# Track project *still stripping*



## Von Twinzig

Hi, new here and newish to TT's (son had one some years ago when he lived at home).

After a fair bit or faffing about looking at cars who's owners seemed incapable of telling the truth over the phone or were just too stupid to see the problems with them, I Just picked up a pretty honest '02 225 for cheap money.

Not been messed with. Reasonable mileage. Solid black (easier to repair than metallics). Recent water pump and belts service. 4 new tyres all the same make and a known brand (what is it with Chinese tyres on these things?) Paintwork has been lashed by a thousand carwashes - just needs mopping, but on the whole it should make a decent base for a track car.

Bunch of my car mates on my other forum reckon I'm nuts having failed to steer me down the traditional Golf/Clio route. Yes it's never going to be a light thing without going berserk and the plan is to keep to a reasonable budget this time, but I think there's scope to build something interesting and have some fun. It won't be precious and it'll have to live outside as the garage already houses my main toy.

Looks like this place has a lot of knowledge and info related to making these cars work. Looking forward to playing my part.

So, anybody got a basic shopping list of stuff that works on track that I can work through in stages? Anyone got a decent Betleys going spare?










Thanks

VT


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## Adam86

How deep are your pockets? There's plenty of different options out there, it just depends what your budget is and how much of a serious track car your after?


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## Von Twinzig

I'll get the car working first and work my way through it. It's a project so the idea is to get back on the track and do things gradually not spend a year getting it all done. BTDT.

So,
Skip most of the interior
Ditto the heavy seats replace with custom buckets
Half cage in
Harness...got 2 sets of Schroths from before
Pads, probably Mintex 1144's and fluid RBF 600
Decent dampers though not going mad aka KWv3. Have a contact inside Billy though I'm not a big fan if them
Geo and corner weight
Team Dynamics with v70a's

That gets the thing to the start line. After that it's the TT specific stuff with which I need some advice...

Better breathing in and out
A custom remap probably by WS
And so on

VT


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## Adam86

Wak box and panel filter, 3" tip, wak map and 3"downpipe and decat in the group buy should start you off nicely with performance. 
Handling wise go for defcons and r32 anti roll bars with a few poly bushes. 
Then you want to be looking a some bigger breaks as the tts aren't really upto much, there's several options out there on this but again it all depends on what sort of budget you have.


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## Von Twinzig

Cool. Thanks. Stopping and handling first, power is way down the list, losing weight is free power.


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## Matt B

There is a pretty hefty counterweight tucked behind the rear bumper - make sure you lose this


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## Von Twinzig

Thanks Matt. This is the stuff I need to know.

I'll get it on the local weighbridge this week to get the base figure before I start.

VT


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## Matt B

I would seriously consider an uprated haldex controller too - the stock 4wd isn't much good for agressive driving.

I am pretty sure [email protected] is currently trialling a fully programmable unit from germany. It's about 900 euros but I will definitely be considering one if he comes back with good reports (and I am already running the blue performance model)


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## Von Twinzig

Yep, I'd read about the blue upgrade, but wasn't aware of this new bit of kit. Sounds like it would be worth waiting until the programmable one is proven, would prefer not to do things twice and I'm in no rush. Thanks for the heads up.


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## L33JSA

If you're contemplating doing any serious track work in a TT then I'd advise you get a decent oil cooler.


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## Von Twinzig

Sounds like good advice. Preferred make, model and position?


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## CR51GYR-TT240

Can't go wrong with replacing your oem bushes with better ones, cokbot defcons and bushes will work a treat.

Arb if course, but the best upgrade is brakes and Tyres.

I have a set of brand new poly bushes if you fancy, send me a pm if you like.


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## Von Twinzig

Okay, need some advice from you guys please.

Got two quotes for a new exhaust system and remap.

Pipewerx 3" throughout decat system plus a generic plug and play stage 2 APR map = £1400
AMD 2.75" Miltek non-res decat system plus RR live remap (probably a base map with car specific tweaks) = £1022

So in the real world is it worth spending another £400 and the trip to Pipewerx? What are the benefits? Are there any benefits?

I've had exhausts built for 911's and spent time having live RR mapping done (10 hours on one car). I'm struggling to see what the Pipewerx option gives me.

I'm not interested in pure HP figures, I'm more interested in torque and drivabilty.

Thanks.


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## outdoor stevie

If it's only for the track and you want to lose weight then you could always dump the air con compressor and associated gubbins which would save up to 10kilos, I also did see a very nice oil cooler which came of from the oil filter mount on an adapter and the wee radiator was on the front.

Enjoy stevie


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## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> Okay, need some advice from you guys please.
> 
> Got two quotes for a new exhaust system and remap.
> 
> Pipewerx 3" throughout decat system plus a generic plug and play stage 2 APR map = £1400
> AMD 2.75" Miltek non-res decat system plus RR live remap (probably a base map with car specific tweaks) = £1022
> 
> So in the real world is it worth spending another £400 and the trip to Pipewerx? What are the benefits? Are there any benefits?
> 
> I've had exhausts built for 911's and spent time having live RR mapping done (10 hours on one car). I'm struggling to see what the Pipewerx option gives me.
> 
> I'm not interested in pure HP figures, I'm more interested in torque and drivabilty.
> 
> Thanks.


not sure on the best exhaust- but a live wak map is certainly the best option IMO- i've seen impressive figures without going 3" downpipe, just decat and 3" back, with FMIC and p-flow filter- my MAF calculated BHP from this was 293, from WAK


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## Paulj100

This would be a good thread for you to read regarding a track day TT. Lots of helpful tips on here.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=136873

Hope it helps.

Paul


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## Von Twinzig

Paulj100 said:


> This would be a good thread for you to read regarding a track day TT. Lots of helpful tips on here


Thanks Paul. Been following that thread since I joined here. As you say some interesting stuff.


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## UR_TT

Von Twinzig said:


> Paulj100 said:
> 
> 
> 
> This would be a good thread for you to read regarding a track day TT. Lots of helpful tips on here
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Paul. Been following that thread since I joined here. As you say some interesting stuff.
Click to expand...

And if there is anything not covered in the thread, just drop me a line. Anything to help a fellow TTracker 

My list if I was starting from scratch, from top to bottom. 
Weight, weight, weight
Remap, stage 1. (no exhaust? Well tracks are getting demand on Db restrictions all over the world)
Brakecooling, TTRS wishbone plastic thingys work well for the price
Non sliding front calipers, org sucks 
Breakpads, go for PFC´s 01 nothing else will hold out for any duration of time
Haldex upgrade, blue is enough, comp if you had previous racing experience. 
Springs and coils
Drive, laugh and contemplate to movit futher... 

V70a´s go for hard, others will dry your wallet. :wink: 
FMIC, and get some proper airducts routed to the brakes and maybe air intake. Side inters gone makes this possible. 
Topmounts and bushes all around, Delrin or hardcore alu+bearings
Dogmount, stiffer. 
Drive, drive,drive, pass everybody, laugh and enjoy! 

//U


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## Von Twinzig

Thanks for the shopping list Ur. Some good tips. [smiley=cheers.gif]

Had an interesting exchange of emails with Wak (how long before I can PM here?) and have a date scheduled for mapping.

So now need some options for someone to build me a 3" decat, turbo back system. Are there any recommendations other than Pipewerx?

VT


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## MyquickTT

3inch APR CATBACK have mine on its way and I can't wait it should be sweet!!!!! ECS has it

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## Von Twinzig

MyquickTT said:


> 3inch APR CATBACK have mine on its way and I can't wait it should be sweet!!!!! ECS has it


So I've spoken to a bunch of mappers and the proven consensus is 3" turbo back decat into a 2.75 Miltek/Scorpion/WHY back section.
Seems these engines need a bit of back pressure to stop the torque dropping off a cliff and the reduction provides that. I'm interested in drivability and need the torque as much as the HP.

Next is the TIP. What's the best option here Forge, SFS, B5 or something else?


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## Von Twinzig

Made a start today. No going back now.....



















These puppies are heavy.....










Will be replaced by these once the carpet and sound deadening is out......










More to come.

VT


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## fixitagaintomoz

That's a cracking start!

You going with no carpet? From what people have said that is the only real sound deadening, so i hope you like it loud!

So the old seats are 22.5kg each? How much do the OMPs weigh?


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## barb

As for tip and mapping I would vote for [email protected] 5 and custom 3" system from infinity exhausts.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


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## Von Twinzig

fixitagaintomoz said:


> That's a cracking start!
> 
> You going with no carpet? From what people have said that is the only real sound deadening, so i hope you like it loud!
> 
> So the old seats are 22.5kg each? How much do the OMPs weigh?


The last one was way too loud and you needed to drive with plugs. This time I'm going to install 4 way stretch carpet once I get the bitumen off. Not keen on just leaving the floor painted, gets scruffy really quick. Thinking maybe do the same under the roof, so remove the headlining too.

OMP's with mounts and runners are about 11kg, so less than half.

Oh, and the Momo wheel a boss are about half the weight too. The original airbag wheel was just over 3kg.


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## shane100

If your after some uprated brakes I've got a brembo big brake kit for sale in the for sale section. There a great upgrade and great for track use. Pm me if you need anymore details


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## Von Twinzig

shane100 said:


> If your after some uprated brakes I've got a brembo big brake kit for sale in the for sale section. There a great upgrade and great for track use. Pm me if you need anymore details


Don't think I've earned my 'PM' spurs yet Shane. 

Admin/mods..can this be switched on please? That's twice I've needed to PM someone about parts. Frustrating. I'm a Mod on another forum (impactbumpers.com) if you need a reference. Thanks

VT


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## Von Twinzig

More weight out today....










Minus 20kg. The front carpet alone weighs 11kg and the rest of the A, B and C pillar "lightweight" plastic...another 9kg 

VT


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## Peeunit

I'll be watching this one with interest. I like
"I want to do this" Threads... Then next day "I did this last night"

Keep up the progress


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## Von Twinzig

Well, the carpet and all the rest of the plastic is out...










Headlining and sun visors went this evening. Another 4kg in the bin. The dead sheep is yet to be removed. 










Leaving the door cards until I get some thin C/F sheet.

Next up, the horrible heat gun and scraper bitumen removal job. Urgh!


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## UR_TT

Von Twinzig said:


> Leaving the door cards until I get some thin C/F sheet.
> 
> Next up, the horrible heat gun and scraper bitumen removal job. Urgh!


Make sure to have a good supply of the best local brew at hand for the bitumen, makes it a easier. :wink: 

Otherwise any citrusacid spray will take care of the small bits/recedue of bitumen. On the "sheeps", find some mild laquer to spray on before removal, or something that will bond it. Makes i a whole lot easier, i did mine inch by inch... [smiley=bigcry.gif]

On doorcards, get rid of anything connected to a cable and U are pretty light as is. I´m still waiting for my CF cards, only been a year i the making so far. :roll:

Skål!

//U


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## Von Twinzig

Thanks Ur.
Beer, lacquer and citrus spray...great combo! [smiley=cheers.gif]

VT


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## Peeunit

If you can get hold of any, Dry Ice gets rid of bitumen really easily apparently....


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## Von Twinzig

Peeunit said:


> If you can get hold of any, Dry Ice gets rid of bitumen really easily apparently....


I'd heard that too, but no clue how you get hold of and transport it. I can see me burning myself with that stuff. :lol:

I've used the hot air gun and scraper method a few times and it works, but it is a ball ache.

Ur...I picked up some citrus based label remover. Thanks for the tip. Last time I gassed myself with petrol fumes! Not good.

Did you ever get a response to removing the airbag control unit in your thread?

VT


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## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> More weight out today....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Minus 20kg. The front carpet alone weighs 11kg and the rest of the A, B and C pillar "lightweight" plastic...another 9kg
> 
> VT


a b and c trims in good nick?

thinking of selling them?


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## Von Twinzig

fixitagaintomoz said:


> a b and c trims in good nick? thinking of selling them?


They were fine. Need to check the clips, but I was pretty careful removing them.

For sale? Sure, but let me check the clips first and get back to you.

VT


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## NickG

Just noticed your in Huntingdon, so if you ever need a hand with anything drop me a PM and let me know, I'm only up the road, near March!


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## UR_TT

Von Twinzig said:


> Ur...I picked up some citrus based label remover. Thanks for the tip. Last time I gassed myself with petrol fumes! Not good.
> 
> Did you ever get a response to removing the airbag control unit in your thread?
> 
> VT


 [smiley=thumbsup.gif] And u smell better afterwards aswell. 

Nah, I removed it anyway. Did solder an extra earth cable to the airbag light, keeps it out. And recent I´ve connected that to a timer so that the light comes on, on start up and then goes out after a few sec. Enough to fool the MOT. No problems with the rest of the car due to the removal.

Keep pushing both of you, well worth it in the end!

//U


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## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Just noticed your in Huntingdon, so if you ever need a hand with anything drop me a PM and let me know, I'm only up the road, near March!


Just a stones throw and thanks for the offer, got a feeling I'll be taking you up on it in the near future.


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## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> NickG said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just noticed your in Huntingdon, so if you ever need a hand with anything drop me a PM and let me know, I'm only up the road, near March!
> 
> 
> 
> Just a stones throw and thanks for the offer, got a feeling I'll be taking you up on it in the near future.
Click to expand...

Not a problem dude!


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## Von Twinzig

Been busy with other things so just had a few hours after work.

ICE and associated wiring gone....










Finally finished the front bitumen removal using the hot air gun and a selection of plastic scrapers. Big thank-you to Ur for the citrus label remover tip. Made a terrible job bearable.... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]










VT


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## Peeunit

NickG said:


> Just noticed your in Huntingdon, so if you ever need a hand with anything drop me a PM and let me know, I'm only up the road, near March!


Ditto. I'm just down the road in papworth mate, would be interested in dropping by and seeing how this goes!


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## Von Twinzig

Peeunit said:


> NickG said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just noticed your in Huntingdon, so if you ever need a hand with anything drop me a PM and let me know, I'm only up the road, near March!
> 
> 
> 
> Ditto. I'm just down the road in papworth mate, would be interested in dropping by and seeing how this goes!
Click to expand...

Anytime. PM me first though.


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## temporarychicken

Looking seriously Spartan in there now.

What about the radio cover flap and the door cards? Surely they could move out as well?


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## Von Twinzig

temporarychicken said:


> Looking seriously Spartan in there now.
> What about the radio cover flap and the door cards? Surely they could move out as well?


Some sort of lightweight entertainment option will be going back in. It's pretty boring driving to Spa, Zandvoort et al without some sounds.

Door cards will be off once I have figured out what to do to make them look neat. This is not a race car so it won't be a shed.

Something like this, which I've done before......










VT


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## Von Twinzig

Finished off removing the bitumen today. Still got some up behind the dash and the on the front wheels wells, but I'll sort that over the winter when I remove the dash completely.

For those thinking of removing this stuff this is what's involved.

Get a cheap hot air paint stripper, one with two speeds. Stick the fishtail nozzle on and work with the gun on high.

Arm yourself with a series of plastic scrapers. My preferred weapons are a cheap screen ice scraper and a plastic tool for removing bicycle tyres. You'll need plenty of these three products.....


























First phase looks like this.....heat up small area until the bitumen bubbles then carefully scrape. You will be left with a mixture of bitumen and glue residue.










Once the worst of it is off, liberally coat what remains with the citrus sticky stuff label remover and leave for 5 mins.










Repeat the above processes several times until all traces of the stuff are gone. I found the Evostick stuff useful for removing the glue residues, whilst the sticky stuff just dissolved the tar. This area took an hour or so. It's a pretty horrible task, but worth it if you're looking to get the weight out.










VT


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## Kyle18uk

Having removed it all from my last car i know what your going through! Not a nice task

I used white spirit to remove the residue, will be cheaper aswell


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## Von Twinzig

First track day yesterday. A bunch of us from impactbumpers.com rented Curborough Sprint track for the day. If you want to find out the weaknesses in your set-up this is the place. Day started dry, then drizzled to make it nice and slippery, then it pee'd down before drying at the end of the day. Pretty much all track conditions in just one day.

Predictably, with a chunk of weight out, the buckets thrown in and just some exhaust work the thing was an under steery blancmange. The Quattro is weird; out of the bends as the front pushes on, the rears kick in forcing the car to understeer even more. Need to work on that once the coilovers and bushes are fitted.

Another thing to sort...wheel studs to lug nut conversion. Both front wheels repeatedly came loose. At least with nuts you can keep an eye on things. I hate studs.

On a positive note I can report these things are stupidly quiet. 3" downpipe decat to a 2.75" Miltek back box at 4800rpm came in at 96dB at 1m. I reckon you could run straight pipes and not exceed 105.

Anyway one of the guys took some piccies....










Compare my line on the same bend to the one my mate Steve can run with his track prepared, neutral steer Carrera....


















Everything needs stiffening up and the roll centre lowering....a lot!










Much work to be done.

VT


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## Grahamstt

Interesting write up, has your car got any suspension mods?
You will need superpro alignment bushes which will give you more caster as well as tightening up the front wishbones. 
Maybe some cockbots as well as they are the same as defcons which are highly rated.

ARB's will need changing. I have r32's which improved the balance front and rear so the handling is slightly more rear biased. You can use stiffer (neuspeed?) ones but change the front as well for tracking -race tracking that is- dont just change the rear as it alters the handling to the rear but doesn't improve the front so lap times may not be improved apart from confidence.
You will need a good set of springs/dampers, adjustable if you like experimenting for set up.
Sounds like a good club you are in [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## UR_TT

Yes the understeer "pig" is hard to get rid of.. I run mine without any front arb and solid alu bushings and I still get the "pig" on short and twisty turning tracks. And yes the back kicks in only to push even more, I´m now looking at solid bar with "swords" for my back arb to maybe, maybe getting some turn in oversteer.. this car does test you, oh so fine but oh so bad it´s a challange. But I still love it.. 

Keep pushing!

//U


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## Von Twinzig

Grahamstt said:


> Interesting write up, has your car got any suspension mods?
> You will need superpro alignment bushes which will give you more caster as well as tightening up the front wishbones.
> Maybe some cockbots as well as they are the same as defcons which are highly rated.
> ARB's will need changing. I have r32's which improved the balance front and rear so the handling is slightly more rear biased. You can use stiffer (neuspeed?) ones but change the front as well for tracking -race tracking that is- dont just change the rear as it alters the handling to the rear but doesn't improve the front so lap times may not be improved apart from confidence.
> You will need a good set of springs/dampers, adjustable if you like experimenting for set up.
> Sounds like a good club you are in [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


No suspension mods yet Graham. Got a set of Meiser R adjustable coilovers sitting here waiting to go on. Picked up all new hardware from audi this morning, so that's the next job.

I'll be fitting Powerflex Blacks from Dave Power. Picked up a set of 30mm front wishbones too, just need painting.

ARB's...so are R32's the sweet spot do you think or something else? I'm not concerned about road manners per se, and really only want to do this once. Will take any good experience advice.

The club is actually a forum, but they are all pretty cool guys and some of them are doing wild stuff in sheds with aircooled mid years 911's. Track days and some good road trips too. This was last year....



















2500 mile Euro tour to Slovenia and back taking in Spa, Porsche Museum, Gmund Museum, Ruf Factory, Grossglokner Pass and Reims. Pretty cool.

VT


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## Von Twinzig

UR_TT said:


> Yes the understeer "pig" is hard to get rid of.. I run mine without any front arb and solid alu bushings and I still get the "pig" on short and twisty turning tracks. And yes the back kicks in only to push even more, I´m now looking at solid bar with "swords" for my back arb to maybe, maybe getting some turn in oversteer.. this car does test you, oh so fine but oh so bad it´s a challange. But I still love it..
> 
> Keep pushing!
> 
> //U


Thanks for the encouragement UR.

No front ARB....are you controlling roll just with dampers and springs?

What are swords?

VT


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## UR_TT

Von Twinzig said:


> UR_TT said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes the understeer "pig" is hard to get rid of.. I run mine without any front arb and solid alu bushings and I still get the "pig" on short and twisty turning tracks. And yes the back kicks in only to push even more, I´m now looking at solid bar with "swords" for my back arb to maybe, maybe getting some turn in oversteer.. this car does test you, oh so fine but oh so bad it´s a challange. But I still love it..
> 
> Keep pushing!
> 
> //U
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the encouragement UR.
> 
> No front ARB....are you controlling roll just with dampers and springs?
> 
> What are swords?
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

"swords" was me translating from swedish to english directly, sorry.  
Blade type adjustable ARB is probably more correct. Found a small pic on the web that explains it pretty good.
Solid pipe with blades connected. You can adjust how hard or soft the ARB shall be by turning the blades, for ex maximum hard for a dry race and softer for a wet one. On the TT back mounted, this will mean more oversteer or less.










I haven´t gotten as far yet, I dont even know if it´s even possible to fit one but in theory it´s yummy.  
Those who know their stuff says (not me, still learning), less front ARB less understeer and a bit better turn in. So with no front ARB I have concluded that it´s not enough, still massive understeer. (look at my lates videos from race WE 2 and you´ll understand  ) Next logical step would be to buy a thicker/harder rear ARB. I runn the stock one right now. But as I don´t know if this will help (enough) I was thinking a blade adj one, makes it possible to tune it in just right for roughly the same price. (thats only parts of course) more labour fitting and tunning it in but that is in my book thats the fun part. 

Roll as of today is handeld with solid alubushings and spearichal bearings, topmounts and wishbone. Springs are 120nm (if I remember correctly could be 130 aswell) up front, less roll now than with rubber and front ARB. And shocks are bespoke rebuild to match this, std Koni race versions.

