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Good afternoon all and in advance of the big day the chaps at VWROC Towers would like to wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and new year. It's been another record year for us and we'd like to thank you all for your inputs into the site, after all it's only as good as you guys make it. Also a very big thank you to our wonderful Mod team who work very hard behind the scenes. Your work guys is greatly appreciated as it takes many many hours to keep things running smoothly!! One final reminder is that the VWROC 2018 calendars are now in stock and available via the Store so if you haven't already got one please do before they go! Stay safe and thanks again to you all, wherever you are in the world. The VWROC team.

Little edit from the boys over at MiniTorque.... made me chuckle

I almost went with the 18’’ prets for my winters but the width/offset put me off without running spacers. Anyway, went with BBS SX (18x8, ET45) which I’ll be putting on tomorrow. Been a nightmare as DPD delivered 2 last Friday, collected one on Tuesday as they couldn’t find the other which finally arrived tonight. Cleaned, sealed and dressed [emoji106]

That's it for me really. I have test driven a GTD and been a passenger in a fast drive in one. It's got that diesel-quickness about it. The torque is obviously there, but feels breathless and rough at high RPM. Clattering on the outside as well which I didn't like at all. Wouldn't call it a hot hatch, though it has the look of one. And actually a freshly cleaned and waxed GTD with a nice colour (the grey suits it) can look as good as a GTI or an R. Same tinted tail lights and front lights, and standard wheels look great. Personally though, regardless of the higher price and running costs, I'd always go 4WD in future - 4Matic, 4Motion, XDrive, Quattro...and whatever the non-German brands call it as well. Not just for the rare bit of snow I see here in London, but purely for traction off the line. It's the most useful feature that you can use at anytime in any conditions.

Just a quick update, there now appears to be an official link from the VW website which takes you along to the following site: http://webspecial.volkswagen.de/maps/int/en/index.html Latest maps now appearing there for post 2015 Nav pro users atleast (not checked any others)

I was really disappointed for the first week (after Audi B&O) but now really happy. Maybe thats speaker run-in (never heard of that!) or just getting used to it, but when I stopped playing with settings and just settled in...in seemed to get better! Definitely though is susceptible to source quality, I'm using SD cards with iTunes files, and that seems to work really well. Being piped from phone less so.

Ditto, it's rather fun lol. i have a Tag for the toll so it's even more of a rolling start. however I have seen upwards of 10 BMW 330d Police cars (mix of marked and unmarked) and 2 camera vans on the toll before. I was in my 330d at the time and scarily blended in with the 'pack of sharks' lol.

As I'm in the the states at the mo, a 9mm

I ditched the standard turbo and went for tte 470! 460hp and it perfect. Drives likes the standard turbo but a lot stronger. Even Normal driving car just feels so much nicer and when putting foot down feels a lot smoother than my stage 2 not quite as snappy if you get me, Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cleaned the beast. Last clean was nearly 7 weeks ago. It's so nice to have a clean car!! Started with a bit of snow foam. Rinsed it off. Gyeon Q2 Rim make the wheels super easy to clean. Then my camera died. Also did: Normal 2 bucket wash. Wheels Wet Coat sprayed on and then rinsed Air Dried with Metrovac thingy Final towel dry Also gave the interior a vacuum and clean. Result: Yes, the blue sticker is still there. Clean Clean Clean 😁 (until it rained about 7 minutes after being finished)

Rolled the golf out for a few obligatory snow pics. Getting it back in nearly gave me a hernia [emoji23] Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Afternoon Gents Well, it's officially started. I have my 7.5R booked in with VAG Tech for Stage 1 Revo remap, Racing Line springs and H&R antiroll bars to stiffen it up. Just a little bit of a tweak for now... I'll give it a few months before stage 2 starts. How much work did you guys do for Stage 2? I'm guessing it'll take an upgraded air intake, exhaust manifold and brakes along with the remap. Any suggestions on what else should be upgraded? Either out of necessity or a "it was simply better with..." Ta!

Just to be different I am considering the Tarox 8 Pot 360mm BBK. My car is used predominantly on the road and the occasional track forays I'm also probably going to use Tarox Corsa pads as they are harder and will cause less pad pick up in the grooves hence cut down on vibration.They are not fully floating but I've had their kit on my old APR Stage 3 kit and it worked superbly especially with Corsa pads. Trouble is they do some really nice anodised colours and my original plan was to keep the callipers subtle and order them in black or grey but I'm now looking at the red calliper. Being Oryx running on Prets I wonder whether it will look odd or too garish. They won't match the rear callipers which you can't match. I suppose they will really stand out. Any opinions

Check this out at 3:20 onwards.

