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A Track Rat's Build Thread

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
Totally not hijacking your build thread, but a private message will not allow for picture insertion. Here’s what I have and it is straight aluminum. 1/8 inch thick. I’m at a loss on the “how” to attach to the MK7 frame
View attachment 207449
Nope, totally not hijacking at all. I don't mind the discussion and I enjoy projects!

So that's more of a lip type splitter, which will still function well if used correctly, but won't give you nearly the downforce of a splitter that covers the bumper in front of the wheels. Maybe try to finish it by bolting plywood to it and smoothing the surface between the two? Sand and spray black gloss and it can double as the belly pan.

To make that the most functional you can, you should aim for a 3" extension, maybe 4. In front of the bumper and on top of the lip, you'll want something flat and bendy (like pvc poly wall) to create a flat, vertical surface to serve as your air dam.

Brace it against the bumper and belly pan by using bolts with 1" washers. Also get splitter support rods (I'm using the professional awesome ones, and they're pretty awesome) and bolt them into the crash beam and splitter. This should get you some more downforce up front and raise the rear air meet-up point closer to the hatch spoiler, making it more effective as well.

This won't be a 500lb kind of splitter, but it should net something pretty noticeable at 80 mph.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
So here’s where I’m at....I get the splitter rods mounting to the crash beam....I mean I understand it, but don’t see an easy solution FOR it. Other than that, it would just be mounted to the plastic bumper.... not sure that’s solid enough
 

bfury5

Autocross Champion
Location
CT
So here’s where I’m at....I get the splitter rods mounting to the crash beam....I mean I understand it, but don’t see an easy solution FOR it. Other than that, it would just be mounted to the plastic bumper.... not sure that’s solid enough
Look at the mounts that are used for the alltrack skid plate, they bolt directly to the chassis and give you nice easy holes to mount. You could use those for the back of the splitter, and then use splitter rods for the front (probably going through the bumper to the crash beam). That would be stable as a rock.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Look at the mounts that are used for the alltrack skid plate, they bolt directly to the chassis and give you nice easy holes to mount. You could use those for the back of the splitter, and then use splitter rods for the front (probably going through the bumper to the crash beam). That would be stable as a rock.
Holy crap......there are mounts for the rear on the alltrack skid plate? That would be friggin awesome..I'll go track them down...hopefully it's in the right spot for my splitter. This glimmer of hope has been the only hope I've seen for this failed project. Maybe I'll get the ECS skid plate, install that and then find a way to mount to the skid plate.
 

bfury5

Autocross Champion
Location
CT
Holy crap......there are mounts for the rear on the alltrack skid plate? That would be friggin awesome..I'll go track them down...hopefully it's in the right spot for my splitter. This glimmer of hope has been the only hope I've seen for this failed project. Maybe I'll get the ECS skid plate, install that and then find a way to mount to the skid plate.
The back of the alltrack skidplate attaches to the subframe, the front of the skidplate attaches to two brackets that attach to the actual chassis. Not sure how deep your splitter goes under the bumper, but if it went deep enough to hit the front mount location of the skidplate then you can use those brackets.

Image below shows roughly how far from the front those mounts are. I was watching some time attack videos today thinking about how I'd mount a splitter to my car, and these points are a no-brainer I think.

26219250982_a83cc2a826_b.jpg
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
That's a pretty good mounting area, I like that.

The splitter rods you can drill a hole into the bumper to the crash beam from the lower grill opening. There might be other plastic to trim along the way, but it wouldn't be bad. You could also just go straight down so the rods aren't exposed, but that depends on splitter size and where you want the support.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
The back of the alltrack skidplate attaches to the subframe, the front of the skidplate attaches to two brackets that attach to the actual chassis. Not sure how deep your splitter goes under the bumper, but if it went deep enough to hit the front mount location of the skidplate then you can use those brackets.

Image below shows roughly how far from the front those mounts are. I was watching some time attack videos today thinking about how I'd mount a splitter to my car, and these points are a no-brainer I think.

View attachment 207458

That's a pretty good mounting area, I like that.