//U


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## brushwood69

Hi, In my sprint/hillclimb car I was suffering massive understeer going into sharp corners (With unwanted ESP action as well) so I upgraded to cookbots and polybushed front wishbone and I went for the H&R ARB set, but we only installed the rear and kept the front stock. I endded up with a transformed car but it was transformed into oversteer with lift off oversteer causing a rethink after a large spin into a cabbage field! We then fitted the uprated front ARB which then balanced out the suspension again and made it more neutral. So there are options and if you like more oversteer just go rear ARB! Tyre pressure is also a big thing and after a year of playing/testing I plumped for 31psi front 25psi rear which another member on here plumped for independent of me.

ESP is fully disabled via an additional switch 
Shocks are standard and not coils but on APEX springs
Top mount is polybush

Now take the word is and replace with 'was' as this car is now written off following my crash 3 or 4 weeks ago [smiley=bigcry.gif] just have to swap all this to the new shell.

A new forum on tracking/competition would be a nice idea for those interested in that more than the show and OEM side maybe one for the mods to think about!

Good luck and great information


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## Von Twinzig

UR,

Okay I get it. Interesting idea. I would have thought running with no front ARB would be tricky. Certainly softening the front one and stiffening the rear should move the car towards a more neutral/oversteery position assuming all other things are dialled in.

Here's a pic of the adjustable system I fitted to my last track Carrera.....this is the front, but the rear was similar. Basically a drop link to a bracket I welded to the front wishbone, running in a slider. The bar went through the car body and sat in bearings bolted to the inner wheel arches Made adjustment quick, easy and repeatable......










Brushwood,

Wow, that's really bad news about the car, but if you can walk away then that's a blessing. Good luck with the refit.

Think I'll buy a set of something and go with the bigger rear bar first. Like you, being a Porsche driver I'm more used to something that oversteers on track. I found the understeer last week really frustrating.

Couple of questions: those tyre pressures, are they hot or cold numbers? Do you have a description of how and what you fitted to fully disable the ESP please!

Finally: I think a separate section for track prepared cars would be a great idea. We have that in the IB forum I moderate on and also a sub section for track day gatherings/bookings. Getting numbers up gives us discounts on bookings and free garages, but I'm a newb here so in no position to push for that. Good idea though. Snetterton 300 on 6th August is our next one.

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Made a bit more progress......










Both seats in, although with subframes, sliders and side mounts they sit about 25mm too high. On track I just took out the seat base, but I'll end up having to come up with a better solution, probably by fabbing a base plate rather than using the OMP subframes.

Door cards off. Heavy old Hectors at over 5kg each. Those, plus the bitumen pads on the inside of the door skins, saved another 11kg. Will make up some new cards and have a dog lead type door pull, a la 2.7 RS. The wiper motors position is going to make that a bit tricky though.

Next, the ball aching task of grinding off all the threaded studs and tabs welded to the interior floor pan that picked up the trim and wiring clips. Did 2, got bored and gave up in favour of several beers. 

VT


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## brushwood69

Tyre pressures are set when tyres are cold then kept at that as they heat up probably need to let out air twice during a hot(ish) day of 7 or 8 runs (equates to 7 laps of Coombe for time)

ESP I will ask the garage as they fitted a stealth switch in the coin pocket by headlight switch. I assume it interrupts one of the sensors as the ABS continues to work but I get a ESP error on the dash when switch is on. I will post more when I get it.

I'm hoping to try the powertrack inset in the haldex when I rebuild the new car. I think using standard haldex and going from power to brake a number of times causing a fwd/4wd imbalance may be overcome with the device forcing 50/50 with any spirited driving ;-) Have you done the cookbot/defcons? That I think was the biggest improvement (with ARB) for me the power mods I did didn't give me as much as the handling mods.

BTW The Cayman S in the new 911 IB ;-)

BW


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## temporarychicken

Your TT is looking very serious now, and beautifully prepared.

I am also a curret Porsche+TT owner, which I look at as a rare privilege! I have a 2013 981 Boxster as my main drive, and a 2001 TT 180 quattro project car which I am modifying for fast road/track use at the moment.

It's easy to dismiss the TT as an understeery nightmare if you are used to any Porsche, but I believe this comparison to be ill-founded. The cars are chalk and cheese, chassis-wise, after all! My 981 is set up for fast-road, in that it is lowered on H+R springs, has 11j rear wheels with 305/30R20 tyres, but run's nearly 2 degrees negative camber on the front to equalize the balance somewhat and stay neutral.

Conversely, I've fitted some cheap+cheerful FK coilovers to my TT, and lowered it about 55mm at the front, 50 at the back. It only runs 225/40R18 tyres all round, with 15mm spacers. These mods alone made a massive improvement in it's cornering ability right off the bat! Based on this improvement, I imagine that some expensive damper-adjustable coilovers would be a miracle to the front end grip of this car. All the other suspension on myTT, including bushes and ARBs are stock.

So with this cost-effective suspension solution, my TT will still gently wander off the line during cornering if I exceed the front-end traction. Understeer is the only behaviour it will ever entertain should you dial in too much lock. But this doesn't bother me as what's actually important, is increasing that limit of front-end traction as far as possible. What happens on or after the limit is not a big issue for a car I won't be tracking much and is essentially a fast road car! I just want to increase the cars capabilities, not try to change the fundamental nature of its chassis!

The fact is, there are some guys on here that have done some incredible suspension mods, fitted special bushes, modified the haldex controller, thicker ARBs, etc.These can make exceptional differences, but I doubt they will ever overcome the fact that the Haldex system doesn't have a centre diff, it's a part time on-demand AWD system, and that the rear-wheel drive is just a clutch-fed take-off from the front right driveshaft. This is not me running the haldex system down, far from it. I'm just admitting to the inherent limitations of the basic design.

In my experience of Haldex-based TTs, the system can never seem to transmit more torque to the rear wheels than to the front wheels. As a result, it's always the front wheels that run out of grip first, ever so gently, and you understeer and wander off your line. The rear wheels are driving you throughout this process. They don't know you are understeering and this, as you have noticed, just makes you feel you are wandering off the line all the faster!

I read somewhere that a senior Audi employee mandated that the TT MK3 should be able to "do donuts". So perhaps the new car will have a way round the understeer tendencies..

But for me, the fact that the Porsche handling and the TTs handling are so different is part of the allure of owning both cars simultaneously! A sorted TT MK1 can be a great experience handling-wise, even with the inherent limitations of weight-distribution and the haldex system. Also, there are other benefits with the TT over, say, a Boxster, such as excellent performance in difficult weather conditions. My TT can do more round a wet greasy roundabout in winter on summer tyres than my Porsche Boxster 981 can on expensive winter tyres!

But I guess none of this helps as you feel your momentum round a corner getting wasted as you understeer wide of your desired line!

Good luck with the project - very exciting progress so far and I feel you've lots more potential to unlock from this car.


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## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> Tyre pressures are set when tyres are cold then kept at that as they heat up probably need to let out air twice during a hot(ish) day of 7 or 8 runs (equates to 7 laps of Coombe for time)
> 
> ESP I will ask the garage as they fitted a stealth switch in the coin pocket by headlight switch. I assume it interrupts one of the sensors as the ABS continues to work but I get a ESP error on the dash when switch is on. I will post more when I get it.
> 
> I'm hoping to try the powertrack inset in the haldex when I rebuild the new car. I think using standard haldex and going from power to brake a number of times causing a fwd/4wd imbalance may be overcome with the device forcing 50/50 with any spirited driving ;-) Have you done the cookbot/defcons? That I think was the biggest improvement (with ARB) for me the power mods I did didn't give me as much as the handling mods.
> 
> BTW The Cayman S in the new 911 IB ;-)
> 
> BW


Interesting about the tyre pressures. I've always worked low then past the sweet spot before letting them down to the working pressure. Typically on the 911 running V70a's, 30psi hot all round. Good to have your real world experiences.

Permanent 50/50 split would work for me, at least that's predictable. Looks like a fairly simple fix. Any downside do you think?

Regarding defcons; managed to pick up the holy grail parts....original 30mm front wishbones complete with polybushes. Bit of a result [smiley=dude.gif]

Funny your sign off about the Cayman. After I drove the SVP Cayman I wrote a piece for our forum where I said exactly the same thing! Spooky. Love the S. Quite possibly the best handling real world car I've driven.

VT


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## Von Twinzig

TC,

Thanks for comments, they're greatly appreciated. Even though this will be just track car It won't be a shed and will be done properly and to the best of my ability, but it's not an open chequebook project. BTDT.

I think your points about the contrast between the TT and the 911 are on the money. My mates thought I was daft when I announced this route rather than the more predictable Clio/Megane/Golf option. "When was the last time you saw a TT at a trackday?" was one of the comments along with "Heavy and understeery."

For me that's part of the fun - overcoming the stereotypical views and making the thing work whilst operating within a sensible budget. I think there's potential to surprise a few people on track and I see the AWD aspect as key to that.

I always new the understeer would need to be tamed, the thing is there appears to be a plenty of options to do so. Before I took it on track I thought the road holding pretty good, once on track, with everything wound up, the weaknesses soon showed up, but that was the point, to set a benchmark from which to move on from.

The 911 was the opposite. I spent a chunk of time, effort and money dialling out the oversteer, which, with some considerable effort I achieved. It will be interesting to see if I can get the TT sorted as nicely. We'll see.

The good thing is there's a wealth of knowledge and experience here to tap into. I think the idea of having a "Track prep" section is a good one, particularly if it encourages other guys to dip their toe in the water.

VT


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## mountbattencars

I use my TT solely on the track and I look for posts from others who are doing the same, It would be great to have a small section for Track cars,

Good luck to all you other TTrackers!


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## Von Twinzig

mountbattencars said:


> I use my TT solely on the track and I look for posts from others who are doing the same, It would be great to have a small section for Track cars,
> 
> Good luck to all you other TTrackers!


I'm a newbie here so it would be a bit cheeky for me to lobby for a separate track car prep section. Happy to support anyone who's up for putting the idea forward to John though.

VT


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## brushwood69

VT et Al,

I sent a PM last night about a motorsport section and got a long reply but they thought we were asking for a sub area for events so I have gone back to ask them again. PM John-H with support if you wish.

Lets talk wheels & sizes now!!!


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## mountbattencars

Wheels

I managed 9.5 J 18 inch Rota Reps, not sure what tyre size I have on them but got a good package deal on the wheels and nankang racing/track tyres (which believe it or not have great reviews and I'd vouch for that). Also had to get spacers (15mil rear and 20 mil front if i remember rightly) to make my suspension and big brake kit fit. Leaves no room left in the wheel arch but seems to work well for me!


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## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> VT et Al,
> 
> I sent a PM last night about a motorsport section and got a long reply but they thought we were asking for a sub area for events so I have gone back to ask them again. PM John-H with support if you wish.


All,

PM sent to John about a dedicated Motorsport preparation section similar in principle to the show and shine section. Here's hoping.

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Did one of those quick jobs before dinner tonight...removed another 15kg.




























Can't decide whether to stick the wheel arch liners back on or not.

VT


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## fixitagaintomoz

I remember taking my bumper off to do the same, only to find someone had beat me to it previously!

Keep the liners- stops the bumper collecting too much road grime and adding weight....


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## NickG

This is a job i must get done! 15 free KG's is a huge amount!


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## Von Twinzig

Yep, I was surprised at the weight of the thing. Got to have some scrap value I reckon :lol:

Next job....single adjustable Meister R jobbies. Look for all the world like the BC Racing setup, albeit these are black and red not black and gold, even has the same spring rates. :roll: Got a good price on these. PM me if you're interested and I'll put you in touch.

All new Audi hardware too. Can't wait. 



















VT


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## Von Twinzig

Also picked up these puppies from Stueyturn. Very pleased 










Anybody running two sets for rear toe adjustment too?

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Got the coilovers on. The Meister R setup seems pretty good quality. The rear springs are short at 125mm, nevertheless with all the weight removed I needed to set them with no shims to get them low enough. There's virtually no droop. Single adjustable using a simple knurled wheel.



















Got my adjustable rear tie bars on too.










Fronts have loads of height adjustment. Bump and rebound is set from the top with a knurled insert that fits in the top of the strut under the plastic caps.

Got front and rears set half way for the road. Seems just about right. Ride is firm, but not crashy.










On the Hunter for setup to my spec.

2deg -ve all round, a few mins toe in on both axles, 1deg rake and caster is what it is. We'll see how this works and fiddle a bit from here.....










Also took a piccy of the 3" decat downpipe and Miltek non-res rear section. Still very quiet, so might change the back box for something a bit more wild.










VT


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## brushwood69

VT, How heavy are the liners? Did you put them back in? As a track day/comp car I was thinking of having those out so interested to see what you did? My replacement is back on drive tonight so I can do the msa bits for the next hill climb in 2 weeks. Haven't had time or money to swap the old/good engine in so only running 240bhp instead of 283bhp. When do you expect to get out again? Those coil overs look v.nice better than gaz/spax?

BW


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## Von Twinzig

BW..... Liners are light, but a race prep pal of mine said to leave them off. Makes adjustment easier and it's not a road car per se, so probably will not refit them.

Have to say for the money I'm pretty pleased with the Meister R coilovers. Easy to set up too. Better than Spax for sure. My mate who races the Scoobie has run BC Racing ER's for 3 seasons now and these look identical to their BR series.

Next time out is an MSV day at Snett 300 on August 6th. I've run a memorial track day for my dad there for several years around this date. Was the last time he and I were on track together before the Big C got him. There's a small group of us going. We'll raise a glass of shampoo at lunchtime to his memory. 
[smiley=cheers.gif]


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## brushwood69

Forgot to say about ESP. I should have known as I accidentally did this before. The steering wheel has a steering angle sensor and when I swapped to my OMP i messed this up and disabled my ESP. So that garage has rigged a switch into this circuit so I can disable the steering sensor and by default the ESP. How have you got on with the door cards?


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## Von Twinzig

My ESP light has been on since I swapped my wheel too, sounds like I have the same issue. Switch would be nice.many clue how they wired it?

Door cards.....zero progress due for the position of the window motor sitting on the inside of the frame. Got me stumped if I'm honest. Only thought was to run plastic with sliders and dump off the motors and regulators. Makes the job much simpler, but I'm not sure how to get a good seal without it looking a bit cobbled up.

On a positive note my race studs arrived from the States. Got those fitted at the weekend....

Drop of thread lock ...










Couple of 14mm nuts to set them....










Picked up some spacers cheap.....










Needed to get both VAG and aftermarket lug nut wheel profiles for when I move to the Pro Race 1.2's.....










So much better than those crappy studs. Easier to mount the wheels and no more loose studs.










VT


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## brushwood69

Those look much better. Had a mare with my wheels yesterday and would make it less stressful at the begin of event to switch. Do you have a link?

I'll dig out the wiring details for you as well but is the esp light is on without using the esp button then it should all be off!

BW


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## Von Twinzig

Here you go http://www.race-studs.com/servlet/StoreFront

I went for the 80mm Race Series with both types of nuts so I can switch wheels later.

VT


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## temporarychicken

Love the stud and nut conversion.

But just going back to your earlier thoughts on whether to fit 2 sets of Adjustable tie bars to the rear or just one...

I recently fitted a single set to the upper arms only. I noticed you put your set on the lower arms.

Believe me, you did the right thing. If you fit the adjustables to the upper arms, you will get lots of poke (wheel sticking out) but too much toe-in.

For this reason, I am planning to move my ATBs to the lower arms. Did this enable you to get the correct toe settings during your hunter alignment? If you did, then I guess there's no need for 2 sets of ATBs.


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## Von Twinzig

TC...

Putting them on the bottom gave me perfect toe in and camber, that is to say, the numbers I wanted. Simple too. Still have room inside the arch lip with a 15mm spacer.

Guys....Do you know if you can run these things on 18 x 9's with a 255/35 section tyre front and rear, without rubbing? It looks possible now I have 2deg -ve all round, but I'm not sure and I need to get the wheels and rubber sorted in the next few weeks.

VT


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## Grahamstt

What et you running?
Mine seem to have lots of clearance but maybe not as low as you -- size not much difference tho (8.5 + 245/35)


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## Von Twinzig

They make an et35 18x9. What do you think?

VT


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## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> They make an et35 18x9. What do you think?
> 
> VT


I run 19x9j et35 zero arch gap, 20mm spacer on 235 tyres and just scrape on bumps and fast corners... if that helps?


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## Von Twinzig

Where abouts? Inside or outside?


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## Matt B

Von Twinzig said:


> My ESP light has been on since I swapped my wheel too, sounds like I have the same issue. Switch would be nice.many clue how they wired it?
> 
> Door cards.....zero progress due for the position of the window motor sitting on the inside of the frame. Got me stumped if I'm honest. Only thought was to run plastic with sliders and dump off the motors and regulators. Makes the job much simpler, but I'm not sure how to get a good seal without it looking a bit cobbled up.
> 
> On a positive note my race studs arrived from the States. Got those fitted at the weekend....
> 
> Drop of thread lock ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Couple of 14mm nuts to set them....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Picked up some spacers cheap.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Needed to get both VAG and aftermarket lug nut wheel profiles for when I move to the Pro Race 1.2's.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So much better than those crappy studs. Easier to mount the wheels and no more loose studs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


I ran with studded hubs and bolts on mine for about 2 years, but after the wheels had been on and off about a dozen times the studs kept on backing out when you were removing the bolts (obviously the threadlock can only take so much stress). In the end it was a pain in the arse re-fitting them all the time and i went back to normal.

Your set up looks good, I just hope you dont have the same problem

Matt


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## Von Twinzig

Matt B said:


> I ran with studded hubs and bolts on mine for about 2 years, but after the wheels had been on and off about a dozen times the studs kept on backing out when you were removing the bolts (obviously the threadlock can only take so much stress). In the end it was a pain in the arse re-fitting them all the time and i went back to normal.
> 
> Your set up looks good, I just hope you dont have the same problem
> 
> Matt


It'll be fine. Checking and resetting them (if I need to) will be part of my scheduled maintenance work. If I feel the need I'll get them set permanently. It's a track car, so I'd sooner run with studs and lug nuts than wheel bolts TBH.


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## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> Where abouts? Inside or outside?


Outside


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## Grahamstt

As mine are et20 I think they are right and you wouldn't want more (less et) on the front so are your spacers 15mm or less.

Most on here want the big numbers on the wheels then stretch small tyres to get them in the arch which is useless for track.


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## Von Twinzig

Graham....

Currently 10mm F and 15mm R, but happy to loose them if necessary.

Opinion?

VT


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## Grahamstt

I think if you want 255 tyres with et35 you can use the spacers you have. 
If there is an issue with the front catching the inner arch on lock, or the strut, you could then use the 15mm spacers then to try on the front.
With that tyre and rim combo my feelings are that you wouldn't want more than a net et20 on the front.


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## Von Twinzig

I'm not wedded to the offset or spacers Graham, just want to run the most rubber without rubbing on full lock or compression.

TD Racing make the 1.2's in the following....9.0x18 e15 / 20 / 30. Do you think I can run the et20 and clear the front strut?

VT


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## Grahamstt

You would clear the front strut but might stick out too much

A couple of pics for example

















Bearing in mind mine are 245's on 8.5's


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## Von Twinzig

Hmmm, running the tyre outside the arch isn't going to work. This is trickier than than I'd imagined. On the 911 there's a well trodden path of what does and doesn't fit on narrow (non turbo) bodied cars.

I've experience issues before where on the road everything is fine, but then on track, on say fast right handlers where the LH front tyre loads up, all the clearances vaporise and you chew into the shoulder of the tyre. Not good. My mate burnt through his rear arch paintwork when the NSR went into full compression at Paddock Hill Bend. Expensive on two counts. Need to avoid mistakes like that by making the correct decision now. Massive difference between road and track loads as you'll know.

VT


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## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> Hmmm, running the tyre outside the arch isn't going to work. This is trickier than than I'd imagined. On the 911 there's a well trodden path of what does and doesn't fit on narrow (non turbo) bodied cars.
> 
> I've experience issues before where on the road everything is fine, but then on track, on say fast right handlers where the LH front tyre loads up, all the clearances vaporise and you chew into the shoulder of the tyre. Not good. My mate burnt through his rear arch paintwork when the NSR went into full compression at Paddock Hill Bend. Expensive on two counts. Need to avoid mistakes like that by making the correct decision now. Massive difference between road and track loads as you'll know.
> 
> VT


an arch roller may be your friend, just to make the arches less harsh so IF they catch, they wont be nearly as bad.

on the back 245 profiles on a 12mm spacer will be ok i believe, even on a low drop.

My 235s on the front dont rub on 15mm spacers, but did on the inside with 5mm spacer, so 12mm spacer minimum on the front allows for the same as mine on 8mm spacers, which should have just stopped the inners from rubbing. Again im running with a finger arch gap on 19s, so a bit less drop on 18s would help too


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## mountbattencars

I am running 18x9.5j with 2 degrees camber if i remember rightly!

Fits in very snuggly but there is no rubbing when on track, stiff suspension helps this too.


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## Von Twinzig

mountbattencars said:


> I am running 18x9.5j with 2 degrees camber if i remember rightly!
> 
> Fits in very snuggly but there is no rubbing when on track, stiff suspension helps this too.


Do you know the ET and are you running a spacer?

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Set some time aside tonight to do my N249 and SAI delete.

First job was easy enough, loads of info already on here. Previously ordered up the resistors, they clearly wanted to make sure they arrived safely! :lol:



















When it came to the SAI, looks like someone half got it done for me already. Result! Not sure what the effect of running with no blanking plate has made though?










All sorted...










VT


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## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> Set some time aside tonight to do my N249 and SAI delete.
> 
> First job was easy enough, loads of info already on here. Previously ordered up the resistors, they clearly wanted to make sure they arrived safely! :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When it came to the SAI, looks like someone half got it done for me already. Result! Not sure what the effect of running with no blanking plate has made though?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All sorted...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


bloody bandits!


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## Von Twinzig

Daft, considering it's a 30 sec job costing a few quid.


