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Old 01-07-2020, 06:36 PM   #43
GolNat
Tri-State Aficionado
 
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DE
Member #26054

My Ride:
2013 GTI 6MT Coupe

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Officially Stage 2 But...

Happy New Year too all!! Hope your holidays went well.

So I had some time off recently and decided to finally take the plunge and go stage 2. Stage 2 consists of a 3" down pipe with hi-flow cat. I have been Stage 1+ for abour 12k miles and it has been a blast. From a fun or power perspective I did not feel the need to upgrade but I had the time so figured it would be a good time. The install went pretty smooth with the only issue really being a stuck nut on the OE downpipe. After some friendly advice from a golfmk6 member I ran to HF and bought an extra long wrench which was just the extra torque I needed. The turbo flange stud ended up coming out with the nut but it didn't break!! Went to the local dealer and bought a new stud along with 4 new nuts.

OE vs CTS 3"



Everything bolted up.Fresh nuts, 1 stud and gasket.



Installed a J-spacer on the downstream oxygen sensor to keep the CEL off and to pass emissions readiness. SO far no CEL but I have not checked my rediness.



Yes that's the one I want!! Give me more power all mighty programmer!!



Unitronic dyno graph showing potential gains. Not sure what other mods are done to obtain these numbers but the only thing "required" for stage 2 is a downpipe.




Initial impression are holy hell so much torque!! The power just keeps coming and the turbo feels like it spools faster. Rev matching on downshifts seem to come quicker. Oh and the extra throaty sound from the exhaust is awesome too. It sounds so much meaner now!! I might upgrade to an actual cat-back as the OEM exhaust with the res delete can be a little high pitched between 3k-4k. I like it at the moment but I think I will want a more refined sound eventually.

During my initial test drive to make sure everything was okay I down shifted into 5th to do a pull. Upon mashing the gas the car slowed down and I was greeted with a hot brakes sort of smell :-|. Yeah the clutch is starting to slip now with the added power. Completely expected especially seeing as I put 12k miles of 1+ through it. I will "baby" it until I get the clutch replaced.

So I am now in the process of piecing together an upgraded clutch. I would like to retain the OE DMF so that limits my options and the best one for the money seems to be an OEM unit that you can piece together for under $900. This OEM unit can handle upgraded turbo levels of torque. I have called the dealer and NGP out of Aberdeen, MD for quotes. Dealer wanted $900 and NGP wanted around $650. I am contemplating doing it myself but am going to read more of the DIY's that are out there and see if I can get some time to do it. Have never done a clutch but having the correct tools and staying organized seem to be the key. Will also replace the rear main seal while it's apart.

Oh and APR got back to me about the mount that I sent them. The tech that I talked to said that QC checked the mount and it was fine. They even mounted it and could only hear a slight rattle. There is definitely some bearing slop and apparently what the QC department see's and what the tech's see conflict with each other. They decided to send me a new mount free of charge which I think was great on their part. I told them I purchased it used and they still stood behind their product. Go APR!!!

Video of the bearing play:

https://youtu.be/UJG0-GlaHgU

Last edited by GolNat; 01-07-2020 at 06:38 PM.
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