GolNat's 2013 GTI 6MT Coupe Stage 2 Bound

[blue91lx]

MAN I love that interior.

[GolNat]

Originally Posted by blue91lx

MAN I love that interior.

It is what made me fall in love with the car before I ever drove it. Philly car show (2010ish) I sat in one and wanted a GTI. After driving it I was hooked!!!

Scored some used "Monster Mats" for the winter. The carpet mats look better IMO, but if we get snow these will not get salt stained and will hold up better over the winter.




Picked up a black radiator cap and washer fluid cap. Cleans up the engine bay a little by keeping all the colors cohesive. Ehh for $20 bucks why not.



Mailed my pendulum mount to APR on Monday. On standby to see what they find.

[GolNat]

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

[Foolinaround]

How do you like the unitronic software? Is it like cobb where you buy their little jawn and the tunes are free?

[DaveSTi]

Originally Posted by GolNat

It is what made me fall in love with the car before I ever drove it. Philly car show (2010ish) I sat in one and wanted a GTI. After driving it I was hooked!!!

Scored some used "Monster Mats" for the winter. The carpet mats look better IMO, but if we get snow these will not get salt stained and will hold up better over the winter.




Picked up a black radiator cap and washer fluid cap. Cleans up the engine bay a little by keeping all the colors cohesive. Ehh for $20 bucks why not.



Mailed my pendulum mount to APR on Monday. On standby to see what they find.

I had those mats in my mk6 gti. They're like gold they work so well!

Now have them for the R but i miss the red lettering of the GTI ones

[DaveSTi]

Originally Posted by GolNat

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

Very nice update!

Been considering Uni or APR for the longest of time. I like being able to flash at home with Uni but APR has a lot more availability.

decisions decisions.

The downpipe looks like an easy enough install on your car. I did the one on my old STI and it took awhile to get to...maybe it's easier on the Golf?

[GolNat]

Originally Posted by Foolinaround

How do you like the unitronic software? Is it like cobb where you buy their little jawn and the tunes are free?

I’m loving the Uni software. I have no previous software experience to compare too but I really love how the power kinda just smacks you in the face. You have to buy a dongle thing to plug into the car and a laptop (has to be PC). The dongle is $150 and you pay separate for the tunes. The tunes are loaded onto their server under your account so when you log into UniConnect it goes online to their server to get your paid tunes. I can flash back to any stage before Stage 2 if I want. My stage 2 flash took about 8 min and I was all set. As far as off the shelf tunes go it is very solid. I went with them because they have been tuning VW/Audi’s for a while and I could do it at home. The closest APR dealer is an hr away.

Cobb is nice because of the interface which allows you to see live data and you can flash back to different stages more easily. Stratisfied offers custom tunes that you can buy from them and use the Cobb AccessPort to download to the car.

Integrated Engineering is another tune at home option that people on the forum are really enjoying. It’s a more linear onset of power apparently.

Originally Posted by DaveSTi

I had those mats in my mk6 gti. They're like gold they work so well!

Now have them for the R but i miss the red lettering of the GTI ones

Man when I first saw them in a car I was like those are ugly but now that I have them I am really enjoying them. The black mats look awesome but they sure do get dirty quick. Lol the red lettering is a nice touch. Something I didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I am is the silly aluminum seat lever inlays I put in. Every time I get in the car I admire them

Originally Posted by DaveSTi

Very nice update!

Been considering Uni or APR for the longest of time. I like being able to flash at home with Uni but APR has a lot more availability.

decisions decisions.

The downpipe looks like an easy enough install on your car. I did the one on my old STI and it took awhile to get to...maybe it's easier on the Golf?

Thanks. Yes APR has more options and you can change programs by using be MFD in the cluster which is a nice feature. I don’t ever need to change tunes as I always have 93 octane available and I’m the only one who drives the car. You can add launch control and no lift shift with APR as well. I have launch control with my Stage 2 but need a clutch before I try that.

It really was pretty easy. The most pain in the ass part is getting to the top bolts on the OE downpipe and if you have rusted bolts/nuts that don't want to come off. I would say someone could knock it out in 4 hours. If you have an aftermarket intake that saves some time too. I used a combo of install instructions from CTS, Integrated Engineering and Unitronic.

I have seen the inside of my brothers WRX engine bay and don't want any parts of that lol.

