Ah, ok. Easily removed stuff that's essentially free with no real harmful side effects FTW :) You can buy the snazzy ECS part if you don't want it to be nearly free, haha https://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen....0T/ES2586656/

Haha I saw that... I hope people don't spend the money on that!:lol:

To be fair, it is a nice piece... and not ****ty German plastic that will break. Feel free to ask me about German plastic, I have a strong opinion on it :-p

Haha...30 year old plastic need not apply :lol:

This particular part is pretty robust, plastic and all. If someone manages to break it I'd be surprised.:)

Ordered these today:

http://opdparts.com/index.php/volksw...ripe-1734.html

along with the matching grille that raises the red trim to line up with the headlights.

I really wish my GTI had the lighting package, but a retrofit of the OEM equipment is $3k or so and who knows if it'll be as reliable since you're dealing with electrical wiring to get it to work.

This plug and play solution will give me the exterior aesthetics that simply make the front-end of the vehicle look so much better. Pretty excited to get it on the car and post before/after photos. Will give the car a more aggressive look that it deserves over the factory halogens.

Next up: Bilsteins/Euro tail lights/VW Rotary wheels/SS brake lines/TTRS clutch kit/tune

mod the GTI, track the 911...

Great call, the halogens look super bland without the red stripe. That design feature is easily my favorite part of the Mk7s, haha.

Modding the wrong car :-p (I know that realistically the 911 is pretty highly tuned and suspension is the only reasonable thing to mod at this point)

Haha it's mine too. Thank you! I really enjoy how it ties together the front of the car with the rear. Best looking GTI in generations in my mind.

Hah! The 911 will get some love, but it's never going to make a lot of power until you rebuild the engine and punch it out to a 3.8 or drop in a custom 4.0.

I also may still end up trading up into a 997.2 S or GTS in a few years too after I get my feet wet and trained on the 911 handling characteristics.

In the meantime, I see brakes and suspension as the logical next steps for the car. My local shop does tunes and will work on both of my cars (they're also huge VW fans), so just enjoying the sweet spot both cars are in.

You ready for this weekend? :)

As ready as I can be for currently sitting in a hotel room in California :)

We'll find out if the 911 actually needs the brakes this weekend. The GTI can easily use all of the mods you listed, it's still a "cheap" car, haha

Done and done!:afro:

New headlights and the lighting package grille came in the mail today!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7385/...520258ec_z.jpg

Going to install these this weekend. Can't wait to see the difference.

Getting all sorts of nice stuff, haha. Can't wait to see the new setup

Thanks, haha there is a lot right now to do.

-short shifter
-clutch valve delete
-lighting package and grille
-rear swaybar/endlinks

Let's see how far I get on these on saturday. sunday i'll tackle the porsche brake pads.

Short shifter installed

Lighting package and grille installed

Rear swaybar and clutch delay valve delete for another day

Pics coming soon.

Install pictures!

Here's the difference in the front grille between a lighting package car and a halogen car:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7683/...76f325fc_z.jpg

Up close, you see the lighting package grille has the red striping raised a notch to align with the red striping of the headlights (and the bumper line of the car into the wheelwell)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7665/...c6155b0e_z.jpg

Details like this help make the front end pop more.

The red GTI badge signifies that the car has the Performance Pack (eLSD, Golf R brakes, 10hp)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/...f433bf11_z.jpg

Onto the install...

You have to remove the front bumper to access the bottom bolts of the headlights for removal. Total time to do the install from start to finish was only 2 hours!

The halogens:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7408/...46d49074_z.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7540/...11a1740c_z.jpg

The Helix (LP):
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/...11a69fe4_z.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/...4b075066_z.jpg

All done!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7740/...a4c62957_z.jpg



Installing the short shifter took me about 20 minutes. The hardest part was removing the factory piece from the transmission itself. It took some banging around, but finally I got it to slide off the keyed gear. Then the new piece slipped right on, plugged on the shifter cable, side-ways cable support, then reattached the intake ducting and air box.

I have to say, this really tied the mod together with the stiffer bushings. I'm pretty happy with the change that this has made to shifting the car, as there is now leverage on the notchy shifting feel to smooth it out a little bit. The throw has been reduced to a more normal distance too. However, the soft clutch now stands out like a sore thumb as does the factory suspension. Both will be getting addressed.

Here's the factory shifter out of the car and in the box. Covered in grease.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7759/...c0679ac8_z.jpg

Before I touch the factory suspension, I want to install the rear swaybar to see what effect it has on the roll stiffness of the car. Since this is my DD, I'm leaning away from a coilover setup, but I haven't firmly decided yet.

The next mod will be buying a clutch that can handle the torque from a tune.

I also want different wheels, but that'll come after suspension.

Looks way better. Sucks that the bumper has to come off to do headlights.

I've actually been shopping for one of these over the last few weeks, in 5 door though, and get rid of my X. I'm looking at the exact setup you have as far as SE w/PP but I can't find one that also has the lighting package. Do you have any before/afters with the new lights you installed turned on?

Thanks! Car looks worse without the lighting package.

Bumper was surprisingly easy to remove. 7 T-25 screws along the bottom, then remove the grille up top with 2 more T-25 screws. Four T-25's in each wheel well finish it off.

I used my power drill with the T-25 bit in it. Had the bumper off in minutes.

The bumper can then just be popped out and off.

That's a great choice of car if I must say so myself. :)

I don't have pictures of that, unfortunately...but you can look on vortex for good halogen to HiD comparison shots. It's a very noticeable difference.

You want to get the LP...it has dynamic lighting that will move in the turns and is just "better" way better than my aftermarket setup. Don't kick yourself 6 months from now like most people who don't get the LP. :)

Oh and if you don't mind a drive, the best prices in the nation on GTIs and VWs is in the DC metro area.... If you haven't looked, go check out the prices on Lindsay VW's site.

Thanks for the info, I have someone trying to find me one that works for VW. Sadly 15 hours is a bit far for me to drive to get a GTI lol, but thanks for the heads up!

Ahh thought you were Tri-state.

Glad that you're looking for one with LP. The car should come with it on all trim levels. It should also just come with the PP too, but business reasons.