2010 GTI

[Ken]

Finish one chapter and on to the next.

I've brought this up earlier, after giving up the Evo I will be taking my brother's car. He's picking up his new car this Friday (CLA AMG) but luckily I've been able to take the GTI before he does so.

I was able to get it from him for a good price, and since it's family, without any messy paperwork. It's a 2010 (DSG) and he had it modified to APR stage II so it has exhaust and intake done; all the work was done by an APR shop. It's only just rolled past 31K miles, interior is immaculate but the exterior is a bit rough. It was a city car so it has a couple scratches and small sideswipe mark on the back passenger side door.

The absolute best part of this car, is that my brother purchased an extended warranty that is good for another 3 years :thumbup:

Plans from here:

- Actually enjoy the car, do some autox's and tinker on it like I've always wanted. Hopefully get to learn some more.
- Re-tint the front windows. He had to remove them since he was in the city and got four tickets. I feel like I'm in a fishbowl
- Look into getting the sideswipe mark dealt with/full detail
- Car already has a good set of wheels with 245 wide tires, but want to see what else I can do to improve handling. perhaps front and rear sway bars to start
- Want to look into if it's possible to add keyless entry (or whatever you call it) like I had on the old car. Taking out keys seems so annoying to me now. If nothing else, add remote start.
- Maybe add a small subwoofer. The Dynaudio seems pretty solid, but lacks some low end from what I am used to.

That's pretty much it for now. Looking forward to this actually being a project where I can do real updates.

better pictures to come when I get it clean.

[Mike]

Cool stuff. I'm curious about these modified. I always felt it had plenty of power stock. Must be scary fun now.

Re: Warranty. Good luck with that at Stage 2. I'm guessing it is 3rd-party? Might be easier than if it were from VW.
Re: Improving handling. Why? They handle like they're on rails. Save your money.

[WRXtranceformed]

Very cool! Looking forward to see where you take it. CLA AMG is an interesting choice. I didn't know much about them until I just read up on them. Specs seem very solid and surprisingly good fuel mileage since it's a 2.0L turbo.

[D_Eclipse9916]

They handle like they're on rails. Save your money.

LOL, maybe for a baby elephant.

That said, you aren't going to improve handling on that GTI by slapping a set of $1,000 chinese coilover crap on it. I think he is on the right path by choosing a good set of sway bars though.

[Mike]

They handle like they're on rails. Save your money.

LOL, maybe for a baby elephant.

My bar is not a race car on r-comps.

[SlimKlim]

DJ the best summary I've seen for the MKV/MKVI GTI was in a review a couple weeks ago. They just said "Torque and Tonnage."

Seems about right.

Cool stuff. I'm curious about these modified. I always felt it had plenty of power stock. Must be scary fun now.

Re: Warranty. Good luck with that at Stage 2. I'm guessing it is 3rd-party? Might be easier than if it were from VW.
Re: Improving handling. Why? They handle like they're on rails. Save your money.

People around here seem to find the "good" dealerships that are more or less indifferent to mods when it comes to warranty issues. Supposedly Stohlman or whatever in Tysons is really mod friendly. I still don't know if they'd cover a blown turbo or something if they found out you'd be running it at a million pounds of boost for a couple years. :dunno:

[D_Eclipse9916]

They handle like they're on rails. Save your money.

LOL, maybe for a baby elephant.

My bar is not a race car on r-comps.

True, but I was also basing it on his bar = an Evo X.

[Ken]

True, but I was also basing it on his bar = an Evo X.

This. I just want to get as close as I can to where I was before handling-wise. Speed-wise, I think it's actually just about on par, although wheel spinnage does not help. It's currently on Enkei RPF1s with Hankook Ventus V12 tires, I think something slightly sticker might help with that.

[Ken]

Cool stuff. I'm curious about these modified. I always felt it had plenty of power stock. Must be scary fun now.

Re: Warranty. Good luck with that at Stage 2. I'm guessing it is 3rd-party? Might be easier than if it were from VW.
Re: Improving handling. Why? They handle like they're on rails. Save your money.

As I said above, it's actually really close to the stock Evo, just gotta fight through some wheel spin. Definitely just as addictive.

The warranty is 3rd party, although the APR was done at a VW dealer.

[SlimKlim]

I've heard motor mounts really help get the traction down in 1st and 2nd.

[Ken]

Very cool! Looking forward to see where you take it. CLA AMG is an interesting choice. I didn't know much about them until I just read up on them. Specs seem very solid and surprisingly good fuel mileage since it's a 2.0L turbo.