[GolNat]

Small update. I bought a DEI soft chirp siren from eBay a while back and finally decided to install it. From the factory the GTI comes with 2 regular horns and one alarm horn. The alarm horn is what goes off when you lock the car. Well since it is a horn it is rather loud and annoying. It's not like most cars where you press once for silent lock and twice for confirmation, it always honks when locked unless you disable it with VCDS or OBD11. One of the first things I did when I got the car was to turn that feature off. So for a while it has been disabled but I do like having a confirmation sound. I discovered through the forums that you can just wire in a soft chirp siren in place of the alarm horn and problem solved. So I got work on it this past weekend and am very pleased with the results.

The factory alarm horn is mounted in the fender well toward the cowling. It is a tight fit with the siren since it is much bigger then the stock disc horn so I mounted the siren in the bumper behind the fog light. I ended up removing one of the 2 regular horns and modifying the bracket to mount the siren. This was kinda by mistake as I thought the horn behind the fog light was the alarm horn (no the car just has a low and high regular horn). So after locating the correct horn I just left the siren mounted in the bumper and routed the wires over to the alarm connector. Soldered and heat shrunk all my connections so it should hold up great.

Here is the stock bracket.



I ended up just cutting off the one section and welding a piece of 1/8 stock to the mounting bracket.



Painted it so it didn't rust and tapped 2x 10-24 holes to mount the siren. Ignore the welds, it had been a while lol.

All mounted and ready to go.



Sounds sooooo much nicer. The video is not working on my end but here is a link.
https://i.imgur.com/dhyKroal.mp4

Video:



Overall a very cheap effective mod. The siren cost like $10 off eBay and I already had the other supplies.

Still piecing together my clutch. I have the throw out bearing, clutch plate and the pressure plate is on it's way. Still need the flywheel, rear main seal, hardware and miscellaneous tools (transmission jack, engine support bar, 24mm triple square). I am seriously contemplating adding an LSD while the transmission is out. Might call a shop to see how much it would cost with me giving them the transmission.

[GolNat]

Got all my clutch parts. All new so I don't have to do this again for a while hopefully.

​​​​​​​

TT-RS pressure plate
Golf TDI clutch disk
Standard GTI DMFW
Revised all metal throw out bearing

Waiting for my iABED billet rear main seal and misc bolts. Still need to get an engine support bar and maybe an extension or two. Might drain and fill MTF with RedLine. Got a quote of $730 to install an LSD so I will be passing on that at the moment. I will be doing the clutch install in a few weeks.

Trying to score some coilovers too. If I tell the wife it's for the clutch she might not question it

[GolNat]

Took a drive up to Newark, NJ which is basically New York City to pick up some coilovers from a forum member. BNIB and a good discount from new. They are KW's without the Inox coating on them. Should give me a nice finger gap all around and keep it comfy for daily duty. I'm hoping to get it installed along with my clutch but I'll see how the clutch install goes first. Already have spacers to help get the wheels flush.

[DaveSTi]

Nice part selection! Interested in hearing how you like the suspension. I had an ST rear swaybar before.

[GolNat]

Originally Posted by DaveSTi

Nice part selection! Interested in hearing how you like the suspension. I had an ST rear swaybar before.

Thanks. I am curious how it will compare to my KW's I had on my Civic. I'm planning on installing them soon.

New clutch is installed. First time doing a clutch install and it was a pain the ass. The most difficult part was getting the transmission back on. Everything else was pretty straight forward. I tagged and bagged parts and hardware as it was removed so that I did not loose anything. Had a really hard time getting the transmission back onto the engine until a golfmk6 forum member offered some suggestions. I also drained the MTF and replaced it with new VW MTF. Attempted to put on a SS clutch line but it kept leaking while I was trying to bleed the system so I put the OEM one back on.

HF engine brace did a great job:



Cleaned the bell housing out. No oil but had clutch dust I'm guessing.



Installed an upgraded rear main seal while I was there. This billet aluminum piece is really nice.



New DMFW, disk and PP installed and lined up.



A cool tip someone on the forum suggested. Worked great for keeping track of the different sized transmission bolts.



Took it for a short 3 mile test drive and everything feels great. Pedal effort is increased by about 30% but engagement is nice and smooth and there is no chatter. If it wasn't for the increased pedal effort I would have not known it was upgraded. I will do a 500 mile in period before running it hard.

