Apparently, Buying a Car is Difficult...

[kennith]

Blasphemy!! The Golf GTI has been around since dirt.

One thing I always consider about German cars is the home market. Their driving environment is different than ours especially the Autobahn.

Sounds like you are getting into the soul of the car which is pretty cool in itself. And all it takes is some disposable income and VW / or tuners will sell you what you want to make what you need.

Yeah, this is absolutely tuned for passing people on the Autobahn, long drives, and then taking it easy when the traffic piles up outside of cities.

They aren't fucking around with the "GT" in GTI. Once you're out of third, this thing comes alive, and it's got the suspension and top end of a grand tourer. It's legitimately stupid fast up there; faster than they say it is by quite a bit. They just managed to slam it and give you visible negative camber right out of the gate. It has that strange split personality.

In turns, your lane just becomes so wide, and there's tons of maneuverability. Shame it's not the sort of car that likes to be sideways, though. I'm slowly sneaking closer to limits, and it keeps slapping me on the wrist well before I get there.

It does have the strangest understeer I've ever experienced, but I can liven that up with a rear anti-sway bar and rear braces once I feel like I've wrung everything I can out of it, and I do know there is a lot of adjustment to be had in the differential. This car needs to be worse to be better, in some ways; but that's normal for a production vehicle.

I love getting to know vehicles on a more personal level. You can do so much more with them, and it's a lot of fun. In a way, this is like a tamed Skyline in FWD. It had a certain image, but the actual driving experience was dramatically different. That was a highly computerized vehicle, as well.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Blueboy]

and it's got the suspension and top end of a grand tourer.

Nothing like topping out and keep driving on the public German speedway.
Think about what other brands are in the VW Group.

 

[kennith]

Nothing like topping out and keep driving on the public German speedway.
Think about what other brands are in the VW Group.

Oh, I smell a hell of a lot of Porsche in this thing; there's no question about that. The first time I took it through a corner that little secret spilled out immediately, and the more I look through these computer systems, the more Porsche comes crawling out. Even the industrial design has hints here and there.

The last Bentley I drove was the last of the steel monsters, so I'm not sure what the newer models feel like; but Porsche... Oh, they had a heavy hand in this car.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Blueboy]

but Porsche... Oh, they had a heavy hand in this car.

Yep, that is the one I was thinking. The Audi folks certainly had input on the later versions of 4 MOTION.
All in all it is a great car and your tinkering will make more to your liking. Have fun!!

 

[kennith]

Yep, that is the one I was thinking. The Audi folks certainly had input on the later versions of 4 MOTION.
All in all it is a great car and your tinkering will make more to your liking. Have fun!!

All this stuff I'm complaining about got a solid test last night. The roads were nasty as hell, and I was able to duck off to some that aren't used any more and a couple of small private stretches. Since I was out and miserable anyway...

I drove it like an idiot for a little while, within the break-in limitations. For all the trouble this stuff causes in everyday poking around, it works precisely as advertised when conditions aren't ideal. If you want to wrap one of these around the tree out of the showroom, you'll have to try.

Those in environments that are routinely slushy or rainy probably get a real kick out of this thing in factory trim. I'm sure there are times they'd rather have it all turned off, but if you had to deal with that slop all the time just going around town and commuting, it would be worth the trade off just for being able to drive lazily.

A lot of new cars have fancy traction control systems, but this is on a different level. If one could tolerate the variables, this would be a monster on gravel.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Blueboy]

I'm sure there are times they'd rather have it all turned off, but if you had to deal with that slop all the time just going around town and commuting, it would be worth the trade off just for being able to drive lazily.

I routinely turn it off in the Saab to get up the snow covered hill when leaving the driveway. It is a dirt road with cinders on it and the TC just slows the car and doesn’t let the tires spin down to get traction. The Quattro just cruises up the hill without any fan fare. The Saab has dedicated Winter tires while the A4 Avant just all season. Pretty interesting to see the difference between them. The Rovers of course just laugh at the hill no matter how deep the snow is.

 

[kennith]

I routinely turn it off in the Saab to get up the snow covered hill when leaving the driveway. It is a dirt road with cinders on it and the TC just slows the car and doesn’t let the tires spin down to get traction. The Quattro just cruises up the hill without any fan fare. The Saab has dedicated Winter tires while the A4 Avant just all season. Pretty interesting to see the difference between them. The Rovers of course just laugh at the hill no matter how deep the snow is.

Audi has historically knocked it out of the park with AWD. They've got a long history of that, along with Porsche; a manufacturer people don't give enough credit, in that regard. They've both made a name for themselves in rally, and went well beyond homologation requirements bringing their cars to the road.

Absolutely legendary; both of them. They can take a beating, too. You can lift them, point them at the horizon, and hit the bush.

It makes sense, therefore, that this vehicle's traction aids work quite well for their intended purpose. They've got the numbers on speed dial, and there's no way they wouldn't call them. I just wish VW would split the difference a little bit. I can turn off some torque reduction in slipping conditions, but not all torque reduction in perfect conditions; at least not without the computer.

That should be right in the infotainment system, really. I can get past ABS-based traction control never turning completely off without an external computer, but it's kind of frustrating to have torque reduction stepping in before I get anywhere near trouble. If you're in first or second gear, torque is reduced. Period.

I at least want to have all the fluids changed at 500 miles before I turn that stuff off, though. Can't believe they say the first oil change is at 10,000 miles...