Yeah, I had no idea either. The gas mileage is insane for what it can do. I'll be sure to post a little write-up when I can get my greedy little hands on it.

[Ken]

I've heard motor mounts really help get the traction down in 1st and 2nd.

hmmm... i'll have to look into that. Difficult install?

[WRXtranceformed]

Very cool! Looking forward to see where you take it. CLA AMG is an interesting choice. I didn't know much about them until I just read up on them. Specs seem very solid and surprisingly good fuel mileage since it's a 2.0L turbo.

Yeah, I had no idea either. The gas mileage is insane for what it can do. I'll be sure to post a little write-up when I can get my greedy little hands on it.

Boof on the price though. After taxes tags and a few desireable options packages that thing can get deep into the 50's / low 60's. That car would be the bargain of the century in a year or two when someone else takes that depreciation hit. I would also be curious to hear the first hand experience with the "part time" FWD.

[davej]

Nice pickup, but thread needs more photos.

People around here seem to find the "good" dealerships that are more or less indifferent to mods when it comes to warranty issues. Supposedly Stohlman or whatever in Tysons is really mod friendly. I still don't know if they'd cover a blown turbo or something if they found out you'd be running it at a million pounds of boost for a couple years. :dunno:

there are some dealers that will do APR mods and fully warranty, came across that when my dad picked up his tdi passat a couple of months ago. spoke with the dealer and the manager was like, yeah, we know people are going to do this, so we partnered with APR to be an authorized shop, would rather them take it here than elsewhere. He said full factory warranty still applies.

great attitude and makes business sense, but don't think all dealers are there yet. That was out in phoenix, but just check the site and Staunton VW is an apr dealer now also.

[SlimKlim]

^ I think Stohlman is like that. Not sure, I haven't gone and talked to them myself.

I had been thinking about waiting for the MKVII to come out and for MKVI prices to drop once people start turning them in from leases, buying a CPO 4-door autobahn and having a dealer do the stage 1 tune for me to get a cheapish, warrantied, faster/nicer version of what I'm currently driving without dropping an insane amount of money.

Then I sat in an MKVII and I want it. Now I'm thinking screw the MKVI, even if I have to drive the MKV for another 2 years while I save my pennies for the new hotness. We'll see. It's probably gonna be at least a year either way.

I've heard motor mounts really help get the traction down in 1st and 2nd.

hmmm... i'll have to look into that. Difficult install?

Yeah, probably. It's also uber expensive and will introduce a lot of NVH, probably not worth it on a street car. Lots of people do just the $40 trans mounts which claims to make smoother, more direct shifts, but that's not really an issue for us with our flippypaddles.

[Mike]

Get some stickier and wider tires and call it a day

[Ken]

So, have the car for just over two weeks now. Initial impressions:

Pickup is great, although the transmission can be a little annoying to get it going quickly off the line. Seems like it's either slow going or spin the wheels (which is an adjustment for me, can't remember the last time I did that). Can't find that happy medium yet. The Ralliart (also twin clutch) allowed me to kinda feather the throttle a bit before the clutch(s) engaged so I could give myself a little oomph off the line, DSG does not allow that.

Gas mileage is AWESOME. I can drive "spiritedly" and still average about 28-30 highway and about 18-22 city. I was lucky if I got 24 on the highway WITHOUT any shenanigans in the Evo. Very happy.

Stock "upgraded" Dynaudio stereo is great, but like I mentioned really lacks some low end bass. As you can see from my WTB thread, i'm definitely making that a priority.

Maybe it's the exhaust, or the APR badge, but this car has so far attracted way more idiots on the road. within two weeks I've had several civics (because, of course), a Saleen Mustang, 135i convertible and some idiot in a Maxima all try to highway race me. Am I missing something? Thought the Evo would draw more of that attention.

Now, PICTURES!

[Jake]

Lawd I love that blue.

Almost, almost bought a blue 4-door 6-speed when I was shopping the ST. Probably would've kept it if I had.

[Mike]

Stop making me miss mine. Such a damned good car. In 2011 I suppose they smoothed out the bottom seat cushion. I don't recall mine having that ribbing.

If you take it easy on the highway in cool weather, you'll see 35mpg. In summer, I think I was usually 30-32. Your tune can only help here, no?

I'd say the attention you're getting is Strong Island. I never once got any.

[JPolen01]

You also didn't have aftermarket wheels and a blingy stage 2 badge to attract the ricers.