Cooper_GTI

I'm re-drilling 5-stud discs to 4x100. Although I'm now looking to get some bells made up by reylands. Not cheap, but the right way to do it.

Yes, they will work perfectly fine, but bear in mind that you then need custom mounting brackets, brembo specific hoses, discs etc. I think there is someone on ebay who sells the brackets for these calipers, but I'm not sure what size disc these are designed for. The largest 4x100 disc you can buy off the shelf is a 305mm, as seen on the Ibiza Cupra R (which, might I add came with 4 pot brembos which bolt straight on to a Lupo). Other options are 280mm discs, 2-piece discs with 4x100 bells or larger 5-stud discs which can be re-drilled to 4x100.

That's definitely the indicator stalk. Mine did exactly the same, until one day smoke started to pour out of the steering column. What happens is, over time, the iron filings fall from the electrical contact and embed into the grease on the contacts. Then the grease begins to conduct the electrical current through the iron filings which is enough to close the relay, but not enough to light the bulb. As a quick fix you can try spraying the stalk with some contact cleaner. Probably best to strip the steering column plastics off so you can see what you're doing.

If you use Porsche brakes make sure you use the front calipers and not the rears. Porsche rear calipers have small pistons and are less effective than the standard calipers. I'm putting 312mm S3 brakes on mine.

Drain the fluid out of it, take the pump off and get a shorter belt?

I think we all know I wasn't pointing the finger at 'everyone' when I made that statement, it was merely a figure of speech, because I dare say there are more people 'with' stretched tyres and excessively low coilovers on this site than without. Surely you can all see where I'm coming from? Regardless of whether you buy them new or not, if you wind them to the bump stops they're gonna wear prematurely, drive like s**t, bump steer all over the road and will wear out CV joints, bottom arm bushes, ball joints and ARB links like there's no tomorrow. To the op - do use common sense and give them a quick once over. No harm at all in buying used, because they're crap when they're new anyway, so why not save a few pennies?!

All this talk of concerns for safety and yet when someone comes online and says, "what size tyres for my 10J rims?", everyone responds with "stick some 195's on for a great stretch, cut a notch out your chassis and remove your helpers and adjusters" ....because blowouts, decreased chassis strength and springs that fall out aren't dangerous at all are they?! Used coilovers are fine. As long as they don't leak oil, the springs aren't cracked or corroded and the chrome plated piston is not pitted you are good to go.

I've thought about doing this for a long time, but never got round to it. It makes wheel changes much easier, plus if you were to ever cross-thread a wheel bolt, you may ruin the hub. But if you cross thread a nut on a stud and you can just change the stud. However, there are arguments that a bolt is safer, as there is only one thread contact, not two. And if you snap a stud it's a real pain to get out and can scrap the hub as they tighten up against a shoulder and are secured with Loctite. Try contacting the guy in the thread below - he's able to get high grade M12 studs made, but they're not very cheap. Please do let me know how you get on, as I wouldn't mind a set myself. http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?253442-Wheel-conversion-studs-M12-M14

It depends on how competent you are. It's only nuts and bolts at the end of the day and should be doable in a weekend even if you've never done it before.

The GTI doesn't have a dual mass, it's just a solid flywheel. The vibration sounds like the clutch could be warped/knackered. Does it judder the whole car or just the pedal? If it's just the pedal then it could be the clutch release bearing. Either way, sounds like the box might be coming off...

The reason I ask is because I've personally done it to a Polo 9n. I just plugged in the clocks and stalk from a sport (with MFA) and it all worked.. Surely Ze-Germans don't run different ECU's to us? What grounds did you base your answer on Skezza? Have you tried something similar before?

Does anyone know if the German clocks are a straight fit into a UK GTI? The German clocks have an MFA computer and came with an MFA stalk. I wonder if I could swap the dial backing from KMH to MPH and just plug them in...? http://www.ebay.de/itm/VW-Lupo-1-4-FSI-Tacho-Kombiinstrument-GTI-TDI-Polo-Bordcomputer-/301565435960?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item4636b36038

It's not worth it, no matter what you may think. I had 4 branch manifold, high lift cams, full supersprint pipe, decat etc... Before remap, 152bhp, after remap 153bhp. I basically paid £300 just to raise the tickover by 250rpm. Waste.

