Badger

Been tempted by one of these for a long time, so may have to cave in and bite the bullet soon….

Having read the gazillion odd pages of awesome insight and info on DI filters by @Booth11 here …. I caved and joined the club 😬 (Altho an unbranded unit) Went for 11ltr and pre-filled with Tulsion (?) MB-115. Delivered for under £100 it was a no brainier. Also received my TDS meter from Amazon but have no pic. Happy Badger 😃 Just need to get a few hours over the weekend to give it a run 💪🏼

Oh dear, if you liked it then, you’ll probably enjoy it even more after my latest AliExpress delivery rocked up yesterday 😂 Farewell, honeycomb of doom! Bloody hated that mess beneath the eng8ne cover and such a mare to clean! There is something about this lower cover than I’m not quite sure on, and 8 think it’s the directionality?! Just feels like the vertical lines don’t look like they belong…. Might go look up alternative engine covers now 😂

Finally popped the bonnet and grabbed a snap. Waiting for lower engine cover to arrive, as I can’t stand seeing that naff griddle thing there!!

Yeah, it’s a bit wanky referring to yourself in the third person but as I’m not actually named Badger, I really think I can live with it 😂 I’ve been car-less for a few weeks since parting ways with Sooty the useless, but pretty, Sootpig. Diesel ownership was a bust and fuel costs and low mpg made returning to the 99ron fold an easy choice to make. This time I just wanted something to enjoy, and maybe to be able to play with a bit without being scared to mash up an R! A 2014 gti PP was swiftly sourced. I was chuffed I managed to get a Performance Pack as just seems a much more tuneable starting point with the R sized brakes and front diff. This DBP beauty has just 50,000 miles and full history. Leather and DCC were the only options I’ve never had in any of the others so thought I’d give em a whirl! DCC is a game changer and really am very impressed with the way it transforms the ride and handling. That said, it needed a bit more poke to really test the handling, and as with the grey R, a bit more noise…. So we did a stage one Revo ecu and tcs, Hybrid carbon Revo intake with open cone and belting great inlet pipe and elbow, TMD as was rude not to whilst it was in bits, and took the res out with an RPM performance no drone delete pipe too. Its a bit of an animal 😂 Revo states 330 ish, but will see when I get a local RR session sorted in the next few weeks. Having had RF019s on Sooty, I love that frikkin wheel! However, I’m old and and cheap now and really fancied just sticking with 18s this time, so went wild and adventurous with RF018s 😂 The Matt bronze is an absolute belter on the black (biased) and the red detail really works in well 👌🏽 And the possibly overkill pilot super sport rubber is a bloomin impressive tyre, too. The weather, plus preparation for imminent baby arrival, have left me short on time but managed to do a chemical decontamination, clay, have cut and then skipped to a finish and wax for now. It needs some correction once the days are longer and warmer, but passable for now. And it needs a little bit less arch gap, so will be looking at springs that will get on with the DCC in the near future too. So that’s been my last three weeks, how are all of you?! 😂

Funny you should suggest that…… although haven’t quite managed to get back in an R…… new thread to follow soon 😂

After six months of trying, and about four litres of oil, I have given up on GTD ownership 😂 Beautiful car, and mostly ok at car stuff, just crap on fuel and ate oil. With the price differences in fuel, my 7.5r would have been cheaper to keep and run 🤦🏻‍♂️ Now on the lookout for a 7r or possibly a cupra 280, as don’t have much money left now and want to go back to something with a bit of character. So there you go, the dark side wasn’t all it was cracked up to be!

I have the anthra RF019s and in the matte finish they are very dark, which is bordering on breaking my own ‘never have black wheels’ rule 😂 Great looking rims though, and personally I’d leave the Revo centres as they look way less fussy. Standard bolts and caps fit, but cap fit is snug 💪🏼

Only one service in three years? Regardless of mileage, that says owner/s didn’t treat it well/give a crap to me. I’d have not even got in it. Getting that much noise out of a 2019 R sounds like it is indeed likely missing some mandatory exhaust components, and would have required mapping out as well (I’d have thought). As to mileage discrepancy, it happens. 567 and 765 etc can very easily be mis-keyed. Finally, a vehicle not being on the register only means it hasn’t had damage recorded. I’d never take that to mean a car (esp an R) hasn’t been wrapped round a lamppost and rebuilt in someone’s mate’s lockup… Plenty of decent, less abused sounding, Rs out there

Another day, another dollar or two on pointless shiny things for Sooty 🤣 Had these on the R, and glad I did them again. from ewwww🤢 to ooooohhh 😍 Aside from angrily removing the rubbish disappointment that is Carsifi, that’s all for today!