Ballach looks to be enjoying himself mightily. What a charmer. Thanks for sharing the photos.

Just a quick note to let you all know that we only have one set left of MK7R APR Roll-Control springs in stock for immediate dispatch today. https://www.vrsnorthampton.com/home/2933-apr-roll-control.html?search_query=roll-control&results=23 We believe these to be the most comfortable lowering springs available for the MK7 R. APR Roll-Control Lowering Springs are designed to improve handling while delivering a stylish visual upgrade to the vehicle. This simple, yet effective upgrade lowers the vehicle’s center of gravity, giving it an attractive new stance, while remaining fully compatible with the OEM dampers. In doing so, body roll is reduced and handling improves without sacrificing ride quality or greatly impacting the life of the OEM dampers. Each spring is manufactured using premium material and the latest high-end techniques to ensure they resist sagging, and withstand harsh track conditions for years to come. APR Roll-Control Lowering Springs' spring rates are only slightly stiffer than OEM. Using an even stiffer rate would sacrifice ride quality and could also cause the system to be underdamped which would be a detriment to performance. Both the ride height and spring rate are designed in parallel around the criteria of keeping the OEM dampers and maximizing performance while maintaining OEM like ride quality. Ride height is typically reduced between 1/2" - 3/4". Any S3, GTI or MK7R owners - get in touch today.

Great choice. A lot of us have taken delivery of our cars in the last couple of weeks so haven’t checked this thread for a while but it’s great to see it still alive with new R owners starting the long wait to collection! Word of advice the thread definitely doesn’t help the patience lol! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And so it came to pass! Give over Col.......look what you’ve done now, pass the tissues......😭 😂

Hi Rob, Yes, they work very well with the DCC. Probably the best riding springs we've used on a 7R. Very very comfortable, yet firm.

Sits nice, a bit more nose diwn than the vwr ones I have fitted now.

Its not as good as the B&O Audi systems I have experienced for sure, I think a lot of that is to do with the Audi (B9 A4) had a large centre speaker under the dash, The Dynaudio has to try and create this central sound from the sides, which it does a pretty good job of. Its not amazing but its decent especially for a Golf level of car. https://www.whathifi.com/features/dynaudio-excite-sound-system-review-vw-golf-mk-7

Come Thursday I’m going with the 24mm Superpro rear anti roll bar with standard OEM links on the softest setting to see how much turn in this adds, .without going over the top and adding oversteer. along with KWV3S and Superpro front 0007 lower control arms. I'm looking forward to the difference over stock non DCC suspension , LCA’s and RARB.

The R is simply the best on wet. slippery roads, which is all we seem to get at the moment.

Nice work putting this play list together Col, there are a few skippers but on the whole a damn good drive. It reminds me of driving with my old man sometimes

It ships with 50hp and 88ftlbs at 4.75psi boost Rob Anything else you'll need the £28 data cable to adjust. There's a sale on at the moment too..........JB4Shop

God now your asking but yes I think it is a small I bought it about 15yrs ago for one of my my Subaru's and it's now well battered and the stickers have all come off, it's very snug on the R wheel mind you.

Thanks Bec! Hopefully we'll have some dedicated interior products to show you all in the new year! Neil

My father had that same habit which led to problems more serious than a sticking handbrake. One Saturday afternoon in my pre-driving adolescent days while he and my mother were away, I was "practicing" the shift pattern in his trusty Anglia (yes, they were imported to the States) on what I thought was our level driveway. It wasn't. Leaving the car in neutral during a momentary distraction, I found myself and car in the back garden nudged against a tree. It would have been hilarious to watch my frantic but unsuccessful efforts to get the car back on the driveway before my parents returned, never mind the dented fender. The Old Man was not amused. Neither of us learned a lesson from the incident. A few years later he'd parked his Opel Kadett in the same spot. I started the car to run an errand, then remembered something needed inside the house. What I didn't remember was that he still never set the brake, so I returned to find the Opel in the same tree-hugging position as the Anglia. Dad was more mellow this round; we split the cost of repairing the fender. I eventually bought the Opel from him - my first car. I ALWAYS use the handbrake, even in my truck with automatic set in Park.

