2017 VW Golf #52

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

Post by Basement Paul »

This week's tank netted me 32.9mpg. I stopped warming it up at work, and have got on it pretty hard a couple times. I'm sure that it's still loosening up a bit, and expect summer will bring 36-37mpg easily for everyday. I did see 102mph on Friday coming home from work. Not a difficult feat at all. My butt dyno is telling me that I'm not getting full boost until 3rd gear which is about 58mph, as it seems to pull harder in 3rd and 4th than the mid - top of 2nd. There's so much computer stuff going on at once, that I believe I'm probably right. Never looked it up though...

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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This weekend the Golf got it's first oil change (2200 miles) which is real simple. A plastic o-ringed plug in the plastic oil pan that comes out with a big regular screwdriver and locks back into place when tight.
The oil filter is a cartridge type that comes out the top. It holds six quarts of 5-40 Castrol synthetic and is supposed to be good for 10k miles. I'll probably stick to my 5k mile intervals.
I'm thinking about taking it to TRP this Wed to see what it's good for. Anything better than 15.8 would be good enough for me. If it's slower than that, I might have to take measures.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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Workhorse by day, class winner by night. The Golf does it all.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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No major updates. I do still like it a bunch. It's been to the dealer for a slight rattle in the rear suspension and a bunch of goo by the passenger's side engine mount. Turns out the mount isn't the issue, it's the cosmoline coming out from the frame??? Apparently the factory covers the internals of the frame rails with the stuff and it found it's way out in the heat. The rattle was "no problem found", but at least there's a notation that it's doing it. It's still doing it, but not enough for me to make a fuss.

I bought these today:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Firestone-Wint ... 2707906391

Mark this seller if you're looking for tires. It was cheaper than the tirerack.com price, which included a $60 rebate in the form of a prepaid Mastercard, and I didn't have to pay tax either... It was more than $10 cheaper for the set, delivered to my door. I plan to leave the snows on these wheels forever and hopefully over the winter find a set of 17" OEM wheels for summer.

So far I'm pretty solid in the 36mpg range on most tanks, including A/C and normal mixed driving. Can't wait to get a 14sec pass when it gets cold.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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So the cold weather 14 sec pass eluded me with bad weather all November, so that will have to wait until Spring. With my old tire machine in my possession for a week or so, I took advantage and mounted my snow tires with a little more than 8k miles on the clock. It's also received it's second oil change around 7500 miles.
I'm currently looking for that 17" set of wheels and tires on both eBay and CL / FB and think I found a nice complete set with tires. More to come when I find them.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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So the prices of 17" rim sets are astronomical, so with some searching, I found a nearly new set of 16" x 6.5" stockers (rims only) off a 2019 Jetta in Aurora for $250. We picked them up today on the way to Summit for S10 parts. What this will do is keep my tire costs down, but still get me a bunch more rubber on the road. My factory rims which now have snow tires on them, are only 15 x 6" and are thus limiting when it comes to any type of sporty tire. I don't necessarily love the way they look, but the stance will be better, and they'll still just look like stock wheels. End of the day, this is a utility device, and a plain white Golf, so it's never going to be that pretty anyway...
I will be buying a set of these to go on the new wheels:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js ... mpare1=yes

I like a lot of things about these tires, and size-wise are within a tenth of an inch of my stock 15" tires, but will add 1.2" of tread width to the road with a more performance oriented tread compound. Hopefully no more squealing on every hard corner. I can buy these on eBay for $336 for a set, delivered to my house. So by Spring I'll be ready to go.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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10K. Still a baby.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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Test fitting the "new" wheels. Seems ok to me. They're 1/2" wider and seems that a little of the extra width goes in, and a little comes out. With a wider tire than stock it should look right.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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I want to give props to this place:

https://www.ebay.com/str/TireBuyer/

They not only had the cheapest price on the General tires I bought, and delivered them in two days, but were also very prompt in sending out the $50 Visa gift card that came along with buying a set of four General tires at the time. I was satisfied with the price of the tires before the gift card, that just made them $12.50 ea cheaper, OR covered my mounting and balancing. Either way, I'm happy with these guys.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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Yesterday the new wheels and tires got installed on the car. Figuring we're not going to have any blizzards, I went ahead and put them on. Plus, I really hate snow tires for the way they sound, ride, and handle when it's not snowing, which is most of the time. I'm happy with how they look although I still have to clean the wheels. The tire width, rim spacing, and height are all spot on IMO. I'm super happy with the ride and handling so far too. With these tires, I might actually contemplate an autocross, but I think the car has too many nannies and would end up shutting itself off on a track day.

-BP
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Fred32v
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

Post by Fred32v »

Those wheels look good. Super nice upgrade.
Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
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MostMint
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

Post by MostMint »

I am 100% confident they can all be bypassed. If an 08 Impala SS can do it...
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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Maybe, if you speak German... Unfortunately, I would most likely have to get a specialized tuner to do the upgrade as I know for a fact that VW / Audi / Porsche has their own language. There's guys out there that specialize in VW upgrades and it's really pretty easy to add 60-70 HP to this thing, but I'm not going to do that. I guess even if I didn't run it flat out, it might still be fun at a track day scenario. At this point, I'm thinking it's the best handling car I've ever owned. The closest thing maybe was my '12 Mustang, but it would have really needed a wheel / tire upgrade to handle this well as it was riding on rental car grade all-season rubber.
Funny story; today I was coming off the freeway into Painesville with nobody in front of me, so I was pushing to see if I could get the tires to squeal. Luckily I wasn't able to do that as there were THREE highway patrol cars that had someone pulled over just off the ramp.... I was going way too fast, but since I wasn't making any noise, my normal looking Golf didn't draw any attention as they were ALL outside their Chargers. Yikes!

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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Yesterday the Golf got its winter tires put back on and an oil change at 17,400 miles. Today I washed it for the first time in awhile too. As I'm working from home now, my usage has gone down considerably. I've had it about 20 months now, and it will quickly become a low mileage vehicle. Except for the intermittent issue I have with the radio controls reading my MP3 player, this car has been a faithful companion. I believe I'll keep it until it's paid off then probably trade it towards something more fun and less practical.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2017 VW Golf #52

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Today the Golf got some Spring cleaning. I vacuumed the inside floor, seats, and headliner because of the little dog hairs everywhere and winter crud on the floors. It got a good washing too. At 19,300 miles and just about 25 months in my possession, it's held up pretty well.

-BP
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