2017 GTi PP at VIR

[ckuhns]

Thanks for the awesome write up! Out of curiosity, how long (either time or miles) are you expecting those rod ends/spherical's to last between track and daily use? Have you looked into the ease of getting replacements here in the US?

 

[Mini7]

Holy rotor clearance. Are those the powerbrake rotors?

Great writeup, super informative!

Yup!

 

[Mini7]

Thanks for the awesome write up! Out of curiosity, how long (either time or miles) are you expecting those rod ends/spherical's to last between track and daily use? Have you looked into the ease of getting replacements here in the US?

Have no idea. I guess I’ll will be testing that for folks on the forum.

The rod ends with the rubber boot has some protection. The spherical bearing on the front LBJ is open to the elements. Dry warmer climates should be better than the salted roads from up North. These bearings are super tight and difficult to move by hand without leverage. It’s going to be hard to put a life expectancy on them.

I purchased my LCAs before there was a local US Distributor and shipping was quick from Poland. 2-3 days plus a couple days to clear Customs and then local shipping. I purchased the RTAs from the US distributor.

Servicing parts are available from Verkline in Poland. I’d like to see those available locally. Especially the eccentric lockout washers and replacement rod ends/bearings.

 

[tigeo]

Alternate Tow Straps/Tow Hooks for the track? What are other track rats running?

ECS Tow straps.

 

[Mini7]

ECS Tow straps.

I will check those out.

ECS tow strap
Raceseng Tow Hook
Rennline Tow Hook

Are there any other options out there?

 

[scrllock]

Not a fan of straps, with lateral force they can screw up your bumper.
Had a set of Rennline, they're good. Sold em to buy Raceseng as the grey matched the paint pretty well. Get way more muscle cars trying to race at stoplights with any of them.

 

[MonkeyMD]

Alternate Tow Straps/Tow Hooks for the track? What are other track rats running?

I use a Raceseng tow hook

I will check those out.

ECS tow strap
Raceseng Tow Hook
Rennline Tow Hook

Are there any other options out there?

Just curious, any benefit to these vs the VW one. I mean $30 vs $200.

 

[3rdOne]

I got my Raceseng one on sale/blemshed so was a little cheaper. And the hook that came with my car was reverse threaded for some reason so wouldn't even fit. And honestly, because red=race car

 

[MonkeyMD]

I got my Raceseng one on sale/blemshed so was a little cheaper. And the hook that came with my car was reverse threaded for some reason so wouldn't even fit. And honestly, because red=race car

Ha, yeah everyone has straps or those cool hinged ones and i have this gigantic black protuberance

 

[scrllock]

I'm interested in the new raceseng tow strap. Looks like it's only listed for the front tho?

 

[tigeo]

I like the straps b/c they hang down. I figure if I need towed off the track it's likely b/c I'm off the track and my car probably has bigger issues than if the two strap causes something to mar my paint.

 

[Mini7]

I do like the look of the tow straps.

 

[Mini7]

Quick question.

I’m about to do the water pump and thermostat on my GTi. Does anyone know whether the R water pump truly flows more coolant than the regular GTi water pump???

I’m likely to leaves things as they are. Even though I’m running a larger CSF radiator and CSF Aux cooler.
I’m not running into any overheating issues. Just figured that more flow my result in faster recovery and more headroom in the cooling system.

 

[Mini7]

Lower Ball Joint tool.
Does anyone know of a good alternative to the factory VAG tool to pop the lower ball joint?

 

[Mini7]

Also, I’ve been working on indexing my build thread.

If anyone sees anything noteworthy that I need to index, please let me know which Post#, so I can update the first page.