Yes, more track days! Also, tone down the music a bit on your track shots. It's not bad in the background, but I personally love hearing more of those grumbly engine sounds (and DSG farts) 😆
I have a problem with a 2011 Audi A5 Quattro that even the dealership can't figure out... I'd love to email or talk to you and explain the situation to get your opinion.
HumbleMechanic you need to remove those heat trapping caliper covers with the R logo to get some airflow on track days. They look pretty but trap a pocket of super hot air on the pads.
I use 355 Stasis rotors w/ Alcon 4 pots on my MkV GTI . Upgraded to R32 rears. Slotted all around. Hawk pads and upgraded SS lines and fluid. My stickies are Falken Azenis. I swap out my pads usually one on track days and tires last for maybe 5 days. I also have heat indicators on my fronts so I have a idea of fluid and pad condition. I suggest people tracking keep a complete set of spare brakes on hand. Easy to swap during breaks in sessions.
There is a track where I live called Area27 and there is a Stage 3 Golf R that races there that nobody can touch... not surprised the people there were impressed by how fast it was.
What gets me is, the Porsche Race Team takes the drilled rotors off and puts on solid discs. Now this is before the ceramic discs came out, and in some classes the ceramic rotors are not allowed. In those cases the race team uses solid iron discs as mentioned. Why because of stress cracks in the drilled rotors. Now these rotors are dimpled, and yeah they are supposed to help with off gassing, but realistically a good pad design will do better job of that vs the dimples in my experience. The aluminum hats are where the weight savings is coming from. My option would be to go with this set up but order solid discs, and if you want a good track pad that can also be used on the street I would go with HAWK HP's or Centric HD's. These pads are not track only, but something you can street drive and track occasionally with and not break the bank. If you want a dedicated track pad, that is fine, but do not attempt to use them on a daily driver the noise when they are cold will drive you crazy. Another step would be to use braided brake lines, but some are not DOT approved so if your daily driving your car look for DOT approved lines. Enjoy the ride and have fun👍
My 2009 car with the mk6 gti engine in got upto 266f 130c On track and then the balance shaft gave up with low oil pressure on a corner! Ive since fitted a oil cooler and iABED baffled sump 👍
I found when I upgraded my rotor size it really didn't do a whole lot. Hopefully you can turn off all the nanny systems. The porshe 922 I drive always thinks I'm in snap oversteer . All these electronic sytems can really put a damper on the party .
The only benefits to bigger rotors is higher thermal capacity, ie they hold up to brake fade better. Pads and fluid made the biggest difference on my car.
I’ve done Auto Cross once, great fun, wanna get back in it. I’ve done paced laps around Watkins Glen, also great fun. I really really want to do a track day, anywhere!
Great to see you at VIR Charles. I'm upgrading my rotors this weekend with the same Ferrodo pads. I put on StopTech slotted w EBC Red and developed horrible hot spots and brake shudder at my October VIR weekend. Really ruined the weekend. Also installing the RS3 brake Air ducts. Fingers crossed for my days up there end of Feb!
i just did pads on 2021 GLI. it has electronic parking brake but i just spun the piston with large needle nose like any other rear brakes that retract with rotation of the piston.
Thanks for yet another great video! I was hoping you might be able to help answer a question about upgrading the breaks on my mk7 GTI. I am looking at doing the performance pack break upgrade. Please forgive my ignorance but when looking at the specs between the non performance pack front brakes and performance pack rear brakes they are very similar. The rear performance pack brakes are actually 2mm smaller but otherwise seem to be basically the same. It would seem to me that by simply moving the non performance pack brakes to the rear and replacing the front with performance pack brakes you could save quite a bit of money. Is there something I’m missing here and there is actually a benefit to fitting the performance pack rear brakes over the base front brakes?
I know the mk7/7.5 R rear brakes are tiny compared to the front’s as would be expected in a front-heavy fwd car, but the WEAR on the rears is....wow! Mine is at 16k and the rears are almost done, fronts are nominal. Factory mismatch for cost-savings? XDS to blame? I’m told even radar-cruise (not as nifty in practice) applies brakes to do its thing- rear only?
I heard the GTIs brake ratio was favored towards the rear to prevent nose dive when braking, I assume it's the same for the R. But if that's the case your would think the fronts and rears would be the same size.