Have to admit I considered the Octavia Vrs wagon in AWD as that seemed like a fab platform, but just the standard 184 and single blower, admittedly. But realistically I was always going to end up back in a Golf 🙂

They’re next!! Was waiting to do them while wheels are off for lowering, but may just reach thru and do em on the drive for now 🤣

In my excitement to get its first clean and polish done, I’d forgotten to loop back to rectify the horror that was my locker caps 😱 Good ol’ matt black rattle cam to the rescue! and back on, so I can now sleep at night That was all 🙂

My commute didn’t really give me much room to stretch the R’s legs, and it just didn’t make sense now life is back to normal-ish again. Sooty is very much better suited to the route, and actually feels a bit like I’m involved in the driving at some points! The computed mpg has been mostly sub-40 so far, but waiting to tank it and calculate properly next week. I’m hoping the calibration is out and it’s actually doing 50 🤣

Cheers 🍻 It has been a bit of an adjustment being in something so similar to the R but also very different! Really am getting on quite well with it at the minute, just need to sort stance and some aesthetics out a bit 😬

Having just seen the pic of my boot again, I’ve ordered some more EZMods inlays in body colour for the front and rear emblems. Loved this subtle mod on the R and think the black plastic in the badge on a white car just screams out as needing attention. Possibly only the rear, as the front badge ties in with the grilles, but will assess that when I’ve got em in hand 😬

Obligatory first replacement part acquired 🙄 Wet boot seal and water inside the bootlid flagged the old classic as needing replacement. £7 and two days later I’m good to go! I just undid the four T25s in the bootlid recess and then yanked each corner to pop three clips each side. This left the trim hanging at the lower edge but still attached, leaving enough room to get arms in. Simple case of tracing the existing drain tube to the top where it sits over the drain pipe off the badge, pull it off, poke the new pipe through from the outside of the boots lower edge, then slide the open end over said pipe off the badge. Then check all trim clips are in the boot trim and not stuck in actual panel (pointy pliers were needed here), then line up the plastic prongs on the two bottom corners of the trim, line up clips, then bangy bangy done! nine minutes from popping the boot to done 👌🏽

Depends on model year, as think gpf cars will still struggle for noise. I put a no drone res delete on my 7.5 310 (no gpf) and sounded just as I felt it should as standard. Normal and Drive use almost zero change, but Race and Sport resulted in nice crackle downshifts and very pronounced cracks on upshift under load. Nothing like pops n bangs tat, just the right amount of angriness. My fake cabin noise was always turned off, and never felt the need for more inside. Only time it droned a tad was leaning on second coming down the hill into my estate, but did 18k in that with the pipe fitted and loved it. Also found the Ramair intake helped with some good noise, as well as the controversial turbo muffler delete…..

Might be obvious, but have you tried waxing that spot again? 🤔

That’s the badger! Was getting it mixed up with black hole glaze, maybe 🙄

That’d last me about two years 🤣 I only find I need to reapply 476 max three times a year, and usually only for winter detail and spring clean. All depends on your cleaning technique and regime though. Ref ‘blemishes’ I’m not sure what you mean, but I’d suspect the shine (or lack of) will be the paint not the wax. Maybe panel wipe over the area to strip any product back and see what the paint is doing, then if it’s flat I’d find the right polish to make it shiny and then reseal/wax. I’m surprised “T-Cut” didn’t trip a swear filter 🤣

For value and longevity, I’ve not yet been able to beat colly 476s. also have 915 but 476 has been my go to for over a decade, and that’s not without trying others that have been recommended. Poor boys purple haze (I think) was great on my old blue anthracite mk4, and this week I’ve been very impressed by fusso wax white on my white mk7. I’m at the point where detailing supplies are like ordering Chinese takeaway; each time I feel like I should try new things, but whenever I do I wish I’d stuck to my usuals as nothing is as good!

Cheers Shug 👍🏼 It's actually been less of a soul destroying step down from the R than I'd feared. Still not loving the hectic Mk7 clocks, but the rest of it is great. Just need to resist the modding itch for a while til I get my wedding out of the way 😂

I inherited red callipers (sport & sound pack) and acquired some Matt anthracite RF019s, and I quite like how it looks. Even though the brakes are teensy compared to the R 😂

Thanks @Booth11 🙂 Its surprisingly good to drive, probably helped by the temporary step down to a 90 brake Renault for comparison 🤣 I love the wheels, just can’t make out the wheel/tyre/arch demarcation enough for my liking. I may look to swap for some in silver though, as the wheels are freakin fab. Have to say, the sport and sound pack offers a most peculiar external sound enhancement, a bit like a v8 🤣 and it’s a little bit addictive, although fairly sure it’ll be coded out/unplugged soon. I definitely miss the drama of the res-deleted R. Already have a wireless android auto dongle on order, some chipex, and have dynamic indicators to fit. And Ali special flappy extensions, obvs. Shall get a ramair and looking at Gti style but oversized tail pipes, as the lack of symmetry is tweaking my ocd 😂 Also forgot to say that it has keyless entry/go which I intentionally avoided on the R, but it’s a really nice low-ish cost option 👌🏽