My New (to me) GTI

Well, it was finally time to get rid of my escort. I picked up this MK4 GTI Tuesday. I'm extremely pleased so far and can't wait to drive it after I've done a few mods.

Pics:

looks nice. what mods do you plan on doing?

Nothing too major. Downpipe/exhaust, APR re-mapped ecu, intake, turbo timer, suspension, maybe a fmic. It's really a fun car already...

I'd work on the suspension and tires first in that car, and check out vwvortex.com forums for all the info, good and bad mind you, you'll ever need.

p.s. don't listen to the vortex yahoos who will just tell you to "slam it" ;)

I'd avoid the Bilstien PS4's(or whatever they're called). They're certainly a high-quality unit, but Bilstiens - in general - just have way too much compression dampening. I installed a set on a friends MkIV Jetta, then when he sold the car, I removed them & installed them on another friend's Turbo-S Bug. We never could get either car dialed-in the way we'd hoped, especially considering how much they cost.

Of course, if you wanted to have them custom valved, they would likely rock.

Regular Bilstien shocks seem to work well on the older VWs. The PSS9 isnt really worth the money in my opinion. Id be inclinded to look at the shine racing stuff for that car.

On the Mk IV's, doesn't the geometry of the suspension get royally wacky if you lower them?

petegossett wrote: I'd avoid the Bilstien PS4's(or whatever they're called). They're certainly a high-quality unit, but Bilstiens - in general - just have way too much compression dampening. I installed a set on a friends MkIV Jetta, then when he sold the car, I removed them & installed them on another friend's Turbo-S Bug. We never could get either car dialed-in the way we'd hoped, especially considering how much they cost. Of course, if you wanted to have them custom valved, they would likely rock.

I know that Turbo-S bug. As much as I iked it then, i don't really miss it now.

By the way, the vw 1.8T is a sweet engine.

EricM wrote: I know that Turbo-S bug. As much as I iked it then, i don't really miss it now. By the way, the vw 1.8T is a sweet engine.

hey, so do I, I seem to remember it was slower then a certain purple neon

at some point I will own a gti, drove a 20th anniversary gti and once on boost it was quick, but had some lag in stock form

2.0dohc wrote:

EricM wrote: I know that Turbo-S bug. As much as I iked it then, i don't really miss it now. By the way, the vw 1.8T is a sweet engine.

hey, so do I, I seem to remember it was slower then a certain purple neon at some point I will own a gti, drove a 20th anniversary gti and once on boost it was quick, but had some lag in stock form

Then get the MKV it's got none of the lag issues :D.. But 1.5 times the mass..

They did however fix the throttle cut issues that the Turbo S had. I can Hold the brake and accelerate on boost at will.