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Gixxerfool’s Golf R and first VW

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
Wanted to start this mostly to keep track of where I am at. I will do my best to update the first post with relevant links.

Quick background-growing up no real interest in cars.
-At 18 needed one and ended with a 1981 Z-28. It was a rat trap and I loved it. I got bit by the bug. Hated paying people doing work not to my liking, bought magazines, books, and asked whoever I could for info and figured the rest out. It was giving up on life so I got rid of it.

-Bought a brand new 1999 GMC Sonoma. Didn’t want to mess with it too much, put an exhaust and what was considered back then a home tune on it. Owned it 17 years and it was quite literally falling apart at the end. I bought a 1983 Z-28 in 2001-ish for a money pit. Succeeded at that. 2004 bought my first motorcycle that got t-boned a year later and then bought my second bike.

-Had too many things with wheels and wasn’t really driving/riding them. The Z sat in my driveway and rotted and so I got rid of it. He pickup got traded on a Civic, I needed something right now and cheap and reliable. It was a good car, but kind of plain and boring. I did some stereo upgrades and headlights. Left the rest alone. Wife and daughter grew tired of the coupe life. So I started my search for a replacement.

-Enter the Golf R. It was a fun search since I was truly open to anything for the first time in forever provided it had all the features I wanted. I started my search and finally found one a year later. It’s a weird mid-life crisis-ish car for me. It’s not a Vette, but for me it’s a ton of fun and something I can make my own.

Nov 14, 2020-Took delivery of 2016 Golf R in Lapiz blue with 22,000 miles. Seems to have everything, but DAP from the factory. It is lowered with H&R springs and has an AeroFabb wing extension on it. I can tell there was a DP and CAI on it at one point, but the stock items are back on. There is a resonator delete on it. Plans at this point are winter wheels with tires and an OBDEleven for coding changes. Everything else is in the mix. Didn’t know what I ultimately wanted to do or in what order.

December 14, 2020- Car went to the dealer to get the windshield replaced and ended up becoming a huge deal, not because of the wind. You can read that here.

February 19, 2021- 24,200 miles New fluids and exhaust tips removed. More snow too. Read about it here.

March 3, 2021- Replaced the lift gate drain tube. See the pics here.

March 8, 2021- Installed rear washer check valve to curb the dribble I had. Great write up here.
My exhaust tips came back from the powder coater. Jump to the post here.

March 21, 2021- Installed the VLAND tail lamps. Jump to post here.

March 22, 2021-Finally received my Klii underlay order and got those with the gloss black emblems installed. See them here

March 26, 2021- 22,700 battery puked, it was the factory battery, so can’t complain. Also did the DSG service.

April 4, 2021- Installed the steering wheel wrap.

April 10, 2021-Installed factory springs, put summers back on and flushed the brake fluid.

June 18, 2021- installed a custom made brass hatch drain

August 19, 2021- ~28,000 miles Installed the H&R rear sway bar.

September 12, 2021- Nothing exciting, put in a Forge intake tube.

December 31, 2021- Closing out the year with a DIY boost gauge install

April 13, 2022-Stage 1 low torque 93 octane tune installed and painted calipers

April 16, 2022-Installed painted calipers and put summer tires back on

July 17, 2022- Installed the intercooler and new front fascia

May 1, 2023- Replaced spark plugs with Ruths
Items done-

Interior:

I snagged an OBD11 Pro on a Black Friday sale and all the coding changes I would have done, the PO did, EXCEPT for the exhaust valves open all the time. I am trying to revert it and not having much luck.

I changed out the stock shifter paddles with S2T units. Love the look of them.

Install steering wheel wrap.

DIY boost gauge install

Exterior:
The PO had an AeroFabb wing extension I am rather fond of, so I kept it.

My friend printed a front license plate bracket off of Thingiverse and I added a couple of license plate frames. Nothing special, but the bumper wasn't drilled through two other owners and decided to keep it that way.

Powder coated exhaust tips.

Installed rear washer check valve.

I have a set of curved mirror glass ready to go in when I find a set of folding mirrors.

VLAND tail lamps installed.

Klii color matched underlays with gloss black emblems installed here

Suspension:
Installed the factory springs in lieu of the H&R lowered springs.

Installed an H&R RSB with Moog end links.

Engine:
As of now, the only thing I have done to it is fix the loose air box so far. You can read that here.

Installed a Forge intake tube.

I started emailing tuners to see if it’s ever been tuned. It was never TD1‘d despite having been to the dealer on several occasions. Turns out there was an IE stage 2 crackle and tune in the car at one point. Glad that is no longer in it.

Wheels and tires:
I found a set of Austins at a local recycler and ordered some tires through work. These are the winter running gear. The Cadizs have all seasons on them right now.

Items to be done-

Interior:

I am still hemming and hawing about a possible digital dash retrofit. That is low on the list of things to do.
Getting in front of the possible rear door speaker leak is something I want to do. I abhor water leaks.