Really cool video Charles, glad to see the R on track! Hoping I'd get to track mine as well but unfortunately it's very difficult to get to one here. One thing I was wondering is what's that rear wing and when did you install it?
Three things: #1 Why do you have a battery charger on the car for the brake swap? #2 Can you show how to retract the rear brake caliper pistons with VAG-COM? #3 Are you going to do a Macan front brake caliper upgrade? Would love to see a DIY for it...
Maintainer goes on any time the scan tool is connected. Especially when doing rear brakes. The caliper movement is a high draw killing the battery during that makes the caliper super sad. Yep I’ll do a quick video on it. Not sure on upgrades for this car. It’s kinda right, right where it is
I’ve always wondered how the Pilot 4s would do on track. Do you feel comfortable running those tires for track days or do you feel you need a more extreme summer tire? Also…Interested in these 2 piece rotors when they come out. Will they be from ShopDap?
DON'T RETORQUE THE WHEELS AFTER A SESSION!$#!@$ you are basically over torqueing it. Only re-check wheel torque after the car has cooled down or right before your next session.
@@derekyam1805 that is also what I did. And you wouldn't be able to retorque them when they are hot do to the explanation. If any thing they would be under torqued when they cool down
Looks like a great time! Needing a DSG cooler is news to me. I've ran my car 4x in 1 day on the Nurburgring and didn't feel any changes on the way the trans shifted while on the track. Is this necessary?
@@VuBeClan Yep, i was about to say my UK R has a DSG cooler, US models don't come with them en? - surely not another thing they skimped on (like dual injection)
Thanks I have not dug deep into cornering light mods. I really dont love messing with factory lighting. I super dont love encouraging anyone else ot do it. LOL
Dont you remove the spacers for track days? Sure u obtain a wider track but don't they apply futther stress all other suspension due to changed geometry? 🤔 seemed fun day out nice video 👍🏼
Love the vids much love but I'm surprised at how many track days they make an instructor sit with you in the states that takes away from the experience...the most sedate track day I've ever seen. Car look great though👍
This was a novice group with little or no previous track experience... Even with instructors in the car, there were offs. Charles did exceptionally well for his first time on track.
Hey...love your videos ...I have the mk5 gti ed30 and a mk7r dsg too here in the UK.. but you need to change those alloys asap... they look terrible for the car...
@@HumbleMechanic i think you want to go away from diamond cut wheels, how about flow formed or hybrid forged wheels .. or a light weight set and reduce more unsprung weight.. good for track days too. Some more handling mods would be good too... and a full review of what you would do if you decided to go stage 3 and why?!
@HumbleMechanic Did your engine run cool enough on the track with the sustained loads and increased horsepower form the Stage II+ tune you did? Also, would/did you consider running the Michelin Sport Cup tires on the car (or is there even a size that’ll fit those wheels?
He was running PS4S's. There are Pilot Sport Cup 2's available in 235/35/19, running them on a Seat Leon Cupra ST 300 4drive with track pack (so basically it is a a Golf R estate/wagon with factory 370mm 4pot brembos) and it is amazing on track.
Congratulations on the Body Shop magazine piece. Picking up my 1 of 4 in the US 07 Passat sport from the body shop…. Thank you random deer for ruining my car. Picked up the closest magazine and saw your beautiful face!
i have white rims and hate when brake dust stick to them. So using ceramic pads (from ATE) solved this issue. I wonder if dust from brake pads with "sport" marking also wont stick to to rims?
Do yourself a favor and get some track tyres next time out, Re11s’ or R888s or similar. Every time I refit my daily ps4’s after a track day I am amazed at how much better the car is with semi slick tyres.
VW GOLF TDI 2.0L 2015. Engine dies if you push it to over 3000 revs, but after restarting it runs fine. Diagnostics can't find any fault. What's the problem?
Great video Charles. would love to be instructed on how to drive like this. on a side note I have a 17 GTI sport with 84,000 K miles on it. is it time to trade it in? Is there any issues that these cars are prone to after 80 K miles? Love your channel bro…
Would you recommend adding camber plates before going back to the track? Do you feel that a stock R would have fewer issues with heat, versus a stage 2 car?
These cars love and need camber. -1.5* minimum when you’re novice; -2.5 to -3.0* (front) when you’re intermediate to advanced. It does wonders for cornering grip, tire wear and general turn in performance. I’ve found this to be true on most McPherson style cars, but it’s especially true on nose heavy FWD cars.
