Why do you modify?

[GTIMike]

Its a good question and one that I keep asking myself. 

 

I have a long standing pattern of buying a boring car which I leave alone (BMW X5 for example) and then get fed up and buying a desirable car but can't help but tinker with it. If there is some more enjoyment to be had for a relatively small outlay then it seems like a no-brainer.

 

BUT I'm at a cross roads now if I'm honest with this car, I'm in two minds whether to strip the mods back off and sell my R because its such an expensive hobby and I'm getting more frugal with money as I get older and the family needs increase.

 

Bearing in mind its 18 months old, my car needs around £2k spending on it thanks to my modifying it. The clutch realistically needs uprating to a Sachs if I want to extract more power which is £800 at least, the spangly 19" BBS wheels I've just bought need 4 more suitably sized tyre's which is another £600 then I'll probably want to lower the suspension...... and on and on it goes.

Then I think to myself, I'm a father of two with a labrador, I'm in my forties (early 40's!) what am I doing still messing with cars....... 

[Dollyman]

GTI Mike ......Then I think to myself, I'm a father of two with a labrador, I'm in my forties (early 40's!) what am I doing still messing with cars....... 

 

Slip of a lad, I'm 70 and recently ordered an R, also have a TR6 and Dolomite Sprint, you don't get any more sensible as you get older.!!!

[gregozedobe]

6 minutes ago, Dollyman said:

GTI Mike ......Then I think to myself, I'm a father of two with a labrador, I'm in my forties (early 40's!) what am I doing still messing with cars....... 

 

Slip of a lad, I'm 70 and recently ordered an R, also have a TR6 and Dolomite Sprint, you don't get any more sensible as you get older.!!!

Agreed, and often as you get older you have more money to spend on the non-essentials

[ToRnado]

15 hours ago, Booth11 said:

I don’t mod as such in the true sense of the word, but have added things that I feel should have been there from the off - adding a pedal box to improve throttle response at the top of the pedal travel, replacing the oem DSG paddles with S2T’s to improve and make shifting more pleasurable, a few adaptations with obdeleven to tweak, and, as important has been taking away things that detract from my driving experience such as coding out Stop/Start and headlight washers with obdeleven.  Other than that it’s been cosmetic enhancements just to suit personal taste.  With everything, I like to keep the car as close to oem as possible. There’s a possibility I might add to the power in due course as keeping the car a while yet.  

 

@Booth11, can you point me in the right direction for the coding to disable start /stop.

 

Cheers

[Booth11]

2 hours ago, ToRnado said:

 

@Booth11, can you point me in the right direction for the coding to disable start /stop.

 

Cheers

 

Here you go.

 

https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/18608-disable-stopstart-obdeleven-coding/

[CraigW]

Most of my modifications like Rebecca are purely cosmetic rather than any major changes. The biggest (scariest) mod I've done to date is a res delete and even then I went back and forth in my mind constantly as to whether I should do it or not. What prevents me from going down the path of any significant mods such as remaps, intercoolers, exhausts etc. is warranty issues, insurance concerns but most of all I cant get my head round spending huge amounts of money on mods when thinking I could be using that money towards the next step up in cars. Yes, you can always sell some of the mods but your never going to recover the initial outlay.

 

You spend £5k on mods and then think I could have put that towards an RS3, M2 etc etc  

[Shock&Awe]

32 minutes ago, CraigW said:

but most of all I cant get my head round spending huge amounts of money on mods when thinking I could be using that money towards the next step up in cars. Yes, you can always sell some of the mods but your never going to recover the initial outlay

 

You spend £5k on mods and then think I could have put that towards an RS3, M2 etc etc

I see your logic......but I disagree. If you put $7k on an R - you will make it faster than any stock car that is $7k more expensive than an R.

where I come from, an RS3 or M2 is around $40k more expensive than an R.

And if i can afford to buy an RS3/M2, then I can surely afford to mod it too.

No performance car remains stock in my hands.

 

From your mindset, I can make an educated assumption that you’ve probably never driven a stage 1 or 2 Golf R before. Do yourself a favour and go and drive one. then you will realise that it’s the biggest bang for your buck ‘investment’ ever, and you’ll kick yourself for why you’ve been driving a stock R for so long all these times.

The R is pretty much bulletproof. The engine and DSG wet clutch gearbox has been around for a decade or so, so all the gremlins have been weeded out. That together with the fact that the R  is one of the most mod friendly car around, makes for a very compelling reason to not leave it stock.

 

i can understand why many people are worried about warranty. I pretty much don’t care about warranty. Like many things in life - You gotta pay if you want to play

 

 

[SpursMadDave]

I mod therefore I am

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[SpursMadDave]

Most of my modifications like Rebecca are purely cosmetic rather than any major changes. The biggest (scariest) mod I've done to date is a res delete and even then I went back and forth in my mind constantly as to whether I should do it or not. What prevents me from going down the path of any significant mods such as remaps, intercoolers, exhausts etc. is warranty issues, insurance concerns but most of all I cant get my head round spending huge amounts of money on mods when thinking I could be using that money towards the next step up in cars. Yes, you can always sell some of the mods but your never going to recover the initial outlay.
 
