danny951

Anyone here no anything about VW's? I just got a new Jetta GLI with VR6 and basically have been looking around for a web forum that compares to Rennlist for P-Cars... let me tell you... I can't find one..

Only ones I've found, 80% of the kids there are interested in lowering their cars and know absolutely nothing about what a suspension is supposed to be. No body has been able to answer any of my questions about braking, suspension.. etc on the cars...

If there is anyone here who knows where to go for accurate VW discussion, please clue me in. I am pretty frustrated with the ignorance I've seen on some of these euro sites..

Questions I've had are..

1) Stock brakes are 1pot calipers.. I'm looking for something better. Some of the guys use Boxster brakes.. how do these compare to S4 brakes? I have noticed some fade with my stock brakes, so I'll probably get better pads too, but can't remember the name of the company a lot of yall use for autocross.. something RS?

2)I want to get less body roll by using sway bars. I'm trying to find out what thickness to get so I can corner better, reduce understeer, and transfer weight to the front around the corners to keep the power on the ground.

Anyway.. I know I'm risking getting flak about posting VW stuff on here... but I've gotten used to having such knowledgeable people to exchange information with, that I'm spoiled! Someone steer me the right direction, please!

IN case anyone's wondering why on earth i would by something other than a Porsche, basically, I was all set to buy a certain beautiful 968 when I jacked up my credit and couldn't get a loan for the car. Since it's easier to get a loan on a new car than a 12 year old Porsche, I decided I'd look around at other German vehicle that I could afford new. So I went to a VW dealer and picked out a Platinum Gray 2003 VR6 Jetta GLI. 6-speed, 200hp, 2.8L n/a with sport seats and all the sport options... it's actually very pleasing to drive... but there is no substitute, so hopefully I'll be handing the keys to this to my future wife (1 year maybe???) and get into another Porsche.. Long post.. sorry... but everyone here's always been like family so I thought I'd share. AND it's the people, not the cars, right????

danny951

Sgopher

Danny, I have a friend that is heavily into VWs. He uses the following for information.

http://www.vwvortex.com/

I think if you pull your boots up high, the bs won't be too thick and you will get some decent info.

I hope this helps.

BruceWard

Did you get the sport suspension option. My wife has a Jetta 1.8T Tip GLI with the 17" wheels and sport suspension option. It handles and brakes very well. I have even seen Autocross scores where they have beat 968's. Im sure it will not beat my 968 in the corners.

I have not driven an VR6 GLI so I have no idea how the extra weight plays on the suspension and brakes. But with the factory upgraded suspension I cant see any reason to upgrade past the factory sport suspension.

HY M8NC

THE tuner/parts place a couple of years ago was Neuspeed-I don't know if they are still around, or could give you any help-but worth a try.

Personally, I think it's an awesome car. I looked at those, but got a great deal on a 2003 Maxima.

Chris_924s

Pick up a copy of "European Car" magazine- a LOT of VW stuff in there- last month's was ALL about gti's..

nine-44

There is a local club called 22-23, you can find them on www.cincinnatistreetracing.com or www.cincystreetscene.com They got the name from the 22nd and 23rd letters in the alphabet, VW. Hmm, pretty cool I think. There are a few guy that DO know their stuff there, CSR is down some of the time, but if you get in con tact with them, you can prolly talk with them through Email or AIM when CSR is down. Good Luck

924Superwagen

They're around...Neuspeed

Gear Dog

vwvortex has a lot of younger people but there are some older experienced people there.
You could also try rapidparts.com, they sell parts but are very knowledgeable. Nuespeed is still in business and you can get a lot of info from there, I built a turbo cabriolet some time ago and bill spent many hours on thephone with me helping me get the correct set up.
ECS tuning is another place and the owner actively races in rallies so he would be a great resource as well.

After over 15 years of VW my wife siad "No more" and made me buy a porsche.


my wife has the Jetta 1.8T with the tiptronic and sport suspension and it is a blast to drive. I'm actually thinking about taking it to an auto-x event this weekend being that my 944 is still out of comission.


Hope this helps

Ken

86 944 N/A

Manning

Yeah, I'd say check out Neuspeed. Aaron Neumann has been around doing this stuff since the 70's. If I recall they actually did some stuff for the 924 back in the day. Even though they do a lot of stuff for Asian cars now, they are still the sh*t for VW's.

danny951

wow..thank you for the info.. keep it coming!
the forum I was talking about was VWVortex... too many young kids spouting off to decipher what is bs and what is for real. I was going to ask about Neuspeed.. some of them over there give them crap because they are higher priced and all.. but let me tell you, coming from 951 world over to vw world, prices look very nice in comparison.. koni coilovers for under a grand! and brakes, everything for cheap.

About the suspension, yes I did get the sport suspension (I'm pretty sure) but it isn't adjustable, and there is a it too much body roll. I think I'd be happy with some roll bars to take care of that and at the same time enhance the ability to tricycle around the cones at autocrosses. How do I konw what sizes to get though? I mean, I want stiffer rear bars to push the weight to the front, right? I'm thinking 25mm front and 28mm rear, so when I go around the tight turns, the outside rear wheel comes up and I keep the weight in the front where the power is. As far as brakes, I remember now the name ... Porterfield pads. I think I'll go with these, the street ones ,and then see if fade is still there after a lot of braking.

Another thing I'm gonna do is call DOn Istook and see if he does any VW stuff... I know he does Porsche stuff (great work) and he races Audi S4s so he probably would do vw stuff too.. anyone know for sure? I know that someone on here is where I first heard of him, so maybe someone knows.

Manning

Hey dude, you know what forum you should check out, the one on Grassroots Motorsports magazines website. Pretty much everyone on that forum races, or at least is kept in line by those who do.

http://www.grmotorsports.com/ and then click the message board link in the frame on the left.

Watch doing stuff to the back end only on VW's too. At least on the older ones they tend to break loose really easily if you get the balance off.