Haha! So true. I spent 6 months working in and around florida last year. Everyone it seems is armed to the teeth!

Loads of places. Look on eBay, some even come with free fitting if you go collect them. I managed to pick up a puncture and found 2x Continental SP6 tyres for less than £50 each (including fitting) and they still had 4mm of tread left. Enjoy the RS3 mate.

If I wear a work shirt, it seems people think it's similar to police, that couple with short hair gets used to get some great responses. one bloke just glanced and must have seen the car and me in his peripheral vision and threw the mobile he was using across the car, unfortunately it hit the passenger seat bolster or something and bounced back smacking into drivers side window just missing his head lol. Annoyingly everyone used to slow right down when my Tourer 'suddenly' appeared behind them, sometimes you just know they have been up to no good lol.

The amount of times I've slowed down because I've seen bloody 330's driving sensibly, expecting to see a uniform... only to find out its a bald middle aged man trying not to fall asleep.

I’m running mrc software, you would need Custom mapping. mrc have done a fair few now and I’m sure rick at unicorn has also done them just to name a couple, Not sure the cost on it tbh as they had a sale back in September 20% off and fitting will all come down to your own garage or doing it yourself etc. Will need Stage 2 hardware along with upgraded plugs are recommended. Then it’s plug and play basically. They also do an exchange price so can swap you old turbo as long as it’s not went bang as they won’t build it. My mate owns his own garage and is a tte supplier so can maybe get a decent deal. He also had a is38 sitting so sent it away for 470 build then took mine back in exchange which meant no down time on my car as 6 week waiting I’m sure. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's a setting on Spotify for high quality audio make your that is ticked. Too much reverb means your highs are to loud I think?

I have mine on Dynamic setting and with the Treble bias on +1 , and it sounds awesome with most music i listen to. Using Spotify via Bluetooth on 320 kbit/s. Plugging it in ala Car Play sounds just about the same. CDs also sound pretty damn good , and also stuff on the DAB. The Dynaudio is better than the H&K setup i had in my previous car. Not by much , but still noticeable especially the higher end and the lows.

I have just had a BCS Powervalve fitted to my Mk 7.5R. Quality is as good as you will get. The guys that I used to fit it, Hi-Tech Performance in Northampton, were really impressed. One of the added benefits of the Powervalve system is that it sounds pretty much stock at low revs (so you won’t upset the neighbours!) but makes a fab sound as the revs rise and the exhaust valves open. Price is not silly either considering the quality.

Thanks mate. Only took me 20 years of hard work, blood sweat and tears haha but worth it in the end Thanks Doc!

What was your old car ? My last car had B&O in which at the time was a £750 extra I think and came with 14 speakers and 705 watts. Im pleasantly surprised with the Dynaudio especially the speakers at the base of the A pillars. I use iTunes music copied across to an SD card.

Remember, you need to give it time for the speakers to ‘run in’, at least 40 hours, then it starts to develop into a richer deeper sound.

Driving Home for Christmas?