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## Von Twinzig

Whilst changing my TIP tonight one of those mofo Audi hose clips refused to come undone (despite me having the proper tool) resulting in me snapping this puppy....










Question is do I need to get a new one or will any hose joiner of the correct size do?

VT


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## Grahamstt

Thats from the breather and pushes into the TIP so a joiner should do.
Maybe thats the next project --- a catch can :wink:


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## Von Twinzig

No doubt there Graham. The amount of crud that was in all the hoses going back into the TIP was marginally worrying. The bottom hose off the breather was melted through too. Blimey, there's a lot of pipe work on these engines.

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Next trackday this Wednesday at Snett, so got the new wheels and rubber bought and fitted. Pro Race 1.2's 8x18 ET45's with 10 and 15mm spacers, fitted with 225 x 40 Nankang 120 compound.










I'll run these for a while and check all the clearances with and without spacers, then if I can 100% confirm the clearances under full load I'll move up to a bigger J, fix the offset with a view to running a 255 x 35 section all round.

You can see how the car sits with the Meister R's fitted. This is all the way down (no shims) at the rear. Remember this car had a lot of weight out and the suspension came up a really long way. A regular car would ride far lower if you wanted.

VT


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## J3SHF

Cracking write up, I'll enjoy checking in on your progress :lol:


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## brushwood69

Post up your tyre PSIs after the trackday as it would be good to get a different opinion on what is felt to be best. Are you going to get any filming done? I like the look of the wheels very stealthy! what's next? I raced at the weekend and took a 1st and a 2nd but did not get a PB with the new car which I believe is down to the motor & turbo being very tired compared to my rebuilt engine and new turbo so I just have to save up now and get this fitted.


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## Von Twinzig

I'll start with the values you gave me BW and figure it from there. I'll post up my findings. No camera at the mo until I get my cage in to mount it on. No suckers allowed these days.

Next up the R32 ARB's, Powerflex Blacks and the 30mm front wishbones. All sitting in the garage ready to go on, just ran out of time for this outing, then the cage and my harnesses. Dug those out yesterday - Schroth 6 points.

Got all the fluids changed this last couple of days. Giving Millers Nanodrive a try out as it's got a good rep. Will probably go waterless too.

Great result there and more to come by the sounds of it, bet you can't wait.

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Okay, first proper trackday on Wednesday at Snetterton, sharing with my son.

For the early part of the morning session it peed down. Time to fire up the Quattro. Had the track virtually to ourselves, with just the odd Renaultsport Clio venturing out. Definitely the best way to learn the car as you needed to go steady, drive smooth and find the grip, which was nowhere near the racing line. Couple of tank slappers when I pushed too hard, but no spins. Pretty easy to catch these things when they go. More so than what I'm used too with the rear engined 911. Some guys had monsters, which kept the red flags busy and them mostly in the paddock.

Set the dampers just below half-way which felt about right, could have gone softer maybe. Ran the tyres in the low 20's rear and high 20's front, hot. Felt about right. Had no trouble getting heat in the tyres, even in the rain they were going up by 5psi. Most of the other guys couldn't get any temperature in the fronts.

Over lunch the sun came out, the track dried and the afternoon session became warm with air temp around 26deg C. Fiddled around with the tyre pressures, but the sweet spot seemed to be more or less what brushwood suggested. So 30 front 25 rear hot. Kept those for the rest of the day.

Wound the dampers up too full stiff. Wasn't expecting to feel much difference, but it was noticeably stiffer and I could really lean on the tyres. All the fast bends in 4th with just the tighter ones in 3rd.

Had quite a few of my track mates there, they were pi55ing themselves as there were 4 foot flames shooting out the exhausts on the overrun. Pretty funny. Blame that on AMD's crappy mapping they put on after the exhaust work.

Late in the afternoon the car lost some power, turned out to be the vac pipe off the DV. The under bonnet temps got so hot the new silicon pipe I fitted collapsed and then popped off on boost. Easy fix when we got home.

Water temp was rock steady at 90deg all day. Never wavered.

Brakes had no fade or soft pedal at all and it was hot and we were running 20mins on 20mins off all day. Just not man enough to retard the car, so we trail braked most of the big stoppers, which seemed to work fine. Anybody here with brake fade must have a problem, 'cause with 660 BP fluid, braided hoses, race pads, no back plates and Matty's air deflectors on the front wishbones we had none.

Stuff I learned.....

Need to get my R32 ARB's, bushes and 30mm wishbones on as the steering is not precise enough and the understeer, though much less, is still there.
Pretty sure the rear cage will stiffen the rear up. I hope so as I could hear the rear hatch groaning on the bends as the chassis flexed.
Tyres worked great all day in all conditions, from standing water to greasy to bone dry and hot. Really pleased with them.
Need to get some more weight out somehow, and maybe get the car another 10mm lower with a bit more rake, but that would need shorter rear springs as I'm already running with no shims. Steering lacked real feel.
Haldex work. I can't cope with the imprecision it brings. Will probably go with the insert for now as it's cheap as chips and gives me predictability. 
Will need a brake upgrade over the winter. Probably to something Porsche based. 996/Boxster S should do fine.
Could do with a bit more grunt. Top speed at the end of the Bentley straight was only 110-115mph. My 3.2 turbo used to hit 140 at the same mark.

Anyway, a great day. Learned a lot particularly with the changing conditions.










Couple of pics of the tyres after the last session, which we always take steady to get the Banzai mode switched off for the drive home.





































VT


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## fixitagaintomoz

Good informative write up there. What brake fluid were you using?

Also what remap are you running to pop such big flames?!?! Cant be right surely?


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## brushwood69

Great information in there VT and still more to come which is part of the fun  If you get/got a cage make sure it can be tied in at the top as mine which was custom built showed up how much the TT flexes as the roof moves side to side so when we moved it I had it tied into the pillar above the door. Haldex is a big issue that I blame for my crash have a look at the new HPA touchscreen haldex controller £360 before import but has loads of options from economy, stock, race and drag so blue, orange and race all in one. Tyres seemed to have held up well. I've not suffered brake issues yet either but at set of 996 stoppers is on the agenda.


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## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> Great information in there VT and still more to come which is part of the fun  If you get/got a cage make sure it can be tied in at the top as mine which was custom built showed up how much the TT flexes as the roof moves side to side so when we moved it I had it tied into the pillar above the door. Haldex is a big issue that I blame for my crash have a look at the new HPA touchscreen haldex controller £360 before import but has loads of options from economy, stock, race and drag so blue, orange and race all in one. Tyres seemed to have held up well. I've not suffered brake issues yet either but at set of 996 stoppers is on the agenda.


Have you got a picture of your cage BW? I'm still mulling over how to deal with the Haldex issue. The 2 or 3 tank slappers I had we're all as a result of it interjecting.



fixitagaintomoz said:


> Good informative write up there. What brake fluid were you using?
> 
> Also what remap are you running to pop such big flames?!?! Cant be right surely?


Fixit: I use this and get it from a local guy who builds race cars.....pay £10 a bottle cash. Brilliant stuff. Never had a problem with it.










The map was set by AMD as part of their deal when you buy a Miltek exhaust. Frankly I will be complaining. The thing is massively overfuelling. My mate was following me and commented that when it wasn't flaming he could see the vapour haze exiting the pipes. That's the kind of thing you expect from old school mechanical injected systems not modern programmable ECU's. I have to say I'm not a fan of this concept of generic stage mapping. I'm used to dyno cells and AFR's with something written to suit your exact car. If I can find someone to do a RR live map, that has a proven record, I'll be going down that route.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> brushwood69 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Great information in there VT and still more to come which is part of the fun  If you get/got a cage make sure it can be tied in at the top as mine which was custom built showed up how much the TT flexes as the roof moves side to side so when we moved it I had it tied into the pillar above the door. Haldex is a big issue that I blame for my crash have a look at the new HPA touchscreen haldex controller £360 before import but has loads of options from economy, stock, race and drag so blue, orange and race all in one. Tyres seemed to have held up well. I've not suffered brake issues yet either but at set of 996 stoppers is on the agenda.
> 
> 
> 
> Have you got a picture of your cage BW? I'm still mulling over how to deal with the Haldex issue. The 2 or 3 tank slappers I had we're all as a result of it interjecting.
> 
> 
> 
> fixitagaintomoz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good informative write up there. What brake fluid were you using?
> 
> Also what remap are you running to pop such big flames?!?! Cant be right surely?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Fixit: I use this and get it from a local guy who builds race cars.....pay £10 a bottle cash. Brilliant stuff. Never had a problem with it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The map was set by AMD as part of their deal when you buy a Miltek exhaust. Frankly I will be complaining. The thing is massively overfuelling. My mate was following me and commented that when it wasn't flaming he could see the vapour haze exiting the pipes. That's the kind of thing you expect from old school mechanical injected systems not modern programmable ECU's. I have to say I'm not a fan of this concept of generic stage mapping. I'm used to dyno cells and AFR's with something written to suit your exact car. If I can find someone to do a RR live map, that has a proven record, I'll be going down that route.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

The guy you want to talk to is Wak on here, he has done countless members cars and does it with on road testing and fettling. he did mine and it was awesome, you cant ask for better service from a nicer, more knowledgable guy.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Was talking to WAK, and clearly he is a very knowledgable guy with many, many satisfied customers. If mine was a road car it would be a no brainer. My question is my car is for the track so how can you map every 200rpm across the rev range to WOT to produce a smooth curve, on the road? How do I get printout showing the BHP vs Torque curve so I can see the area under the curve and where the car makes the power and check for any dips? How do I get a plot showing the AFR's across the rev range to ensure I am not overfuelling or running lean at any point? (exhibit A the AMD map) For most owners they don't care as it's just comes out "better," for me, developing the car, I need to be able to quantify and qualify the results of the changes I make and I suspect that means live mapping by somebody who knows his stuff, on a dyno that produces reliable, repeatable numbers, but if WAK can do that then great. I'd use him in a heartbeat.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

Rear cage custom made weld in










This is my RR results with a live map and at 283bhp i was starting to feel that the injectors could do with being a bit bigger but the garage were happy there were ok for the map but with an FMIC it would probably need the next size up. I did find that 280 - 300 is probably more than enough and it was me that needed extra :wink:


----------



## Von Twinzig

That's what I'm talking about. Need to find somebody this side of the country that can repeat that for me.

Cage wise, is there a chance you could take a picture through the door showing how it ties into the B pillar and the rear sill please BW?

Thanks.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> Was talking to WAK, and clearly he is a very knowledgable guy with many, many satisfied customers. If mine was a road car it would be a no brainer. My question is my car is for the track so how can you map every 200rpm across the rev range to WOT to produce a smooth curve, on the road? How do I get printout showing the BHP vs Torque curve so I can see the area under the curve and where the car makes the power and check for any dips? How do I get a plot showing the AFR's across the rev range to ensure I am not overfuelling or running lean at any point? (exhibit A the AMD map) For most owners they don't care as it's just comes out "better," for me, developing the car, I need to be able to quantify and qualify the results of the changes I make and I suspect that means live mapping by somebody who knows his stuff, on a dyno that produces reliable, repeatable numbers, but if WAK can do that then great. I'd use him in a heartbeat.
> 
> VT


wak had readings for the power for at least every 10rpm from memory, he also plots afr across the range. Honestly he is beyond thorough. He uses software that logs 100s of readings where vagcom only logs say 20 values on a wot run

He will give you more detail than you can shake a stick at mate.


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Just in addition- i had mine mapped months ago. I blew my engine up, i think looking at it something got into the cylinder. Anyway, months after the map, wak was able to comment and show that it was running ok when it left him.

In this thread on the first page is an example of some of the data he collected

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=713977

disclaimer- my engine destroying itself was nothing to do with the map WAK put on, and once its rebuilt with more goodies ill be taking it back to him, thats how much i trust him.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Interesting. Pre and post map what was your torque figure lbs/ft and at what what RPM?


----------



## brushwood69

Some pictures of roll cage fixings etc are now up on my flickr site https://www.flickr.com/photos/brushwood69/
My top roll cage ties are quite small due to keeping the headlining in for the class i'm in but you could probably tie in a larger piece but currently it seems to do its job and has reduced the creaking!

Question for you from your pic with the seats. As you have removed the plastic trim around hand brake and gear leaver etc would it be possible to mount the gearstick unit higher on a metal box say to raise the height of the knob and would the cables/linkages still fit/work??

Cheers

BW


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks for the pictures BW all pretty clear now. With my trim gone I may be able to get something a bit beefier in there. Need to stop that creaking noise for sure. 

Taking the plastic trim off will give you that shifter option. I saw just what you described on the green Mk2 track car the TT shop showcase. What about installing a quick shift kit (you may already have one to be honest) then just unscrewing the gear knob and getting a longer gearstick machined or maybe an extension rod to bring it up closer to the wheel? I want to do something similar.

Just as an aside I've kept the steel cage that sits on the tunnel and supports the trim. I plan to cut the back off and just use the front part as a bracket to support the shifter. At the moment I've just got the back two nuts done up mega tight, but there's the tiniest bit of movement at the front, which whilst okay on a track day, might not be too cleaver on a competition car like yours.

I'll take a picture to show you what I mean.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

This is a TT that races at Castle Coombe abd has some sort of tunnel extension but is the bit on the top the same as yours?


----------



## neil_audiTT

Lovely stuff,

Clearly know your bacon.

The good old understeer quest! I managed a pretty good set up on my previous TT that evaded most of the understeer - but only mainly fast road applications.

R32 ARB's are rated highly, id probably try just a stiffer rear and stiffen the front springs.

It's impressive how much of a difference that lump of ballast hanging over the back end makes. Definitely a much lively a car without it.

Haldex controller upgrade would be a good move.


----------



## Von Twinzig

neil_audiTT said:


> Lovely stuff,
> 
> Clearly know your bacon.
> 
> The good old understeer quest! I managed a pretty good set up on my previous TT that evaded most of the understeer - but only mainly fast road applications.
> 
> R32 ARB's are rated highly, id probably try just a stiffer rear and stiffen the front springs.
> 
> It's impressive how much of a difference that lump of ballast hanging over the back end makes. Definitely a much lively a car without it.
> 
> Haldex controller upgrade would be a good move.


Thanks. Getting there. Lots more to do, but there's a plan.

BW.....

Close up picture of the shift....










Looks a lot like the yellow one I'd say. Found this......

http://www.shop.cae-racing.de/index.php?a=64&lang=eng

Not cheap.

For now I'll cut the frame, connect the two front bolts to the tunnel and I'll put a couple of nylocs on the two small studs either side of the shifter, which will clamp it up tighter and get rid of the little movement I currently have.

VT


----------



## roddy

brushwood69 said:


> This is a TT that races at Castle Coombe abd has some sort of tunnel extension but is the bit on the top the same as yours?


hey !!!!!!!!!!!! now u r cookin 8) 8)


----------



## brushwood69

I've seen the CAE ones on a friends Golf that he races and hillclimbs very very nice pricey but nice!

But the yellow one on youtube






seemed standard but higher!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Hmm, wonder how they made the linkages work?


----------



## Ciano91

Very nice build


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Wondering whats in the cars he is racing against- being battered by hot hatches!


----------



## Von Twinzig

fixitagaintomoz said:


> Wondering whats in the cars he is racing against- being battered by hot hatches!


Simple...no weight. Most of those will be 4-500kg less is my guess. My mate Graham's championship winning Fiesta weighs nothing, relatively speaking.

Checkout this video. 




The Cappuccino was built by Wayne Schofield who maps my cars. At this point he was running around 750kg, so still 150kg more than the Caterfields at the front. The Porsche is a GT3. Bye-bye porker.

That's why I'll continue to get the weight off mine. Makes going, stopping and changing direction far easier. You don't need monster power or big brakes if your car weighs less.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

I get the power to weight, but it seems that the TT is standard power by the look of it, because if the TT was at 270ish then it would be twice the power of the hot hatch, but not twice the weight.


----------



## roddy

" battered " ? why say that when actually overtook them all !! only beaten by the yellow thing, ( don't know what that was )


----------



## Von Twinzig

The weight makes more of a difference than the power/weight ratio. Most of the time will be lost in the bends where the hatches can hold a tighter line and change direction quicker. That's why in Historics you see the minis running 120- 130bhp up with the 427ci Galaxy's making 600bhp. Weight works the tyres and brakes harder, simple physics. In mixed class club racing the Caterfields can be 10 secs a lap faster than an M3 or 400bhp Scoobie.

Anyway, I thought he did a great job. Massive difference in lap times between trackdays and racing.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Having rewatched it again its interesting, his 2 overtakes on the 106s/saxos happen where he can put his power down, up til then they were out cornering him and getting a faster line out of the corners, due to the lower weight.... he does drive well in fairness to him, just interesting to see how the 2 different setups perform.

Certainly make me more excited about my caterham experience day in 2 weeks!!!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Lost a bit more weight tonight....










+7 bolts to hold the tow bar mount on. Bonkers.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Special delivery arrived today from Dave Power at Powerflex.....










8)


----------



## Von Twinzig

Nice sunny day so got on with a few easy jobs....

Got rid of some more pipe work: Carbon canister deleted, which made some space. Fitted the resistor then heat shrank the thing and cabled tied it in...










Dumped off the steel pipe work too and ran a new hose (8mm ID) from the expansion tank across the bulkhead with a couple of P clips on some redundant studs round to the rad hose take off....



















Got the front bumper and wheel arch liners off can't decide whether to keep the front ally crush bar or not....










There was a serious amount of crud stuffed behind the liners that had collected at the bottom of the arches. Both were stuffed full.










If you haven't had your liners off, get them off and get everything cleaned out before the rust sets in.

Aliens 0 - Humans 1  got those gone. Ended up with quite a pile removed.....










VT


----------



## mstew

So you're not going to run the undertray? Will be interesting to see if you notice a difference without it....


----------



## Von Twinzig

It's not been on since I bought the car as it was MIA so it'll be hard to get a reference point. I can't think it has much effect, the lower edge of the bumper is way too high. What was it's original purpose I wonder?


----------



## mstew

Usually smoothing out the air under the car for better handling. They do have some weight to them so I don't think they added them for the hell of it. I think if anyone would notice a benefit it would be someone like yourself who knows how to chuck a TT about on a track


----------



## roddy

I thot they were called " splash tray " for areason ...... I know that the one time a garage left mine off on a 1k run the engine compartment was filthy and needed a jet wash ,, i guess they also smooth out the air flow some


----------



## Matt B

Von Twinzig said:


> Lost a bit more weight tonight....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> +7 bolts to hold the tow bar mount on. Bonkers.
> 
> VT


Really admire what you are doing with your car and i reckon mine will get turned into a full on track car at some point.
Is that the rear crash bar? i would have thought that affords some protection to the fuel tank in the case of a rear end shunt or maybe a spin off the track and backwards impact?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Matt B said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Lost a bit more weight tonight....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> +7 bolts to hold the tow bar mount on. Bonkers.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> Really admire what you are doing with your car and i reckon mine will get turned into a full on track car at some point.
> Is that the rear crash bar? i would have thought that affords some protection to the fuel tank in the case of a rear end shunt or maybe a spin off the track and backwards impact?
Click to expand...

It's a fair comment Matt and one that I thought long and hard about. Having had a "big one" backwards into the barrier on track, the one problem was the ally bumper bolted to the crush tubes, which transferred load into the chassis and bent it beyond all recognition. The f/g bits on the other hand exploded, dissipating the energy. In truth it's a coin toss and the tank is quite a way forward in comparison to many other cars on track, plus I need to get it oversteering first. :lol:

Thought about the front one yesterday and for now it's staying. Thinking is to give some protection to the rads, but maybe that's more in my head than reality.

On a reciprocal note....I love your engine work and will be something I need to talk to you in more depth about once I have the rest of this thing sorted.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

roddy said:


> I thot they were called " splash tray " for areason ...... I know that the one time a garage left mine off on a 1k run the engine compartment was filthy and needed a jet wash ,, i guess they also smooth out the air flow some


I don't have one to put on and miles will be just to, round and back from tracks so I guess it is what it is for now. We'll see how it goes.


----------



## NickG

I've not had an undertray on all summer, completed about 3,000 miles and not had an issue! For a daily driver where it contends with the weather whatever the weather then it may be more useful, but as in this case and mine, i don't see it as essential.


----------



## V6RUL

I ran with no undertray going to Italy and back this year as it would make it easier to identify any issues easier.
It is not recommended for a V6 to run with no undertray as it is meant to add a little more chasiss stiffening as it is made of metal as opposed to the plastic trays found on other models.
On the German highway at speeds of 140+ there was no extra noise or discernable difference in handling.
Going through the twisties made no difference to me either, but no where near the limits where aero is required.

Only difference i did notice was the dirt. 
Steve


----------



## Von Twinzig

Yep, that's my thoughts too. Worst ways I'll get the power washer out more often, but as I'm not running with arch liners either I was planning to do that in any case. Long term I'll be trying to figure a proper splitter and the only way to get those working properly is to run them back under the engine to the bulkhead, so in a roundabout way I'll end up with some kind of under tray.

VT


----------



## lukep116

How heavy are the front seats each?


----------



## Von Twinzig

22.5kg each.


----------



## brushwood69

Hey VT i did the same with the arch liners but there is a gotcha! The cold air inlet faces the direction of water spray from wheels. The day before my last event it was p%%sing down and i went out for 99ron and the car was missing like lord lucan. I took it to RK who ran diags on it and found the maf was faulting. When we opened the airbox the filter was soaking and we had water in the box. Put a spare maf on and my cone filter from the race engine and bingo all good!

Check it out you may need to alter it. BW


----------



## Von Twinzig

Great heads up BW.

Rushed around before coming away on hols and whilst the thing was still up on stands I sat on the floor peering into the n/s wheel arch thinking....." Hmm, wonder where all the water will go," it having pee'd down on the first trackday. Well now I know! 

