Crouching gti, hidden dragon

[Notso Swift]

Nope, I went with the bigger bar

25mm vs 20mm. But the 25mm bar is hollow.

what is the hole size?

[abreut]

what is the hole size?

Wall thickness is 3.5-4mm, so 17-18mm.

[Notso Swift]

The new bar will be about 90% stiffer based on 4mm wall or 75% for 3.5mm

[gldgti]

I think once you have all the extra power train weight up front withe 16vt and the cableshift box, that bigger front bar makes a lot of sense.
Great to see it out of the den!

[abreut]

Its the relationship between front and rear that is important, and a 28mm rear bar is bloody stiff. If I jack the car up from the front jacking point just behind one of the front wheels, the rear wheel on that side leaves the ground before the front.

It is stiff for the street and you have to be careful in the wet, but as soon as you put semi-slicks or slicks on and get them up to temp, you need it that stiff. I have never understood all this talk about removing the front sway bar all together. If I did that the car would handle like crap. Maybe if you have really stiff suspension but that would suck on a car still driven on the street.

[abreut]

A belated thanks to Notso Swift for the calculations on the sway bar. Its strange how the car didn't feel that much more taily with the smaller one. Anyway the bigger one definitely feels more suited to the rest of the suspension.

Now for the gearbox build. I had to wait a while for gearbox parts, many of which came from the US, so that delayed the gearbox build a bit. But I finally finished it and I just took it for a test drive. No strange noises or anything - success!

So here are a few photos to catch up. Here’s the sorry-looking cases and the internals of the box all apart and ready for cleaning.



I ordered brand new synchros for 1st through to 4th. 2nd gear is a 3-piece synchro. I also ordered new selector hub springs and a few other bits and pieces. Oh and of course all new top quality bearings. Everything was checked over very carefully, and all shims properly sized by the book. Here are a few of the goodies, and the Kaaz lsd sitting in its new home



Finished product



I had to modify the rear mount because the 02A I had in previously is a bit special (as are all the ones I have seen from Seat Cupras and Toledos), and different to regular 02A’s and 02J’s. The diff housings are a strange shape - apparently related to the later 4-motion setups. I also decided to finally do the mod which gets rid of the big square block, and replaces it with a round bush. gldgti and Peter Jones have done this mod too, each slightly differently. I did mine in such a way so that I can unbolt and revert back to the block if need be. I used a mk1 A-arm bush which is rubber but high density and solid, and not prone to move much.




So the first drive. I was expecting to hear some chatter during slow car-park speed turning. That’s the common complaint from clutch-type LSDs, and the older Kaaz units. There was none at all. I could feel a slight on-off slipping sensation during one maneuverer, but after that I didn’t even notice that feeling again. It seemed like the steering wheel snaps back to centre more, not sure if that’s my imagination. Overall it doesn’t feel bad on the street at all! You’d be hard-pressed to know it had a plate-type diff. Cruising around you wouldn’t. I’m still running in the box so I can’t go nuts yet, but that alone has made me happy. I’m dying to actually try the diff out but I have to be patient.

[gldgti]

Only a few weeks to the nats!

[Water Boy]

Do you want to sell your old diff?

[abreut]

Do you want to sell your old diff?

I will, but I'd want to sell it complete with the gearbox its still in. But first I just have to confirm that the new diff is at least as good as the peloquin on the track which I will know in 2 weeks at the nationals. It better be! Funnily enough the 02A with the peloquin is actually a CDA which I bet is the exact code that you have in your cupra - its out of one. Something to think about

[abreut]

A few videos from yesterdays supersprint at Sydney Motorsport Park South Circuit. This was my first time there. Quite a short tight circuit so you can't really stretch the legs much here. There were a lot of spins, and even a couple of cars into walls - it was a challenging track. The fast uphill corner was exciting to drive and spectate though with plenty of twitching and stepping out. You really can't get a sense of the steepness of some sections in the videos.






I'm very happy with how the car is going. The gearbox/diff is an improvement, I felt like I had more traction and the car felt really stable. I'll have to take it to Wakefield to better compare it to the old one though.