Polo restoration project #2 - 2017 GTI Manual

[doc_777]

We put PS4 on ours - great tyre on that platform. RE003's will still result in scrabbling unfortunately - they're not a terribly great tyre.

[Sharkie]

We put PS4 on ours - great tyre on that platform. RE003's will still result in scrabbling unfortunately - they're not a terribly great tyre.

They are infinitely better than the cheap Chinese tyres on there at the moment, LOL. I have PS4Ss on the Golf and they are supreme, but also 2.5 x times the price per corner.

Have the RE003s on my daughter's 150kw TSI Golf and they have been pretty good. Trying to build a budget toy/run-around here Which is turning out to be less budget than I wanted ....

[doc_777]

There’s a 4 for 3 deal on the 003’s at the moment too which is a pretty good encouragement too….

[Sharkie]

There’s a 4 for 3 deal on the 003’s at the moment too which is a pretty good encouragement too….

It's a great deal, they had it on for Black Friday (I ordered but my local did not have stock) and I see it is back on again now. Fitting next week.

At the moment the GTI has 2 of the original Bridgestones (6 years old with good thread, but they have gone hard with age so very little grip) and 2 cheap tyres (cost $140 new for both to get the roadworthy done, although how you can call that roadworthy baffles me, they are so bad I cannot drive the car in the rain!), so looking forward to getting some grip!

[Sharkie]

Some action on the GTI fron the past few months.

Fitted a rear swaybar, which really tightened up the front end ... goodbye understeer


Installed a 3" downpipe (which may or may not be catless) and a loaded a Ecotune Stg2 tune ... wheelspin is back!

and this past weekend installed a VibraTechnics dogbone mount. Goodbye wheel hop !!!


Will still do both L + R Vibratechnics engine mounts in the coming months before doing a Stg3 clutch upgrade followed by an IS20 upgrade and a Stg 3 tune.

The little GTI is becoming a real beastie ... lots of fun to drive

[CNK]

Did your Polo originally come with the GTI's rear torsion beam? I know that the rear torsion beam in the Polo GTI and R WRC Street models is a kilogram heavier, so theoretically it should already be stiffer. As far as I know, some manufacturers like RacingLine (VWR) never produced a rear swaybar for the Polo, claiming that the beam cannot be stiffened further.


Do you have any comparisons of driving without the sway bar and after installing it?

[Sharkie]

Did your Polo originally come with the GTI's rear torsion beam? I know that the rear torsion beam in the Polo GTI and R WRC Street models is a kilogram heavier, so theoretically it should already be stiffer. As far as I know, some manufacturers like RacingLine (VWR) never produced a rear swaybar for the Polo, claiming that the beam cannot be stiffened further.


Do you have any comparisons of driving without the sway bar and after installing it?

Yes, being a 2017 GTI, it did come with the stronger torsion beam (compared to just a TSI Polo).

The rear swaybar did in fact made a very noticeable difference to the way it corners, less roll and practically no understear from the front anymore. It goes where pointed, a massive improvement, especially since the suspension (which does have the magnetic dampers as OEM fitment) is otherwise stock.

I would recommend a rear sway-bar for the GTI 100%

[Sharkie]

This weekend we will fit an aluminium sump, as the plastic 1 is warped and leaks oil .... L + R Vibratechnics engine mounts have arrived, but will probably let those wait till the X-Mas break to fit. Will need to do the clutch as well since the OEM 1 is struggling a bit with the Stg 2 Ecotec tune ...

That tune is super aggressive and torque comes on really strong from 3rd gear onwards, so it slips a bit. It's manageable, but it will need to do an upgrade to a proper Stg 3 clutch at some time.

The little GTI has become my son's daily (with the Amarok project taking its time), but since he is starting at the Qantas Group Pilot Academy soon, it will only get limited use for the next year or so.

[Lucas_R]

This weekend we will fit an aluminium sump, as the plastic 1 is warped and leaks oil .

The little GTI has become my son's daily (with the Amarok project taking its time), but since he is starting at the Qantas Group Pilot Academy soon, it will only get limited use for the next year or so.

Wasnt aware that you could get aluminium sumps for the Ea888, ive only seen stamped steel ones. Where did you score that from?

My plane and aviation obsessed 9yr old daughter will be happy to hear about your son training to be a pilot. How cool. Once he is fully trained and employed then hopefully that means some cheap airfares for you and your family. My step sister used to work for United Airlines and she used to get a dozen heavily discounted tickets per year......this was 20yrs ago though.

[Sharkie]

Wasnt aware that you could get aluminium sumps for the Ea888, ive only seen stamped steel ones. Where did you score that from?

Fitted 1 about 2 weeks ago now to the R.


Bought it off ebay, not super expensive here is a similar 1 Cast Aluminium Oil Sump & Pan - Audi 8V S3/TT/TTS & Volkswagen Golf MK7 GTI/R | eBay

I did buy a stamped metal 1 too, but the aluminium ones have a larger oil capacity, which helps with cooling. Also have 1 going onto the Amarok, but that is another story for when I post the complete AWD conversion story on Big Red's thread.

My plane and aviation obsessed 9yr old daughter will be happy to hear about your son training to be a pilot. How cool. Once he is fully trained and employed then hopefully that means some cheap airfares for you and your family. My step sister used to work for United Airlines and she used to get a dozen heavily discounted tickets per year......this was 20yrs ago though.

He did an aviation degree 1st, and his Uni (Griffith) is sort of a feeder program into QGPA. That said, you don't have to do any prior study, but the selection process then just gets quite a bit harder. QGPA does a number of intakes every year, and less than 25% of the applicants gets a spot in 1 of those. Each cohort is 56 weeks long, and done on campus in Toowoomba ... pretty full on, and they cant do any part time work whilst studying as they can be rostered 6 out of 7 days a week to fly.