Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Give a dog a 034 dogbone insert

I picked up this second hand from another R owner because he had what they called the "mystery part".

Anyhow the point of this insert is to firm up things such as shifts. Here's what their site says:

The 034Motorsport Billet Aluminum MQB Dogbone Mount Insert for MkVII Volkswagen Golf/GTI/R & 8V Audi A3/S3 is designed to fill the large void in the factory dogbone mount, and limit drivetrain movement without sacrificing ride quality or introducing excessive additional noise, vibration, or harshness into the cabin. 

By filling the void in the factory mount, this insert eliminates the associated slop to ensure that you experience crisper shifts and a smoother driving experience. Unlike polyurethane insert options on the market, this billet aluminum part will not pack and wear over time, and guarantees long-lasting performance.

So installation was a breeze because I had my trusty Milwaukee impact gun. I've learned over the years that proper tools make the difference.

Anyways so far I'm getting vibration at idle. Other Golf owners stated there was either some to none but as you can see from 034's site it says it won't bring "excessive" nvh.

So after starting the car in the morning and having a cold start then driving warmed up I would say it's a nice mod but you will have vibration at idle and some during the lower rpms. The upside is there is a nice crispness with shifting and things are tighter. If you are modding your car with suspension mods, noisier but stickier tires, louder exhaust, intake, downpipe, etc... I think you'll like it. If you just want simple mods and a stockish car I say you may want to pass. However since it's $50 and you can sell it for $35 shipped any day if you don't like it...give it a try.

Here's my video review



I LOVE my impact gun

Looks nice don't it?

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Suck it up / suck it in with the APR Carbonio cold air/ ram Intake!!!!

I told myself to reduce my modding addiction but dammit, these deals are too good to pass!

I decided to pick up a used APR intake for a really good deal. I'm honestly not a CF guy but since I ended up with a cf lip I'll just suck it up.

It did have a few nicks on it but nothing to complain about and my car isn't for show so I'm fine with it.

Installing the intake took about 15 minutes maybe more because I was just taking my sweet time.

CF goodness


One thing I read about and just noticed too is that you can't rev the R like other cars. It stops below 4000 rpm. I guess that's a good thing for some people...including me.




video is just a quick run showing the sound of the intake. It seems to spool up faster. At least that's what my butt dyno tells me.



Sunday, September 20, 2015

I shaved her clean!!!

Yes I shaved her....the side fender badges that is!

I felt that since they weren't functional in any way I'd just pull them off. It was a 95+ degree day so it wasn't too much effort yanking the side where the sun was toasting on the emblem. I didn't have any Goo Gone with me so I had to make do with what I had which was a microfiber cloth and wd40.

The cooler side took a lot more elbow grease but I cleaned all the adhesive off.  Used some polish to remove the light scratches from the mf towel and looks great! No regrets.

That adhesive required using my kung fu grip

So fresh and clean!!!!!

Saturday, September 19, 2015

My first canyon run in the R

I went to Glendora Mountain Road tonight otherwise known as GMR to a lot of the race guys, cyclists, tourists, etc...

There's some seriously sharp turns on this road. You definitely have to pay attention or you going to get into trouble.

We hung out at the top of the mountain with a few others. It was pitch black up there...well the entire road was but HIDs are helpful. Anyhow I decided to try some light painting using my phone along with my Canon 6D and new 24mm Sigma Art lens.

I recorded a video on my dash cam and uploaded 3 minutes of it. You'll get the gist of the road. Also notice how quick my headlights change angles from right to left. Great for this kind of night driving.

I was running in manual sport and between 3500 and 5000 rpm depending on gears. I used my paddle shifters during the whole run. I disable traction control but not fully. If you choose full ESC it will brake and understeer too much.

The R held it's own. I could catch on to the S2K but since I wasn't familiar with how the turns were I downshifted earlier when entering the curves. I have to say DSG is really nice to have.



Here are my light paint shots of my car and the s2000. I think it came out decent for a pitch black location.





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