New Polo GTI

[jamesatfish]

I like the deletion of the red line as it loses the McDonalds look but I don't like the deletion of the GTI badge. I think it looks great when I've seen or been followed by another Polo GTI with the badge in the grill. Gives it a sporty look IMO.

Thanks - it took a few days to get used to but I certainly prefer the non-red look.

The GTI badge delete was partly a business thing - when you show up to a customer's house as a tradesperson they tend to judge pretty quickly based upon the perceived 'fanciness' of your car. Anything with a 'sporty' badge (like GTI in shiny chrome) = you are charging me too much for the work you are doing. So taking off the badging was the first thing I did - it just meant the grille needed tidying up to remove the back part of the GTI badge.

Very stupid attitude but I've seen it millions of times. I used to have a fully equipped V8 Caprice - cost close to $90,000 new with all the options etc. Nobody ever said a word about that car because it had a Holden badge.

Are you going to get lightweight wheels for the track?

I'm trying to get some lightweight wheels both for the track and road use, but it's a major pain finding anything that fits over the brake calipers on the front. Once I find the right wheel I'll probably buy a couple of sets and replace the TT wheels which look (and are) far too heavy.

[jamesatfish]

Bilstein PSS9s Installed

A few more tweaks to the Polo last week:

The stock springs have been replaced with a set of Bilstein PSS9 adjustable coil-overs. I'm yet to set them up properly but they aren't really configured to lower the car too much - it's probably only a 10mm drop from the stock GTI ride height.

The handling is absolutely fantastic; even after only a few days driving on the road the improvement is obvious. Body roll around faster corners (think 2 lane roundabouts) is almost gone completely, and there is a distinct lack of 'nose diving' under hard braking. It also seems a bit easier to get the car off the line too - again it doesn't seem to shift weight off the front wheels as much as the stock suspension allowed so they don't break traction quite as easily.

I'm not sure why I bothered with a rebound adjustable shock though - I turned them up to HARD yesterday afternoon just to see how they drove, and my wife took the car for a run and decided that's the way the springs should be set all the time...

There is certainly a noticable difference between the extreme hard & soft settings, but so far even the maximum hard setting isn't too rough for our liking. At least if we get sick of it I've got the adjustment process down to about 1 minute for all 4 corners.

[jamesatfish]

APR Downpipe & Cat Upgrade

At the same time as the PSS9s went in I also went for the APR downpipe and cat upgrade that Guy mentioned elsewhere on this forum.

I haven't taken any pics yet but there's really not much to see as it's all under the car - we didn't change the muffler so visually the car is exactly as per stock. I can do so next time I put the car up on ramps if anyone is interested.

There is a noticeable improvement in the quality & quantity of exhaust note - the burble at idle is slighly deeper and the turbo 'whistle' as boost comes on from about 2000rpm is louder from within the cabin. We're not 100% sure why there was such an increase in exhaust volume as the mufflers are still stock, but I love the new note so certainly no complaints from me!

I haven't really felt or measured any performance difference from the upgrade, but that really wasn't the point - I was just trying to take advantage of the APR sale last month to install some parts that will become necessary down the track once the turbo upgrade happens.

[Flaps]

Good write up mate. Maybe you should bring the car to Sydney and experience our crappy roads on the hard setting

What turbo upgrade are you planning?

[jamesatfish]

Good write up mate. Maybe you should bring the car to Sydney and experience our crappy roads on the hard setting

What turbo upgrade are you planning?

It will be interesting to see how they go on that setting once I start driving a bit further - the roads in Canberra aren't perfect but I agree they are miles better than some of the surburban streets in older Sydney suburbs.

I'm not sure about which turbo upgrade yet - my head says the K04 will probably get the car to a nice compromise between power & the abilities of the chassis & drivetrain, but my heart says a larger Garrett option would be much more fun!

Since I'm setting the car up for track & tarmac rally work, where I really want the power is 2nd & 3rd gear acceleration where wheelspin & chassis ability don't hobble the power as much as standing starts & slow corners. I'm just not sure that the K04 is going to deliver all that much more power in those situations compared to the stock unit.

[Bubu]

I have also been looking around at some light weight wheels. They are difficult to find for the Polo, very few rims fit.
However I have found something that I like and is also light weight. They are made by Team Dynamics Racing in the UK. Their 17x7' inch wheels are 7.3 kg and they claim that their wheels get used in various motorsport events.
I have not yet got quotes (need to save up first) but I have seen them on a US website for around USD$320 ea. Source them direct from the UK and you may get them for around AUD$300ea.

[jamesatfish]

I have also been looking around at some light weight wheels. They are difficult to find for the Polo, very few rims fit.
However I have found something that I like and is also light weight. They are made by Team Dynamics Racing in the UK. Their 17x7' inch wheels are 7.3 kg and they claim that their wheels get used in various motorsport events.
I have not yet got quotes (need to save up first) but I have seen them on a US website for around USD$320 ea. Source them direct from the UK and you may get them for around AUD$300ea.

Thanks - I will take a look at these as another option, because I am really running short on ideas at the moment.

I saw a nice set of OZ wheels on UK eBay the other day, and I'm really seriously considering buying them and bringing them back in my luggage when I'm next in the UK. 4 wheels (without tyres) @ 7.3kg = 29.2kg which should be under my normal luggage allowance.

[jamesatfish]

New Wheels & The Yellow Family

Having had no luck with those wheels, I ended up grabbing another set of well used TT wheels off Ebay, and I've finally gotten around to fixing them up and getting them on the car. With the bright colours, tiny wheels and jacked-up suspension (or so it seems) the Polo really does look like a hotwheels toy car - especially when parked in front of a real track weapon.



Seeing as I had to clear the garage out to paint those wheels I thought I'd line up the yellow beasties and take a few snaps. I really don't know why VW don't make it a standard colour?!

[VW GTI]

That blue is a horrible wheel colour haha.

Nice garage of cars though.