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What's worth for a first project??

marqus.kenney

New member
Location
VA
Hey guys so I have saved up lots of money for my Mk7 gti. I was wondering what's a good first project for my car? It's stock everything but has a carbon fiber spoiler. If anyone has a idea lemme know and drop links to the items for me to do? Or just give me opinions on it? Thanks
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Welcome to the forums!

You’ll get a ton of different answers, but what do you plan to do with the car?

Daily driver, track days, little of both? Knowing your goals would make giving advice much easier.

Also, you can find almost endless information here if you do some searching and read
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Welcome to the forum. Set your goals with what you want to achieve and read the forum for advice on achieving your goals.
 

marqus.kenney

New member
Location
VA
Welcome to the forums!

You’ll get a ton of different answers, but what do you plan to do with the car?

Daily driver, track days, little of both? Knowing your goals would make giving advice much easier.

Also, you can find almost endless information here if you do some searching and read

I wanna do a little both daily drive and also some track performance
 

It's Sam

Go Kart Champion
Location
New York (The cool part)
Car(s)
X3 M40i
As stated, welcome!

Do you have any interest in cosmetic modifications? Also, just how deep do you want to go with power (like, adding 50 horsies or 200)?

Tires (and wheels, if you can) are the best place to start. I made the mistake of doing too much power too soon, and I regret not using what I saved for solid tires and light wheels.
 

marqus.kenney

New member
Location
VA
As stated, welcome!

Do you have any interest in cosmetic modifications? Also, just how deep do you want to go with power (like, adding 50 horsies or 200)?

Tires (and wheels, if you can) are the best place to start. I made the mistake of doing too much power too soon, and I regret not using what I saved for solid tires and light wheels.
What's your recommendations, I plan to buy h&r springs for the car
 

jmblur

Autocross Champion
Location
Massachusetts
Car(s)
2017 Golf R
What's your recommendations, I plan to buy h&r springs for the car
Most spring replacements will make the car handle worse at the limit. They emphasize drop over increased roll stiffness, because much stiffer springs are uncomfortable. And to properly handle stiffer springs, you need matched dampers.

If you really want to track your car, save up for coilovers (and I mean good ones, not the cheapest thing you can find - think Ohlins, not raceland).

Realize also that any more than an inch or so drop and you start putting the LCAs in an arrangement that will actually lose negative camber as you roll, which is not a good place to be in for handling performance. They also do bad things for your roll center position, which can make body roll worse (until you hit your bump stops, which is a bad place to be even if it feels really stiff while cornering).

If it's looks you're after, not strictly performance, then go wild.

Personally, I'd start like so-
1. Wheels and tires (especially tires!). Get a good set of summer tires (NOT all seasons) like Indy 500s or PS4s. Realize they're not track tires but will be fine for an HPDE or two.
2. Quality of life improvements. OBD11, homelink autodim rearview mirror, dsg paddles (get replacements, not stick ons), a good radar detector, etc.
3. Seat time. Go autox, go to an HPDE, etc. Best mod is driver mod. (note: be warned you might need new brake pads for the track!)
4. Stage 1 tune. Nothing crazy, but wake the car up and get the biggest tuning mod for your buck outside of tires.

After that, figure out what you want from the car and figure out how to get it.
 
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projectTVMK7

Go Kart Champion
Location
Lompoke
Car(s)
2017 Audi A3
Welcome to the forums! I'm pretty new here myself, but I found a lot of great info here: Modding FAQ
 

imthanick_a

Autocross Champion
Location
Ohio
What's your recommendations, I plan to buy h&r springs for the car
If you don't have DCC or you have it and don't care to keep it, go with coilovers as jmblur said. Or if you have a bunch of money to spend on suspension, you could get DCC compatible coilovers. Echoing the others who have suggested a good set of tires and lightweight wheels - adds performance and personality to the car. If you do a tune, find if theres a local tuner who can do protunes for you and get a cobb AP if you have one close to you. Otherwise APR and unitronic both have good stage 1 tunes, APR's will be a little more punchy, unitronic is more reserved but wakes the car up bigtime. Dogbone mount insert was a must for me, and soon engine/tranny mounts will be on my list.

We can only suggest basic "starter" mods, the rest is up to you and your goals for the car. This forum has sections for cosmetic, engine, exhaust, etc so you can really start diggin into those sections to figure out what you want to do.

If you need to search something before posting a new thread, use google instead of the site search. This format will provide only results from this forums with a google search "site:golfmk7.com search term" (without quotes). Good luck!
 
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