Looks like it'll be front liners back on or figure out some protection. Good advice. Thanks for that.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

I replaced the airbox with a cone which helps as any water coming in would hit the metal end of the k&n then evaporate in the bay. But the amount of water coming in I'm not sure of so I may have a problem on longer runs like a wet track day. Or look at reworking the cold air feed from the alien location.

MMmmm???


----------



## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> I replaced the airbox with a cone which helps as any water coming in would hit the metal end of the k&n then evaporate in the bay. But the amount of water coming in I'm not sure of so I may have a problem on longer runs like a wet track day. Or look at reworking the cold air feed from the alien location.
> 
> MMmmm???


So, my aliens have left the planet so to speak. What about a tidy hole cut with a hole saw and one of these inserted and bonded in....









I did some reading up a while back and the size, shape and positioning of such things needs to be thought out as often the air hitting the front edge just creates a high pressure wave, which effectively blocks the thing up cutting down efficiency. Food for thought though.

VT


----------



## V6RUL

Something like this, but mine is for a different purpose..

Steve


----------



## Von Twinzig

Yep, that's the kind of thing. Is yours for brake ducting?


----------



## V6RUL

Von Twinzig said:


> Yep, that's the kind of thing. Is yours for brake ducting?


Nah..wastegate screamer..
Steve


----------



## Von Twinzig

Whilst the front bumpers off I thought I'd get the splitter bolted on....










6mm stainless socket head cap screws for me.....










I know this will do absolutely naff all, but it will give the car a bit more track attitude.










VT


----------



## brushwood69

Questions for you!

Your coilovers, do you know what spring rates you are running and did you corner weight the car before? I also like the tow strap did you secure it to the original location? if you did what bolt size as it look a very coarse thread.

I raced at the weekend and it was like a go cart track and I was all over the place with the suspension and the braking so need coilovers and big brakes!

But yours is looking good.

BW


----------



## Von Twinzig

Hi BW,

Yep, coil rates are.....front 391lbs and rear 615lbs.

The thing I found was the difference the single point adjustment made. I'd been warned by my racing pal that really I'd only be working through 10% of the overall range with the adjuster. My impression was a little different. In the wet I set them half way (about 18 clicks, frankly if it rains again I'll go softer), in the dry I set them to full hard. Massive difference. Driving home I couldn't be bothered to swap them back, it felt like driving a brick. I had to stop and ease them off. Quite surprising.

Okay, the front tow strap bolt is a 19mm ACME tread (USA origin apparently) and virtually unobtainable over here. I gave up looking, even my super specialist local supplier didn't keep one and they have everything.The OMP tow strap is stitched to a seatbelt type bracket with a 14mm hole, so I bought an A2 stainless 180x14 bolt, a couple of washers and a nyloc. The bolt now goes all the way through the receiver and the nut is on the back side. If you do it get a 200mm bolt, mine's a little short, but okay for now.

It's in having the 30mm wishbones, all the bushes (Proflex Blacks) and R32 ARB's fitted at the moment. I'll let you know what it feels like. Hoping to get it back tomorrow.

Brakes....very good point. Even with racing pads, 660 fluid and air defectors they don't retard the car. No fade, but they don't stop the thing either. I was looking at some sort of Porsche set-up on an adaptor bracket, but don't really know what to do for the best. If I go Porsche I know I'll have a good choice of pad. Any ideas?

VT


----------



## brushwood69

It's like building a car inside a TT skin! Did you order extra springs or did they come with the coilovers as standard? brakes mmmm I have looked at wilwood as they do a full front kit for £670+vat but porsche are good but prices are going up you need to make sure they are 996 fronts not rears as they are worse then standard TT brakes! Just read back and saw you deleted the carbon canister. I'm up for a bit of this where did you get the resister from?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Lol, yep it does seem like that sometimes. Wait 'till the plastic windows go in 

Regarding the coilovers ; they come complete, the springs are the ones supplied. If I were racing I'd seriously consider Gaz Gold's. I had a good conversation with their tech guy. They are made to order, they can supply different spring rates _and_ they can rebuilt, which is handy. A lot of the club race guys are using them.

Getting Porsche calipers off eBay can be a lottery. Refurbishment isn't cheap (just had the fronts done on the 911), so I'd prefer new. Do you have a link to the Wilwoods?

The canister delete was simple enough, though I also took out all the steel pipes so I had to connect the header tank to the top hose. I got the resistor here.....http://uk.farnell.com/international-res ... dp/1457936 . Bought 3 as they're the same as the SAI and N249 delete ones.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

I'm speaking with GAZ about the golds at the moment hence my asking about the rate, I was after your IP!

I was at Autosport in Jan and had a look at the Wilwoods they were on the importers stand rally prep but wilwood are here http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Br...Audi&model=TT&option=1.8+Liter&axle=Front+Kit

Also had a look at http://www.xyz-racing.com/brake.php?Key=200#Main

and one other which I will dig out the brochure and cheers for the link to the resistors


----------



## Von Twinzig

BW.

UK manufactured, the options on spring rates, valving and the ability to have them serviced would push me towards Gaz for racing. Good price too when I enquired. 4-5 week lead time. I will probably go that way next year once I've learned the car a little more.

Pad choice would sway my caliper selection. I like Mintex and get them direct, so that needs to be considered in the process.

A number of the club guys are now running D2's and speaking to them are very pleased with the performance. Not sure about rebuild spares though. http://www.d2racing.com/brake-kits/big-brake-kits/

VT


----------



## Si77

Hi, I recognize you (and your signature) from the Porshe scene, great thread and great car. Just currently looking for a Mk1 TT so all this is great inspiration!!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Si77 said:


> Hi, I recognize you (and your signature) from the Porshe scene, great thread and great car. Just currently looking for a Mk1 TT so all this is great inspiration!!


Thanks Si. Different in many ways from the Porsche thing, not least no Porsche tax on parts :lol: Still loads to do, but having fun getting there.

Take your time. There's plenty out there. My biggest problem was finding one that had not been messed about with. Sounds daft when I've taken most of it off and thrown it away, but this way I know what's been done as I've done it. Nothing worse that trying to put right someone else's stuff ups first.

VT


----------



## marsiz202

Car looks amazing!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks.

Stil plenty to do, but getting there slowly. Mind you it wouldn't win any concours competitions.....or show and shine's either :lol:

VT


----------



## neil_audiTT

http://www.edition38.com/forums/index.p ... 746&page=2










You need a wing like that!


----------



## brushwood69

Von Twinzig said:


> Got rid of some more pipe work: Carbon canister deleted, which made some space. Fitted the resistor then heat shrank the thing and cabled tied it in...


So I had a look at this on mine can you check the following

Remove canister and unplug block
This leave 2 pipes going to bulkhead and on to tip, rad pipe and inlet manifold
replace with new pipe (what size ID??) going to rad pipe?
Block off inlet manifold
Block off TIP
Solder in resiter and cover in heat shrink

Cheers BW


----------



## Von Twinzig

BW..

8mm ID hose from the header tank to the rad. You need around 2m.
Poke the two stiff plastic pipes down through the wheel arch and trim to suit. Pretty stiff, I used side cutters.
That about covers it.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

neil_audiTT said:


> http://www.edition38.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=532746&page=2
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You need a wing like that!


 Indeed I do. Wonder where it came from?

VT


----------



## neil_audiTT

I'd imagine something along the lines of "big wing" into ebay search bar :lol:

Check the link to the build thread i posted too.

his is a diesel though, but the video of it eating up the track looks pretty trick!


----------



## Si77

Von Twinzig said:


> Si77 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, I recognize you (and your signature) from the Porshe scene, great thread and great car. Just currently looking for a Mk1 TT so all this is great inspiration!!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Si. Different in many ways from the Porsche thing, not least no Porsche tax on parts :lol: Still loads to do, but having fun getting there.
> 
> Take your time. There's plenty out there. My biggest problem was finding one that had not been messed about with. Sounds daft when I've taken most of it off and thrown it away, but this way I know what's been done as I've done it. Nothing worse that trying to put right someone else's stuff ups first.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

Hi, yes I'm the same, find the most original car then get tweaking.
I'll keep you updated on the search
Cheers


----------



## Von Twinzig

Anybody had a go at this mod?.....http://ttgallery.fotki.com/my-recent-wh ... le_spacer/

VT


----------



## brushwood69

Had some fun with tyre pressures this weekend! I was competing and after a [email protected]@k up that saw me lock the keys and phone in the car I didn't have enough time to set the tyres up for the first 3 runs.So I decided to try something a bit different I dropped the fronts to 25 and the backs to 24. What a difference where I had massive understeer last year this time it just gripped and went, the only time it was bad was when I out braked myself and it left me nowhere to go!

As to that mod nope never seen it before and I don't see how it would work are they saying that after a point that is less than the full pedal travel length(and WOT) the ecu reduces the fueling ? :?

BW


----------



## Von Twinzig

That's great info BW. Need to start logging some of this for next season. I've put a tyre pyrometer on my Father Christmas list. We started using one on the race Scoobie this season and learned a lot. For one thing......too much camber.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Got the thing weighed today, this with the tank reading 0 miles ....










I think 1200kg is just about possible, but I'll need to work a bit harder [smiley=whip.gif]

VT


----------



## neil_audiTT

That ain't bad going to say what the stock weight of these are.

I dunno where you'd shed a few KG's. Some magnesium wheels maybe. Carbon panels.


----------



## Von Twinzig

neil_audiTT said:


> That ain't bad going to say what the stock weight of these are.
> 
> I dunno where you'd shed a few KG's. Some magnesium wheels maybe. Carbon panels.


Simple stuff to come out...lightweight battery, lower dash, more wiring, door mirror motors, plastic windows etc. Plenty to go at yet.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

1200 kgs.... that would be nice! Only lower dash to come out- why not upper aswell?


----------



## Von Twinzig

I'm keeping the heating and A/C. Been there before without both, not funny. Okay for a race car.

VT


----------



## V6RUL

I've kept my heating and ditched the AC as it weighs about 20kg all in
Steve


----------



## Von Twinzig

20kg! Wow that's a big chunk. I was thinking maybe 7 or 8. Problem with no a/c is your lap times go up in line with your perceived body temperature, plus there's the getting there and back. Last year in Europe it was 35deg and I was wilting inside the 911. Food for thought though. :?

VT


----------



## roddy

neil_audiTT said:


> http://www.edition38.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=532746&page=2
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You need a wing like that!


don't we all !!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Guys, picked up one of these shiny jobbies.










Two questions.......

1. I've heard these can crack, so is there some way it can be strengthened?
2. I know they can be a mother to install so I've got a proper garage, with a lift, going to fit it. Any advice I can pass on to them would be helpful.

Thanks.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> Guys, picked up one of these shiny jobbies.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Two questions.......
> 
> 1. I've heard these can crack, so is there some way it can be strengthened?
> 2. I know they can be a mother to install so I've got a proper garage, with a lift, going to fit it. Any advice I can pass on to them would be helpful.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> VT


I believe its the welds onto the mounting surface, so worth getting it welded up stronger before fitting.

You should have just bought my version 4 off me...... ahh well too late now cos im gonna fit it now as most of the other bits sold so i afforded myself the luxury of keeping it


----------



## Von Twinzig

When I started this I made myself a promise not to spend any cash on anything that didn't make it safer or go, stop and turn faster. We'll today I kicked that idea in the plums....

Since I removed the front bumper I knew leaving the grille off was risky with any oncoming debris likely to fly straight through the rads. So a bit of searching on line and voila!



















New debadged 3 bar grille all the way from Germany for the princely sum of £36 delivered. Bargain. Arrived quick and looks okay too. Well happy 8)

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Guys, need some help....

Through my Porsche buddies I've got a lead on a set of real Big Reds (993tt calipers) in great nick. These things will have the stopping power I need, but does anyone know where I can get the mounting brackets from?

Thanks

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

There is a supplier on ebay for adaptor brackets for around £150


----------



## Matt B

What discs are you planning on using?

Matt


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

They can also supply the bracket to fit with the V6 334mm discs


----------



## Matt B

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-TT-A3-Mk ... 19dae0396b

These are ones for the v6 disc


----------



## Von Twinzig

Discs...no clue. Think the 993tt had discs and hats around 325 x 32

Before I pull the trigger on these I want to make sure I can fit them.

Fixit...got a link to that bracket site?

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Matt has linked the ones I was thinking of, pretty sure if you contact them through the listing they will be able to supply any bracket you need.

The V6 discs are 334 x 32mm so a good match for those calipers.

Looks like you will be adding some unsprung weight back into the equation! Well worth it though obviously!


----------



## Kyle18uk

Have a look here for adapters -

http://www.creationsmotorsport.com/prod ... =5&catID=8


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Kyle18uk said:


> Have a look here for adapters -
> 
> http://www.creationsmotorsport.com/prod ... =5&catID=8


Good find


----------



## chazhs88

Looks nice.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks. Getting there, lots more to do yet though.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Having resurrected the Oddyssey 680 battery off my last track car I thought I may as well get it swapped into the TT.

Took the big one plus the plastic battery box and tray out leaving this nice space........










Did think I might just plonk it straight in, but there's was a couple of earth straps in the way and using the existing base kept the fixing position for the heat shield.

Anyway, found some nice thick anodised ally plate in my stash ( never throw anything away) and with a bit of measuring, cutting and filing it fitted in nicely......










Measured up all the fixing positions to bolt the plate to the old battery base, new battery base to the plate plus a couple of extra holes to allow me access to the torx screws holding the base to the chassis.....










If you need to drill holes bigger than the chuck of your drill get a set of taper drills. Normally 3 in a set. This is the smallest one, which tops out around 12mm...










I wanted use my original battery box as it cost a bomb and it worked out just fine. Managed to get 3 of the 4 screws through the old TT base too, so there's plenty holding everything together.










Bolted the whole thing back in using the existing Torx screws....










The existing fused distribution board bolted neatly to the LH side of the heat shield without any modification.

Total saving, a healthy 7.7kg and off the front too.

I may yet relocate this inside the car, but that will add weight as the cabling isn't light.

Next jobs short shift and catch tank.

VT


----------



## jamman

One of the few threads that grab my attention on here

Good work keep it up mate


----------



## Von Twinzig

jamman said:


> One of the few threads that grab my attention on here
> 
> Good work keep it up mate


Thank-you kindly. 

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

Hi VT

I'm looking to do something like this but not sure on size of battery. I don't want to buy an expensive battery and find I have probs and should have bought a different size.

When finished my car may well be my daily driver so my question is, can these type of batteries be used like that or are they best with sporadic and shorter use?

I have a plan to utilise the space and as you say remote fitting is not always the best option.

Cheers Graham


----------



## Von Twinzig

Hi Graham,

I rate these type of batteries. Look at my old PC680. That had been out of my last car and sitting in the garage for over 3 years, yet a night on the Ctek brought it back to life. Before that it had powered my 911 3.2 Turbo, which I ran all over Europe without issues.

There are several brands, they're all pretty good. A lot of the club racer saloon guys run Varley Red Tops. For our cars probably a 25 or 30 will be fine. http://www.varleyredtop.com/products_batteries.htm. Braille are good too and very light, though I don't have any personal experience of them.

One thing to remember....these batteries don't come with terminals so you need to get those too if you buy a battery. Most have M6 fittings, so you'll need a couple of Allen machine screws to fit them.

The beauty of these batteries are that they are sealed, so you can run them on their side if you wish. Mine's upright as I already had a billet machined box, but a simple cage is all you really need.

One thing to bare in mind is that I have no radio or amp, no heated power seats and when I put in plastic windows, no heated rear screen. Speak to the suppliers, they will give you good advice on which one will be suitable for your car.

I don't see the point in taking out a standard, heavy battery and relocating it to the boot on a heavy road car. It'll make no difference apart from adding the weight of 3m of copper cored cable running to it....and now you have no spare :?

Moving weight only makes sense if you're losing weight and relocating what you have to sit between the axles, then adding coilovers so you can get the car correctly corner weighted and aligned. Now that does make a difference. Most of the cars on here running coilovers would be transformed if they were corner weighted and strung rather than just stuck on a Hunter, but it's not cheap.

VT


----------



## UR_TT

Hej VT,

As always, great job! 
I really enjoy reading about your progress! (at least you are making some progress compared to me  )

Topside of the pc680 there is a small "dent" under the sticker. That´s the place for a small popup valve and it shouldn´t be covered if I´m informed right. Emergency vent to prevent an exploding battery. Battery is toast if this goes anyway, but it might help to prevent more damage to any sorounding parts. Maybe you already knew this, but looking at your sexy holder this caught my attention.










Keep up the good work!

//U


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks for the heads up Ur, had no clue and I have run these things for years. Doh! Every day's a school day eh? 

Think I'll drill a hole in the box lid just to be on the safe side.

Cheers

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

Yes Varley are good,I ran one for years in my rally car but that was a while ago.
I thought the new generation of lightweight batteries would pack more power for a given size.


----------



## Von Twinzig

I've not tried the new lightweight li-on batteries Graham, I suspect they are very good, but still quite expensive for mere mortals.

Rally car? Okay, you can't leave it there..... 8)

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

Gartrac Escort G3

Mk3 bodyshell with fabricated floorpan to give rear wheel drive, 2l Zetec engine.
Sorry I ever sold it as the cost to get back in to rallying is astronomical.


----------



## Von Twinzig

When I fitted the Odyssey I forgot to take a shot of the repositioned distribution box. Bit fiddly due to being close to the MAf.










Fitted the first part of my Forge short shift. Simple job. Need the lateral bracket now. Anyone got one going spare?










VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Okay, after a _serious_ amount of research I've finally decided on my brake upgrade and pulled the trigger.

Firstly I kicked around the idea of DIYing a brake upgrade based around Porsche 993TT Big Red calipers, but I don't have the time and can't be arsed to fiddle around sourcing bells, discs and figuring out the adaptors required to get everything lined up perfectly and working correctly. Plus the sum of the parts wasn't exactly cheap and second hand calipers came with no warranty or history. I know how much Brembo's cost to refurb professionally and pretty soon the numbers didn't add up.

So here's what will be going on the car.....










V-Maxx by Hiltrac. Made in the Netherlands, comes with TUV approval and 24 month warranty.










Bought direct from V-Maxx UK conveniently located just 45mins away, which meant I could go and sit down with them and look at the kit in detail before doing the (very good) deal.

My reasons: the right size to maintain decent bias, great quality, TUV approved, 24 months warranty, runs an AP CP5200 D50 profile pad ,which opens up all the Motorsport componds to me, rebuildable, removable seals for track work, light (all up 23.4kg) and finally the price was right.

When I say I researched this thoroughly, in addition to talking to a people who's opinions I respect plus the usual Internet trawl I spent over half my time at the Autosport show talking to the high end brake suppliers so:

AP
Brembo
V-Maxx
Wilwood
Stop Tech

Then just for sh**s and giggles I spoke to....

Hi-Spec
K-sport

In truth the quality and functionality of the last two offerings in my opinion was a joke in comparison with the others, but I needed to be thorough. They were dismissed pretty quickly. I've subsequently found out some interesting facts about them in back to back testing against the TUV standard. I know some guys here are running them, all I can say is, to each their own.

Regarding the first group theses were my personal findings:

AP: Top drawer and if money were no object, a no brainer, but the kit would have been close to the original buying price of the car, so hard to justify.

Alcon: Not at the show, but I knew enough to know they are brilliant and beyond my budget. See AP.

Brembo: They could only really offer me the GT Junior kit, but thought them unsuitable for my track project as they thought the seals would likely give up. They were really honest and their quality right up there, but to get what I needed the price ended up being close to that of AP.

Wilwood: Was close to buying these, but was talked out of it by Mr Wilwood on the Rally Design stand who had a prolific range on offer. Mr Wilwood (a long term Wilwood guy over from the US) was a 225 TT owner who refused to fit the companies BBK to his own car as it didn't really offer much over the OEM setup beyond opposing piston calipers. Disc size was almost identical too. Quality and price were good and spares readily available. If they had had a bigger upgrade I would have seriously considered them.

StopTech: The guys on the stand from the US and the Dutch European distributor made a confusing pitch. I'd already researched their kit with some UK motorsport guys in the know and they rated them, but the guys on the stand were clueless. I asked if I could buy direct from the Dutch guy.."Sure" Price? ..."€3000 sir." I nearly fell over as I showed them a price from the U.S. of $1800. They flapped about. They had no answer to the question of spares. Their product quality looked good, but I didn't get a good feeling about their backup. Pity.

V-Maxx: Young guy on the stand showed me kit, spoke about the warranty and TUV, but quickly reached the limit of his knowledge, but rather than wheeling out the BS he asked which part of the country I lived in and then when we realised they were only 45 mins away invited me to come to the business to talk to the owners in more detail, which a week or so later I duly did. They were able to answer all my questions about seals, spares and so on. They also said I could buy direct from them, so I pulled the trigger. The weak Euro played into my hands too as they went down a ton between ordering and paying for them. Nice. 

This is a 4 pot forged aluminium caliper running a high carbon 330mm grooved two piece disc on a lightweight aluminium bell. The pad is an AP CP5200 M-Series pad. They come with a Ferodo street compound pad, but I've sourced Mintex 1166's from my usual supplier for a great price. Also didn't need their lines as I already have Goodridge hoses so they supplied me with suitable banjo adapters.They come with comprehensive instructions including showing you the measuring points for shimming if required. Looking at published OEM weights I should be saving 5-6kg of unsprung weight, we'll see.

Got most of the dash ripped out at the moment, but once that's sorted they'll be going on and I'll be booking another trackday. Can't wait.

VT


----------



## Large Package

Fantastic post, VT. Looking forward to how your build progresses


----------



## NickG

Fantastic write-up as ever VT!