The splitter rods you can drill a hole into the bumper to the crash beam from the lower grill opening. There might be other plastic to trim along the way, but it wouldn't be bad. You could also just go straight down so the rods aren't exposed, but that depends on splitter size and where you want the support.
Again, don't want to hijack your build thread, but this is GREAT info! Thank you both for posting......I think mine is just a bit shallow from those points....I'll have to relook (been awhile). Might have to use those brackets AND another piece to extend to my splitter. I'll put her up on racing jack and snap a quick pic later this week....IF OP is okay with me doing that.
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
Go for it man! My splitter setup is off my racecar which is not a vw, but I feel some things apply in all areas so I cross-post here when I can with the intent someone else doesn't have to relearn things. To be honest, there are so many areas of carbon production that people keep hush-hush that I've had to learn a lot on my own. I hate that... I'd much rather someone else doesn't have to go through the same pain points.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
I think mine isn’t wide enough to mount to the brackets....
58161826-9A7A-4D0B-81DF-0221B7E25650.jpeg
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
I think mine isn’t wide enough to mount to the brackets....
View attachment 207472
Wow, that really doesn't go very far back.

Mount it to the bumper with flat headed bolts and washers/nuts from the inside. In addition to the splitter rods, it will be enough with the kind of downforce you'd see. There are similar factory plastic parts for cars like camaro and corvettes that actually do function and mount much more loosely. If you go off track and hit something you may end up tearing up the bumper, though, but that's generally a risk anyway. If you want to go further, you can find a way to continue it or remake out of marine grade plywood, but with that comes additional mounting/bracing for the extra lbs.

Also, looks like you're in Virginia? My foam core supplier is outside the DC area... If you can find a friend that also wants a splitter, and you can mail me the cut foam in the shapes you need, I might be able to help with carbon ;). I'll pm you.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Wow, that really doesn't go very far back.

Mount it to the bumper with flat headed bolts and washers/nuts from the inside. In addition to the splitter rods, it will be enough with the kind of downforce you'd see. There are similar factory plastic parts for cars like camaro and corvettes that actually do function and mount much more loosely. If you go off track and hit something you may end up tearing up the bumper, though, but that's generally a risk anyway. If you want to go further, you can find a way to continue it or remake out of marine grade plywood, but with that comes additional mounting/bracing for the extra lbs.

Also, looks like you're in Virginia? My foam core supplier is outside the DC area... If you can find a friend that also wants a splitter, and you can mail me the cut foam in the shapes you need, I might be able to help with carbon ;). I'll pm you.
So when I cut the splitter, I cut two bracing pieces (rectangles) to go on the other side of the bumper. Maybe the splitter rods will be enough, mounted to the crash bar
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
So when I cut the splitter, I cut two bracing pieces (rectangles) to go on the other side of the bumper. Maybe the splitter rods will be enough, mounted to the crash bar
How big are the rectangles? The bigger they are the greater the likelihood the whole bumper goes with impact. The smaller they are the greater the likelihood they'd pull out from the bumper. It's a balancing act between the two cons. Personally I'd rather take multiple small points over one or two large points so that it's strong overall but weak in localized areas for cleaner failure. Two could certainly work though, if sufficiently sized.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
How big are the rectangles? The bigger they are the greater the likelihood the whole bumper goes with impact. The smaller they are the greater the likelihood they'd pull out from the bumper. It's a balancing act between the two cons. Personally I'd rather take multiple small points over one or two large points so that it's strong overall but weak in localized areas for cleaner failure. Two could certainly work though, if sufficiently sized.
I'll measure, but I think each rectangular piece is about 3" wide by 16"
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
So been a solid while since I've actually posted in this thread.

I recently had a brake caliper "beauty cover" fly off on my way to a track when passing some slow cars (who goes 55 in a 70mph zone??) and hitting some ROUGH median rumbles. It was a pretty loud bang and I only noticed when I arrived at the track...

To my surprise the gti covers are not sold individually, only the R ones. Even those have been discontinued though, and they don't come in red. I found the audi s3 came with red ones for a bit so I was able to get those and they stupidly ran for 70$ a piece. Oh well, I ended up buying some and when swapping to my winter setup recently I threw them on. They look fine. I'm sad I don't have the "gti" branding on the anymore, but eh what can you do?

20231123_140143.jpg
 
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