[dOwnsizer]

First, let me start by saying I regret my user name. I wanted to sign up to get going and the creative juices failed me, so staring at my two dogs, that was the first thing that came to mind. I have done a fair bit to the car and plan on more. For me, the R is a long term car so I thought it might be time to chronicle it. I am also really into tracking the car, and I would like to use this as place to share my learnings from that as much of it is learning at this point.

Factory Specs:
2013 Golf R Premium
Candy White
4-door
Miles: 28K

Modifications:
Driveline

• Neuspeed intake
• Neuspeed Air Charge Pipe
• Neuspeed Turbo Discharge Pipe
• APR Stage 2+ (switchable) flash
• APR Mobile
• APR Motorsport Launch Limiter & No-Lift Shift
• APR HPFP
• APR downpipe
• Integrated Engineering Intercooler**Removed**
• APR Intercooler
• TyrolSport Upgraded Radiator
• NGK PFR7B spark plugs and R8 coil packs
• DXD Southbend Stage 3 Endurance Clutch
• HPA/Haldex Gen 4 Competition controller
• HPA short shifter
• Tyrol Sport solid shifter bracket bushings
• 42DD shifter cable bushings
• VW Mk4 metal relay lever (1J0711202J)
• 42 Draft Designs FSI Ultimate Oil Catch Can Solution (AN Fittings)
• 034 Street Density Motor Mount Kit
• USP Motorsports Clutch Line
• ECS Tuning Clutch Bleeder Block
• ECS Billet Oil Filter
• ECS Billet Dip Stick
• CBE - Planned

Chasis

• Track Wheels & Tires - Neuspeed RSe12 Light Weight Wheel 18x8 Black with
• Street Wheels & Tires - Neuspeed RSe12 Light Weight Wheel 18x8 Bronze with Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 225-40-18
• Rennline Competition Wheel Stud Conversion
• Bilstein PSS10 Coilovers w/ HyperCo Linear Springs & Vorshalg MK5 Camber Plates
• VWR springs **Removed**
• IE Camber Plates **Broken and removed**
• VWR Front and Rear Swaybars
• Whiteline Front end links
• Whiteline Rear end links
• SuperPro Roll Control ball joints **Removed due to fitment with BBK**
• Audi TT Front Lower Control Arm Solid Bushings
• Audi TT RS Brembo 4 pot Calipers
• Vagbremtechnic AP Racing 362x32 two-piece rotors (Front)
• Stoptech rotors (Rear)
• Track Pads - Ferodo DS1.11 Front
• Street Pads - Frodo DS2500 Front / Rear
• Tyrol Sport brake master cylinder stopper
• Audi TTRS brake ducts 8P0863150B 8P0863149B**Broken and removed**
• Cantrell Motorsports Audi TT RS Brake duct kit modified for Golf**Broken and removed**
• R32 Belly Pan
• Unibrace XB
• Unibrace UB Xlr
• Tyrol Sport DeadSet Rigid Subframe Collar Kit (front)

Interior

• Raceseng Sphereology - Shift Knob
• BMS Clutch Stop
• Schroth Quick Fit Harness - Track Days Only
• Stainless steel R seat handle inserts
• Stainless steel glove box lock
• LED interior light replacement
• Airbag warning stickers removed from visors

Exterior

• Color-matched side-markers
• Soundaktor removed
• Black washer and coolant caps
• Gloss black front and rear badges
• US Millworks license plate holder
• PIAA SI-Tech Silicone Wiper

VAG COM

• ESP/ESC delete
• Roll Up / Down windows from key
• Brake assist

Track Tools

• AIM Solo DL
• RaceRender
• Harrys Lap Timer - No longer used
• Dual GPS XGPS160 - No longer used
• Kenu Airframe Mount - No longer used

Track	Best Time
MSR Cresson 1.3 CCW	1:10.743
MSR Cresson 1.7 CCW	1:31.145
MSR Cresson 1.7 CW	1:31.6

Shops:
The guys at Dubsquared have been really cool to me. They understand VWs and track driving and I personally feel like I can trust their advice and input. They are about 1.5 hour from my house, but the only place around I would let touch my car.
dubsquared

Vorshlag specializes in suspension installation, full race car builds, roll cage fabrication, custom aero upgrades, brake/safety updates, and general race preparation.
Vorshlag Motorsports

 

[sweaty cp]

well, now you've ruined it for me. up until you pointed it out, my feeble brain processed your user name as twoplugs.

nice start on your build thread. looking forward to updates.

