Golf R – First Few Mods | QL Motorsport & Car Journal

Wrapped a few of the first things I wanted to address on the Golf R today. This posted will be updated as I wrap up/complete various changes I’ve planned to make:

Tail lights (1/26/20): The smoked ones on the car looked horrible, and were among the first things I wanted to change on the car. After going back and forth between USDM and Euro, I opted for some euro knock-offs from ebay (vland). These are the cherry red euro tails and look very clean. Whoever installed the smoked knock-offs cross-threaded one of the bolts, which forced us to cut the bolt off due to a washer being on each side of the body. The harnesses that came with the new tail lights were extremely fat, and made mounting a little tricky, but overall the improvement was well worth it. It’s actually quite hard to tell from pics what the difference is, especially dark pictures, but the improvement is pretty start in real life.

Before:

After (will take better pics once all said and done):

Removal of Dieselgeek short shifter (1/26/20): didn’t take many pics when we did this one, but it involved removing the intake and battery & mount to easily access everything. From there, it was just a matter of cranking everything off and finagling the new bits on. We initially messed up the setting and the upper row ended up neutral, but just involved adjusting the passenger side arm. I also found that the OEM throws weren’t even that long, so I don’t really see what the fuss is about.

Germany badge (1/26/20): removed.

Cam Follower (1/29/20): Wasn’t sure what the state of this one was going to be or how frequently the previous owner did it. I figured even if it were good, probably better safe than sorry to go ahead and take care of it – wound up good that I did. I followed pretty much exactly what this vid shows: https://youtu.be/BWBbNHrH0sI. The state of the cam follower, shown in pic below, was not fantastic:

Odor Bomb Interior (2/2/20): Turned out the scent that was driving me insane was from some scent stick thing that was under the driver’s seat. That has been removed, and I will odor bomb the car once more…

Removed Spared (2/2/20)

OEM Exhaust (Completed 3/2/20): I’ve picked up a 3″ to 2.25″ adapter for the exhaust, and it does fit the OEM exhaust perfectly. Just need to work on a plan now to swap & weld parts in, and hopefully fit a resonator in as well. Planning to lightly sand and spray down the OEM exhaust with some rust-proof spray.

Took to shop on 3/2/20 & completed, with added resonator – SO much quieter now.

OEM shift knob (2/10/20): OEM shift knob back in the car! Aftermarket is so tacky.

H & R 26mm Rear Sway Bar (2/9/20) – SO much thicker than stock. Expecting a good amount of improvement on turn in with this guy. Leaving it on the soft position to start, and if it’s not enough will flip to stiff. We had to use the heat gun on MAX to get the clamps off the bushings on the OEM RSB. Insane stuff.

Oil Change, Trans Fluid, Rear Diff, Haldex (2/9/20): All the main maintenance items completed. Haven’t done the fluids since the car’s been in my possession, so figured it was a good opportunity with the car up. The cap on the filter filter fought me, the fill plug on the trans fought me, we couldn’t swap something with the haldex, but confident we got everything done now.

Superpro Bushings – SPF3273-80k (2/10/20): As I am attempting to swap in the camber/caster plates for the golf, turns out it is very, very tricky to get the struts out of the car. Had to remove the control arms to get a better range of movement, and turns out it will work out for me anyway, since it was cheaper to get the new bushings pressed in. Set for max caster.

AEM Intake (2/9/20): I have a strong aversion to oiled filters, and was on the hunt for a bigger filter with better filtration. This fit the bill quite nicely, with a big bump in volume. Hopefully the tune handles it okay, should be fine since the car has a MAF.