16
New Members Say Hi! / Re: New be
Indeed not long had it that long bin fixing peoples boges at the mothat the way with a 30 odd year old car, fixing the bodges from the 15/20 year old mark but itll get there!
Messages
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Messages - 8v_chris
17
New Members Say Hi! / Re: New be
18
Your Non Mk2 Cars or Bikes / Re: My 1975 1200 Beetle
The nose has been welded in place since these were taken too so its getting there. all the work on scuttle is done too.
19
Your Non Mk2 Cars or Bikes / Re: My 1975 1200 Beetle
Coming along great. I’d love another beetle but can’t see that happening. Just would have been nice if I’d managed to have had mine for longer.Cheers, its still very slow and this bloody virus hasn't helped. it only needs a little welding now hopefully too so paint *shouldnt* be a million miles away. hard to believe ive had it as long as i have.
20
Mk2 Golf Chat / Re: Best Wheel Size for a Mk2
I did have Estorils but they weren't for me i don't think. I wasnt a fan of the polished faces and in the end sold them on. Im firm believer that its hard to beat a set 15" RA's
21
New Members Say Hi! / Re: Not new
22
Members' Cars / Re: Vinnie
23
O - R / Option Codes
I know there’s various resources and tools available for these but I thought I’d create my own list and gather all I can together in one place.
001 -
003 -
020 - MPH Speedometer
085 - Increase of the standard equipment fuel delivery
0A1 - Two doors
0A2 - Four doors
0AA - Without front stabilizer
0B0 - Wheelbase
0BA - Without rear stabilizer
0C0 - Standard
0DC - Installation differentiation for build status of vehicle class A2 (VW Golf/ Jetta), unit components
0G1 - Gearshift lever
0KA - Without stickers and badges
0MA - Without label for starting an automatic
0N1 - Standard rear axle
0NB - Nameplate set in base trim
0ND - Nameplate set "TDI"
0NH - Nameplate set "GTI"
0PF - Nameplate set "Sports"
0Q0 - Without label for brake-proportioning values
0W2 - Label for central electric English-speaking countries
0Y1 - Standard climatic zones
184 - three-point seat belt for seat, front
197 - 45 Amp Battery
1AB - Power brake
1AC - Anti-lock brake system (ABS)
1AF - Power brake
1AH - Power brake + rear discs
1BA - Standard suspension/shock absorption
1C1 - Antifreeze up to -25 degree celsius tolerance up to -30 degree C
1D0 - Without trailer hitch
1E0 - Without activated charcoal canister
1EE - Special identification plate
1F1 - One towing eye each side, front and rear
1G2 - Steel spare wheel with original equipment tires
1G4 - Space-saving spare wheel, same size (same rolling circumference) as original equipment tires
1G6 - Space-saving spare wheel
1H0 - Without proportioning valve
1H1 - Load-sensitive proportioning valve
1HG - Labels for country group 4/B
1K1 - Mechanical clutch actuation
1KA - Drum brakes, rear
1LA - Disc brakes, front
1M8 - Trailer hitch mechanically swiveling and electrically detachable (with bicycle carrier) (?)
1MA - Steering wheel
1MB - Sports steering wheel Non-PAS (hollow rim)
1ME - Sport steering wheel PAS, 370mm
1MG - Leather trimmed sports steering wheel with reduced diameter for power steering (hollow rim)
1N0 - Standard steering
1N1 - Power steering
1NB - Covers for wheel hubs/wheel bolts?
1NE - Wheel center cover
1SA - Without additional front underbody guard
1TB - Fuel tank vent line with gravity valve and PVC breather hose
1V0 - Without duty-free and cost-free tires
1W0 - Without refrigerator/glove compartment cooling system
1WA - Transmission shafts w/ 90 mm in diameter
1X0 - Front wheel drive
1Z2 - Increase in initial standard fuel filling
23D -
258 - Adjustible head restraint for front seat
261 - Exterior mirror (flat) (passenger side)
268 - Heated washer jet spray nozzle
2B0 - Without additional exterior noise suppression
2C0 - Standard steering column
2G0 - Without insert for the filling up of fuel
2J1 - Impact bar in doors
2JB - Standard bumpers
2JD - Sports bumpers (GTI red stripe Small Bumper)
2JE - Partially painted bumpers
2M0 - Without water trap
2P0 - Without trunk sill protection
2V0 - Fresh air intake without air cleaner
35D -
3AF - Outer right rear view mirror: convex, powered, heated
3AU - Right exterior mirror: aspherical, adjustable from inside
3AV - Outer right rear view mirror: non-spherical, powered, heated
3B0 - Without additional child seat anchor
3BE - Outer left rear view mirror: flat, powered, heated
3BD - Left exterior mirror: adjustable from inside, convex
3BF - Outer left rear view mirror: convex, powered, heated
3C0 - Without center rear seat belts
3CA - Without partition
3D1 - Center console
3D3 - Center console
3D4 - Center console
3FB - Steel sliding roof, manual control
3GA - Without cargo area
3H0 - Without backrest release for front seats
3H3 - With backrest release mechanism, right and left front seats
3J1 - Height-adjustable headrests for front seats
3L1 - Manual height adjustment for left front seat
3L2 - Manual height adjustment for right front seat
3KZ - left and right sports front seat type 2
3M0 - Without special measures
3MA - Flat needle-punched floor covering
3NB - Rear seat bench/backrest, not split
3NC - Rear seat bench/backrest, split folding
3P1 - Bracket for first aid kit and warning triangle
3Q0 - Without rear headrests
3QC - 3-point seat belts, front
3U1 - Foldable trunk cover
3XA - Without top carriers for luggage rack system
3YB - Door pockets, front
3ZA - Without outer rear seat belts
403 - Steel rim, 6Jx14H2 ET38 - Golf GTI/Jetta GT
409 - Sports Seats
476 - Spare wheel with driving tire (fullsize)
4A0 - Without seat heater
4B1 - Protective side molding
4F0 - Mechanical locking system
4GD - Clear glass windshield
4GF - Tint glass windshield
4KA - Side and rear windows in clear (non-tinted) glass
4KC - Side and rear windows in tint glass
4N1 - Padded dashboard
4Q0 - No flame retardent materials
4R0 - Mechanical window regulator
4SB - Vanity mirror left
4TA - Without right vanity mirror
4TC - With make-up mirror right, with cover
4W0 - Without cassette and CD storage unit
4XA - Without pillar lining
4Z4 - Glove compartment door without light
560 - Steel sliding roof, manual control
565 - Sport steering wheel
52k -
5C0 - Without special body measures
5CH - Roof interior trim, comfort molded headlining in cab and passenger compart.
