What did you do to your Polo today?

[kaanage]

sunday: took a drive up the hume to try to bed in the friction material in my clutch

Did you end up with a solid clutch? If so, is there much chatter? (might be hard to tell in your car )

the cars definitely looked slower going around the corners than say, adzy in his mk5 gti last track day i was there with the boys. dont get me wrong, the cars were sideways, spewing smoke, but not as fast.

They'd be WAY slower than someone like Adzy or jasonc23. Drifting is about style, not speed - they have suspension that is set up stiff as a rock to promote (and control) the slides.

the adjustment mechanisms from front to back with koni actually operate in reverse - counter clockwise to stiffen the front, but clockwise to stiffen the rear.

You could try turning the rear damper units upside down when adjusting...

Good to hear the PoD is back!

[fuzion]

Nice one guys, I'm sure you will continue the outstanding VAG modded pedigree we've seen from both of you in the past

haha.. i just get bored. If the S3 wasnt such a bit for offset id have a few spare sets of wheels already! no more $$ to spend though! - save for property + travel LOL.

[Buller_Scott]

Did you end up with a solid clutch? If so, is there much chatter? (might be hard to tell in your car )

They'd be WAY slower than someone like Adzy or jasonc23. Drifting is about style, not speed - they have suspension that is set up stiff as a rock to promote (and control) the slides.


You could try turning the rear damper units upside down when adjusting...

Good to hear the PoD is back!

hey greg!

yeah, went with the good ole vr6 clutch + g60 smf combo that lots of the guys on tdiclub like to use - there are lots of boys on tdiclub with southbend stage 2 and up kits, and i was thinking of going one of those but the problem is that they apparently take 2 weeks to be built/put together, then shipping... i just couldnt wait that long (i abhor public transport).

chatter is very similar to what it was before - perhaps a little more noticeable as now i can feel the vibrations through the gear lever. hat's off to the boys at volkewerke in greensborough for doing an awesome job - they said that the reason that there was so much vibration in the car before hand was because the dmf had somehow fused things together, and they said that the only way they could get the old clutch/dmf out of the car was to start cutting isht up with an angle grinder!!

the reason i set the rear suspension to maximum softness is because it now reflects how i like to drive the car - with the new clutch, it's definitely easier to depress the clutch pedal, so rowing through gears around town is much less of a chore than it was before - keep in mind, i'm saying this after having driven auto's for the month or so that my car was MIA, so there is definitely more ease of use.

the take up point is quite (damn) high, so it means less travel and subsequently less footwork, which also makes things pleasant for inner city rowing. and yes, rowing, because of the lighter flywheel - now, it really just feels like the engine doesnt have to do as much work, so i feel that the trade off for additional vibration is the ability to change up much earlier than i used to - now, 4th gear is my almost everything gear, as it will get me up to speed on the highway, then i can come off, roll down to 60, and it's no big thing for the car to putter along at 43-45kmh in 4th at 1100rpm uphill - before, i'd never really do it as it would sound like the engine was starting to lug/labor, but now it sounds just as smooth under load at 1100rpm as it does at 1800rpm.

i cannot emphasise enough, just how much easier it is to now drive for economy/hypermile - the car, much more so than before, feels at home at super low revs, to the point that it aurally feels like im pushing the car when i take it above 2500. i've had quite a few WOT runs ~4800(plus change)rpm to clear the cobwebs out, but i dont see myself doing this much.

seriously, running at low rpm's in city driving is such a pleasure now, im really enjoying just sitting back and relaxing with my new found ability to run at super low rpm - the car will move forward and keep up with traffic with such ease at 1100rpm, and the only reason that im on "fast road" map is because it offers better fuel economy than stock map. if stock map had the best fuel economy, that would be more than enough for me for daily driving.

as for the dampers, im sorta doing them half on-car - i hate having to take the shocks out, so what i do is merely undo the top part of the shocks, drop them down, undo the nuts so i can take the bump stops off and depress the shock fully, adjust, then reverse. now that i've made the mistake once, i wont do it again. besides, even though my setup is very modest, now that i've had adjustable damping, i have come to understand that playing with settings must be done with the understanding that it's all relative.

i've never heard my rear tyres chirp, it's always been the fronts. as sexy as i used to think it sounded, to wick up the damping all around, i dont need grip in the back - turning the "stiffness" up (or as i think of it, the speed with which the shock rebounds after the spring has absorbed the ''bump") in the back will only increase understeer, which these cars already have HEAPS of.

but thanks! im glad the PoD is back too, especially with its new found love for super low engine speeds and generally relaxed, laid back cruising.

[kaanage]

Since you're into the smooth cruise now, Scotty, I have a couple of ideas, that may make the car more pleasant. Basically, I'm looking into inserts for the OE rubber front LCA rear bushes and the torque arm bush so you can stiffen things up when you want and leave them soft for daily cruisin'.

I'm so tempted to swap back from the SEAT front LCA rear bushes to the OE ones as the increased NVH under 1500 rpm is really noticable and below 1000rpm, it becomes unbearable with any engine loading.

BTW I'm very surprised that the lighter flywheel has made low rpm smoother - I was afraid it would be worse (especially if I was forced to take up this option)

And a high clutch takeup is great as you barely need to dip the clutch before flicking across to the next gear.

[Bflat]

Thought I'd load up some recent photo's that address the latest news with my Polo...

Below is my graph from the North Melbourne Tyrepower/Chasers Motorsport Dyno Day



I'm quite happy with how steep and smooth the curve is.

Recieved a little attention from GripShiftSlide.com



And I picked up these bad boys this morning...

[Buller_Scott]

lol regarding the LCA bushes - i actually bought some SEAT ones at the same time that i bought the clutch, so when these poly ones go bad, i'll be swapping those in - the engine mount might be interesting, as less NVH would be great, but when it comes to the LCA bushes i really feel that they have helped improve the feel/feedback through the wheel A LOT, especially in dodgy situations/ when pushing on.

and as for low rpm - yeah man, im very surprised too. everything i've read, and been advised, has been along the lines of "no no no!!! dont get a smf because it will rattle your teeth out and you'll want to sell the car two weeks later, it'll be that bad".

yes, there is more vibration, but so far the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. im not sure if it's a case-by-case thing, and that i just lucked out (lots of people seem to be saying that smf = loose fillings).

if you were worried about NVH, then you could purchase the southbend "silent" clutch kit in advance/ anticipation of your dmf failing - it has a smf, but very quiet, according to the guys at darkside - and it's only 120gbp more (420gbp.... we are so lucky, the clutch kits for the 02m 6 speeds START at like 800gbp).

[kaanage]

With the inserts in place, the LCA bushes should be stiffer than the SEAT ones. The torque arm bush with inserts wouldn't be as stiff as the full polyureathane one, though.

[leitch]

Got new tyres (KU31 in 205/40/17).. So, to celebrate the fact that I am now scrubbing a lot less than I was with 215s, I went low for *****s and giggles...

Sorry for dodgy phone pic, it's really rainy here.

[GoLfMan]

Got new tyres (KU31 in 205/40/17).. So, to celebrate the fact that I am now scrubbing a lot less than I was with 215s, I went low for *****s and giggles...

Sorry for dodgy phone pic, it's really rainy here.

pretty nice lookin OEM+ thing you've got going there. Me likey

a 205 is a MUCH better choice for the ET32 Audi wheels! Its what I ran and it was perfect

[kaanage]

Had to transport a few things



And managed to fit them all in