Exterior:

Folding mirrors with dynamic blinkers are on the list.
I am considering rear exterior handle retrofit down the road if I can find a set. That is lower on the list as well. TURNS OUT NOT A SIMPLE HANDLE FIT IN THE MK7 LIKE THE 7.5
I was looking at PPF as well. The front isn't perfect, but its pretty good.

Suspension:
As of now the suspension is where I want it.

Engine:

There may be drop in filter added, but I am so pleased with how the car is now, I doubt I will do much more beyond the maintenance to it any time soon.

Wheels and tires:
Not much here since this is a DD, possibly some summer tires to replace the all seasons.

Overall, I am focusing more on trying to keep the car clean and washed and in good shape. I gave up on my Civic cause it was black and dirty as soon as I completed washing it. I have more time to do it after work which helps me stay on top of it.
 
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gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
About 5 minutes before I drove her off the lot

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I always loved the Lapiz blue and was lucky enough to find an R in the color. I am probably one of the only people that like the Cadiz wheels.

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Front license plate bracket and frames. I do not think I have a picture with the new side skirts and tow hook cover yet. I need to remedy that.
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The S2T paddles installed

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gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
I picked up some fluids from Europa Parts. Since they are local to me I can run there and just grab them after the order is filled. Grabbed 6L Liqui Moly with a VW filter, 5L Liqui Moly DSG fluid with a filter, a Haldex service kit, and some Pentosin brake fluid. I am getting these done a little at a time.

Tuesday I stayed late at work to change the oil. I wanted to test the evacuation method and have to say I was impressed. This may end up being my go to method. While I was at it, I removed my exhaust tips to send to my powdercoater. I started prepping them for paint, but I love his work and I try to throw anything I can his way.

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Today, dealing with the weather we were slow at work, so I decided to tackle my Haldex service.

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The Haldex was for sure in need of service, glad I got it done.

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I have been mulling over other mods to do with the car. I am going to get the services knocked out and move on from there.
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
I have some stuff coming from all corners of the planet, except Australia...need to remedy that. The exhaust tips are at the powder coaters. I am hoping items start to arrive soon. I will be sure to update as I go.
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
Nothing too large today, but I decided to replace my hatch drain. I was shocked to see the replacement part is completely different from the factory. I wonder if this will hold up better.


Not what it should look like...

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Old vs new...

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After...much better

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I have more inbound soon, so hopefully I should have some more updates.
 

Rare Ara S3

Go Kart Champion
Location
Michigan
Car(s)
2017 Audi S3, GTI
Im shocked at the amount of debris in your haldex. I wonder why some are like this. I changed mine around 18k and the screen was pretty clean
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
Im shocked at the amount of debris in your haldex. I wonder why some are like this. I changed mine around 18k and the screen was pretty clean
You and me both. I wasn't expecting much since I had not seen anything like that in all the videos I watched on performing the process. I know the prior owner had a stage 2 tune done, so I now suspect the car was abused causing some excessive clutch wear indicated by the material. This is why I do fluid flushes on used cars. Start fresh and take it from there.
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
My exhaust tips came back from the powder coater today. Things are starting to get here. Shipping is crazy anymore.

Here they are before:

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The after:

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I prefer a subtle or understated look. I could have gone black, but in some ways it is just boring. Very satisfied with the results, as always. This coater did a bunch of stuff for me and my friends over the years.

More to come...
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
Finally got around to installing my steering wheel wrap. This is similar to the Xuji. You can order it with so many options. Only thing I added was the great thread. I didn't want the silver as it what's to get dirty and figured the darker thread would hold up longer.

Not much to this. Put it on the wheel in the sun to help soften it. Started to do it in the car and felt it was more cumbersome this way. I took the steering wheel off and popped on the Iron Man trilogy and went to work.

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As you can see from the pictures, it didn't come out to bad...for being backwards on the wheel. I was a third of the way into Iron Man II before I realized this. By 1 am I had stripped the thread and called it a night.

I went at it again and this time made sure it was facing the right way. Came out better. I broke one of the threads while tightening it and had to stitch it again.

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Thankfully the kit comes with more than enough. In order to make sure I had enough and didn't cut sections too short on my initial stitching, yes the backwards one, I used the entire piece then cut the length I needed with an extra long tail.

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There are still issues with my work. I wouldn't charge someone for work like this and call it mine, but I am ok with it as the wrap isn't cut perfectly. If I happen upon a better one down the road, I would do it all again.
 

Treadup

Autocross Champion
Location
SE NC
Car(s)
MK7.5 6MT GTI
Did I miss the manufacture of the wrap? Is it suede? I’ve thought about doing one but I’m so picky I would see any imperfections.
 
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gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
Did I miss the manufacture of the wrap? Is it suede? I’ve Km thought about doing one but I’m so picky I would see any imperfections.
I didn’t mention it because it was an eBay purchase. I know some of the places can be fly by night. Here is the listing. I just sent them a message to order the custom parts.

I am picky as well. Had this been a strip the leather and then add this, I wouldn’t have let this fly. Being that I can pull it off and it was relatively cheap it doesn’t bother me as much. The imperfections I can live with since you can’t see them while in the car.
 
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