5J0 - Without rear spoiler
5J1 - Rear Spolier for tailgate/boot lid
5K1 - Paint preservative (wax)
5L1 - Front spoiler
5TA - Tamo wood trim
5UA - Without cross panel
5VA - Without cargo area front
643 - Tray position in the doors (door bins)
656 - Front seat with height adjustment, driver side
69A -
6CA - Without rear heating/ventilation duct
6EA - Without additional side body covers (stone guard)
6FA - Components without special surface appearance
6HA - Without sticker/body cover
6JC - Black door handle inlay
6KA - Radiator grille
6N0 - Without mud flaps
6NA - Unsplit molding roof liner
6NW - Unsplit molding roof liner
6PA - Plastic hand brake lever handle
6Q1 - Plastic gearshift knob/handle
6R3 - Rubber gearshift boot
6R3 - Rubber gearshift boot
6SD - Tufted trunk floor covering (dimensionally stable)
6U0 - Without additional seals outside
6Y0 - Without cruise control warning system
731 -
776 - Without trim strip
791 -
8A0 - Park distance control, front and rear with rear view camera
8AA - Without radio
8BF - Halogen headlight for driving on the left
8BK - Twin headlight for driving on the left, with integrated high beam
8C0 - Without front fog light circuit
8CA - Speedometer cable without seal
8D4 - 4 speakers (passive)
8D7 - 6 speakers (passive)
8E2 - Local interference suppression for FM/AMradio reception
8F2 - Side turn signal lights
8GC - Alternator 65A
8J1 - Hand brake/low brake fluid level warning light without inscription
8K2 - Daytime driving light mode for urban driving (dim-dip driving lights)
8KA - W/o catalytic converter warning light
8L1 - Bright rod antenna
8M1 - Rear window wiper and washer system with intermittent control
8N1 - Windshield wiper intermittent control
8NA - Without parking light warning light
8Q0 - Without headlight-range adjustment
8QA - Key without LED
8R0 - Without center high-mounted stop light
8SA - Taillight assemblies, standard design
8T0 - Without cruise control system (CCS)
8TD - Rear fog light for driving on the left
8U0 - Without additional instruments for distance measurement
8V1 - Cigarette lighter
8WA - Without front fog light
8WD - With front fog light
8X0 - Without headlight washer system
8Y0 - Single-tone horn
930 - Inside adjustable exterior mirrors
931 - Plane front-passenger outside mirror, inside adjustable
9AA - Manually controlled heating system
9BA - W/o additional electric safety package
9D0 - Without preparation for two-way radio installation
9E0 - Without trunk lighting
9F0 - Without sound combination for rotating emergency light and radio antenna preparation
9GA - Interior light with door pillar switches
9HA - Without additional malfunction display
9J0 - Without supertone system and tone sequence control
9P0 - Without seat belt reminder
9PA - Standard windshield wiper arms/blades
9Q0 - Without multi-function display/ on-board computer
9T1 - Heated washer nozzles, front
A60 -
A8D - Luxury equipment
B0N - Component parts set, complying with vehicle type for Great Britain, various parts
BS2 - Special requirements French overseas territories
C0B - Steel wheels 5.5J x 13 surface style
C0U - Aluminium rim, 6Jx14H2 ET38
C1K - Steel wheels 5J x 13
C1N - Steel wheels 6J x 14
E0A - No special edition
E1E - Campaign version Golf GT Special (Euro/German market)
EQD -
F0A - No special purpose vehicle, standard equipment
G0A - 4-speed manual transmission
G0B - 5-speed manual transmission (long ratio for China)
G0C - 5-speed manual transmission
G0D - 3-speed automatic transmission
G0G - 5-speed manual transmission (GTI box)
H52 - Tires 185/60 R15 84T (black)
H0G - Tires 185/60 R14 H
H0U - Tires 195/50 R 15 V
HG1 - All-weather tires 195/65 R15 91T
J0A - Battery 175 A (36 Ah)
J0C - Battery 220 A (45 Ah)
J0G - Battery 265 A (54 Ah)
K8G - Hatchback
L0L - Left-hand drive vehicle
L0R - Right-hand drive vehicle
M3P - 4-cylinder gasoline engine 1.3 L/40 kW (carburetor 2E3) base engine is T3H
M3V - 4-cylinder gasoline engine 1.6 L/55 kW base engine is T2L
M3X - 4-cylinder gasoline engine 1.8 L/82 kW DIGIFANT base engine is T3E
M4Y - 4-cylinder gasoline engine 1.8 L/118 kW G60, big intercooler, closed-loop cat base engine is T3R
NG9 -
N1R - Leather seat covering
Q1A - Standard front seats
Q1B - Standard front seats (NAR)
Q1D - Sports front seats
S2K - Vehicles with self-adjusting clutch
U0C - Instrument insert with tachometer clock and km/h speedometer
U0K - Instrument insert with clock mph speedometer
U0L - Instrument insert with tachometer clock and mph speedometer
V0A - Tires w/o specification of tire brand
V0F - CONTINENTAL tires
V0G - MICHELIN tires
VW3 -
WE3 -
W23 - Golf GT Special 2T "GROSSBRTANNIEN (Great Britain)"
X0A - National Sales Program Germany
X2B - National Sales Program Great Britain
This is one to keep a watch on as I add more.
It will in time become harder to decode the options as the online tools refer to vag listings but codes are being repurposed, so what was once a door mirror for a mk2 might now come up as an 18” space saver from an Audi A6 or whatever.
24
O - R / One in 10 Million - Special Edition
The Limited edition campaign model, launched in the spring of 1988 to celebrate the production of 10 million VW Golfs.
16500 were made in total, with 8000 staying in Germany and the rest went for export. This is not speculation, this is the actual figure from Volkswagen heritage department in Germany.
