Best order of modifications 2011 vRS

[Tuan]

I'm not sure buying a spanking new car is sensible either.

Then again, if I wanted to be sensible, I'd have bought a Camry.

@brad: Thanks. That's an excellent list to be getting on with. Never even heard of Enkei wheels, but they seem the business.

It is 'sensible' in the sense that you do not spend any money modifying your car at all if you buy new/demo lol.

Who knows, your list of modifications could easily grow from $5,000 into $15,000 black hole.

Nothing wrong with a Camry (unless it's gold).

BTW I am in Sydney and I've only ever seen one modified blue vRS.

[brad]

I'm not sure buying a spanking new car is sensible either.

Then again, if I wanted to be sensible, I'd have bought a Camry.

@brad: Thanks. That's an excellent list to be getting on with. Never even heard of Enkei wheels, but they seem the business.

They're good bang4buck.

18" are <8kg, 17" <7kg.

Oz Alleggerita HLT are about the same weight, better looking (IMO) but ~$100 more each.

Team Dynamics Pro race 1.2 are also very light and look good (except for the lettering) but I'm not sure how pricey they are.

koya (look on facebook) do some nice semi-forged stuff as well.

Plenty of nice light wheels out there. bargains to be had if you are willing to go 2nd hand.

[brad]

Who knows, your list of modifications could easily grow from $5,000 into $15,000 black hole.

.

Without bargain hunting I could do my list for $11k without labour. They are all DIY / home mechanic level jobs.

It's a lot to dump into a car but many of those bits could be removed andonsold and have the original parts refitted when you're ready to move to the next project. You might only get a few thousand back but it's a start.

I'm happy to wait a while for parts atthe right price but so far:

Bluefin = $666
Modified DP = free
used 312mm front brake upgrade inc braided lines = $50
used GTI rear sway bar = $10
used #1 dogbone (half) insert = free
#2 dogbone insert = $20
used 25% upgraded IC = $120
GFB DV+ = $120
Koni Adjustables = $750(ish)
IC charge / discharge pipes = $200
Eibach Springs = $200
R8 Coil packs x4 = $140
HIDs = $200
used Forge Catch can = $200

<$3k all up. That's cheap fun over 120,000km (first mod done at 30,000km; now at 150,000km)

I've also had 3 sets of wheels / tyres at $400/set. 1 set was light, the rest have been big fat porkers. It's like having a new car every time the tyres wear out.

[DUBGTI]

Wow that's some cheap priced items, where did you manage to get all those bits from at those prices? I can never find second hand gear going cheap

[brad]

Wow that's some cheap priced items, where did you manage to get all those bits from at those prices? I can never find second hand gear going cheap

I'm patient and in no hurry to do certain upgrades (eg: I'd absolutely vowed I wouldn't upgrade my brakes). All the above is over a 5 year period which would probably drive those that want instant gratification quite insane.


I keep an eye on the For Sales in several forums. As a result I know what prices things sell at & what items hang around forever.

I'm willing to buy stuff that looks dodgy or needs more work (brakes took 3 hours of cleaning & prep before I even fitted them) or can be modified to work.

I'll purchase batrgains way before I need them. I've stored wheels/tyres for 6 months waiting for the current set to go bald.

If somebody does an upgrade & I think the part they took off might be useful, I send them a PM about buying it. People will sell at a fair price if it's a hassle-free transaction.

I help people with stuff & they give me free things.

I have a cash reserve so if something is the right price I'm not the guy saying "if only you'd advertised last week before I bought item X - I'm broke now".

I think a lot of people pay far too much for 2nd hand gear... and a lot of the vendors are dreaming. The last set of immaculate wheels I sold I let go for $180 with (just) roadworthy tyres and it was a struggle to get a buyer at that price. I've seen other people asking $600 for the same wheels - WTF?

My latest purchase is some 18" wheels with decent tyres (current tyres will be illegal when rego happens in July), some sports seats & alloy lower control arms. Bundled the whole lot for $700 based on photos of 1 wheel & the seats.
The seats look like crap but hopefully they'll clean up OK with a few hours of TLC.
The wheels are black with brakes dust & road grime - I'll probably spend 2 hours on each wheel getting them immaculate. Hopefully the vendor is being accutate when they say the tyres are "near new" and the rims are unmarked. Some peoiple classify unmarked as including a 50mm kerb scrape
The LCAs - don't know if they'll fit my existing ball joints so that's a punt (might have to purchase new ball joints) & I'm not sure if the console bushes are included (another purchase) but I enjoy rolling the dice on these things.

[clarj17]

Without bargain hunting I could do my list for $11k without labour. They are all DIY / home mechanic level jobs.

It's a lot to dump into a car but many of those bits could be removed andonsold and have the original parts refitted when you're ready to move to the next project. You might only get a few thousand back but it's a start.

I'm happy to wait a while for parts atthe right price but so far:

Bluefin = $666
Modified DP = free
used 312mm front brake upgrade inc braided lines = $50
used GTI rear sway bar = $10
used #1 dogbone (half) insert = free
#2 dogbone insert = $20
used 25% upgraded IC = $120
GFB DV+ = $120
Koni Adjustables = $750(ish)
IC charge / discharge pipes = $200
Eibach Springs = $200
R8 Coil packs x4 = $140
HIDs = $200
used Forge Catch can = $200

<$3k all up. That's cheap fun over 120,000km (first mod done at 30,000km; now at 150,000km)

I've also had 3 sets of wheels / tyres at $400/set. 1 set was light, the rest have been big fat porkers. It's like having a new car every time the tyres wear out.

Brad, I'm in the market for Bluefin myself, where did you find $666?

[brad]

Brad, I'm in the market for Bluefin myself, where did you find $666?

JKM Performance in Portsmouth, UK in late 2009. The AUD was stronger back then (GBP1=AUD1.5???). Surprisingly the price still works out at AUD650 plus postage despite the forex being almost 1=2.

I'm not siure if they are still allowed to sell to Australia.

I'd suggest you look on the forums or Gumtree for a 2nd hand controller & offer them $50 for it (that's all they're worth) and get it reset - it costs $499 last time I looked. Parso rex on this forum is a Bluefin dealer - he should be able to sort you out.

If it's under 12m old the reset is free (which obviously make s the controller worth more).

A new unit from the dealer is $739 I believe. When I bought from the UK they were up near $1k locally.

[woofy]

Someone had one that had been reset recently. I thought about it but never bothered in the end as the Skoda eventually became my wifes car. Will see what the next one is like.

[Aztech]

Brad, I'm in the market for Bluefin myself, where did you find $666?

I'm not sure if he makes it down to SA often but it would be worth checking with Gavin from Optimum Code - Serial Port Chip Technology - Home he flashed my tiguan with the same 2.0T and we did a few test runs and it was putting out 190kw, works out price wise not much more than a bluefin but performance wise is as good if not better than others like APR that are charging close to double the price.

Will definitely be taking my VRS there once I can justify it to my partner

Worth a look anyway.