When I investigated the Porsche 986 calliper conversion kit I was surprised how much this would cost to complete a full conversion. This was only onto standard OEM 312mm discs and was coming out to £900&#8230;

*Porsche 986 Boxster Conversion* 
Used Callipers £270.00
Refurb £230.00
Adaptor Brackets £150.00
Braided Lines £50.00
OEM Discs £70.00
Ferodo DS2500 £130.00
*Total £900.00*

That certainly made me question if it was a worthwhile route over what could be a significantly better aftermarket set-up for not much more outlay!
Is this the same kit that you have gone for?
http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pages/products/product_info.mhtml?product=2651666


----------



## Von Twinzig

I found the same as you Nick. Then a couple of the guys on here warned me of the time and pain they'd experienced getting everything to fit and work correctly when they went down the component route. I took their advice and searched for a kit.

The link is to the same kit, though I paid substantially less than that figure.

VT


----------



## NickG

If the money is the same or less, as you say, it seems daft to bodge something to fit when you can get a brand new specifically made set! What are new discs like price-wise?

I think i'll let you be the test mule before next winter's brake overhaul! :lol:


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> If the money is the same or less, as you say, it seems daft to bodge something to fit when you can get a brand new specifically made set! What are new discs like price-wise?
> 
> I think i'll let you be the test mule before next winter's brake overhaul! :lol:


Agreed. In the end it didn't make sense. Disc price? I'll find out and post it up.

Happy to be the test mule, Mrs VT is always telling me I'm an ass, though I think she means arse. :lol:

VT


----------



## riickii19

Read through the whole thread, super work and progress.

as you seem to have a much much greater understanding than i do, i was wanting to ask if you would advise the above listed brake set-up for a non track car (around 300bhp)?

many thanks and great write ups, always very informative and a pleasure to read.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks for that. The point here was for me to share what I'm doing in the hope that it encourages other members and maybe helps them make informed decisions about upgrades.

The kit should be fine for your road car. The balance will still be nice.

Remember, pad choice makes a huge difference to both performance and feel and should be considered a personal thing. The kit comes with a Ferodo fast road pad, but I've set them aside for Mintex. I'm not a Ferodo lover.

Before you spend the cash I'd try a pad with a higher coefficient of friction, you might find it gives you what you need for a fraction of the price. What are you currently running?

Nick: The discs are just under £300 a set, but that's without haggling.

VT


----------



## Matt B

Care to share why you don't like ferodo. 
I have ds2500 on my car now and they seem pretty solid pads. The ds3000 that were on before were unbelievable in terms of performance but they ruined the paint on a set of oz wheels that cost best part of 1500 quid so I would never use them again on a road car. 
I have never tried mintex so would be interested to know why you prefer em


----------



## Von Twinzig

Like you Matt I didn't like the 3000's. Aside from your findings I found them poor from cold and they munched through discs for fun. I switched to the 2500's and couldn't get on with them, more a feel thing. Tried PF97's which worked great, but the brown iron dust was unbelievable. It would literally set on the wheels (real BBS LM's) and the only thing that would touch it was a strong solution of Bilberry.

I was scratching around and talking to a couple of mates, one in rallying the other in club racing, they put me on to Alan at Questmead, the Mintex/Pagid manufacturers. He set me up with a trade account and gave me great advice. The 1166's I've moved up to were just £85 delivered. I wanted to run F2r's, but he advised against it. Too big a jump from the 1144's, so moved for now just two steps to the '66's.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

I wonder if they would consider a group buy? They look good for the cost!


----------



## Matt B

Von Twinzig said:


> Like you Matt I didn't like the 3000's. Aside from your findings I found them poor from cold and they munched through discs for fun. I switched to the 2500's and couldn't get on with them, more a feel thing. Tried PF97's which worked great, but the brown iron dust was unbelievable. It would literally set on the wheels (real BBS LM's) and the only thing that would touch it was a strong solution of Bilberry.
> 
> I was scratching around and talking to a couple of mates, one in rallying the other in club racing, they put me on to Alan at Questmead, the Mintex/Pagid manufacturers. He set me up with a trade account and gave me great advice. The 1166's I've moved up to were just £85 delivered. I wanted to run F2r's, but he advised against it. Too big a jump from the 1144's, so moved for now just two steps to the '66's.
> 
> VT


Really good info, thanks for sharing. 
That's a really good price, I think I paid 125 for the 2500 so anything sub 100 is great value especially if they give good performance


----------



## Von Twinzig

fixitagaintomoz said:


> I wonder if they would consider a group buy? They look good for the cost!


I'll call them tomorrow and ask. Nothing ventured and all that.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Matt B said:


> Really good info, thanks for sharing.
> That's a really good price, I think I paid 125 for the 2500 so anything sub 100 is great value especially if they give good performance


Honestly, since I found Alan at Questmead I haven't looked back. Brilliant advice. I told him the dimensions of the new pad and he quoted the AP type and number off the cuff! I laughed and told him he should get on Mastermind :lol:

I asked him about the F2r compound my mate was running and he told me flatly, "No, not yet, too many steps in one hit. 1166's for now and see how you get on."

I trust him implicitly.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Von Twinzig said:


> fixitagaintomoz said:
> 
> 
> 
> I wonder if they would consider a group buy? They look good for the cost!
> 
> 
> 
> I'll call them tomorrow and ask. Nothing ventured and all that.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

Appreciate that mate, brakes need sorting before Nurburgring in the summer


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> Nick: The discs are just under £300 a set, but that's without haggling.
> 
> VT


Thanks bud, that's good to bare in mind!



fixitagaintomoz said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> fixitagaintomoz said:
> 
> 
> 
> I wonder if they would consider a group buy? They look good for the cost!
> 
> 
> 
> I'll call them tomorrow and ask. Nothing ventured and all that.
> 
> VT
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Appreciate that mate, brakes need sorting before Nurburgring in the summer
Click to expand...

Possible interest in that if anything comes from it! Have you been to the ring before?


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Nope not yet, but planning it for late summer. Gonna get a track day in first to hone my skills. The plan is a Europe road trip to Venice for a few days, Stelvio pass for a giggle, then home via the ring. Nice if I can go hybrid between now and then as well


----------



## Von Twinzig

If you're planning a trip like that you should include Spa first or last. Totally brilliant circuit.

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

I agree with the Spa thoughts

Top man Alan -- he advised and supplied my clutch.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Guys,

I spoke to the V-Maxx UK GM today. He's very interested in working with us. I'll have a price for tranches of 5 sets by early next week. When it comes through I''ll post it up here and start a new topic in the Mk1 section so we can widen the net. Will need min 5 sets to make any deal work though.

Watch this space.

VT


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> Guys,
> 
> I spoke to the V-Maxx UK GM today. He's very interested in working with us. I'll have a price for tranches of 5 sets by early next week. When it comes through I''ll post it up here and start a new topic in the Mk1 section so we can widen the net. Will need min 5 sets to make any deal work though.
> 
> Watch this space.
> 
> VT


 I'll be watching and my credit card will be hiding at this rate! :lol:


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Sounds like a plan to me as long as the figures stack up..... Are they pricing them with braided lines and fast road pads?


----------



## Von Twinzig

fixitagaintomoz said:


> Sounds like a plan to me as long as the figures stack up..... Are they pricing them with braided lines and fast road pads?


Yep. I asked for the same.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Made a start on the dash and cutting out the redundant wiring today.










No going back now.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

OMG VT is there no end in sight for your removal of stuff?!!! You need to get this on a set of corner weights. What are you removing from behind the dash that I need to copy :wink:


----------



## mountbattencars

I can second the v max brakes! Work well on my TTrack car


----------



## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> OMG VT is there no end in sight for your removal of stuff?!!! You need to get this on a set of corner weights. What are you removing from behind the dash that I need to copy :wink:


Started trimming back some of the redundant wiring out of the loom, man that thing is as thick as a baby's arm. Need to get the last of the soundproofing out too. Cabling for the radio is part out, but need to get to the rest. When you look at this you can see why these things are so front weight biased. The scaffold pole doesn't help. If I wasn't so intent on keeping the a/c I'd take most of this away including the dash top. It weighs a tonne.

I've seen a lightweight aircraft grade loom for a Porsche and it weighs a few kilos, though it ain't cheap (cir £2.5k), but to do that I need to run a 3rd party ECU and that soon gets very expensive.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

mountbattencars said:


> I can second the v max brakes! Work well on my TTrack car


Well that's good to hear. They certainly ticked all my boxes when I was doing my research.

VT


----------



## riickii19

Von Twinzig said:


> Thanks for that. The point here was for me to share what I'm doing in the hope that it encourages other members and maybe helps them make informed decisions about upgrades.
> 
> The kit should be fine for your road car. The balance will still be nice.
> 
> Remember, pad choice makes a huge difference to both performance and feel and should be considered a personal thing. The kit comes with a Ferodo fast road pad, but I've set them aside for Mintex. I'm not a Ferodo lover.
> 
> Before you spend the cash I'd try a pad with a higher coefficient of friction, you might find it gives you what you need for a fraction of the price. What are you currently running?
> 
> Nick: The discs are just under £300 a set, but that's without haggling.
> 
> VT


At the moment im still looking for the right TT as id be planning to keep it until it dies so to speak as a weekend / non daily driver vechicle.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Plenty to choose from so take your time..

VT


----------



## TomBorehamUK

Hi VT, did you hear back from Vmaxx regarding a price?


----------



## Von Twinzig

No, but I have email spoken to the guy 3 times since. He's been away. I'll chance him again Monday.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

This little bad boy just arrived....










Final part of my understeer removal kit 

Now to chase V-Maxx again.

VT


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> This little bad boy just arrived....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


Another little part that sits in my eBay watched items, have you managed to find any reviews on this by people who have actually fitted them? I've only found theoretical reviews so far!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Nope, but at £45 It's worth a punt. If it operates as per the video, I'll be happy.

VT.


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Please enlighten us... What is it?


----------



## Von Twinzig

fixitagaintomoz said:


> Please enlighten us... What is it?


Haldex insert....




VT


----------



## brushwood69

Von Twinzig said:


> Final part of my understeer removal kit
> 
> VT


What are you going to do with the ABS and ESP?


----------



## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Final part of my understeer removal kit
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> What are you going to do with the ABS and ESP?
Click to expand...

The former nothing, the latter your switch idea, though not 100% sure where to break into the steering angle sensor line. Any idea, whilst I've got all the dash wiring out?

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Okay guys I've finally managed to nail down the deal on the V-Maxx brake kit.

I posted up some details and have now moved them into the group buy deal section of the forum so my build thread didn't become cluttered with questions and to respect the commercial aspects of the forum.

Details can be found here.....viewtopic.php?f=4&t=933634

VT


----------



## NickG

Very good price, upto £100 less than I've found! Cheers VT 8)


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Is that with the street pads? Sounds like a good deal!


----------



## Von Twinzig

fixitagaintomoz said:


> Is that with the street pads? Sounds like a good deal!


Yep. It's a Ferodo fast road compound pad.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Guys,

See above changes to my post yesterday about the group deal prices for the V-Maxx BBK details of which can now be found in the Group Buy section here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=933634 .

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Been sorting out my dash.

Removed all the lower dash, which meant I needed to figure out a way to relocate the light switch. After separating it from the housing I made a bracket out of some ally angle and epoxy glued it on....










Then drilled the dash and attached it with a couple of machine screws here......










Next I needed to sort out the rear lid and remote fuel filler cap switches. No radio so that looked a decent spot. Ordered up some ABS, cut it to size and set out and drilled the holes....










This is a track not a race car, so I added in a USB power socket for phone charging etc. Also as I'm running an Odyssey I wanted a simple volt meter so I can keep an eye on things. Couple of push to make momentary switches sorted the lid and filler cap and a toggle switch operating off the steering angle sensor circuit (thanks to Brushwood) so I can completely disable the ESP. The standard warning light comes on when the switch is open....










Resets when the switch is in the on position and the ignition turned off and back on.

New switch panel looks like this with the lights off....










And this with the lights on....










Also removed the redundant seat heater switches, moved the remaining 3 around and fitted a couple of blanking plugs and the flap still works....










Right, now to get get the brake kit on and the Haldex sorted.

VT


----------



## NickG

Brilliant work as ever! I wish i had the ability to do some of this stuff, your project is really coming along well!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Cheers Nick. I had a Phillips electronics kit as a kid, must have helped I guess :lol:

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Got the V-Maxx brakes and Haldex insert finally on the car.










Weighing both set-ups showed a decent 6.3kg weight saving up front...

OEM 30.9kg
V-Maxx 24.6kg

Spent some time bedding the new pads in, which for M series Mintex's can be a bit tricky on the road. Fortunately I have a nice straight and quiet back road I use as you need 9-10 stops from **mph (ahem :-o ) down to 30mph.

Got to tryout the insert too. All I will say for now is I have zero understeer on fast road bends. It feels like the car is on rails and that's with the dampers on their mid point road setting. You can really feel the pull/push from both axles. The car now grips and grips. Great feeling.

More on this when I test it fully.

VT


----------



## Large Package

I'm sure it's a 'private' back road you're using VT 

Those brakes look great btw 

I assume the weight saving you mention includes (as well as the brakes) for the lightweight wheel compared to oem? Those weights can't relate to the calipers and disks only, can they? :?


----------



## Von Twinzig

No, that's that's just the brakes. Weighed the kit before fitting and the old stuff once it came off. Big unsprung weight saving.

VT


----------



## triplefan

Von Twinzig said:


> Ordered up some ABS


VT, I don't suppose you have a link to where you got this please, looks like it might just be exactly what i was looking for?

Thanks


----------



## Von Twinzig

triplefan said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ordered up some ABS
> 
> 
> 
> VT, I don't suppose you have a link to where you got this please, looks like it might just be exactly what i was looking for?
> 
> Thanks
Click to expand...

eBay. Just do a search in there for "black ABS sheets". You want min 2mm. I always use the pinseal textured type. Loads of sellers.

You'll need a steel rule and sharp stiff blade like a utility knife to cut through it. Make a light cut then gradually do more and more passes 'til you get through it. Always cut from the back face.

VT


----------



## Large Package

Von Twinzig said:


> No, that's that's just the brakes. Weighed the kit before fitting and the old stuff once it came off. Big unsprung weight saving.
> 
> VT


That's a great saving just for the brakes. I had no idea they would weigh so much.


----------



## triplefan

Von Twinzig said:


> triplefan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ordered up some ABS
> 
> 
> 
> VT, I don't suppose you have a link to where you got this please, looks like it might just be exactly what i was looking for?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> eBay. Just do a search in there for "black ABS sheets". You want min 2mm. I always use the pinseal textured type. Loads of sellers.
> 
> You'll need a steel rule and sharp stiff blade like a utility knife to cut through it. Make a light cut then gradually do more and more passes 'til you get through it. Always cut from the back face.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

Top man, thanks for that, and keep up the good work on the project, it makes great reading, I'm just looking forward to you sharing your results/wins with us.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Since I gutted the interior of my car I've always been a bit mindful of the fact that removing the metal cage around the gearstick left the whole gear selector mechanism only connected to the tunnel by the two front bolts. Clearly not a good idea.










So decided to cut up the old cage and make a support bracket for the rear of the selector. Cut the rear section off with my air disc cutter and shaped/cleaned it up with a variety of files and rotary brushes....










Don't need this bit (remarkably rusty for a coupe I thought).....










Couple of coats of grey acid etch primer then as many coats of satin black as I thought would do the job. Cured in Mrs VT's top oven (whilst she was out I might add  )......










Fixed in place using the original studs and machine screws it looks like this......










Works a treat. Gear selector now rock solid and cost me precisely eff all. Bit of a result all round.

VT


----------



## 1781cc

Nice work there, love the oven curing!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks. Trying to get things as good as I can make them.

The "curing" oven has been used many times, though brake calipers tend to leave the tell tale signs (paint smell) a bit longer leading to periods of marital unrest. Dishwashers also makes an excellent parts washer......allegedly, not that I've done that kind of thing.....ahem..







.

Without doubt the best use of a household object for car based projects has been my mate Tim who, disliking intensely a rug his wife had purchased, used it to rest his Fuch's alloys on whilst he rattle canned the centres in his living room. They're not together anymore. 

VT


----------



## 1781cc

Von Twinzig said:


> Thanks. Trying to get things as good as I can make them.
> 
> The "curing" oven has been used many times, though brake calipers tend to leave the tell tale signs (paint smell) a bit longer leading to periods of marital unrest. Dishwashers also makes an excellent parts washer......allegedly, not that I've done that kind of thing.....ahem..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> Without doubt the best use of a household object for car based projects has been my mate Tim who, disliking intensely a rug his wife had purchased, used it to rest his Fuch's alloys on whilst he rattle canned the centres in his living room. They're not together anymore.
> 
> VT


yeah, i've been done for that before, mats in the washing machine ha ha

The worst is forgetting the evidence when you wash all your micro fibre detailing cloths and the next wash is left with autoglym streaks


----------



## Von Twinzig

Had a chance to get the car back on the weighbridge today......










So 1240kg, that's another 20kg off since last time. Pretty pleased. Still more to go though.

VT


----------



## fixitagaintomoz

Very good going indeed! So that's 2 of me lighter than standard!


----------



## Von Twinzig

The other consequence of removing all the interior including the headliner has been no sun visors, which made driving a bit tricky on occasions. So bought a sunshade and had it fitted by a local body shop. Found one online with a relevant subtle motorsport theme and made sure it was fitted as far up the screen as possible. The bottom edge is level with the bottom of the screen tint. Tried my best to avoid it looking chavvy. 










VT


----------



## triplefan

VT..chavvy? never, the epitome of good taste as always :lol:


----------



## NickG

So then VT, when's your next trackday?

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the new brakes and powerttack!


----------



## Roller Skate

Von Twinzig said:


> Okay, after a _serious_ amount of research I've finally decided on my brake upgrade and pulled the trigger.
> 
> Firstly I kicked around the idea of DIYing a brake upgrade based around Porsche 993TT Big Red calipers, but I don't have the time and can't be arsed to fiddle around sourcing bells, discs and figuring out the adaptors required to get everything lined up perfectly and working correctly. Plus the sum of the parts wasn't exactly cheap and second hand calipers came with no warranty or history. I know how much Brembo's cost to refurb professionally and pretty soon the numbers didn't add up.
> 
> So here's what will be going on the car.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> V-Maxx by Hiltrac. Made in the Netherlands, comes with TUV approval and 24 month warranty.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bought direct from V-Maxx UK conveniently located just 45mins away, which meant I could go and sit down with them and look at the kit in detail before doing the (very good) deal.
> 
> My reasons: the right size to maintain decent bias, great quality, TUV approved, 24 months warranty, runs an AP CP5200 D50 profile pad ,which opens up all the Motorsport componds to me, rebuildable, removable seals for track work, light (all up 23.4kg) and finally the price was right.
> 
> When I say I researched this thoroughly, in addition to talking to a people who's opinions I respect plus the usual Internet trawl I spent over half my time at the Autosport show talking to the high end brake suppliers so:
> 
> AP
> Brembo
> V-Maxx
> Wilwood
> Stop Tech
> 
> Then just for sh**s and giggles I spoke to....
> 
> Hi-Spec
> K-sport
> 
> In truth the quality and functionality of the last two offerings in my opinion was a joke in comparison with the others, but I needed to be thorough. They were dismissed pretty quickly. I've subsequently found out some interesting facts about them in back to back testing against the TUV standard. I know some guys here are running them, all I can say is, to each their own.
> 
> Regarding the first group theses were my personal findings:
> 
> AP: Top drawer and if money were no object, a no brainer, but the kit would have been close to the original buying price of the car, so hard to justify.
> 
> Alcon: Not at the show, but I knew enough to know they are brilliant and beyond my budget. See AP.
> 
> Brembo: They could only really offer me the GT Junior kit, but thought them unsuitable for my track project as they thought the seals would likely give up. They were really honest and their quality right up there, but to get what I needed the price ended up being close to that of AP.
> 
> Wilwood: Was close to buying these, but was talked out of it by Mr Wilwood on the Rally Design stand who had a prolific range on offer. Mr Wilwood (a long term Wilwood guy over from the US) was a 225 TT owner who refused to fit the companies BBK to his own car as it didn't really offer much over the OEM setup beyond opposing piston calipers. Disc size was almost identical too. Quality and price were good and spares readily available. If they had had a bigger upgrade I would have seriously considered them.
> 
> StopTech: The guys on the stand from the US and the Dutch European distributor made a confusing pitch. I'd already researched their kit with some UK motorsport guys in the know and they rated them, but the guys on the stand were clueless. I asked if I could buy direct from the Dutch guy.."Sure" Price? ..."€3000 sir." I nearly fell over as I showed them a price from the U.S. of $1800. They flapped about. They had no answer to the question of spares. Their product quality looked good, but I didn't get a good feeling about their backup. Pity.
> 
> V-Maxx: Young guy on the stand showed me kit, spoke about the warranty and TUV, but quickly reached the limit of his knowledge, but rather than wheeling out the BS he asked which part of the country I lived in and then when we realised they were only 45 mins away invited me to come to the business to talk to the owners in more detail, which a week or so later I duly did. They were able to answer all my questions about seals, spares and so on. They also said I could buy direct from them, so I pulled the trigger. The weak Euro played into my hands too as they went down a ton between ordering and paying for them. Nice.
> 
> This is a 4 pot forged aluminium caliper running a high carbon 330mm grooved two piece disc on a lightweight aluminium bell. The pad is an AP CP5200 M-Series pad. They come with a Ferodo street compound pad, but I've sourced Mintex 1166's from my usual supplier for a great price. Also didn't need their lines as I already have Goodridge hoses so they supplied me with suitable banjo adapters.They come with comprehensive instructions including showing you the measuring points for shimming if required. Looking at published OEM weights I should be saving 5-6kg of unsprung weight, we'll see.
> 
> Got most of the dash ripped out at the moment, but once that's sorted they'll be going on and I'll be booking another trackday. Can't wait.
> 
> VT