That puts 8500 outside of Germany.
The spec varied across the different markets with many non UK cars being different colours and carbed models not GTIs.
These all had a One in Ten Million sticker on the body.
All of the UK ones were all GTIs and were available in a choice of only 3 metallic colours, and did not have the sticker or any other way to distinguish them other than the specification. Of the UK ones it's estimated there were less than a 1000 of each colour available. Even VW don't have specific figures, I've asked. All they know is which were allocated for export, they don't have it recorded where they went.
There were 3 and 5 door variants, and 8v and 16v engine choices, so if for example this was an equal split (which I'm sure it wasn't) then there was potentially only ever 250 in each combination.
All had metalic paint in the following colours:
Helios Blue (LA5Y), Metallic Black or Oak Green.
They were all produced in early 1988 available during the spring so should mostly be on E registrations. It would be possible to be on an F reg if it sat in the dealership for a few months before being sold. Pictured below is an F reg Oak Green, but these are from a Google image search and not a car I know so I cannot confirm it's authenticity.
They are all small bumper GTIs (were all originally small bumper - as correct for the year)
And all left the factory with the following spec:
- Le castellet Forged alloy wheels (14").
- Air Vacuum Central Locking.
- Rainbow interior, but on early spec seats. (49)
- Tinted Glass.
- Hella half tint rear lights.
- Dark tinted interior light with time delay.
The 8v came with Blaupunkt London stereo, the 16v got the Blaupunkt Atlanta (Euro spec, unconfirmed for UK cars as I still belive UK cars were shipped without stereos and stereos were fitted by the dealership. Most likely to avoid theft during the shipping process)
And all had a special document wallet.
That's not to say at time of purchase a customer may not have ordered some additions, such as a leather interior, leather steering wheel or even different alloys. Other specification like electric windows and power steering for example may have also been added extras, but these would have been the customers choice, not specific to the One in Ten Million model.
The document wallet
A rather nice example on 4 Star Classics
A European Non-GTI model (with some mods)
The Sticker on Non UK cars, there's one on the front wings and another on the rear panel.
Oak Green
Metallic Black
25
O - R / Paint Codes
Pretty sure there's other threads on this
L041 : Black
L90E : Alpine White
L94E : Oak Green
L97A : Diamond silver
LA1V : Sand Metallic
LA3A : Mars Red
LA3B : Gambia Red
LA3G : Classic Red
LA3W : Red Spice
LA5E : Maritime Blue
LA5G : Pearl Blue
LA5T : Medium Blue
LA5U : Royal Blue
LA5W : Blue Lagoon
LA5Y : Helios blue metallic
LA6U : Capri Green
LA6V : Lhasa Green metallic
LA6W : Fresco Green
LA6Z : Calypso
LA7S : Stonehenge Grey
LA7U : Pearl grey
LA7W : Reflex Silver
LA9B : Cool White
LA9V : Brilliant Black
LB1B : Sunflower Yellow
LB1D : Mellow Yellow
LB1M : Harvest Moon Beige
LB2A : Sundown Orange
LB3Y : Colorado Red Pearl
LB4V : Samoa
LB5B : Aquarius Blue
LB5N : Indigo Blue Pearl
LB5Q : Speed Blue
LB5R : Deep Blue Pearl
LB5S : Blue Silver
LB5T : Steel Blue
LB5W : Pacific Blue
LB5X : Blue Spirit
LB6T : turquoise
LB6U : Mint
LB6W : Pine Green
LB6X : Alaska Green
LB6Z : Montana green
LB7Z : Satin Silver
LB9A : Candy White
LC35 : Titian Red Pearl
LC3L : Hot Chilli Red
LC3T : Indian Red
LC3U : dark burgundy pearl effect
LC3X : Matchstick Red Pearl
LC3Z : Terracotta
LC4P : Purple Violet Pearl/Mulberry
LC4T : Twilight Violet
LC5F : Blue Graphite
LC5L : Mystic Blue
LC5M : Moonlight Blue
LC5P : Dusty mauve
LC5R : Marlin Blue
LC5S : Appassionato Blue
LC5U : Aqua Blue Pearlescent
LC5X : Ink Blue
LC6X : Baltic Green Pearl
LC6M : Bright Green Pearl
LC6P : Dragon Green/Emerald Green
LC6V : Green
LC6W : Rave Green Pearl
LC6X : Baltic Green Pearl
LC7V : Blue Anthracite
LC7W : Papillion Silver Helios.
LC9Y : Luxury Black Helios.
LC9Z : Black Magic Pearl
LD1B : Yellow
LD1D : Double Yellow
LD1W : Wheat Beige
LD2B : Snap Orange
LD5Q : Shadow Blue
LD6S : Northern Green
LD6T : Electronics Green
LD6W : Venetian Green
LD6X : Reed Green
LD7U : Off-road Grey
LD7V : Silver Grey
LD7W : Platinum Grey
LD7X : Platinum Grey
LG3L : Red
LG5A : Vapour blue
LG5T : Dark Blue Pearl
LG5V : Galactic Blue Pearl
LG7V : Desert Wind
LG9R : Silver Arrow
LK5S : Riviera Blue
LK5U : Arktis Blue
LK7Y : Storm Grey
LN5Y : Windsor Blue
LN5V : Pasadena Blau (blue)
LP3G : Flash Red
LP5T : Blauschwartz
LP5U : Bright Blue Met
LQ3A : Monza Red
LR1V : Bolero Beige
LR1W : Birken Pearl
LR5U : Antibes Blue
LR5V : Fjord Blue
LR5W : Luna Blue
LR5Z : Rising Blue
LR6X : Marais Green
LR6Y : Waterworld Pearl
LR7R : Cairo Grey
LR7T : Coucou Grey
LR7Y : Silver Atmosphere
LR8V : Nocturne Aubergine
LR9A : Campanella White
LW5Y : Bright Blue Pearl
LW5Z : Jazz Blue
LY3D : Tornado Red
LZ5T : Europa Blue Mica
LZ3N : Ruby Red Pearl
R902 : Arctic White
Z6U : Imperial Green
26
O - R / Part Numbers
Hi All
Thought I would share a couple of sites I have found over time to look up the VW Part No and position of fitment.