Preparation H...... I’m an old goat

Better to be safe than need a five door: p

Condoms...... Im a young lad

I’m not really a spreadsheet type of person although I have to use them a fair bit at work. However I’m sure there are an awful lot of GTD and R owners that spend an awful lot of time messing about with spreadsheets. The GTD is a spreadsheet type of car. Put it all down into a spreadsheet and it makes a hell of a lot of sense. Low company car tax. Tick. low running costs with strong resale value. Tick. Looks like a hot hatch. Tick. Hot hatch underpinnings. Same chassis and brakes as the well rated Golf GTI. Tick. Hot hatch performance. Flip back through some previous spreadsheets here. Yep, similar performance stats to the iconic mk2 GTI 16v and possibly better stats than quite a few other historic Golf GTI’s, maybe even comes close on paper to VR6’s and even the mk4 R32 in some commonly used acceleration tests. Tick. Hot hatch interior. Tick Yeah, it all stacks up there. Right, How does it compare to a Golf R on our spreadsheet? Same torque peak at similar RPM’s. Lighter so some BHP advantage nullified. Lower revving so you don’t have to wring its neck in give and take driving. Still looking good. In one of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time” moments around this time last year VW cleared out the last of the line production run of mk7’s with some massive discounts to be had, so I set myself a challenge of “how cheap can I get a performance Golf for?” It it did seem like a good idea at the time. I’d just sold my R as I wasn’t using it but realised I still needed a Golf in my life, I managed to get a factory order vanilla spec GTD for around £21k. Bear in mind in 2005 that’s what you’d have paid for a new 5 door Golf GTI which had no Nav, no keyless, no 18” wheels, no xenons, no bum warmers in the seats... Still looking good on the spreadsheet. In March this year I got the results of the spreadsheet quest in front of me which took the form of a White 5 door GTD. How does real life compare with a spreadsheet? Lets just say the GTD is a very good Diesel Golf. But, to an ex-R owner it wasn’t a very good option on so many levels that aren’t on spreadsheets. The best summary I can give is that it lasted me seven weeks before I chopped it in for a pre-registered Clubsport GTI. The GTD lacks personality. Yes, it has the looks, the spec, even the performance up to a point. The engine is slow revving and not as much fun as the old PD Diesels from ten years ago. The gearing is high so you have to drive it hard to get the best from it. The brakes aren’t the best. The biggest strengths of the GTD are steady state cruising where it’s quiet and refined with decent economy. Gentle driving is good too where you can ease along on the prodigious torque. And flat out it goes reasonably well. Get out of the GTD and step into an R though and you really do find the engine performance and response to be on a different level. The R just goes, no matter what the revs. The R engine spins around very quickly and seamlessly and sounds a million times better. It’s perfectly understandable why people buy GTD’s in huge numbers as it’s a very good car in its own right. But it just doesn’t have that ingredient X that makes the R shine so brightly. For those that think their R is a bit dull due to over familiarity, invest a couple hundred quid in hiring a GTD for a few days and you’ll soon be buying your R red roses again!

Had a nice winter walk today, plenty snow to keep Ballach happy. we had his coat on not so much to keep him warm but rather to find him. He really blends in with a snowy background and it's a bugger spotting him.

Mod 22 :- Installed a WiFi LAN in the boot. As I said above I found using my phones connection to be unreliable and also required intervention on my part. The S3 had an embedded SIM card which just worked 100% of the time with complete transparency. I decided to try and replicate this and put that very same data sim to use - this is part of my broadband deal and has 3Gb of data allowance for £10/month. There’s probably better available now I’m sure. Here’s how it went ..... Sponsored by Amazon this one I think but these turned up today ..... Possibly the most rewarding mod yet for the amount of effort required ! Here it is installed just below the parcel shelf ..... No need for it to be visible at all or taped to the window, it connects to the MMI 30 seconds after the ignition is on with full signal strength and 4G/LTE download speeds ..... The benefits of having this is that I get live traffic displayed on the sat nav rather than the limited information that the radio broadcasts. Also there’s the Car-Net connection that I use for speed camera POI’s. Passengers can connect to it also via the MMI hotspot and use the SIM card data. Perhaps the most useful feature is that my BlackVue 750S dashcam now also connects to it allowing me to remotely view either camera live via the BlackVue cloud - very useful for when the car is in for a service or any upgrades I can see what’s going on !

As it was such a fine day, I managed a long overdue winter prep; Wheels - VP Bilberry Snow foamed - AB Magifoam PW rinse 2 BM wash - Meguiars Gold Class PW rinse Ferrous decontamination - VP Dragon's Breath PW rinse Clayed - BH Auto clay 2nd wash and rinse Dried Wheels sealed - Gtechniq C2v3 Paint polished - AF Tripple Waxed - FinishKare 1000P paste wax Final dressing - Meguiars X-Press spray wax Tyres dressed - Gtechniq T1 Exhaust - Peek metal polish and coat of wax Still not overly convinced by the snow foam, seems to just sit on top of the dirt, rather than lift any of it away from the paint, perhaps I had my hopes set to high when I bought a lance a couple of months back, I'll persevere anyway seeing as I have about 5 litres of the stuff to get through! First time using a clay bar, reassuringly easy and didn't take long to do. Impressed with the FinishKare, I bought a sample pot a while back but have tended to use Collinite waxes and latterly 476S, but I found that a pain to buff off at times, the FinishKare was a breeze in comparison and will definitely use again. Was a pleasurable 3.5 hours and the time spent should hopefully see it through the worst of the winter. The light wasn't the best by the time I had finished, but hopefully the photos show the final result reasonably well.

Stupid idea. Why don't you go the whole hog, send back a 1.2 tsi Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure if it's been mentioned in here,installed the jb1 to my new 7.5R and it all works great!