I've ordered these Von Twinzig, how are you getting on with them?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Roller Skate said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Okay, after a _serious_ amount of research I've finally decided on my brake upgrade and pulled the trigger.
> 
> Firstly I kicked around the idea of DIYing a brake upgrade based around Porsche 993TT Big Red calipers, but I don't have the time and can't be arsed to fiddle around sourcing bells, discs and figuring out the adaptors required to get everything lined up perfectly and working correctly. Plus the sum of the parts wasn't exactly cheap and second hand calipers came with no warranty or history. I know how much Brembo's cost to refurb professionally and pretty soon the numbers didn't add up.
> 
> So here's what will be going on the car.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> V-Maxx by Hiltrac. Made in the Netherlands, comes with TUV approval and 24 month warranty.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bought direct from V-Maxx UK conveniently located just 45mins away, which meant I could go and sit down with them and look at the kit in detail before doing the (very good) deal.
> 
> My reasons: the right size to maintain decent bias, great quality, TUV approved, 24 months warranty, runs an AP CP5200 D50 profile pad ,which opens up all the Motorsport componds to me, rebuildable, removable seals for track work, light (all up 23.4kg) and finally the price was right.
> 
> When I say I researched this thoroughly, in addition to talking to a people who's opinions I respect plus the usual Internet trawl I spent over half my time at the Autosport show talking to the high end brake suppliers so:
> 
> AP
> Brembo
> V-Maxx
> Wilwood
> Stop Tech
> 
> Then just for sh**s and giggles I spoke to....
> 
> Hi-Spec
> K-sport
> 
> In truth the quality and functionality of the last two offerings in my opinion was a joke in comparison with the others, but I needed to be thorough. They were dismissed pretty quickly. I've subsequently found out some interesting facts about them in back to back testing against the TUV standard. I know some guys here are running them, all I can say is, to each their own.
> 
> Regarding the first group theses were my personal findings:
> 
> AP: Top drawer and if money were no object, a no brainer, but the kit would have been close to the original buying price of the car, so hard to justify.
> 
> Alcon: Not at the show, but I knew enough to know they are brilliant and beyond my budget. See AP.
> 
> Brembo: They could only really offer me the GT Junior kit, but thought them unsuitable for my track project as they thought the seals would likely give up. They were really honest and their quality right up there, but to get what I needed the price ended up being close to that of AP.
> 
> Wilwood: Was close to buying these, but was talked out of it by Mr Wilwood on the Rally Design stand who had a prolific range on offer. Mr Wilwood (a long term Wilwood guy over from the US) was a 225 TT owner who refused to fit the companies BBK to his own car as it didn't really offer much over the OEM setup beyond opposing piston calipers. Disc size was almost identical too. Quality and price were good and spares readily available. If they had had a bigger upgrade I would have seriously considered them.
> 
> StopTech: The guys on the stand from the US and the Dutch European distributor made a confusing pitch. I'd already researched their kit with some UK motorsport guys in the know and they rated them, but the guys on the stand were clueless. I asked if I could buy direct from the Dutch guy.."Sure" Price? ..."€3000 sir." I nearly fell over as I showed them a price from the U.S. of $1800. They flapped about. They had no answer to the question of spares. Their product quality looked good, but I didn't get a good feeling about their backup. Pity.
> 
> V-Maxx: Young guy on the stand showed me kit, spoke about the warranty and TUV, but quickly reached the limit of his knowledge, but rather than wheeling out the BS he asked which part of the country I lived in and then when we realised they were only 45 mins away invited me to come to the business to talk to the owners in more detail, which a week or so later I duly did. They were able to answer all my questions about seals, spares and so on. They also said I could buy direct from them, so I pulled the trigger. The weak Euro played into my hands too as they went down a ton between ordering and paying for them. Nice.
> 
> This is a 4 pot forged aluminium caliper running a high carbon 330mm grooved two piece disc on a lightweight aluminium bell. The pad is an AP CP5200 M-Series pad. They come with a Ferodo street compound pad, but I've sourced Mintex 1166's from my usual supplier for a great price. Also didn't need their lines as I already have Goodridge hoses so they supplied me with suitable banjo adapters.They come with comprehensive instructions including showing you the measuring points for shimming if required. Looking at published OEM weights I should be saving 5-6kg of unsprung weight, we'll see.
> 
> Got most of the dash ripped out at the moment, but once that's sorted they'll be going on and I'll be booking another trackday. Can't wait.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> I've ordered these Von Twinzig, how are you getting on with them?
Click to expand...

Brilliant. Stop great with Mintex pads. Good feel and modulation too. Very pleased.

VT


----------



## Roller Skate

Cheers VT, exactly what I wanted to read. 8)


----------



## Madmax199

Good thread, subscribed!


----------



## Fight1

Hi von T,
Have you tracked the car with the new brakes yet? I'm seriously considering the kit, but there is very little out there in terms of track performance reviews. Also can you share your findings on the K-sports, pm if it's not suitable for public forum. I currently run the 330 set up so any heads up on potential issues would be appreciated. ( They have performed fine, but did get some drag last session, and finding spares is no fun)

F


----------



## Von Twinzig

Hi Fight,

First trackday next month once my harnesses are finally in.

I don't believe there's much point in talking about the K-Sports, suffice to say, for a number of reasons, they didn't interest me, one of which you've already experienced. Best left there I think.

VT


----------



## NickG

Where are you planning to fix the Harnesses VT? I was looking at mine trying to figure a way but couldn't see one without a cage with a harness bar!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Getting a harness bar fabbed up to sit between the B pillars just below the seatbelt top mounts, the belts will then go down to eyes fitted in the seat belt receivers in the rear seat pan. In effect I'm just using the bar to get the correct angle in the belts, a bit like the Stable Energies affairs, rather than wrapping the belts around it.

I've seen guys use the rear seat pivot bolt mount points to run a bar, but that's way too far back and would allow too much stretch in the case of a shunt. Not for me.

VT


----------



## NickG

I see! That was my problem with the angles, but haven't been able to find a harnesses bar, nor any ideas for a suitable one... Might be needing to steal another idea from you once I've seen yours :lol:


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> I see! That was my problem with the angles, but haven't been able to find a harnesses bar, nor any ideas for a suitable one... Might be needing to steal another idea from you once I've seen yours :lol:


No probs Nick. May need to do the same for your folded seat rail idea. Still think my subframes are a a bit too high.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Been messing around trying to come up with a proper way of installing my harnesses for a while now.

I didn't want or need a a full cage as this is not a race car. I'd got my mind set on a simple bolt in rear cage. I'd had these before and they worked fine, trouble is the only real player is Safety Devices

I couln't find one second had and new they are over £500 by the time you factor everything in, and delivery is 4-6 weeks. So this week I finally gave up chasing that idea and settled for a simple harness bar.

Following a discussion with my mate Dom at SVP, he thought that his guy would be able to figure something out so drop the car in.

Turns out my worry that the rear seat pivot pick up points were too far back and would lead to belt stretch were unfounded and new rules about belt angles also killed off my thoughts about running them down to the rear seat floor pan.

With that in mind Dave set to work....Drilled and set some rivnuts into the rear seat pivot mount....










Then made two meaty brackets and beautifully TIG welded in a length of roll bar tube....these welds were not ground off, this is his finished work (after powder coating obviously). 8)










The plate is held against the existing bracket under load.....










Voila! A proper harness bar that will work perfectly with my Schroth belts. To say I'm pleased is an understatement.










Will fit the belts and other fixing points hopefully this weekend. Mine are 6 point, so some work to do to get the crutch straps fixed in the correct place, but that's not too difficult.

Bring on 20th July!

VT


----------



## NickG

Lovely work as ever! Will be good to see this in the flesh 8)


----------



## Roller Skate

Awesome stuff.

So, come on VT/Nick, which one of you two are going to strip the exterior paint first?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Roller Skate said:


> Awesome stuff.
> 
> So, come on VT/Nick, which one of you two are going to strip the exterior paint first?


I'm currently engaged in removing all the unnecessary brackets with the help of a spot weld drill. Mighty tedious. Busted two already. Tough stuff this Audi steel :?

Also acquired a spare brilliant black bonnet, just trying to figure out how to remove the stiffening skin. Looks tricky.

VT


----------



## Roller Skate

Von Twinzig said:


> Roller Skate said:
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome stuff.
> 
> So, come on VT/Nick, which one of you two are going to strip the exterior paint first?
> 
> 
> 
> I'm currently engaged in removing all the unnecessary brackets with the help of a spot weld drill. Mighty tedious. Busted two already. Tough stuff this Audi steel :?
> 
> Also acquired a spare brilliant black bonnet, just trying to figure out how to remove the stiffening skin. Looks tricky.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

It's great to see these projects going on, keep up the inspirational posts guys.


----------



## brushwood69

All very nice VT, very close to OCD :wink:


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> I'm currently engaged in removing all the unnecessary brackets with the help of a spot weld drill. Mighty tedious. Busted two already. Tough stuff this Audi steel :?
> 
> VT


My friend done 2 of these the other day, there's a heck of a lot of them to go too!


----------



## Roller Skate

NickG said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm currently engaged in removing all the unnecessary brackets with the help of a spot weld drill. Mighty tedious. Busted two already. Tough stuff this Audi steel :?
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> My friend done 2 of these the other day, there's a heck of a lot of them to go too!
Click to expand...

Hey Nick.


----------



## NickG

Roller Skate said:


> NickG said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm currently engaged in removing all the unnecessary brackets with the help of a spot weld drill. Mighty tedious. Busted two already. Tough stuff this Audi steel :?
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> My friend done 2 of these the other day, there's a heck of a lot of them to go too!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Hey Nick.
Click to expand...

... One day at a time my friend! :lol:


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm currently engaged in removing all the unnecessary brackets with the help of a spot weld drill. Mighty tedious. Busted two already. Tough stuff this Audi steel :?
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> My friend done 2 of these the other day, there's a heck of a lot of them to go too!
Click to expand...

Took back the busted ones back to Machine Mart. Fair play, they gave me my money back, which I instantly reinvested in their bigger set with even more bits to break. :roll:

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Got a friend visiting the States, so pulled the trigger on these...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Bosch-EV14-60 ... TT+Quattro

Offered $150.00 inc P&P, which was accepted. That's around £25/injector. Worth a punt at that price.

I used this to estimate/calculate my flow rates....

http://www.rceng.com/technical.aspx

We'll see once I fitted them and found someone competent to do a custom RR remap.

VT


----------



## Duggy

Von Twinzig said:


> Got a friend visiting the States, so pulled the trigger on these...
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Bosch-EV14-60 ... TT+Quattro
> 
> Offered $150.00 inc P&P, which was accepted. That's around £25/injector. Worth a punt at that price.
> 
> I used this to estimate/calculate my flow rates....
> 
> http://www.rceng.com/technical.aspx
> 
> We'll see once I fitted them and found someone competent to do a custom RR remap.
> 
> VT


Don't forget some spacers for the fuel rail :wink:

John


----------



## NickG

I don't think you need them with these injectors do you??


----------



## Von Twinzig

Didn't think so. Same size (overall and O to O) as the 550's and they don't require spacers. These aren't the Seimens ones.

VT


----------



## Duggy

Von Twinzig said:


> Didn't think so. Same size (overall and O to O) as the 550's and they don't require spacers. These aren't the Seimens ones.
> 
> VT


My mistake, should have read more thoroughly 

John


----------



## NickG

Duggy said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Didn't think so. Same size (overall and O to O) as the 550's and they don't require spacers. These aren't the Seimens ones.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> My mistake, should have read more thoroughly
> 
> John
Click to expand...

Everyone's allowed one! :lol:

But only one! :wink:


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Duggy said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Didn't think so. Same size (overall and O to O) as the 550's and they don't require spacers. These aren't the Seimens ones.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> My mistake, should have read more thoroughly
> 
> John
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Everyone's allowed one! :lol:
> 
> But only one! :wink:
Click to expand...

Unless you're married then even JC would struggle to get it right :lol:

VT


----------



## Duggy

Von Twinzig said:


> NickG said:
> 
> 
> 
> Everyone's allowed one! :lol:
> 
> But only one! :wink:
> 
> 
> 
> Unless you're married then even JC would struggle to get it right :lol:
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

May as well as be... :lol: :lol:

John


----------



## Von Twinzig

Okay, so a follow up after the Bedford track day.

First up, big thanks to Nick for organising the day. Great effort including securing two garages. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]. Good to meet some of the other TTers too. Let's get some more Mk1's out next time.

Car ran great all day. Temps were fine, but a/c gas left the building two days before so was a truffle stuffy inside on the day. Put that on my "to do" list.

Tyres - the Nankangs are fine, but seem to have a pretty narrow operating window . The fronts were going up 10psi whilst the rears didn't move all day. I tried most combo's, but in the end the pressures that worked best were stock book, but hot, so 35f/29r.

Brakes - the V-Maxx fitted with 1166's and 600+ fluid were fine all day. No overheating, no fade, no real dust (not that that was a concern really) and stopped the car without issues. I might move to a full race pad like the FR2's, as I could do with a bit more initial bite if I'm honest.

Weight - car needs to loose some more. NickG and I have a cunning plan. Watch this space 

Engine - ran great all day. Need a bit more power or different gearing as the motor was bogging down a little out of the two hairpins. Frustrating.

Haldex insert - didn't know it was there. Traction was awesome and no push from the Quattro lighting up when the front slipped. Result in my opinion.

Handling - good. Car cornered pretty flat, changed direction well too.

Driver- needs work. Think I could get on the power a bit earlier to overcome some of the lag in the tight corners. Need to practice more.

All in all a great day.

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

Well done - good report

Once my engine is ready this is the sort of track day I would be interested in -- always fancied this venue -- so will be on the look out for the next one.

Glad you all had a good day


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Glad to hear the haldex was behaving, did you by chance get around to recording video Von? Did you notice any excessive traction as the plug covers a lot of the return hole that allows the Haldex unit to quickly release pressure, thereby in theory at least, many have said it should cause the Haldex to take longer to disengage (bad for turns). However this is all coming from speculation as no one has had the balls to try this out on vortex :lol:. Looking forward to your reply as that will determine whether I get one or not haha. Cheers


----------



## NickG

Great write up! 

I'm considering a powerttack insert too, if you think it's worthwhile? I'd rather get it in early and learn to drive the car like that, then get used to the car how it is and make a big change later on!

Weight saving is so vital on this car, need to find a way to give a big boot to some of the weight and kick it straight into the bin!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Gonzalo1495 said:


> Glad to hear the haldex was behaving, did you by chance get around to recording video Von? Did you notice any excessive traction as the plug covers a lot of the return hole that allows the Haldex unit to quickly release pressure, thereby *in theory at least, many have said it should cause the Haldex to take longer to disengage* (bad for turns). However this is all coming from speculation as no one has had the balls to try this out on vortex :lol:. Looking forward to your reply as that will determine whether I get one or not haha. Cheers


Got to love theorists, (See the part above..... :roll a case of BS baffling brains. :?

Buy it, fit it, keep the old one safe then if you find something you don't like swap it back and sell it or turn it into a piece of jewellery.

What I do know is that last time out at Snett, it was peeing down with rain and the slow witted Haldex caused me some monster tank slappers on a couple of the fast bends. No thanks.

VT


----------



## KarlD

Do you not like the Haldex system then VT?


----------



## Von Twinzig

KarlD said:


> Do you not like the Haldex system then TV?


No. It's too dumb for the track.

If I was doing this again I'd buy a FWD 180, save the weight and drop in a different engine. But it is what it is, so I'm working to make it better.

VT


----------



## NickG

Don't tell him that!!!!!

He's bugging me to change to FWD but I'm not having it, it's the reason I chose a TT in the first place! I believe with a decent controller and a good setup it will be advantageous going forward, although as standard it's definitely weight carried and as you say, a problem when it's unpredictable!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Oops! But we discussed it already at Bedford Nick, so the cat was already out 

I'm trying the insert because it's quick and cheap. If the principle works, in time I may go down the HPA route, that's why I'm watching BW's exploits with interest. Before then I need to figure out a way to keep in the power band on slow corners. Twin scroll turbo maybe?

VT


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> Before then I need to figure out a way to keep in the power band on slow corners. Twin scroll turbo maybe?
> 
> VT


I found that, coming out of the hairpin just after the Pit exit the car was so bogged down. I was using 3rd gear for this, what about you?


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Before then I need to figure out a way to keep in the power band on slow corners. Twin scroll turbo maybe?
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> I found that, coming out of the hairpin just after the Pit exit the car was so bogged down. I was using 3rd gear for this, what about you?
Click to expand...

Yep, 3rd too though with a boot full of revs. No, my problem child was the 3rd corner back from the pit entrance, not the one the led onto the straight, but the one before that. Just before lunch I went out and drove that part really slowly 4 or 5 times to try and figure out the line, etc. Got better as the day went on, but I was never completely happy. It was half-way between 3rd (bogged down) and second (revving the nuts off it). In the end it was second and then a quick third for the corner before the straight. Okay, but not perfect. The Lotus and Ginetta closed me down there, but I was able to get away after that bend.

Still learning.

My mate Oliver (Scoobie racer) reckons aero will cure it. Front splitter and big wing to carry more speed. Could have a point.

VT


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Von Twinzig said:


> Buy it, fit it, keep the old one safe then if you find something you don't like swap it back and sell it or turn it into a piece of jewellery.
> 
> VT


This is probably what I'll end up doing then, thanks for the feedback von :wink:


----------



## Von Twinzig

Gonzalo1495 said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Buy it, fit it, keep the old one safe then if you find something you don't like swap it back and sell it or turn it into a piece of jewellery.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> This is probably what I'll end up doing then, thanks for the feedback von :wink:
Click to expand...

No problem.

I see you are running a 4bar FPR, can you give me some insight into that please?

Thanks

VT


----------



## Madmax199

NickG said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Before then I need to figure out a way to keep in the power band on slow corners. Twin scroll turbo maybe?
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> I found that, coming out of the hairpin just after the Pit exit the car was so bogged down. I was using 3rd gear for this, what about you?
Click to expand...

Left-foot-braking is the proper solution for this. Aero adds grip and traction, but that is a band aid solution for a powerband issue (and improper gearing to a certain extent). The throttle can be modulated to various extents while still on the brakes to keep the turbo spooled and always stay in the meat of the powerband.

Here is short clip of an autocross I did last weekend. The footwork showcases left-foot-braking and how the technique alllows to modulate the throttle to always have a spooled up turbo. IMO an invaluable skill and tool for any turbo car driver:





.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Madmax199 said:


> NickG said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Before then I need to figure out a way to keep in the power band on slow corners. Twin scroll turbo maybe?
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> I found that, coming out of the hairpin just after the Pit exit the car was so bogged down. I was using 3rd gear for this, what about you?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Left-foot-braking is the proper solution for this. Aero adds grip and traction, but that is a band aid solution for a powerband issue (and improper gearing to a certain extent). The throttle can be modulated to various extents while still on the brakes to keep the turbo spooled and always stay in the meat of the powerband.
> 
> Here is short clip of an autocross I did last weekend. The footwork showcases left-foot-braking and how the technique alllows to modulate the throttle to always have a spooled up turbo. IMO an invaluable skill and tool for any turbo car driver:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
Click to expand...

Back to my Karting days by the looks of it then.  Takes plenty of practise, but hey, it should be challenging otherwise what's the point.

Thanks for the reminder, overlooked the obvious. :roll:

Watching the video I couldn't help notice one major difference in our disciplines......you didn't change gear. No matter I think I've got this one covered..












VT


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Von Twinzig said:


> Gonzalo1495 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Buy it, fit it, keep the old one safe then if you find something you don't like swap it back and sell it or turn it into a piece of jewellery.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> This is probably what I'll end up doing then, thanks for the feedback von :wink:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No problem.
> 
> I see you are running a 4bar FPR, can you give me some insight into that please?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

It's what my tune calls for, I ran my stage 2 tune at the time with a boost leak @ 3bar fpr and it was peaking at 19/20psi. With the 4bar fpr installed I gained a consistent 2 psi with the leak. I now peak at 24psi with no leaks. I think my fuel pump is slowly going out though, which is why I'll either be picking up a HFP A35HV or a DW65V fuel pump soon. But regardless there's nothing wrong with 4bar and many people over in the states run them on stock injectors to squeeze more power out.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Interesting.

I haven't been able to get any solid evidence one way or the other. So having just invested in a set of Bosch big injectors I may just go the whole hog and fit the 4 bar and a 0044 inline. Won't be wanting for fuel.

VT


----------



## Madmax199

Von Twinzig said:


> Madmax199 said:
> 
> 
> 
> before then I need to figure out a way to keep in the power band on slow corners. Twin scroll turbo maybe?
> 
> Left-foot-braking is the proper solution for this. Aero adds grip and traction, but that is a band aid solution for a powerband issue (and improper gearing to a certain extent). The throttle can be modulated to various extents while still on the brakes to keep the turbo spooled and always stay in the meat of the powerband.
> 
> Here is short clip of an autocross I did last weekend. The footwork showcases left-foot-braking and how the technique alllows to modulate the throttle to always have a spooled up turbo. IMO an invaluable skill and tool for any turbo car driver:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> 
> 
> Back to my Karting days by the looks of it then.  Takes plenty of practise, but hey, it should be challenging otherwise what's the point.
> 
> Thanks for the reminder, overlooked the obvious. :roll:
> 
> Watching the video I couldn't help notice one major difference in our disciplines......you didn't change gear. No matter I think I've got this one covered..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

[/quote]

It's course-dependent, this particular local course was set up for 60 mph, therefore it payed to ride second gear intead of upshifting--then dowshiting several times. The technique however is still usable and valuable on longer/normal circuits.