Coilovers are next on the list. I'm thinking in a week or so depending on work.

[mckpat03]

I had STs on my R32. They were an awesome balance of daily comfort and sport and they're still going well with roughly 45-50k miles on them now.

I'm interested to hear how you get on with the clutch setup after some more driving. I'm pretty sure I gotta do one and I'm not sure which way I'm gonna go with it.

[Foolinaround]

What clutch did you go with?

[GolNat]

Originally Posted by mckpat03

I had STs on my R32. They were an awesome balance of daily comfort and sport and they're still going well with roughly 45-50k miles on them now.

I'm interested to hear how you get on with the clutch setup after some more driving. I'm pretty sure I gotta do one and I'm not sure which way I'm gonna go with it.

Awesome, glad to hear that about them. That is exactly what I hoping to get out of them. I'm anxious to get them on.

If you want to keep the DMFW it is one of the only options. Unfortunately I lost one of my sub frame bolts so I have not driven the car anymore then those initial 3 miles. Waiting for the bolt to come in so I can put some miles on her. I will be sure to report back.

Originally Posted by Foolinaround

What clutch did you go with?

It's basically an RSR clutch kit but I sourced all the parts myself to save some money. Total with a new Sachs DMFW was around $1033.

Great thread about it. Last page I listed where I sourced the parts and current prices:

https://www.golfmk6.com/forums/index...s-list.273966/

It's basically an Audi TT-RS pressure plate, TDI golf clutch disk and the standard Golf/GTI flywheel. Can hold K04 levels of torque.

[mckpat03]

Originally Posted by GolNat

Awesome, glad to hear that about them. That is exactly what I hoping to get out of them. I'm anxious to get them on.

If you want to keep the DMFW it is one of the only options. Unfortunately I lost one of my sub frame bolts so I have not driven the car anymore then those initial 3 miles. Waiting for the bolt to come in so I can put some miles on her. I will be sure to report back.

Yeah, I've been look at the DIY RSR/TTRS, SRE, and South Bend. Were you able to order the pressure plate on it's own? That's the one thing that's made me consider the other setups.

[Foolinaround]

1033 with DIY? Oof

[GolNat]

Originally Posted by mckpat03

Yeah, I've been look at the DIY RSR/TTRS, SRE, and South Bend. Were you able to order the pressure plate on it's own? That's the one thing that's made me consider the other setups.

No I was not able to find the pressure plate on it's own. It has to be bought as a kit with the clutch disk. I have the clutch disk listed on eBay. Going price is around $50 so I won't make much back.

Originally Posted by Foolinaround

1033 with DIY? Oof

Yes that was DIY price. $400 of that was the flywheel. You can buy a low mileage used one for under $100 but I didn't want to chance it. Single mass flywheel keeps the price down. Dealer quoted me $900 for install and New German Performance over in MD quoted me around $730. Not cheap but maintaining that OEM GTI feel was important to me.

[Foolinaround]

Yeah I'm looking to eventually upgrade but wanna keep a DMFW because the one pieces chatter is unreal.

[GolNat]

Clutch is broken in and it feels awesome. Finally got a chance to really hit boost and see how stage 2 feels and it's amazing!!! I am still monitoring my master cylinder fluid and oil for any leaks, so far it's all been good.

I have been in contact these past few weeks with a company who was looking for some people to do some beta testing for a franken turbo that they have developed. It is a cheaper alternative to upgrading to a K04 (Golf R) turbo and is a bolt on addition to a stage 2 tune. One member on the forum did some testing for them and got a 36 WHP increase from swapping in the fraken turbo. I reached out to the company to see if they could use me for testing. They said yes since they have not tested Unitronic software with the turbo. I first had to do some boost and engine load logs for them to see if my tune was capable of providing more then the the stock turbo can handle. Turns out my tune does not leave much room for growth as it is a more conservative tune (one of the reasons I chose it). The company was unsure how the fraken turbo would behave seeing as my boost and engine values are close to what the computer is telling the car to do. I decided to not get the turbo kit from them as they were not able to really guarantee any gains and the discount was not the best after factoring in the 2 mandatory dyno runs.

The logs just for fun.






Put the car up on jack stands last night to install my coil overs and did not have a 14mm triple square bit to remove the shock mount bolt. WTF!!!! Ordered a socket and will try to do the back tonight depending on how I'm feeling.