Do away with the cat (both of them), do away with the centre silencer and just run either a standard or straight through back box for the ultimate in performance. You don't lose torque when decatting, you merely move the point at which peak torque occurrs, making it more 'rev happy'. This is also the case for increasing the bore of the exhaust.

Exactly! And that's what the op is asking for - she said she didn't care about handling, just doesn't want any body roll.

To reduce body roll, do the following... Fit low profile tyres - maybe even stretch them. The lower your car sits the less body roll you will have as the centre of gravity is lower, and also the shocks will firmer as they're at the end of their travel. Polybushes will prevent the suspension geometry from changing and will also decrease the amount of flex in your bottom arms/top mounts/arb etc which will keep it more planted mid-corner To eliminate body roll, do the following... Set your coilovers to the required height, then weld the damper to the shock housing. This will give you no body roll at all. You can even do away with your anti-roll bar altogether, as there will be no roll to counteract, which will make you go loads faster in a straighter line due to the reduced weight. Expect it to handle like a crock of crap, be stupidly uncomfortable and bits will fall off. There is no feasible way to completely eliminate body roll, as it will handle like crap, it will be dangerous on UK roads due to incredible amounts of bump steer, in the wet you'll be going straight on when you want to turn and you will absolutely hate it! Just remember, the reason we have suspension on cars is not only for comfort, but to keep all 4 tyres in contact with the road at all times.

Polybushes - honestly, they make as much difference (if not more) than uprated shocks. Then some grippy tyres (R888's/R1R's/A048's) After that, get a full geometry setup - camber, castor, toe angles etc. You really will be flying then buddy.

You can fit whatever tail-pipe you want at the end of the day. Just go and see your local custom exhaust place (powerflow, longlife etc)

Why specifically Shrick? You can get other cheaper brands that are of equal quality and with the same spec... See 'Stealth Racing' - They stock Shrick.

Just wire the switches through a relay and then get a power and earth to the heated seats. Though i'm not sure if the potentiometer in the switch will make the heat change - I'm guessing they'll be either on or off.

Maybe look into fiting the GTI (1600cc) pistons/rods, providing the crank is the same? When you say 're-building', to what extent? Defintely get a set of lairy cams in there though, be it either regrinds from Autosprint or something like newmans/catcams.

The GTI is far from un-economical in my opinion and i think it makes a great little car, both for the city and for the motorway. Sit on the inside lane of the motorway at 60mph and a solid 45-50mpg is achievable. My GTI took me all over the country; I live in coventry and used to drive to Wales, then i went to Worthing (brighton) and now i'm in Milton Keynes, which costs me around £20 per day. Even in something like a bluemotion, it'll still cost me close to that, as diesel is so much dearer. So, to sum up, i don't think fuel prices are lowering the value of these little cars at all, as it's more than adequate and there aren't many cars that perform as well as a GTI, which also return the same or better mpg. I love my GTI - VW got it very right!

That's a very good point, and being as you described fitting the collets as a tedious task, Zulley, i'm guessing you haven't, as personally, i find lapping the vavles to be an even more laborious process! As said, you buy a 2 part paste and lap the valves into the valve seat by holding the valve in a plunger and twisting it like you're starting a fire. If you don't, the valve won't fully seal when it's shut and it'll run like sh!t.

Maybe, but at least AJ told him it was a crap car - The dealer obviously buys in cheap cars, bumps up the price and passes them off as 'good examples', despite being told they need excessive amounts of work.

Has anyone ever attempted to lovely personise a GTI bumper and fit a diffuser of any kind? I've seen the 'R32 style' bumper, which looks awesome, but i'm thinking a bit more hardcore and possibly something that has some function... Like this!