go H&R if I were looking for swaybars, although KW apparently does them as well?? If you can find some Kw's they could be an even better option. As for bracing go the XBrace, apparently its a little hard to fit and stuff but it blends in well and people reckon it's a good mod and stiffens up the chassis at the rear a bit