Damian Mac Donagh

Yep It's running: 642bhp @ 7,720rpm. 544whp. 677Nm or 499Lb/Ft. Need to sort a few things out with it still, keeping temperatures down being the main priority it's getting a little hot under there. That said it did a 10.9secs @ 132mph after 2hrs straight driving, boot full of parts, 3/4 tank of fuel and slowing at the end of straight as was coming into a bend hot. Did a 2.85secs 0-60mph on P3 device little while later which is 0.3secs quicker than it's ever done on same format as a comparison so in reality it will be sub 10.5secs fairly comfortably with a few more mph to come. Fairly quick now for a road car with zero preparation. Sounds pretty aggressive also. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Full specification of the car now outlined below. I know a few have wanted to know for a while but it was forever changing for a time. Factory Specification/Options: · Night blue paintwork. · 2.0 TSI 4Motion 6 speed DSG petrol. · Black ‘Vienna’ leather wth ‘R’ logo. · Alloy wheels 19” Pretoria. · Technology pack. · Panoramic sunroof. · Lane assist including dynamic light assist. · Exterior mirrors in carbon fibre. · Advanced telephone connection. · Climate windscreen. · Winter pack with leather. · Convenience pack · Voice activation for audio. · Rear view camera. · Car – net app – connect. · Rubber mats – front (spare) · Rubber mats – rear (spare) · Safety kit. · Smoking pack. · Discover pro navigation radio system. · High beam assist. Modifications: · Full blueprinted and balanced bottom end. · Rotating assembly balanced. · Custom CP Carrillo pistons balanced to within 0.1G. · Custom CP Carrillo connecting rods balanced to within 0.1G. · Custom made pins. · Block bored 0.5mm oversize and honed with torque plate. · Superfinished crankshaft. · Gasflowed head. · APR Valve spring kit. · ARP Head studs. · Mahle race bearings for conrods. · Gaskets, rings, bolts, covers, seals, lifters, water pump belt, sump plug, oil pipe, fuel line, water hose, 8 startline hose, filter extender. · TSI Rear main seal with billet flange. · NGK Racing R7438-9 spark plugs. · Coil packs. · Generation 3 port injection kit. · Custom MPI injectors. · Autotech high pressure fuel pump. · Precision racing stage 4 low pressure fuel pump. · R600 Racingline intake system. · Custom intake pipe. · Mocal oil cooler. · Leyo oil management system. · IMS780 Turbo. · Forge divertor valve. · Actuator. · MRC black billet inlet manifold including gaskets, downpipes and coolant. · Integrated Engineering FDS intercooler. · Volkswagen Racing lower engine mount. · Black Forrest Industries engine mount. · IMS 3.5” Downpipe. · Milltek sport de-cat, cat back non-resonated cerakote black tips. · 2 No. 4 bar map sensors including conversion loom. · TVS Engineering stage 4 engine re-map. · APR DQ250 Clutch pack with modified box to hold more fluid. · Wavetrac differential. · Black Forrest Industries pre-assembled stage 2 transmission mount. · Black Forrest Industries torque arm insert stage 2. · DSG Filter and fluid. · TVS Engineering stage 4 DSG re-map. · Ohlins road and track coilovers with DDC delete. · Super Pro bushes. · Super Pro rear suspension. · Super Pro race arm kit. · Front 26mm adjustable sway bar. · Rear 22mm adjustable sway bar. · P3 Gauge. · Michelin pilot super sport cup 2 tyres. · Extensive security systems. · Paintshield whole car coverage plus headlights and foglights. Upgrade to A pillar, wing and sill in one piece. Dyno chart: Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Sorry mate I've opened it back up now. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Early dyno testing on low boost. Rev limit raised to 8k looking like it's going to be quick. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Gwan Guy great to hear. Come on then, what have we got, 650bhp+ region? Sure you've definitely got the most powerful manual of these things as I haven't seen any above 550bhp and you've been there for a good while and some. Some of the Americans run 700whp so that's got to be circa 750bhp at the fly but on E85 so their pulling some advantages. Definitely sounds like it is good numbers though, I'm excited to hear. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Great results Kieran that really is a fast car you've got now. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