First is a parts Base for VAG and others with exploded views of different areas :- http://www.oemepc.com/
Found it very helpful to track down a part and its fitment !
This one compares different manufactureres part No's for the same part and specs :- http://www.vehiclepartsdatabase.com/vehicles
Recently came across this site looking for info on vavle guides, gives detailed info on each manufactorers of the same part to compare specs, you can put in the part No you have and it will cross refference it with other makes, or just look up the part you need !
Hope this is in the correct section !
27
O - R / Riviera Golf
A special edition Golf with body side decals.
28
O - R / Re: Racecars - Building a car for competition
So you’ve assembled yourself an awesome rolling collection of top brand name motorsport kit all concealed within your car of choice, at great expense and exerting an insane amount of your time and energy, or you’ve done the sensible thing and bought a car ready built which you’ve refined and serviced or a car you’ve been consistently evolving while getting as much seat time as you can in between, and hopefully it's had a pretty good shake down and a thorough check-over before bringing it out to go at it for real… but that’s by the by, as more importantly, it’s go time!! READY?!
You’ve gotten there bright-ish and early, as however difficult it is to get out of bed at 06:00 to go to work, you literally can’t wait to get to the track. We get you, don’t worry :thumbs: You roll into the paddock feeling equal parts ‘like a boss’ and ‘not knowing if those butterflies in your stomach are trying to kill you’ and you pitch up in your favourite spot, or wherever you’ve been allocated, or even wherever is left in some cases. Get the car off the trailer, bang the splitter back on, put the ratchet straps and sh-t away, have an iced coffee in our case, then figure out what you’re doing next :-? :thumbs:
Sign on, briefing, scrutineering
Obviously you need to sign on, and all being well you will have time to go and get the car checked out before it’s time for your briefing. You’ll need your race license and your club membership details for signing on and for scrutineering you’ll obviously need your car, but also your kit, as they’ll need to check that your clothing as well as your seats and harnesses are in date and also your helmet to check it’s a type which complies with the safety standard required.
They’ll go over the whole damn lot in most instances, though locally by the time you’ve been a few times and got a few ‘passed’ stickers on the car it gets quicker and easier. Clubs and circuits vary on how liberal the scrutineers are and you may well get the odd one who just plain doesn’t like you or your car at some point, but the best way to think about these guys is they’re still there because they enjoy cars and 90% are good guys, after all, these checks are to make sure you’re safe and make sure you’re all on an even playing field. As much as anybody, they won’t appreciate attitude and if you’ve built your car to a decent standard and it complies with the regs and rules you shouldn’t have a problem anyway.
You’ll be amazed how often people do get caught out though, so it’s certainly worth double and triple checking the rule book while building and the dates on your seat, harness, extinguisher, suit, gloves, boots and the sticker on your helmet.
Checks in the paddock
The car should be dialled from leaving the workshop from a fresh dose of fluids and a full inspection and spanner check, but it’s common sense to do the basics now even if you know it's good. You need to go out and concentrate on the job at hand, you don't want to be wondering if this is tight or if that's right and that's why the car felt a little off in the last corner :roll:
Wheel nuts torqued, tyre pressures done, dampers still set where they should be, fluids good, battery on, extinguisher pin out / switched to live instead of test, run the car up to temperature ahead of going out, all that sensible stuff that either needs doing or just saves you headaches or worries.
Have a chat to folks, see what the track’s like today, let yourself relax / get fired up as appropriate (I know plenty of people who do one of the other, whatever puts you in the right mood to get to work), have a slash as driving without taking one feels like driving p-ssed up haha, the usual stuff.
Set-Up Sheets
Set-Up sheets are both very basic and very useful. Generally you’ll have a sheet of paper with the date, circuit, temperature and weather to give an indication of that particular sheets relevance. After this, spring rate, damper settings, geometry like camber, caster and toe, tyre pressures, even anti roll bar choice. Some even include brake bias when they aren’t allowed to adjust it in-car on the fly.
A part of this which I personally like is having a notes section. Numbers are great, numbers give a quantifiable and definite scale of where each thing is at, and that’s invaluable, but I am a big fan of knowing what it actually feels like… ‘feel’ is priceless, it’s feel and confidence in the car which makes mere mortals fast or slow. Some of the lads who’ve grown up karting or have an immense talent or guys / girls with a lot of experience will still push a scary or sketchy car to the limit but it goes without saying that even these badasses will go quicker if they’re experience trust and predictability from the car.
I’ve included an example below, but of course it isn’t the only way to skin this cat, I know quick guys who simply have a lined note pad and guys who don’t even bother, but I like it – for whatever that’s worth, as I’m actually pretty slow
Generally pre-made ones, like the Longacre item pictured, have corner weights on there but in fairness I’ve not worked on anything at a level where we checked them at the track, so we’ve got that little lot omitted from the ones we use. I’ve seen some single seater folks in the paddock using them, but in the clubman saloon game it’s a bit OTT.
The rest of the day
I’m the wrong guy to be giving advice on this, as I’ve worked with plenty of race cars on race days and I’ve raced karts, motocross and mountain bikes, but truth be told I’ve not actually done a legitimate circuit race in a car yet, just a healthy amount of track days and obviously the experience working with drivers on race day.
Generally you’ll have everything prepped as above, you’ll be ready to go yourself (Slayer through the head phones at an antisocial volume in my case haha) and off you go to qualifying. Of course you’ll know the outcome of this as soon as you’re out of the car, and it’ll be confirmed shortly after, but one of the coolest things in my opinion is TSL Timing’s live link. TSL is a website which has lap times from practically all races in the UK, and you’ll be on there assuming your transponder is working correctly, so you have the info at your finger tips as well as from your mate with the stop watch or timer on your dash. There’s usually a few screens in the pitlane and of course it’s as simple as looking on your phone back in the paddock.
When race time rolls around, the MSA have strict guidelines on everything from lining up on the grid to warming your tyres and brakes on the warm-up lap, but that’s not what you’re concerned about is it? :razz: Anything to do with actually driving or racing is wayyy beyond the scope of this little guide and as said above I’m by no means someone you’d want to be giving you advice on this side of things, so I’ll just skip over this.