 

[03_uni-B]

Good list of parts, a lot of what I would like to get done to mine. :beer:

 

[dOwnsizer]

I dropped the car off at DubSquared for some maintenance and upgrades. While there is nothing really new here that someone has not already done, I was pretty happy with the results. First on the list was the 20K service as well as a brake fluid flush.

I noticed towards the end of my last track day that with harding breaking I was getting a vibration in the steering. Turns out my brakes finally wore out and needed new front and rear pads / rotors. It was going to take them a day or so to get the stock blank rotors in. I did not really have time to wait and needed the brakes for my upcoming track day on the 4th. They could source some Zimmermann Sport cross drilled rotors right away. I know there is a lot of back and forth on cross drilling. Zimmermann are made in the EU, have an anti corrosion coating, the holes are cast not drilled, and have countersunk edges. I figured the cross drilling might not add anything, most of the reported issues may be addressed so why not try them. I will report back over time for any issues like cracking. The bonus is, I do like the way they look on the car.

I had picked up a Unibrace XB a while back off another member. I know many of people have done it successfully with the supplied tools, but the nutserts concerned me a bit. DubSquared has a professional grade nutsert tool and for what they were charging, it seemed like a no brainer. They did a first rate job installing it, down to covering the holes left by the child seat anchors.

Last I had a set of VWR Sways and Whiteline End Links installed. Again, I was able to get the Sways off a fellow Vortex member for a good price. I went with the Whiteline end links since I could source front and rear from the same company.

I would like to get the Unibrace UB ordered and on before the 4th. With both braces and the sways, the car should be a bit more solid through the corners.

 

[DFW RS]

I have been to dubsquared a few times. You take your car to Cresson for track days?

 

[Mladen-R]

well, now you've ruined it for me. up until you pointed it out, my feeble brain processed your user name as twoplugs.

nice start on your build thread. looking forward to updates.

Amazing, I was so sure it was twoplugs. Looking forward to hearing about the build and how it performs at the track

 

[dOwnsizer]

I have been to dubsquared a few times. You take your car to Cresson for track days?

As you can tell I really like DubSquared. Truth is they treat me great and everyone there is cool to chat with.

I do go to Cresson for track days. Eagles Canyon is closer, but I have heard really mixed reviews on it for both the style and condition of the track.

 

[dOwnsizer]

Today the Unibrace UB XLR went on. Overall the install was straight forward and easy, except for the driver frontside mount. I had to trim the plastic underbody and bend some stuff to get it to fit. Not that big of a deal, but since I just had the car up on ramps, working room was tight which made it a pain. Took the car out for a test drive and decided to bed-in my new pads and rotors.

Now I am ready for my track day this Saturday!

 

[dOwnsizer]

Well yesterdays track day was disappointing to say the least. We were running the 1.3 CCW track. After my third session I had posted a PR by about 1.5 seconds, set my top three laps and could have easily shaved another second or so off. That is when I noticed both rear Whiteline end links had come completely off. My sway bar was just dangling. All of the parts for the driver's side were still there and could be put back together, but the body on the passenger was missing. So I had no passenger end link. I did some research and on the Evo and other forums this seems to be a common issue. The jam nuts work their way loose. Seems the best way to prevent this is to install with the car on the ground, use loctite, and wrench them as hard as you can.

The other dissapointing part is my instructor must have bumped my GoPro when getting in, so all of my footage is the back of his helmet. I normally check the GoPro at lunch and swap batteries, but that is when I had to deal with my sway bar issue. I have signed up for the April 18th event so I will try to get everything resolved before then.


Passenger Endlink

 

[shiftgti]

Sucks to hear about your track day problems. It is frustrating to go through all the track day prep only to have something fail on you while there.

But keep the updates coming! Interested in hearing more about how the car is handling on the track for comparison against my findings. :beer:

 

[dOwnsizer]

Installed the missing Whiteline end link today. I wrenched the jam nuts as hard as I could and used a decent amount of Loctite. I really hope this does the trick. I will drive it for a day or two and then check and make sure everything is still snug. Went for a short test drive and it is funny how much having a working rear sway bar changes the behavior of the car!

 

[EZ]

Rut-roh - I just had a rear sway installed and used Whiteline end links too. :what:

 

[dOwnsizer]

Rut-roh - I just had a rear sway installed and used Whiteline end links too. :what:

I had front and rear installed. For some reason they said the front were rock solid, but the rears came loose. I will check after 50 - 60 miles and see how they are holding up and report back. You should check yours and let us know!