That's just insanity.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Blueboy]

. If you're in first or second gear, torque is reduced. Period.

Guessing to reduce FWD torque steer.

Can't believe they say the first oil change is at 10,000 miles...

Assume “free” maintenance for xxx amount of miles? My ‘04 A4 was Audi corporate owned and followed their schedule for 76k miles. As the second owner finally after 3 synthetic oil changes and changing out the long term filter at 3,000 miles each getting the oil to stay somewhat clean. Just one of those habits hard to break - oil / filter change at 3k miles. If you change cars every 4 years guess it doesn’t matter.

 

[kennith]

Still tinkering, but it's coming around a little bit. There's nothing I can do about the rev hang within reason, but it's a lot more responsive now.



Beautiful (in my opinion), great interior... If it just drove a little better. Some of the issues are universal nowadays, but VW did go a bit far.

Not too much point in lots of pictures, as it's just a stock GTI.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Blueboy]

This is my go to place for the Audi. Great customer service and info. Give them a call and maybe they can assist in getting the VW the way you want it.

 

[kennith]

Here's my wish list:

1: Single mass flywheel (I sure as hell ain't doing it, and that's a big expense for a new car)

2: Clutch delay removed (don't have the energy)

3: Tuned the way I want it; not for power (will affect warranty, and that will affect the vehicle's value, as it's transferable and good for six years)

4: Throttle intervention completely disabled (I have almost killed it, but reached the limit of VCDS)

5: A taller first gear (somewhere between unreasonable and impossible)

6: Turning off that collision braking crap without having to turn off every traction control feature in the car (potentially possible, and sometimes you might want to leave some of that stuff on)

I might try that Neuspeed power module just for fun, though. I can re-live the "mod you're not supposed to have" days.

Finding ways around this stuff has significantly augmented my ownership experience. I get a perpetual excuse to plug a laptop into my car in an attempt to improve it; not to repair it. I don't care who you are... That just makes you feel like a damned movie character.

I'll poke around ECS a bit more. I've seen them before, but haven't really looked through the whole catalog. I was checking out the braces they offer a while back, and thinking about looking at rear sway bar options to loosen up the ass a bit. Of course, I've also considered fitting it with Alltrack suspension and beefy tires.

This is me we're talking about, and the most fun I have off-pavement is in a car that's not supposed to be there.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Blueboy]

Here's my wish list:

1: Single mass flywheel (I sure as hell ain't doing it, and that's a big expense for a new car)

2: Clutch delay removed (don't have the energy)

3: Tuned the way I want it; not for power (will affect warranty, and that will affect the vehicle's value, as it's transferable and good for six years)

4: Throttle intervention completely disabled (I have almost killed it, but reached the limit of VCDS)

5: A taller first gear (somewhere between unreasonable and impossible)

6: Turning off that collision braking crap without having to turn off every traction control feature in the car (potentially possible, and sometimes you might want to leave some of that stuff on)

I might try that Neuspeed power module just for fun, though. I can re-live the "mod you're not supposed to have" days.

Finding ways around this stuff has significantly augmented my ownership experience. I get a perpetual excuse to plug a laptop into my car in an attempt to improve it; not to repair it. I don't care who you are... That just makes you feel like a damned movie character.

I'll poke around ECS a bit more. I've seen them before, but haven't really looked through the whole catalog. I was checking out the braces they offer a while back, and thinking about looking at rear sway bar options to loosen up the ass a bit. Of course, I've also considered fitting it with Alltrack suspension and beefy tires.

This is me we're talking about, and the most fun I have off-pavement is in a car that's not supposed to be there.

Cheers,

Kennith

Nice list!

ECR is a good resource and their CSR folks helpful.

Have fun!!

 

[kennith]

Nice list!

ECR is a good resource and their CSR folks helpful.

Have fun!!

You have any idea why this car seems to want to stall out whenever it threatens to rain?

That doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't even have to be actually raining; but I'm positive there's a correlation at this point.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Blueboy]

First off oops - meant ECS not ECR!

Next, sorry can’t help you there. It does rain in Germany...

 

[gimebakmybulits]

Can't believe they say the first oil change is at 10,000 miles...

That's just insanity.

Cheers,

Kennith

They said that my Eurovan had a transmission that didn't need to be serviced and even went so far as to make it difficult for the average person to even try.
They paid for and installed the first at 40k miles......it was ready for the next one at 130k.

 

[gimebakmybulits]

Here's a good place for info https://forums.ross-tech.com/

 

[squirt]

You have any idea why this car seems to want to stall out whenever it threatens to rain?

That doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't even have to be actually raining; but I'm positive there's a correlation at this point.

Cheers,

Kennith

Decrease in barometric pressure preceding rain triggers leaner fuel mixture, resulting in stalling.

It sounds good, anyway.

 

[kennith]

Decrease in barometric pressure preceding rain triggers leaner fuel mixture, resulting in stalling.

It sounds good, anyway.

If that was the case, it would be incredibly funny. All the computers managing everything in this car, and they can't even get that right.

I'm at a bit of a loss with this one. It doesn't make any sense to me, but every other day I'm fine; if it looks to rain, though, or is currently raining, the bitch just plain wants to stall off the line; especially in reverse.

Now, I know there's some feature in there that drags the brakes when it's raining, but it can't be that aggressive. I see no reason why it should be happening when the vehicle is stopped.

Cheers,

Kennith