When you’re finished doing your best, and not getting a trophy just for showing up, you’ll basically be done for the day, unless you’ve got an additional race in which case it’s time for the whole ‘check over everything you can in the paddock’ thing again, and then back out to hoon some more. With all said and done, you’re loading up and heading off and things are undoubtedly really good or really bad, but either way you know you’re f—king awesome and you’ll be back :thumbs:
/THREAD
To wrap this up, I just wanna say thanks for reading to anyone who did and I hope this has helped or at least given some insight into what goes into this whole racing lark.
If you’re sensible and realistic, going racing on some level or another isn’t beyond anyone and if you feel that trackdays are just not cutting it for you then I’m sure you’re already looking into it. Whichever way you go, it’s all for fun, nobody’s making money in clubman racing and as the old saying goes “the only way to make a small fortune in motorsport is to start with a big one”, so if you’re putting your time and resources into it, make sure you get the most out of it. That is, by having as much fun as you can, doing as well as you can, learning as much as you can and meeting as many like minded people as you can. As with everything, it’s all about that sweet spot between f—king around and taking things too seriously. Cheers :thumbs:
Tom,
water|werks
29
O - R / Re: Racecars - Building a car for competition
So you’re not too keen on cutting your floor pan out and getting your Flintstone on… I get that, not really viable and it definitely wouldn’t be fast :roll: We’re quite lucky with the Mk2 Golf though, all told. I have no idea how to structure these, so here's a sketchily arranged list.
The 8v options
8v engines from the Mk2 range, like the 1.8 8v GTI
The bigger 2.0 versions from the Mk3 2.0 8v GTI
The Mk4-Era crossflow 2.0 8v
The 16v options
The 1.8 16v engine from the Mk2 GTI 16v
The Mk3-Era 2.0 16v
The Mk5-Era 2.0 16v
The Mk5-Era 2.0 16v Turbo
The 20v options
The Mk4-Era 1.8 20v
The Mk4-Era 1.8 20v Turbo
The B6 Audi A4 ALT 2.0 20v
The 6 Cylinder options
The 2.8 and 2.9 VR6 12v from the Mk3 Golf and Corrado respectively
The 2.8 and 3.2 VR6 and R32 from the Mk4-Era and Mk5-Era cars respectively
Hybrid Stuff
Also something that we’re fortunate with in the VW world, a lot of things fit together straight out the crate or with minor modification. Some examples :
Mk2 1.8 8v or 16v heads on Mk3 2.0 8v or 16v bottom ends
Mk4-Era 2.0 8v crossflow heads on Mk2 or Mk3 1.8 or 2.0 8v bottom ends
Mk4-Era 20v heads on Mk3 2.0 8v or 16v bottom ends
You get the idea
Forced Induction…
Obviously turbochargers can be added to pretty much any of these you choose, superchargers are an option as well but there’s not much point getting into that, as this isn’t a drag racing forum
If regulations allow, this is going to be the fastest route to strong power from a VW motor. The obvious trade off is going to be response, so on a lot of UK circuits and especially with a light FWD car, going for a smaller turbo than worrying about making 500hp is a way smarter move.Interestingly, the Reeves Mk2, which is the measure of a fast Mk2 in my book and many other peoples, is capable of around 400bhp with the boost turned up but has the benefit of an absolutely top notch racing driver and most of its visits to the track are around Brands Hatch. Seems contrary to what I said above, right? Well think of a Mk4 Golf, bigger car, heavier car, blah blah, well remember the yellow Gulf Air Mk4 Golf that briefly competed in the British GT Car Championship? Then it got banned, or the regulations got re-written to exclude the humble Golf to be more precise, as it was going too quickly and upset some Ferrari and Porsche fans? Well that beauty still ran a K04 turbo. So bear that in mind when you think you need a GTX35 :razz:
…And No Forced Induction
So your regulations don’t allow any boost, you simply don’t want any as you remember the good old days of Group A screamers or you just plain prefer the throttle response and weight saving of an N/A set-up? Getting power from Naturally Aspirated engines is much more difficult and just as importantly, in racing where you pick up the tab yourself, much more expensive.
Some series like the PGTI have strict regulations, allowing you a control camshaft, or shafts if going 16v, an exhaust where of course all the front runners go for Trackslag’s finest, a drop in panel filter and that’s about it as far as engine modifications go.
Some are much more liberal, allowing basically the full works of individual throttle bodies, cams as lairy as you can fit in the head, solid lifters, a valvetrain that’ll cope with sustained mega-RPMs, serious porting and polishing work, boring out to the limit of the class the car is entered into, high compression pistons, steel rods, wedged cranks, ARP studs, nuts and bolts everywhere, some even allow dry sumps and other trick sh-t.
Some folks are making a good solid 220bhp and beyond from a well driveable ABF / 9A style 2.0 16v, as people like JMR are doing great work with them and have a list of clients going very quickly across the country. More is possible, some Berg Cup guys make over 250 but with that will come lifed components, frequent rebuilds and engines which just want to be riiiight up in the revs at all times and helped along by a lot of moneys worth of sequential gearbox, but long story short be wary of anyone who tells you they can get you more than the low 200’s out of an old-generation VW 16v.
To cap off the basic rundown on 4-Cylinder N/A options, some folks have been following Seat Sports lead from their early 00’s Touring Car programmes, and using N/A 20v engines and even N/A FSI engines due to their cylinder heads abilities surpassing those of the older generation multi-valve VAG offerings. ABF’s etc are acknowledged as not being able to hold their own against engines like Vauxhall’s XE or Ford’s Zetec range. The newer generation of VAG engines, especially the FSI’s, are of a much better design and have been used to good effect in mainland Europe and South Africa, but are largely an untapped resource over here.
The 6-Cylinders are pretty good to give them their due, and the immediate examples which come to mind are the former VAG Trophy V6 abusers like Ken Lark’s awesome Frazero built Corrado and Paul Taylors race winning Mk4 R32. Aside from the companies widely documented issues, Grant from GMS once told me while I was doing some work for them, you won’t drive a FWD car that handles better than a well sorted VR6 Corrado, which initially I thought was a bit weird, but in reality the weight difference between a V6 and a 1.8T with the extra turbo and intercooler and such isn’t as big as you’d think, although I’m still a little un-sold on the weight being so far forward with the V6’s. People clearly make them work though and maybe not for their size but in terms of outright power they still perform so I’d hate to neglect mentioning them.