 

[dOwnsizer]

I received my Competition Wheel Stud Conversion Kit today from Rennline. I went with 45mm studs hoping they would not stick out too bad, but give me some growing room in case I decide to change out wheels at some point. While there is not anything ground breaking about this, I did want to be very precise with the install due to a thread where someone reported studs coming loose on the track. My process was the following:

• Spray hub threads with brake cleaner and clean with small wire brush
• Dry hub threads with paper towel and spray out debris with compressed air
• Test fit stud
• Wipe off stud end, wipe of hub threads, and spray everything again with compressed air
• Apply high temp thread locker to stud
• Hand tighten stud and then use double nuts to torque to 30 ft-lbs.
• Wipe away any excess thread locker
• Torque wheel nuts to 88 ft-lbs in star pattern

The only thing I think I am not following perfectly is the thread locker does not fully cure for 24 hours and I will drive the car in about 12. I will update after my track even this weekend if there are any issues. Also checked my rear end links while I was there and they seem to be holding tight.

 

[LastRinATX]

well, now you've ruined it for me. up until you pointed it out, my feeble brain processed your user name as twoplugs.

nice start on your build thread. looking forward to updates.

I've always seen twoPLUGS too. I guess Freud was right. haha!!

 

[dOwnsizer]

I noticed over my past three or more track days that during almost every session, Harry's Lap Timer does not reset at the end of a lap and then combines 2 - 3 laps into a single lap of data. In a normal session I only get 10 - 11 laps and if you take away warm up and cool down laps, losing even 1 - 2 laps worth of data becomes an issue. I am hoping this is due to the iPhone not getting good enough signal so I purchased the SkyPro GPS sensor to see if that helps. In addition, I am hoping it provides better accuracy for the lap data and maps as well.

Unfortunately I just read that there is a bug in iOS 8.3 which blocks position information coming from Bluetooth GPS devices. Looks like there may be a workaround but I will be really disappointed if I cannot get this to work for this weekend.

 

[dOwnsizer]

4-18 Track Day

Track Day on Saturday was good. We ran the 1.7 CCW. Posted a best time of 1:32:04. I am not convinced the external GPS fixed my issue. I had three laps that were all multiple laps merged. Two used the iPhone internal GPS, but one was the external. The reason the internal GPS was used is that if there is no bluetooth connected to the Skypro it turns itself off. They way we were setup, it was really rushed and a couple of times I forgot to turn it back on. The one time it was definitely on but still merged them.

 

[dOwnsizer]

Received a shipment from ECS to do my brakes before the next track day. I also have a cam follower that needs replacing. Will order the Haldex service kit soon and do that at some point.

 

[dOwnsizer]

Disaster!

Well disaster struck today. I changed out my cam follower after about 10K miles. I took the car for a test drive and when I was almost home pushed it hard when it all went bad. As far as I can tell, the three bolts holding on the HPFP blew out and the HPFP blew off the engine. This in turn smashed the cam follower and the end of the HPFP. The car was towed to Dubsquared and they already started the tear down. I know I am down:

• HPFP
• Cam Follower
• Timing Cover
• Some gaskets

They will find out tomorrow if the cam is good or needs to get replaced as well.

Here is the thing. I only torqued the three bolts to 7 ft-lbs. I even used my torque wrench on this. You can clearly see in the first picture that the bolt came out with the threads of the cover still attached. Dubsquared confirmed that all three bolts had the threads ripped out. I really don't believe I over tightened the bolts causing this, but cannot think of any other explanation.

Bolt with torn threads

HPFP

Cam

Follower and HPFP Tip

 

[2013RedGolfR]

Well disaster struck today. I changed out my cam follower after about 10K miles. I took the car for a test drive and when I was almost home pushed it hard when it all went bad. As far as I can tell, the three bolts holding on the HPFP blew out and the HPFP blew off the engine. This in turn smashed the cam follower and the end of the HPFP. The car was towed to Dubsquared and they already started the tear down. I know I am down:

• HPFP
• Cam Follower
• Timing Cover
• Some gaskets

They will find out tomorrow if the cam is good or needs to get replaced as well.

Here is the thing. I only torqued the three bolts to 7 ft-lbs. I even used my torque wrench on this. You can clearly see in the first picture that the bolt came out with the threads of the cover still attached. Dubsquared confirmed that all three bolts had the threads ripped out. I really don't believe I over tightened the bolts causing this, but cannot think of any other explanation.


Follower and HPFP Tip

Whoa! Sorry to see this. My sincere condolences. Did you re-use old HPFP bolts or got new ones? I already did my follower twice and used new bolts. Is your torque wrench reliable for 7 ft-lbs? If you use one with wide range and you are down to low end values, you may not get the "click" when needed. Best practice is normally to first torque to lower value and then to the right one.

Hope damage is minimized. I also use Metalnerd magnetic oil drain plug to help to minimize any wear and possible damage issues. Highly recommend.