Half of typical corners don't require a downshift, just use the technique straight up to stay in powerband. On corners that demand downshifts you typically should be utilizing the box to put you in the right gearing to exit out at full boost. However, as we both know, there are those anoying corners that fall in between what the car is geared for - for those the rule of thumb is to always ride the upper gear and use left foot braking to avoid bogging down and fall out of boost.

PS: that 3rd leg would come in handy when racing ... wouldn't it? Lol


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Von Twinzig said:


> Interesting.
> 
> I haven't been able to get any solid evidence one way or the other. So having just invested in a set of Bosch big injectors I may just go the whole hog and fit the 4 bar and a 0044 inline. Won't be wanting for fuel.
> 
> VT


I'd actually suggest an intank* over an inline. Look at this pump that's recently come out: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HFP-A35HV-Perfo ... 25a6fa32dc
it's essentially a china outsourced DW65V except with a lifetime warranty. Similar if not better specs (marginally though). I'll be trying this out when mine goes.

Also I assume you're having your car re-tuned for the 550 injectors, make sure he also accounts for the 4Bar, you can't simply just slap it in on a standard map. Sounds like a good setup, what power are you making currently?


----------



## Grahamstt

I used to left foot brake in my rally car (different reasons than to keep turbo spooled) so when I got the tt I tried the same technique.... Epic fail, the stop light switch cuts all engine power!! 
I think it can be programmed out but I altered my driving to suit.
I haven't been anywhere yet where second gear isn't low enough cos first is just too low to use.


----------



## NickG

Grahamstt said:


> Epic fail, the stop light switch cuts all engine power!!


That was a query i had, happens in my focus too... hopefully someone has a way around it?


----------



## Madmax199

Well, I am on an AEM infinity standalone ECU nowadays so it's not an issue. When I ran the stock ecu, I had the brake/throttle overlap fuel cut coded out. I've had that sorted in my car for so long that I totally forgot to mention that it would be needed to left foot brake in a TT. My apologies!


----------



## NickG

Madmax199 said:


> Well, I am on an AEM infinity standalone ECU nowadays so it's not an issue. When I ran the stock ecu, I had the brake/throttle overlap fuel cut coded out. I've had that sorted in my car for so long that I totally forgot to mention that it would be needed to left foot brake in a TT. My apologies!


Is that something that you need to have programmed out by a mapper then?


----------



## KarlD

Is this switch the brake light switch or is it a pressure switch in the master cylinder?


----------



## Madmax199

NickG said:


> Madmax199 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, I am on an AEM infinity standalone ECU nowadays so it's not an issue. When I ran the stock ecu, I had the brake/throttle overlap fuel cut coded out. I've had that sorted in my car for so long that I totally forgot to mention that it would be needed to left foot brake in a TT. My apologies!
> 
> 
> 
> Is that something that you need to have programmed out by a mapper then?
Click to expand...

Yes, it needs to be coded/mapped out in the ecu, so a mapper is needed if don't have the tools and knowledge to get it done yourself.


----------



## Madmax199

KarlD said:


> Is this switch the brake light switch or is it a pressure switch in the master cylinder?


The ECU references both throttle and brake pedal for this, so it's brake pedal switch that is in question here. BTW, disconnecting the brake pedal light switch does not solve the power cut on brake/throttle overlap.


----------



## brushwood69

> It was half-way between 3rd (bogged down) and second (revving the nuts off it)


Found this as well at a number of Hills! found that bravery was required to dial it out :lol: :lol: :lol:

This sounded like a great day and a great way to explore the car. I've just got the 630cc on order and a secondary inline pump just like you mentioned.

The Nankangs are strange and 5psi up due to heat dialed in understeer and caused me to run wide but in the wet they are great go figure!

The next thing to play with is the HPA and dropping the 4WD in and out to limit the drive train loss.......

Great Job VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Hang on guys I can't keep up, popped out for dinner and I've come back to an encyclopaedia! 

Let me read through and get some posts up.

Phew.

Back in a minute......

VT


----------



## KarlD

Madmax199 said:


> KarlD said:
> 
> 
> 
> Is this switch the brake light switch or is it a pressure switch in the master cylinder?
> 
> 
> 
> The ECU references both throttle and brake pedal for this, so it's brake pedal switch that is in question here. BTW, disconnecting the brake pedal light switch does not solve the power cut on brake/throttle overlap.
Click to expand...

Then what else it it referencing to determine that the brake has been applied?


----------



## NickG

Poor old VT's build thread is getting mashed to pieces by debates! :lol:

If only we had a dedicated section for this kind of talk [smiley=bigcry.gif]


----------



## Von Twinzig

Gonzalo1495 said:


> I'd actually suggest an intank* over an inline. Look at this pump that's recently come out: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HFP-A35HV-Perfo ... 25a6fa32dc
> it's essentially a china outsourced DW65V except with a lifetime warranty. Similar if not better specs (marginally though). I'll be trying this out when mine goes.
> 
> Also I assume you're having your car re-tuned for the 550 injectors, make sure he also accounts for the 4Bar, you can't simply just slap it in on a standard map. Sounds like a good setup, what power are you making currently?


Interesting pump... a lifetime warranty and cheap as chips. Worth a punt at that price I'd say.

Injectors...I've gone straight for 630's as in time I'll need to get the engine to around 360bhp to get my target 300bhp/tonne. Engine is currently generic stage 2 mapped to around 280, but will be custom mapped once I find someone I trust.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> It was half-way between 3rd (bogged down) and second (revving the nuts off it)
> 
> 
> 
> Found this as well at a number of Hills! found that bravery was required to dial it out :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> This sounded like a great day and a great way to explore the car. I've just got the 630cc on order and a secondary inline pump just like you mentioned.
> 
> The Nankangs are strange and 5psi up due to heat dialed in understeer and caused me to run wide but in the wet they are great go figure!
> 
> The next thing to play with is the HPA and dropping the 4WD in and out to limit the drive train loss.......
> 
> Great Job VT
Click to expand...

I have admit I wasn't on full brave mode at Bedford BW as I was still learning the car. I'll get there. Good news is the brakes were great though, I will go for higher torque pad.

Bedford is a great place for figuring stuff out. No barriers, only one trap, plenty of run off with a good balance of fast, medium and slow corners plus a couple of decent straights and chicanes, flat as a billiard table though.

The Nankangs....very strange. I'm going to stick with them for a bit. They do seem to be very temperature sensitive; came in, stayed fine for 15-18 mins then dropped away. Copy, paste, repeat each session. Strange.

Keep working through that HPA BW as I see that as my likely end game. 

Next for me is full corner weighting with maybe a little more rake.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Poor old VT's build thread is getting mashed to pieces by debates! :lol:
> 
> If only we had a dedicated section for this kind of talk [smiley=bigcry.gif]


If only.. :?

Hey ho.

VT


----------



## Msportman

Von Twinzig said:


> brushwood69 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It was half-way between 3rd (bogged down) and second (revving the nuts off it)
> 
> 
> 
> Found this as well at a number of Hills! found that bravery was required to dial it out :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> This sounded like a great day and a great way to explore the car. I've just got the 630cc on order and a secondary inline pump just like you mentioned.
> 
> The Nankangs are strange and 5psi up due to heat dialed in understeer and caused me to run wide but in the wet they are great go figure!
> 
> The next thing to play with is the HPA and dropping the 4WD in and out to limit the drive train loss.......
> 
> Great Job VT
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I have admit I wasn't on full brave mode at Bedford BW as I was still learning the car. I'll get there. Good news is the brakes were great though, I will go for higher torque pad.
> 
> Bedford is a great place for figuring stuff out. No barriers, only one trap, plenty of run off with a good balance of fast, medium and slow corners plus a couple of decent straights and chicanes, flat as a billiard table though.
> 
> The Nankangs....very strange. I'm going to stick with them for a bit. They do seem to be very temperature sensitive; came in, stayed fine for 15-18 mins then dropped away. Copy, paste, repeat each session. Strange.
> 
> Keep working through that HPA BW as I see that as my likely end game.
> 
> Next for me is full corner weighting with maybe a little more rake.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

Great thread VT....very interesting read

Interesting comment on the Nankangs...I was out at Castle Combe in a 500+hp Seat Cupra a few weeks ago.....TSR Performance's car having a shake down and being tested / fettled for preparation for a race series next year. Great full blown package and well adapted for FWD as you can imagine the fettling needed to deploy this amount of power via FWD.

Remarkably it does......unfortunately the Nakangs had done a few shake downs too many and the FNS decided enough was enough as we had a blow out on Avon Rise just in the braking zone for Quarry!!!

Thankfully Tom managed to slow it down enough to make the corner. Tyre had flailed and was just about to pop off the rim!
Lots of heat cycles, lots of track action and they cried enough!

I run Dunlop Direzza's on my track car. I run a 16V MK2 Golf built by Tim Stiles back many years ago. It runs just under 1000kg's and puts out just over 200bhp.....runs a diff and 4.25 FD but is a great track package for the money and has done many circuits.

I have started another thread on here as I was thinking about buying a QSTT and starting a track build. I have a ED30 and 'was' thinking of building that up but it's a low mileage DSG car and it seems a shame to track it 'too' much.

It would make a nice project but an expensive venture so I am undecided at the mo but the chassis is a good base for building a good track car.

I agree on your comments on Haldex......it can feel dumb for track work.....it certainly a challenge to get around. I have tracked 'proper 4WD car's before and many suffer terminal understeer but many had colossal power to make up time on the straights while losing time in the corners. I's the same old problems.

I may consider a manual E46 M3 and strip and sort that out with big weight loss they make a great package but I'm still undecided on the MK5 ED30 Golf.


----------



## Von Twinzig

MSport.....I think a FWD 180 MK1 with another engine dropped in would be a pretty good base and save a bundle of weight. The Golf thing has been done to death so the TT would make for an interesting project.

Tyre wise I'll change to something else next time, just to get some comparisons. Longman in the Carrera at Bedford has had good results from Toyo R1R's and really rates both the grip and life. Worth a look maybe.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

This TT is FWD and running a lot of power! It runs in the castle combe salons series and is the current front runner


----------



## Msportman

brushwood69 said:


> This TT is FWD and running a lot of power! It runs in the castle combe salons series and is the current front runner


I see he is lapping in the 1.17-1.18.(approx)...very respectable

I manage to peddle my MK2 16V at 1.21-1.22 on my Direzza's weight / fuel load dependant

Stock (heavy) E46 M3's 1.26-7....it's all about power to weight and balance!!


----------



## KarlD

FWD FTW!


----------



## Madmax199

KarlD said:


> FWD FTW!


 :?


----------



## Von Twinzig

I picked up and fitted the side to side short shift tonight to match up with the fore and aft jobbie already fitted. Snickerty snick. Why? I had one on the 911 track car and liked it so have been looking to get the same feel. Think i might have it set a bit too tight as 6th is now tricky. Will play with the adjustment to get it right before next Friday's trackday at Snett.

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

Check that the throw is centred in the lever housing. As 6 is bottom right the the housing could be physically stopping the full movement of the lever.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Will do Graham. Thanks. Didn't have much time tonight to set it up properly, but will get to it.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Another trackday yesterday, this time at Snetterton with some guys from my Porsche forum. We do this gig every year as a memorial to my dad who passed away (it was the last time he and I were on track together). We toasted his memory with a small glass of Champagne at lunchtime as tradition dictates.

Weather was typical Snett with foggy damp conditions clearing later on to a dry warm sunny day. Started off with the suspension on the mid point road setting, but on a quickly drying track, wound the thing up to full hard early on.

Tyre pressures were as Bedford - stock, but hot.

Car ran great all day.

Generated some interest from a group of lads running an A3. They wanted to know how I'd gotten the Haldex working as the car was on rails through all the bends and in the early morning damp session.  Massive traction, which even M3's couldn't live with.

Need another 60bhp and 50kg less though as my mates were 10mph faster than me at the braking points at the end of the straights, although I was faster through the bends to some degree.

Used my "full off" ESP switch for the first time too as I kept lighting it up coming out of the big sweepers. Solved the problem at a stroke and kept the traction consistent.

Tyres went off after 18-20 mins as before. Speaking to the A3 boys, they experienced the same issue with the Nankang softs and had switched to the medium compound, which seemed more stable. Maybe worth a try.

Brakes worked great, but I deffo need to bleed off the fluid in the calipers to bring some of the firmness back.

Have a sneaky feeling my clutch could soon be leaving the building as it felt less than impressive on the drive home :?

All in a a great day made all the more special by the car attacting attention as the first TT most guys had ever seen on track, that and the 2 foot flames 

VT


----------



## jamman

Sounds like you had a good day to honour your dad 8)


----------



## NickG

^^^ This ^^^

Glad you had a good one out again VT! 

Before this September day I think I'm gunna order the YHDW insert and give it a go (hopefully it turns up in time!).

There's a very interesting "debate" on my project thread at the minute regarding power, which may or may not help!


----------



## 1781cc

Good to hear of the comments regarding the tyres, I won't be ordering any until after the 19th and was weighing up the mediums and softs, I think I might trial the mediums as my first set and see what happens.

I am enthused at hearing that traction can be improved on these cars as I drove mine to the shops yesterday and the thing slid all over the roundabouts breaking traction easily and the rear sliding out before the 4WD kicks in quite often, she is ok in the dry, nothing special but in the wet she is very twitchy and the grip just feels like it isn't there (she had a hunter 4 wheel alignment fairly recently)

The car before this was a B6 S4 4.2 and traction was never an issue, leaving M3's, Porsches and AMG's all in my wake in the wet, but the TT is completely useless. Does the power track insert affect the life of the haldex system, or clutches on it etc? obviously it wasn't designed to be full time 4WD in the first place, but i'd be interested to hear if you have experienced any adverse issues by fitting it.

I think its so cool that you honour your Dad by tracking every year, thats such a great way of remembering a shared experience and good times!


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Hey Von, I have a bookmarked guide to coding ESP off completely if you'd rather just get rid of it completely than using a switch. Ofc you can code it back easily as well. Let me know :wink:


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks Gonzalo.

I have a simple on/off switch rigged up and set into a panel behind the radios flap, easy enough and I still have choice. If this was a trailered rack car I'd probably go for the mapping option, but driving to the circuits it's nice to have it there in the background. Thanks for the heads up.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Had a blast round the lanes this evening to keep everything moving and charge up the battery, clutch is deffo FUBAR'd. First generates a lot of noise and very little progress, second a little better, but quite smelly. Snett trackday finally saw it off by the looks of it. Hey ho. Paddle plate and lightened flywheel kit beckons. Every cloud and all that. 

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

So my Kevlar Motorsports clutch and SMF have been fitted and now begins the ball aching bedding in period.....500 miles of town and country driving, changing gear often whilst staying off the boost, which in my cars case means around 3000rpm. Yawn 

It's an important process as if you fail to do this the thing won't work, not that it's working at the moment. As soon as the turbo gets close to spooling up the clutch slips. Having spoken to the man who built it this is normal, which is why you need to bed them in. That is to say carefully transfer material from the plate to the face of the squeaky clean flywheel.

Anyway, it is what it is. Once it's done it will take anything I can throw at it and the hotter it gets the better it'll perform.

Also, coincidentally I've had trouble selecting first gear, in fact it had become 3rd. After checking and rechecking the adjustment I took off the rod connectors at which point this happened....










So ordered up two new connectors from the local main dealer, fitted them tonight, did a factory reset and order has been returned to proceedings. Only 350 miles to go then.

[smiley=bigcry.gif]

VT


----------



## NickG

What a pain! Should be worthwhile though 

Is that an end where it meets the selectors? Looks different to mine if so :?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Yep, connects the Bowden cables to the shifter on top of the box. One has a large and the other a small hole. The springs and grippers on mine were shagged and I think, slipping, hence the problems selecting first gear. All sorted now.

VT


----------



## Matt B

You could do with going through the full reset procedure when the connectors arrive. Just need to lock the box and pin the shifter inside the car. 20 mins tops


----------



## Von Twinzig

Yep, that's all done Matt. Locked both the selector and the gear stick out before fitting the new ends and then released the spring locks. Simple system, but effective, until the tension in the springs gives up. Gear change feels really crisp now. I reckon, for £22, it's a must do service job and with no interior and a lightweight battery it took me less than 2mins to change them and reset the gear shift.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

These puppies turned up yesterday....










DMACK E marked tarmac tyres. Medium compound. Cheap as chips, so worth a try next season.

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

Will be very interested how they perform VT
I've been very tempted but car not on the road yet.


----------



## NickG

Very nice!! They'll be interesting to compare with the Nankangs!


----------



## Grahamstt

From what I've heard Nick, they'll piss all over them but you can't beat back to back comparison


----------



## NickG

If that's the case it's a shame they're not on the MSA approved list!


----------



## Grahamstt

They are in list 1b in the MSA year book


----------



## NickG

Hmmm, I can only see the Dmack trackdays in 1C and kinetic-s in 1A?


----------



## Grahamstt

https://www.msauk.org/assets/2015msayearbook.pdf

Page 200


----------



## Von Twinzig

Grahamstt said:


> From what I've heard Nick, they'll piss all over them but you can't beat back to back comparison


My rally mates suggested the same Graham, they are really starting to make a name for themselves against the big boy manufacturers, by all accounts.

VT


----------



## NickG

Grahamstt said:


> https://www.msauk.org/assets/2015msayearbook.pdf
> 
> Page 200


Assuming that the "Dmack DMT-RC" as VT has are the same as a "Dmack Trackday" then?

Reading this they're not...

http://www.dmacktyres.com/pdf/en.download_motorsport_catalogue.pdf


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Grahamstt said:
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.msauk.org/assets/2015msayearbook.pdf
> 
> Page 200
> 
> 
> 
> Assuming that the "Dmack DMT-RC" as VT has are the same as a "Dmack Trackday" then?
> 
> Reading this they're not...
> 
> http://www.dmacktyres.com/pdf/en.download_motorsport_catalogue.pdf
Click to expand...

Indeed they are not. Plus the mediums are a softer compound than the trackday tyres (which are around equivalent hard)

VT


----------



## Grahamstt

I see what you mean Nick, I didn't realise they were the DMT due to the road tyre size.
They should be better than the track day carcase / stiffer.


----------



## NickG

Keen eye for detail occasionally! :lol:

That being said, if you get on well with them, the trackday version may be worth a try, they're a decent price even from JJC!

Edit: scrap that, was looking at the wrong size, £150 a corner!!


----------



## pauldeacs

Awesome project and has given me some good ideas for the hillclimb/sprint audi TT that my partner and I are currently building. One question for you............. The ESP override switch you mention. Could you possibly provide details of which wire on the G85 steering angle sensor it is that you have to splice a switch into?


----------



## NickG

pauldeacs said:


> Awesome project and has given me some good ideas for the hillclimb/sprint audi TT that my partner and I are currently building. One question for you............. The ESP override switch you mention. Could you possibly provide details of which wire on the G85 steering angle sensor it is that you have to splice a switch into?


Hi Paul, you found the forum then!!


----------



## Von Twinzig

pauldeacs said:


> Awesome project and has given me some good ideas for the hillclimb/sprint audi TT that my partner and I are currently building. One question for you............. The ESP override switch you mention. Could you possibly provide details of which wire on the G85 steering angle sensor it is that you have to splice a switch into?


The brown one.

......or was it the red one?

No, deffo the brown one 

VT


----------



## brushwood69

It was the red one I told you! the brown one disconnects the do-icky from the thingy.......


----------



## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> It was the red one I told you! the brown one disconnects the do-icky from the thingy.......


Bugger. :?

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Well, the clutch is 560 miles on and getting better each drive, but........still occasionally slips if I'm a bit lively with the throttle in the higher gears. More gear changing miles to do, methinks.

Word of advice....unless you have the patience of Job, don't plump for a Kevlar plate in conjunction with a brand new lightweight flywheel. It's a ballaching task driving like Miss Daisy for mile after mile of town-like driving :?

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Well, haven't posted for a while and for good reason....

The new clutch went past 600 miles and was slipping like crazy, eventually giving up the ghost on a spirited run round my local lanes. Contacted CG Motorsports (yet again) who made and supplied the kit. Clearly it needed to come out for inspection to figure out the problem. Not happy. Got in touch with Frank in Peterborough who agreed to do the work and store the car whilst the CSI took place.

Now what I ordered and paid for was a 6 paddle plate with lightened flywheel, remember this kit was sent straight out from them to where the car was stored and the clutch was to be fitted (over in Droitwich), so imagine my surprise when I went to Franks to collect it to take back to CG in Leeds.....










Sherlock Holmes not required. This was never going to work. Where mine actually went is still unclear.

Without sufficient clamping the carbon Kevlar went from being a friction surface to a lubricant......










Driving a highly slipping clutch in 2nd and 3rd (using revs not torque) for 18 miles to get to the garage takes it's toll, stuff gets hot.....










Wednesday this week a completely new kit arrived, direct to me this time.......spot the difference and win a prize...










The thing is in and operating perfectly. Good now for over 400lbs/ft. Pretty smooth, kind of. Wouldn't be the nicest thing on a daily driver, but not shocking. Tiny, tiny judder on 1st and reverse, but you can cover that with revs.

Note to self....never ever get specially manufactured parts sent direct to someone fitting it, especially if they are hundreds of miles away. Every day's a school day :?

Anyway, on with the stripping out and prep for this spring. Thank fook.

VT


----------



## 1781cc

You certainly wouldn't expect to be screwed over in what you were meant to be supplied, but glad its all worked out in the end. It did seem strange that you were having all these issues with the bedding in process.

Do you find she spools up much quicker with the lightened flywheel? noticeably so?


----------



## Von Twinzig

I was certain something wasn't right from the outset and told them so, but they said not to call them again until I'd gone past 500 miles. None of us could figure that part.

The flywheel is not super light, i.e. not ally, as I still need to drive the thing on the road without stalling, but it definitely spins up quicker and the 5 paddle is not overly fierce, certainly not a switch and totally street usable.