Sound levels
This one leads nicely into another area where Mk2 guys are blessed, largely thanks to Trackslag. I’m sure I don’t need to introduce them, but they started out on earlier model Golfs and by this point in time almost any way you want to go with your engine they can practically cover the whole system. The reason we always put Trackslag specifically right at the top of the list is that besides fitting properly, mounting more resiliently than other systems and looking as blinging as anything else, they’re proven on the track. The majority of the Mk2 PGTI cars use their systems, loads of other VAG racecars use them, and the bonus to this besides the obvious (they clearly let the engines make the power) is that you aren’t going to be sweating buckets hoping your car will pass the noise test! Nobody’s got time for going home before you’ve even started as your car is too loud, or shelling out for a decibel killer on the day and bodging that onto the end of your existing system.
I won’t bang on about that too much, as I will openly admit I am biased and don't see the point in looking beyond Trackslag in most all cases – as a LOT of other VW folk are also of the opinion. We’ve used them time and again and they’ve proven themselves time and again, but I don’t want this to read like an advert… the sponsored content South Park episodes come to mind
Long story short from our point of you, if they fit right, last forever, make the power and do it quietly enough to go to any track day or race day you please, that’s an undeniable case made :thumbs:
Another consideration is that beyond the static exhaust noise limit, typically 105 db(A) measured at ¾ throttle with the sound meter held a half metre away from the exhaust at 45 degrees, for test days and race days which is of course higher than track day limits, is that you will most likely be monitored throughout the event while on track. So if you lose your exhaust, or more concerning if you have a screamer pipe from your turbo’s wastegate or a set of throttle bodies off the front of your 16v, you can be caught out here.
As this is the case, you’ll see most turbo cars that do have an external wastegate to worry about having the screamer pipe plumbed back into the main exhaust and most throttle bodied cars will have not only a filter over their trumpets but also an air box around them. This can be a benefit to keep radiator heat away from the bodies’ openings, but at the same time you are quite short of space for a sufficiently sized airbox in most VW bays, so you may need to get creative. Think side mount radiators like on Honda Civics and even cut out slam panels as seen in a pic here from when we did some freelance work for another company.
Cooling
This is an important one, as of course if your coolant loses its poo or your oil turns to p-ss then you’re not only going home but you’ll also be getting your wallet out, not sure which is worse, but we can agree they both suck especially hard if it could have been prevented.
Generally 1.8T’s are pretty peachy, with a front mount intercooler and only a small oil cooler and OEM radiator, you can easily get through a 20 minute stint with a K0xx sized turbo. Obviously if a bigger blower goes into the mix and you start producing more power and more heat you may need to tailor things to your findings, but with a K03S our little black Golf 1.8T would stay out for 25 minutes at near full throttle with just a Toyosports ‘stashed behind the grill’ sized intercooler and a stock Mk2 16v radiator, it didn’t even have an aftermarket oil cooler though of course the standard coolant-oil heat exchanger was still in place.
The 16v’s and 6-Pot engines seem to run hot when they’re making power, we know of one which ran for years with an ABF on ITB’s with just a 16v radiator and a skinny 16-Row oil cooler, but now needs a hefty Mk3 sized rad and a 235mm 19 Row oil cooler to keep it happy. The 6-Cylinders even in standard form need an oil cooler really, some of the 3.2’s come with them standard, but on most of the 6-Pot racecars I’ve had anything to do with they’ve had 235mm 25-Row oil coolers and as big of an aftermarket ally radiator as can be squeezed in the available space.
In a perfect world you're keep your oil at about 90 degrees, but in reality anything up to 110*c isn’t going to give you any grief, and the odd spike a little over that isn't going to hurt if you're heavily wringing the cars neck or you end up out for longer or it’s an unusually hot day, this is understandable and liveable with though not ideal, but if you’re regularly or consistently seeing temperatures North of that then you should take a look at what you can do to bring it back down to healthy levels, bigger rad, bigger oil cooler, a different grade of oil, there are a few avenues, drag cars even run rich to the point that a fair portion of their fuel is burnt off before it makes it into the combustion chamber to aid cooling, but take that as a vaguely interesting side note more than an option to explore.
One thing which can make a huge difference is ducting and it makes total sense when you think about it. Again massively simplifying, but if your grill is a certain size and half of it passes through the radiator and the other half goes straight past it and just buffers around in the engine bay, how much better would it be if all that air passed through the rad? Twice as good haha :razz:
You’ll see on most factory racers and a lot more private cars these days, Tony Barbers red Mk2 comes to mind as a recent and damn fine example, that some impressive time, thought and work has been put into making sure the radiator and oil cooler are being fed a decent amount of cold air and any air allowed into the front of the car is made the most of… after all, it’s costing you in terms of drag, so it needs to pay its way! We did a very basic and/or ghetto version of this on our little black Mk2 1.8T to make sure all air through the inner spot light holes and grill itself passed through the intercooler and in turn the radiator, and the bumper holes up to the radiator, and even just this re-purposed undertray plastic made a difference
Of course it doesn't stop with the engine and brakes and even gearbox oil will very much appreciate additional cooling, although much more relevantly to most of us brake cooling is worth your time in considering.
* * Unfinished rambling, so will update / add to as time permits * *
30
O - R / Re: Racecars - Building a car for competition
Capping off the previous post, and something I cut from the end to fit, is paint. Once the shell is all finished and the groundwork is complete and the shell is suitably prepped, it’s time to make it shiny. Suitably shiny anyway, paint on racecars are generally good enough, often they aren’t the bodged runny bubbly messes people call them out as, and the majority of the time they are perfectly good. Anyone who saw Matthew Petts car at the National Meet last year can attest to the quality of cars people turn out for competition use.