The major hurdle has been fueling. Standard set-ups including low/high pressure fuel pumps are good for maybe 600bhp at a push. TVS Engineering have developed a custom fueling kit alongside a supplier to be able to take it to the next level so after few initial niggles, tweaks, unknown territory time they're happy now with how it's preforming and ready to move on to next step. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

The build is back moving again. Saw a couple of teaser videos earlier, commencement of Stage 4 mapping. Fourth gear pull from 40mph to well into three figures and 8,000rpm limiter. Making over 600bhp on low boost! Sounded awesome. Ready to start ramping up the power step by step next week. Won't be long now. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Tom Wrigley Porsche Cup driver has his own little set-up going supplying AP Racing big brake kits front/rear. Below is an example of front set-up, always hard to gauge from a photograph but they are huge in the flesh and fill the entire 19" rim. www.tomwrigley.co.uk Always give him a shout as another option. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Spot on Leo. Agreed modifications don't generally increase value Slider09 but the suits were also in agreement that this wasn't an ordinary Golf R. I did have £50k in mind originally when thinking of a sale value but in a niche market you have to be realistic plus look at newer cars these days and the potential they have for relatively little additional cost. When all's said and done I wouldn't take £100k for it so ultimately any notion of a sale were put to rest as a total non starter a while back. Got to keep the R flag flying as there's some mental builds going to be hitting the strip next year. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

I thought about it a few times naturally after nine months in the garage here six months in the garage there but ended up concluding I wouldn't give someone else the satisfaction of getting everything for nothing so she will forever be staying in my possession. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Ditto very interested to hear as mine's over with them in The Netherlands having the Stage 4 treatment at the minute. Keen to see what STA Aylesbury Ltd are like as Varsseveld is a slap and Aylesbury is living the dream. Best of luck. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

So many variables with this one Graham as it's completely specification driven. Could be anything ranging from £3k to £10k + but most I've heard of average out circa £5k-£6k. Also depends how you have the work done in terms of using your existing engine as a donor or some companies offer a fully forged built unit in exchange for your old unit so minimises time off the road. I've heard these at circa £5k all in. If you get a specialist to do it you will need to consider a company to remove the engine, deliver it to engine builder, recover it and put it all back together again which will be at least £2k. Specialist builder won't waste his time with that side of affairs. When you've sussed all that lot out it's then a case of who can you trust to carry out the works. Mine for example had a lot of head work done to it which has proven difficult to map because it reacts completely different to stock and needs serious R&D to get right which most won't be interested in and I'm still working on it over a year later. Personally as engines are so cheap these days and if your not to precious about maintaining some form of originality you could just get a new unit if and when it fails as these are only a few thousand pounds now I believe so when you weigh it up. Just enter with your mind open if you do decide to go forged as it doesn't stop problems from still occuring. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Yes, it will be good to finally meet up. Santa Pod has gone a bit commercial chasing events and revenue for 2019 (understandable). I was having a peak this morning funnily enough, not really catering much for the way I want to run the car I.e. fully prepped track, limited field, road tyre's being acceptable. First event of this kind is not until VW Action in September 2019. If it's alive and well though I will probably bare the queues and bring it out for GTI Spring Festival on Sunday 14th April 2019 weather dependent as always a good event. Regards Damian Mac Donagh

Some great numbers Scott especially the 60-100mph of 2.85secs, that's real fast, thanks for sharing. Looking to get my recorded figures down eventually on Santa Pod's hallowed surface. I've seen first hand so many Golf R's and other marques for that matter doing some great numbers out and about on various surfaces but as soon as they get to Santa Pod they fall to pieces, it's the acid test here in the UK for performance car logging and not many come away happy. Suffered another set-back though now on the fuel system. Wasn't basically working as intended which was a case of the pumps were sucking out fuel so fast that the in tank filters couldn't handle the flow which was also causing the left side of the tank not to syphon properly. New parts have been ordered from the mob who created the kit but it's very much trial and error which is never a great place to be so chances of getting it back now pre-christmas are looking bleak. Will catch up with them in coming days as going over to see all the good and the glorious at the Essen Motor Show which they've got a stand at. Still looking to go DQ500 transmission wise which is a bit more readily available now but it's very much we'll see how we go. Just trying to get one area resolved at a time and for now it's the minor matter of the engine set-up with all supporting system's running and mapped correctly. If all that isn't in place, no point really worrying about anything else. Joy. Regards Damian Mac Donagh