You spend £5k on mods and then think I could have put that towards an RS3, M2 etc etc  

Just adding a JB4 to to my R which added £50 to my insurance and will be removed if any warranty work is required, can't see any negatives there?

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[GTIMike]

5 hours ago, Dollyman said:

GTI Mike ......Then I think to myself, I'm a father of two with a labrador, I'm in my forties (early 40's!) what am I doing still messing with cars....... 

 

Slip of a lad, I'm 70 and recently ordered an R, also have a TR6 and Dolomite Sprint, you don't get any more sensible as you get older.!!!

Haha Fair point Dollyman!! I shall consider myself told and keep on spending

 

My dad used to own/sell/break Dolly Sprints back in the day as spare income depending on their condition. I think he's probably still got bits in his double garage, he's a bloody hoarder!

[CraigW]

1 hour ago, Shock&Awe said:

I see your logic......but I disagree. If you put $7k on an R - you will make it faster than any stock car that is $7k more expensive than an R.

where I come from, an RS3 or M2 is around $40k more expensive than an R.

And if i can afford to buy an RS3/M2, then I can surely afford to mod it too.

No performance car remains stock in my hands.

 

From your mindset, I can make an educated assumption that you’ve probably never driven a stage 1 or 2 Golf R before. Do yourself a favour and go and drive one. then you will realise that it’s the biggest bang for your buck ‘investment’ ever, and you’ll kick yourself for why you’ve been driving a stock R for so long all these times.

The R is pretty much bulletproof. The engine and DSG wet clutch gearbox has been around for a decade or so, so all the gremlins have been weeded out. That together with the fact that the R  is one of the most mod friendly car around, makes for a very compelling reason to not leave it stock.

 

i can understand why many people are worried about warranty. I pretty much don’t care about warranty. Like many things in life - You gotta pay if you want to play

 

 

 

 

You do make a fair point but you are a bit blasé in terms of warranty. It's a hell of a lot of money to lose if the car goes bang as a result of the mods on it. Another point to make is that if I did mod it would be after warranty but them my thinking is again you spend a load of money on mods and then not too far round the corner would be the mk8 which is surely going to be faster and with more tech. At which point I would be hankering after the new car 

[SpursMadDave]

 
 
You do make a fair point but you are a bit blasé in terms of warranty. It's a hell of a lot of money to lose if the car goes bang as a result of the mods on it. Another point to make is that if I did mod it would be after warranty but them my thinking is again you spend a load of money on mods and then not too far round the corner would be the mk8 which is surely going to be faster and with more tech. At which point I would be hankering after the new car 

It's a good question, mod it now and take the chance and enjoy the car or wait a year or 2 and upgrade, nobody is saying either is right or wrong it's a choice that's all one suits one person and one suits another. I am pretty much in the middle I don't plan to mod anything too much just enough to bring a bit more enjoyment to my ownership.

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[Martin2]

I’ve never ‘modded’ a car before, never felt a strong need to and would only have ever considered a manufacturers accessory eg M Performance bits.   However, this bloomin forum makes it really difficult.....and I’m definately going to end up succumbing, though likely to be Rebecca level of cosmetic and easily reversed mods.   I think I will be happy enough with the performance, after all we chose the Golf rather than any of the quicker options and it’s not exactly slow.  Can’t do with it being quicker than my car either!

 

I have caught myself looking at how cheap / easy it would be to get another 100+ hp out of the 750, but that’s still got 2 years warranty remaining and I think it would spoil it (traction issues).

[Jon R306]

I’m into subtle reversible Mods Myself.and warranty friendly.

But if disposable income allowed then to hell with the warranty and minimum Stage 2 I’d go 👍😁

My last car was a fair bit more expensive like 60% more and that could of been a lot better drive for the sake of a pedal box to cure the dead inch of throttle.

so it’s nothing to do with saving the mod money toward a better car .

The R is so easy to make faster and handle better so on and so on and for very little outlay.

how far you want to go is up to the individual but as far as value for money goes  I get a big kick out of what I’ve spent on mods 

 

some people I know spend as much on other silly recreational items in six months that’ll cost the same as My current level of mods to enjoy for many years to come .

 

 

When people ask why do you mod then they 100% don’t get it 🤔 why we do so.. there’s no point  on an explanation unless you’re stuck in a room with that person for a duration of time.😁

 

[SamS]

4 hours ago, Jon R306 said:

 

When people ask why do you mod then they 100% don’t get it 🤔 why we do so.. there’s no point  on an explanation unless you’re stuck in a room with that person for a duration of time.😁

 

 

I need a room becs.. get the man a room! 😂.