Being realistic you have to accept that the car will get knocked, scratched, leant on by people and other cars, gather some battle scars, and there’s every possibility it’ll get crashed outright. With this in mind, direct gloss colours are your friend. You want something easy to touch up between rounds, as many series have a requirement for cars to remain presentable throughout the year and any previous damage repaired before the next outing. My red shed is getting covered in its original Tornado Red, the black Mk2 we built was a simple Gloss Black RAL colour and we are building a Mk2 at the moment which will be finished in Ford Frozen White. All these are even available in rattle cans just walking into your local Halfords if you get desperate, so they’re perfect.
One thing worth saying is that usually seam sealer, underseal and stonechip are skipped when repainting. While the cars will obviously get wet and get driven, they won’t see much, if any, salt or road grime and they’ll typically go back inside after each day out and get cleaned off for a full spanner check fairly soon after, so the needs aren’t the same as a road car.
That’ll do for that, I’m no bodywork guy and we’re not here to talk about making things pretty
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The Chassis
This is something which is very much worth your time, in my humble opinion. In the simplest terms, think back to the early days of modern car racing. Little Mini Coopers smoking cars with twice the power. They did so because they were lighter cars that could outhandle the lazy high powered barges they were up against. A similar story, was our little black 1.8T Mk2 getting dusted off by a 1.8 8v PGTI car, pedalled by racer Roy Rothergill, at Castle Combe last year, a circuit which has its share of straights :thumbs:
Springs and dampers
As far as this stuff goes, there are so many options and opinions, with many of them perfectly well suited to the job at hand, before you even get to the part where personal preference gets involved. Purely as an example, I know people racing successfully and putting in legitimately fast times on GAZ monotubes while most people in the world of German cars would think you were insane for considering them. I won’t try and tell anyone what to buy, but do your own research, we’re lucky to have some very clued up people racing Mk2 Golfs these days and many of them are good guys who are happy to respond to threads / posts looking for information. You can’t expect anyone to hand over hard earned and worked for set-up information, so don’t be offended if certain things aren’t forthcoming
The one thing you’ll find in common across the board is height and rebound adjustment as a minimum requirement.It’s fairly well accepted that running the same spring rates front and rear will give a Mk2 which won’t be too snappy you but won’t be lazy, and it’s thought of as a safe bet around this way, with many people still opting to put stiffer springs on the rear. We tried 560lb front and rear on our black Mk2, with some additional weight from a 1.8T up front and Combe being a bumpy track, and it was a good predictable drive that wouldn’t misbehave unless you carried too much entry speed or intentionally provoked it
Some of the PGTI guys have gone crazy high, 1000lbs out back no less, and the Vento Challenge racecars were spec’d in standard kit form with 1000lbs fronts and 1100lbs rear. There’s no advice here simply some background on the kind of ranges you’re looking in.Obviously your dampers will need to suit the springs you choose, there is usually some scope for moving up or down a bit but most companies can re-valve their dampers for more sizeable changes in spring rate.
Camber is important with the Mk2’s suspension layout at the front, and when the suspension is compressed, such as being lent on when the car is in a corner, you will actually lose camber, so that’s why the majority seem to have a healthy dose up front when sat still in the paddock.
Caster is often added to push the front wheels further forward, making the car more stable and handily reducing the amount of negative camber which is lost whilst cornering.
A lot of the quick VW racecars run a little droop at the front end, that is travel that allows the inside front wheel to remain in contact with the ground when it is unweighted, typically about an inch, but at the rear there is usually next to none to get the weight transferred as quickly as possible.
There’s no ‘answer’ for suspension set up or geometry / alignment settings, and the subject is beyond the scope of a ghetto-ass thread on slapping a racecar together, but there are some awesome threads dotted about on the F1 Technical page, Nige Pinders blog Pinderwagen has some good tips hidden throughout it and there are some great books from folks with familiar sounding names like Carol Smith, though in that particular example it’s an older deal so a few little bits may need to be taken with a pinch of salt. There’s still some gold in there to give a handy indication on useful ways to think about things.
ARB’s
A lot of people, when allowed, ditch anti roll bars entirely. I was discussing this with Ben Straker not long ago, who is the clued up chap with the black Mk2 ABF who cleared up at Curborough’s Mk2OC meet last year, and he and I are of the opinion, as many others are, that when springs and damping are sufficiently stiff for circuit use anti roll bars are not required. The stock one in the rear beam is obviously worth leaving where it is, but up front all you’ll probably end up doing is having the downside of reducing the independence of each front wheel while receiving no upside in return. Some of the really quick PGTI cars, where the front ARB had to be retained, used to loosen off the drop link nuts as much as possible to try and take it out of the equation while still having it attached, and I can remember unbolting drop links completely and cable tying them out of the way for a quick fix on a well know VW saloon racer in the past on a first race day of a season.
Bushings.
This is one of those times where you want to check your regs. In a perfect world, you’d run spherical berarings in adapted housings to fit in their respective bushing positions, but in some instances you aren’t allowed, some even stipulate rubber over poly for bushes, old school Group N for example. Powerflex do a spherical bearing bushing Mk4 / TT front wishbone rear bush, which is the bush that you want to have proper articulation, so that’s cool. Front the front wishbone front bush your choice is really to go with spherical from SCCH in the states, have something fabricated for you or just resort to the stiffest poly you can find as these really just need to stay put and let the wishbone rotate, so we go for the Powerflex Black Series 95 Shore hardness items, and the same goes for the rear beam, literally the same story. For the steering rack, you can get solid bushes off the shelf for manual racks, but with PAS racks you’re back to fabbing your own or going for poly, so we go to Black Series again as they’re near solid anyway and we also weld L Brackets either side of the solid rack section to keep it from moving laterally.
Track Width
First things first, Chris Eyre put a table together a while back, which I’ll ask him to post in here when he has time, giving details of all narrow and wide track options in 4x100 and 5x100 flavours. Calling all other things equal, typically a track width increase will improve handling by reducing the load transfer to the outside wheel slightly, which mean – ding ding ding – that the inside wheel maintains more grip. We like this. Considerations are that the wider track width affecting the roll centres, the scrub radius and load on the bearings if increasing with spacers or offset rather than wishbones as well as giving more leverage to act on the suspension so you’ll need it to be stiffer to compensate and behave in the same way.