Hahahhahah how did I not catch that??? So as you may have noticed I hired a video guy, Eli. I’m hoping this lets me do more videos and also be a little more laid back. Even more “being in the shop with me” vibe
Could you do a video possibly on ways to provide cooling to the brakes, I have a stage 2 mk7 golf r that I take to mid Ohio and haven spoken to some other golf people the brakes get HOT! most pad compounds just can’t take the heat and the ones that can will only wear out more.
Typically, if the bumper has blanks for fog lights, you can put intake ports and air ducts in those. Some even have blanks for both. You can buy factory types like he mentions, but there are also companies that make very good quality "universal" intakes and ducts - Pegasus Auto Racing actually has a lot of stuff like that for a great price (I found them by looking around for NACA ducts and related stuff years ago...)
Hey Dude, one question please. Did you recalibrate your ABS system or something like this when you upgrade your brakes? I want to upgrade the from standard brakes of gti (220 PS) to performance brakes. Do I have to concider anything before I do it? Will I match plug and play? Thx very much Micha
Can a commoner diy guy change the rear pads without having to put the parking brake in "service position" or do I need to buy a scan tool to do the job?
You can. There are ways to retract without the scanner. However for sub $150 I’d recommend a cheap scannner(OBDeleven brand for vw/Audi) The average DIYer really does need one today
I was fully prepared to buy an R32 and do stuff like this to it but the prices have gone up so much I can only afford to watch these videos. It’s not quite the same experience but it’ll do. I refuse to buy a four door Golf. Maybe VW will come out with an electric two door dual motor GTI? I can dream, right?
BTW, that's not rubber that came off the tire. That's just pickup from the track. Once you got offline on the cool down lap you picked up all the marbles from everyone's tires.
For people who don't want to disable the pad sensor via software, just cut off the cable from the old pad, short it, isolate it, then connect it back to the plug on the car (maybe secure it to not move around). Also, when on track, always keep hands at 9 and 3...
I think it was around MSRP $925 Front set MSRP $825 Rear set. What actual retail will be? I’m not sure. I’m also trying to get you guys a killer discount too.
I have a problem with a 2011 Audi A5 Quattro that even the dealership can't figure out... I'd love to email or talk to you and explain the situation to get your opinion.
Hey Charles, technical question for you, is it safe to mix DOT3 with DOT4 broke fluid? I want to change the fluid in my GMC Canyon from DOT3 to RedLine RL-600 which claims DOT4 and I have a power bleeder which I'm going to use. If there is any residual DoOT3 left in the lines from the ABS pump would it mix together and cause issues or should I completely flush all the old DOT3 out
@@waterloo123100 But will they mix together and not cause issues. I flushed the fluid in my Golf R but that was already DOT4 so I didn't really need to worry, a little bit of old fluid just would have slightly lowered the boiling point
Rotate them early and often. Inspect tread depths closely in 3 places across the tires. VW’s and Audis running more negative camber generally have more even wear across the tire. I got 4 track days and 12k miles of spirited street use out of my 245/40R18 Michelin PS4S last year in a 3150lb car making 350bhp. Adding a 28mm front sway bar, Bilstein B8 dampers and more negative camber made the biggest improvements for me with no tire changes. The Michelins wear FAST if you do track days, especially if you’re making some power or have a heavier car. I retired my Michelins to street use only this year, and moved to a dedicated 200TW tire on a separate set of 18x8.5” lightweight wheels, but I’m also getting more serious about HPDEs and my lap times this year. When you’re novice, run a good summer tire and just pay attention to wear, and rotate accordingly to prolong their service life. I cross rotated mine after each event since the left front tire takes a BEATING in a FWD-biased car running courses in the CW direction. Like if this info helped you. 👍 🍻
SOS NEED HELP. my mk6 gti 2.0T has a EPC light on and now a check engine light . when taking slightly hard right turn car would lose power which triggered the epc light to come on and battery light to flash on but goes away when I shut off the vehicle and turn it back on .Any clue on what issue may be ?
Hello humble machenic please help my name is Vincent from south africa I have an obd 1 vr6 car that does not rev I just put in a new petrol pump still the some I don't know what to check now please help me