Corner Weighting
Corner weighting is exactly what it says on the tin. Taking the car in race ready condition, simulating the weight of the driver in the seat, and aiming for numbers that you may not be able to achieve, but are damn well going to try to
It basically falls into the static weight distribution and the cross weight. The static distribution is going to come down to where the weight is in the car. You can re-jiggle it a bit by moving components but any big changes are going to be relatively hard to come by in a production car where things are largely ‘the way they are’. Of course you can move the battery, and yeah you can probably shuffle a few more components and get some lighter panels, but you are kind of had by the balls on this one. I’ve never done anything with it myself, not intentionally at least. The other side of this, is the cross weight, which you can do something about. I was told, in true South West style, think about a wonky chair. If you need to stick a bit of card under one of the legs, cool, get it done. What the aim of this is, is to get the front left and rear right, and the front right and rear left, to have the same combined weights. This will mean the car should handle in the same fashion whether turning left or right. Imagine if on right hand turns the car felt peachy, but on left turns you had a different experience, making it hard to predict, you don’t want that sh-t.People who do this for a proper living, suspension set up experts who do nothing else for example, can do some trick stuff with this, tailoring a car to a circuit and accounting for shortcomings in other areas, but again there are far better places to learn the ins and outs of this and we have our cars, and cars for customers, set up by someone who entirely specialises in this area.
Bump Steer, Roll Centre shenanigans, etc etc
I’ll be honest here, when I started looking into this, along with Ackermann and some other confusing sh-t years ago when I was keen on drifting, it blew my tiny mind. Even now, there are COUNTLESS people who can explain it in an infinitely better way than I can. I still need to think things through in my head thoroughly when thinking about things like this or applying a change to them myself, but bump steer especially I would say have a read up on. You’ll find VW specific threads easily and some have some excellent testing work and explanations in them. There are lots of bits to facilitate changes in this area, but all need looking into, working out and tailoring for your own car :thumbs:
Seam welding
This extends to the bolt on chassis components too. Mk2 Wishbones benefit from stitch welding, as do Mk2 / Mk3 subframes to a lesser extent. Mk3 VR6 / GTI wishbones are already welded practically the entire way round instead of being spot welded together, so I haven’t touched those, but something to bear in mind. Just as a side note, it’s worth having a good luck at the rear beam too nowadays, these are shonky old cars in reality and Monkey has broken one of the ‘legs’ back to the stub axle away from the lateral part of the beam due to corrosion and he’s not alone, and I’ve also seen the metal around the beam bushing rust through entirely and the bush fall out downwards, so if any welding is needed (though in the second example there, the beam would be fit for the bin rather than a repair, sensibly) get busy.
Tyres
Tyres are heavily regulated, with few saloon / hatchback series allowing full bore slicks. Most series simply nod to the MSA’s rule book again as far as tyres are concerned. I’m gonna go light on this and break it down into the three categories for treaded tyres, with a couple of examples of worthwhile versions of each, so I hope this helps shed a little light on it.
List 1A
Eagle F1
Yokohama Parada Spec2
List 1B
Toyo R888R
Yokohama AD08R
List 1C
Nankang AR-1
Yokohama A050
Brakes
Brakes are one of those things where it’s easy to get caught up. On one hand, if your engine doesn’t make every last bit of power it could or your geometry is a little off kilter or if you’re having an off day, you won’t be the fastest out there, but if you’re brakes pack up... yeah... that’s a biggie :-? Remember the Reeves Mk1, still on Wilwoods just for arguments sake, going off BIG at Castle Combe? Out of Bobbies, absolutely pinned, carrying a pace very few others could or would, heading towards Camp Corner, and nothing... still going waaay too fast. It was savage, and fortunately Trevor, partly due to his immense driving skill, got out without injury but the Mk1 did not.
On the other hand, a good thing to remember is that some people are absolutely flying while still using stock 16v kit with just decent pads, like Ferodo DS3000’s, decent fluid like Motul’s posh racey stuff whose name eludes me right now or ATE Super Blue and good quality plain or drilled discs. I’ve always been of the mind that switching to anything OEM but larger than G60’s (or 288’s from a Mk3) is a fail, as the weight there will be mega and unsprung weight is not your mate. If you want more, you’re going to start looking at aftermarket solutions.
Going beyond the OEM items is a pricey game to do properly. I figure if you have the need to go beyond the OEM options, your only next real step is grabbing a set of AP Racing calipers and putting together a kit based around them. If you walk around a paddock at a clubman event, the usual AP CPxxxx range of calipers (CP5040 in most Mk2’s case) are what you’ll see the most of, and if that’s the case then you pretty much know that that’s the way you should be going.
Besides that, which does effectively say it all, they’re available for various rotor diameters and widths and once you’ve got them there is a massive range of pads, so the fitment and options and characteristics are all within your control. The final winner for me, is that info is readily available and AP themselves are super helpful, which is surprisingly "uncommon" in companies dishing out motorsport kit.
There are a couple of options in fairness, some of the pricier Hi Spec offerings or anything with an Alcon logo obviously. Second hand Brembo race calipers (not the OEM Seat items that scene kids jump up and down about) are another option if you can find them, their monoblock GT car calipers are made good use of by the Reeves Golfs among a few others.
To be totally honest I don’t like the idea of spending upwards of £1500 on front brakes any more than the next person, BUT, if that’s how it is then that’s how it is. For some context, everyone I know who has gone for cheaper aftermarket options like Wilwood Superlites or similar have upgraded to AP’s later… I’m not keen for the extra step, extra work and extra expense of fitting something that still needs upgrading later when you could do it right the first time, in an area like braking.
Brake Bias
Not too much to say here, but typically you'll bin the OEM brake pipe routing, which is Front Left and Rear Right on one circuit and the opposing on the other, and have one M/C outlet, or M/C itself if using an aftermarket pedal box, for both front brakes and one for both rear brakes. This of course means the rear brake compensating valve isn't going to cut it.
Typically you have three ways of going about this. An in-line brake pressure reducer for the rear brake circuit, a brake bias valve such as the lever or turn-knob style items from people like AP, Tilton or Wilwood, which also fits in-line in the rear brake circuit which can be adjusted to in turn adjust the pressure the rear brakes see, and finally a balance bar for individual brake master cylinders which mechanically pushes one cylinder more than the other.
There's not too much to say about these, beyond the types available and the function.