VT


----------



## hang your idols

This is my 6 puk clutch,drives all most like stock clutch,not to grabby


----------



## NickG

What a PITA!

Hope you've got it solved cost free and can't wait for a good review on it!

Any dates planned this year yet?


----------



## brushwood69

VT let me know how it feels and it you think that it would suit my hard launches .


----------



## Von Twinzig

PITA - too true Nick. 3 months buggering about all for nowt. Not a happy bunny. First date to get locked in will be my Dad's Memorial Day in August at Snett, 17th is looking favourite.

BW - going to get the thing bedded in then will give it some stick. Initial impressions are good, time will tell :?

VT


----------



## Sd TT

Hi all, what an interesting read it has been. Thanks.

VT , I just wanted to ask about the exhaust you finally added. Have you got the Milltek 3' down pipe and 3' res box or or did you go with 2.75' rear section. Only ask as I'm about to change mine , but remember someone saying these engines (1.8, 225) need some back pressure.

Also while the car was in the garage up in the air, I was thinking about the haldex. Which to change first. Haldex widget or blue control box?

Cheers for any help, getting the car ready for donnington

Sd tt


----------



## Von Twinzig

I changed my exhaust early on and tried to get as much information as I could. Most seemed to indicate that running 3" throughout would allow the torque fall off a cliff, so I opted for the 2.75". That doesn't mean It was the correct decision, there are a lot more knowledgeable people on here now. AMD agreed with the advice and they fitted it. In contrast my previous turbo experience was with the 911 where the thinking there was "big in, big out."

I opted for the insert for two reasons: it was cheap and readily available. To date It has provided me with the solution I was seeking, namely a faster reacting and more predictable transfer.

VT


----------



## Sd TT

VT cheers for that, one haldex widget being ordered. I'll look into the exhaust some more. So what makes your exhaust spit 2ft flames? Sounds great to me. Have you tried the Yokohama advan-neova-ad08r. Put them on mine last year and got some great grip, in the dry. Cheers sd tt.


----------



## Von Twinzig

The 2 foot flames are down to the generic pi55 poor map provided by AMD. I wouldn't let them work on my lawnmower after my one and only experience of watching them 'eff about on my car. Hopeless.

Tyre wise, no Yoko's for me. I'll be running medium compound DMack tarmac stage rally tyres this season. E marked, way grippier than a road tyre and cheap as chips.

VT


----------



## CollecTTor

Sd TT said:


> but remember someone saying these engines (1.8, 225) need some back pressure.





Von Twinzig said:


> Most seemed to indicate that running 3" throughout would allow the torque fall off a cliff


No, the 1.8T is no different than any other turbo motor. The best exhaust for a turbo is no exhaust. Since that's not practical for most, you want the largest exhaust possible for your power/flow rate. 3" shows gains even on 150hp K03 1.8T's, so why would it be worse for a 225 K04 1.8T? FYI, Max runs a 3.5" exhaust and doesn't have any perceived "lack of torque/falloff" issues.


----------



## Von Twinzig

CollecTTor said:


> Sd TT said:
> 
> 
> 
> but remember someone saying these engines (1.8, 225) need some back pressure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Most seemed to indicate that running 3" throughout would allow the torque fall off a cliff
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No, the 1.8T is no different than any other turbo motor. The best exhaust for a turbo is no exhaust. Since that's not practical for most, you want the largest exhaust possible for your power/flow rate. 3" shows gains even on 150hp K03 1.8T's, so why would it be worse for a 225 K04 1.8T? FYI, Max runs a 3.5" exhaust and doesn't have any perceived "lack of torque/falloff" issues.
Click to expand...

You know what, I knew that from my 911(big in, big out) build and still got duped as a TT newbe at the time :roll: Now that I know where the dB's are my spangly back box will be coming off this season to make way for something simpler in 3".

VT


----------



## CollecTTor

Von Twinzig said:


> CollecTTor said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sd TT said:
> 
> 
> 
> but remember someone saying these engines (1.8, 225) need some back pressure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Most seemed to indicate that running 3" throughout would allow the torque fall off a cliff
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No, the 1.8T is no different than any other turbo motor. The best exhaust for a turbo is no exhaust. Since that's not practical for most, you want the largest exhaust possible for your power/flow rate. 3" shows gains even on 150hp K03 1.8T's, so why would it be worse for a 225 K04 1.8T? FYI, Max runs a 3.5" exhaust and doesn't have any perceived "lack of torque/falloff" issues.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> You know what, I knew that from my 911(big in, big out) build and still got duped as a TT newbe at the time :roll: Now that I know where the dB's are my spangly back box will be coming off this season to make way for something simpler in 3".
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

The turbo is all the backpressure the motor will need. 8)


----------



## Von Twinzig

CollecTTor said:


> The turbo is all the backpressure the motor will need. 8)


Indeed. And what's really scary is that I checked in with a whole bunch of "expert" shops at the time. Should have trusted my own knowledge. Every day's a school day. [smiley=book2.gif]

Hey ho.

VT


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Von Twinzig said:


> CollecTTor said:
> 
> 
> 
> The turbo is all the backpressure the motor will need. 8)
> 
> 
> 
> Indeed. And what's really scary is that I checked in with a whole bunch of "expert" shops at the time. Should have trusted my own knowledge. Every day's a school day. [smiley=book2.gif]
> 
> Hey ho.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

When I first got my muffler delete, the exhaust shop guy told me the same thing, even though I explained to him it was a turbocharged car. Needless to say I'm glad I still kept my resonator though, the car sounds absolutely monstrous with just a straight back exhaust, and draws WAY too much attention.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Got on with the weight reduction programme today....lost another 9.4kg.

2 x door cards without speakers, weighed accurately this time @ 4.12kg each....total 8.24kg

Then got whizzy with the spot weld drill and removed a pile of redundant brackets.....










Another 1.2kg of useless metal.....

Blocked all the holes up with blind grommets to keep everything neat and tidy....and to stop the water and draughts getting in...



















Onwards and upwards..

VT


----------



## brushwood69

Have you put the door cards minus crap back on then VT?


----------



## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> Have you put the door cards minus crap back on then VT?


Nope, car is "sans door cards" now. Got the switches cable tied up for the time being. Once the mirror motors come out and the placcy windows go in, I'll dump them off too BW.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

How have you secured the door open levers?


----------



## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> How have you secured the door open levers?


Suffice to say in my yewf, when I was a Boy Scout, if there had been a badge for "The most creative use of cable ties", I would have got it. 

VT


----------



## 1781cc

I've been turning my attention to the TT having neglected her over the winter in favour of buying a V10 S8 and fixing my cabriolet issues, so decided to re-read your thread, and all subsequent links (quite a lot of reading) but I am glad I did as I have made a list of learnings based on your and contributors experiences - hope you don't mind, but this is - I am sure - part of why you logged all your efforts anyway, and I appreciate that!

DO:

Disable ESP via switch wired into steering angle sensor
Remove rear ballast
Remove Arch Liners
Powertrack Insert
Rear R32 ARB
Remove Rear Inner bumper
Battery relocation and kill switch
Fused distribution box relocation
Forge short shift
Dash out, removal of wiring for radio, speakers, interior lights, etc
push switches for fuel cap (keeping boot release cable, kill electrical one)
Heated seat button and loom removal
Remove brake back plates
Buy a few spot weld drills and remove redundant bits of metal bracketing
3" downpipe, decat and straight back, single light muffler on the rear for dBs sake

DONT:

Dont buy a clutch from CG Motorsports
Don't get an AMD map

I have a much clearer picture of what it is I need to focus on now (in addition to things I already had planned)

Kudos to you!


----------



## Sd TT

I opted for the insert for two reasons: it was cheap and readily available.

Hi VT,

Looking into the power-track insert for the haldex, and wandered although the insert is cheap, how did you get it in? Looking at it there's no space there. Is it a big job?

Cheers sd TT


----------



## maff

How did you disable the esp

Pics would help as i need to do this to my tt


----------



## Von Twinzig

Sd TT said:


> I opted for the insert for two reasons: it was cheap and readily available.
> 
> Hi VT,
> 
> Looking into the power-track insert for the haldex, and wandered although the insert is cheap, how did you get it in? Looking at it there's no space there. Is it a big job?
> 
> Cheers sd TT


Remove the controller, clean, remove and replace the insert, hold the new gasket on with an elastic band, reinstall, but don't tighten, cut the band, tighten.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

maff said:


> How did you disable the esp
> 
> Pics would help as i need to do this to my tt


This is team Brushwood's workaround. Locate the steering angle sensor on the column, break into the brown wire and insert a singe pole switch in the line, install the switch somewhere convenient. Simple job.

When you throw the switch the ESP is hard off. To turn it back on - flick the switch back up, turn the ignition off and back on. It's reengaged.

VT


----------



## CollecTTor

maff said:


> How did you disable the esp
> 
> Pics would help as i need to do this to my tt


Wire in a switch like said, or you can code it off with VAG COM/VCDS


----------



## Von Twinzig

1781cc said:


> I've been turning my attention to the TT having neglected her over the winter in favour of buying a V10 S8 and fixing my cabriolet issues, so decided to re-read your thread, and all subsequent links (quite a lot of reading) but I am glad I did as I have made a list of learnings based on your and contributors experiences - hope you don't mind, but this is - I am sure - part of why you logged all your efforts anyway, and I appreciate that!
> 
> DO:
> 
> Disable ESP via switch wired into steering angle sensor
> Remove rear ballast
> Remove Arch Liners
> Powertrack Insert
> Rear R32 ARB
> Remove Rear Inner bumper
> Battery relocation and kill switch
> Fused distribution box relocation
> Forge short shift
> Dash out, removal of wiring for radio, speakers, interior lights, etc
> push switches for fuel cap (keeping boot release cable, kill electrical one)
> Heated seat button and loom removal
> Remove brake back plates
> Buy a few spot weld drills and remove redundant bits of metal bracketing
> 3" downpipe, decat and straight back, single light muffler on the rear for dBs sake
> 
> DONT:
> 
> Dont buy a clutch from CG Motorsports
> Don't get an AMD map
> 
> I have a much clearer picture of what it is I need to focus on now (in addition to things I already had planned)
> 
> Kudos to you!


Thanks.

I'd add in the "do" list...Change the wheel bolts for studs and nuts. Makes life a lot easier.

VT


----------



## Sd TT

Cheers VT sounds doable now. Thanks


----------



## Jez xbx

Having just read this end to end (like a good book you can't put down!)
Can you clarify for the do & don't list about the arch liners?
I thought you were running with for water ingress reasons?


----------



## 1781cc

My understanding was front on rear off, I'm going all off as she lives in the garage, only drives on track days and I have a p-flow with full metal surround the air filter so shouldn't be an issue


----------



## Von Twinzig

Jez xbx said:


> Having just read this end to end (like a good book you can't put down!)
> Can you clarify for the do & don't list about the arch liners?
> I thought you were running with for water ingress reasons?


No liners at the moment, though I will be chopping up the front ones and using part of them to block off the open area facing the back of the headlights. Some road spray is getting in there when it properly pees down. I'll post up the fix when I get round to it effecting it....hopefully this weekend.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Decent weather so got on with a few small jobs today.

Ever since I removed the arch liners I've been a bit concerned about some of our British weather finding its way to back of the headlights, so today I gave it some thought. I wanted just enough to protect the open area, but looking ahead I need to make room for my brake air ducting once I get round to it.

Started out marking the rough shape....










Then using a new blade in my trusty Irwin knife I started cutting away the parts I wasn't going to need...still needed to retain the existing fixing points










Cut the back half off to leave a shape like this......










Fitted perfectly and plenty of room for my ducting once I've fitted the FMIC I have sitting in the garage, something I wouldn't be doing if I wasn't planning brake ducting.



















Fitted my battery cut out too. This is a temporary affair as I'll be going lithium and moving the whole thing onto the pax footwell bulkhead in time. This is just to stop the battery discharging and add a degree of security.










VT


----------



## 1781cc

nice work on the liners, looks pretty clean. I can read from your tone that you really seem reluctant about the FMIC, I see your point based on other posts you have made, but better brake cooling has got to outweigh the negatives. How are you finding the VMAXX after this time? any issues? still recommend?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Brakes are great. Very pleased. Whilst the wheels were off I took the opportunity of bleeding them off a little. Pedal was a bit soft after the last trackday. Had a bit of air in there.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Not much work done recently. Bit more housekeeping...

Got my shoulder belt spacers fitted .....actually a couple of 150mm lengths of 38mm bore silicon tubing. Grip the bar great.....










The cable tie keeps the harnesses out the way for road use otherwise they clank about and the clips damage the back of the seat. Schroth recommend crossing the belts once the length from the seat to the bar exceeds 450mm.

Been running badgeless since I got the car, something which I wasn't happy with, so picked up a used 3 bar grille, a rattle can of matt black hi build paint and voila, new face....










and the rear end got some attention too.....



















My door pull cable tie extravaganza since my door cards went. Will go for a dog lead type once the doors are relined.










VT


----------



## NickG

Check you out with the fancy door handles! 

Looking good, 3-bar grill is way better! What's the MTM then?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Matches the sunstrip....










mtm.......https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motoren_Technik_Mayer

VT


----------



## 1781cc

Is yours mtm tuned? What parts? I've always liked their projects and products, especially the RS4 supercharger kit.

Good idea on the silicone tubing


----------



## iamneallyons

Von Twinzig said:


> My ESP light has been on since I swapped my wheel too, sounds like I have the same issue. Switch would be nice.many clue how they wired it?
> 
> Door cards.....zero progress due for the position of the window motor sitting on the inside of the frame. Got me stumped if I'm honest. Only thought was to run plastic with sliders and dump off the motors and regulators. Makes the job much simpler, but I'm not sure how to get a good seal without it looking a bit cobbled up.
> 
> On a positive note my race studs arrived from the States. Got those fitted at the weekend....
> 
> Drop of thread lock ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Couple of 14mm nuts to set them....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Picked up some spacers cheap.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Needed to get both VAG and aftermarket lug nut wheel profiles for when I move to the Pro Race 1.2's.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So much better than those crappy studs. Easier to mount the wheels and no more loose studs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


Just making my way through this and had a question about this - the threads - do they replace existing threads or what? and do you have to use that thread lock to screw them into the hub to hold them in place???


----------



## iamneallyons

Von Twinzig said:


> Okay, after a _serious_ amount of research I've finally decided on my brake upgrade and pulled the trigger.
> 
> Firstly I kicked around the idea of DIYing a brake upgrade based around Porsche 993TT Big Red calipers, but I don't have the time and can't be arsed to fiddle around sourcing bells, discs and figuring out the adaptors required to get everything lined up perfectly and working correctly. Plus the sum of the parts wasn't exactly cheap and second hand calipers came with no warranty or history. I know how much Brembo's cost to refurb professionally and pretty soon the numbers didn't add up.
> 
> So here's what will be going on the car.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> V-Maxx by Hiltrac. Made in the Netherlands, comes with TUV approval and 24 month warranty.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bought direct from V-Maxx UK conveniently located just 45mins away, which meant I could go and sit down with them and look at the kit in detail before doing the (very good) deal.
> 
> My reasons: the right size to maintain decent bias, great quality, TUV approved, 24 months warranty, runs an AP CP5200 D50 profile pad ,which opens up all the Motorsport componds to me, rebuildable, removable seals for track work, light (all up 23.4kg) and finally the price was right.
> 
> When I say I researched this thoroughly, in addition to talking to a people who's opinions I respect plus the usual Internet trawl I spent over half my time at the Autosport show talking to the high end brake suppliers so:
> 
> AP
> Brembo
> V-Maxx
> Wilwood
> Stop Tech
> 
> Then just for sh**s and giggles I spoke to....
> 
> Hi-Spec
> K-sport
> 
> In truth the quality and functionality of the last two offerings in my opinion was a joke in comparison with the others, but I needed to be thorough. They were dismissed pretty quickly. I've subsequently found out some interesting facts about them in back to back testing against the TUV standard. I know some guys here are running them, all I can say is, to each their own.
> 
> Regarding the first group theses were my personal findings:
> 
> AP: Top drawer and if money were no object, a no brainer, but the kit would have been close to the original buying price of the car, so hard to justify.
> 
> Alcon: Not at the show, but I knew enough to know they are brilliant and beyond my budget. See AP.
> 
> Brembo: They could only really offer me the GT Junior kit, but thought them unsuitable for my track project as they thought the seals would likely give up. They were really honest and their quality right up there, but to get what I needed the price ended up being close to that of AP.
> 
> Wilwood: Was close to buying these, but was talked out of it by Mr Wilwood on the Rally Design stand who had a prolific range on offer. Mr Wilwood (a long term Wilwood guy over from the US) was a 225 TT owner who refused to fit the companies BBK to his own car as it didn't really offer much over the OEM setup beyond opposing piston calipers. Disc size was almost identical too. Quality and price were good and spares readily available. If they had had a bigger upgrade I would have seriously considered them.
> 
> StopTech: The guys on the stand from the US and the Dutch European distributor made a confusing pitch. I'd already researched their kit with some UK motorsport guys in the know and they rated them, but the guys on the stand were clueless. I asked if I could buy direct from the Dutch guy.."Sure" Price? ..."€3000 sir." I nearly fell over as I showed them a price from the U.S. of $1800. They flapped about. They had no answer to the question of spares. Their product quality looked good, but I didn't get a good feeling about their backup. Pity.
> 
> V-Maxx: Young guy on the stand showed me kit, spoke about the warranty and TUV, but quickly reached the limit of his knowledge, but rather than wheeling out the BS he asked which part of the country I lived in and then when we realised they were only 45 mins away invited me to come to the business to talk to the owners in more detail, which a week or so later I duly did. They were able to answer all my questions about seals, spares and so on. They also said I could buy direct from them, so I pulled the trigger. The weak Euro played into my hands too as they went down a ton between ordering and paying for them. Nice.
> 
> This is a 4 pot forged aluminium caliper running a high carbon 330mm grooved two piece disc on a lightweight aluminium bell. The pad is an AP CP5200 M-Series pad. They come with a Ferodo street compound pad, but I've sourced Mintex 1166's from my usual supplier for a great price. Also didn't need their lines as I already have Goodridge hoses so they supplied me with suitable banjo adapters.They come with comprehensive instructions including showing you the measuring points for shimming if required. Looking at published OEM weights I should be saving 5-6kg of unsprung weight, we'll see.
> 
> Got most of the dash ripped out at the moment, but once that's sorted they'll be going on and I'll be booking another trackday. Can't wait.
> 
> VT


may sound silly this, but you managed to source the mintex pads that you usually use - did they have to be a specific size to fit into your new calipers as say im assuming the usual equivi pad would be smaller on the standard TT brake calipers?!?!? OR am i wrong and most pads the generic size?


----------



## NickG

You'll find some aftermarket caliper suppliers use the same size pads, some OEM calipers use the same size pads too.

What VT has in his VMaxx aren't the same size as the OEM calipers though.


----------



## Von Twinzig

iamneallyons said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Okay, after a _serious_ amount of research I've finally decided on my brake upgrade and pulled the trigger.
> 
> Firstly I kicked around the idea of DIYing a brake upgrade based around Porsche 993TT Big Red calipers, but I don't have the time and can't be arsed to fiddle around sourcing bells, discs and figuring out the adaptors required to get everything lined up perfectly and working correctly. Plus the sum of the parts wasn't exactly cheap and second hand calipers came with no warranty or history. I know how much Brembo's cost to refurb professionally and pretty soon the numbers didn't add up.
> 
> So here's what will be going on the car.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> V-Maxx by Hiltrac. Made in the Netherlands, comes with TUV approval and 24 month warranty.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bought direct from V-Maxx UK conveniently located just 45mins away, which meant I could go and sit down with them and look at the kit in detail before doing the (very good) deal.
> 
> My reasons: the right size to maintain decent bias, great quality, TUV approved, 24 months warranty, runs an AP CP5200 D50 profile pad ,which opens up all the Motorsport componds to me, rebuildable, removable seals for track work, light (all up 23.4kg) and finally the price was right.
> 
> When I say I researched this thoroughly, in addition to talking to a people who's opinions I respect plus the usual Internet trawl I spent over half my time at the Autosport show talking to the high end brake suppliers so:
> 
> AP
> Brembo
> V-Maxx
> Wilwood
> Stop Tech
> 
> Then just for sh**s and giggles I spoke to....
> 
> Hi-Spec
> K-sport
> 
> In truth the quality and functionality of the last two offerings in my opinion was a joke in comparison with the others, but I needed to be thorough. They were dismissed pretty quickly. I've subsequently found out some interesting facts about them in back to back testing against the TUV standard. I know some guys here are running them, all I can say is, to each their own.
> 
> Regarding the first group theses were my personal findings:
> 
> AP: Top drawer and if money were no object, a no brainer, but the kit would have been close to the original buying price of the car, so hard to justify.
> 
> Alcon: Not at the show, but I knew enough to know they are brilliant and beyond my budget. See AP.
> 
> Brembo: They could only really offer me the GT Junior kit, but thought them unsuitable for my track project as they thought the seals would likely give up. They were really honest and their quality right up there, but to get what I needed the price ended up being close to that of AP.
> 
> Wilwood: Was close to buying these, but was talked out of it by Mr Wilwood on the Rally Design stand who had a prolific range on offer. Mr Wilwood (a long term Wilwood guy over from the US) was a 225 TT owner who refused to fit the companies BBK to his own car as it didn't really offer much over the OEM setup beyond opposing piston calipers. Disc size was almost identical too. Quality and price were good and spares readily available. If they had had a bigger upgrade I would have seriously considered them.
> 
> StopTech: The guys on the stand from the US and the Dutch European distributor made a confusing pitch. I'd already researched their kit with some UK motorsport guys in the know and they rated them, but the guys on the stand were clueless. I asked if I could buy direct from the Dutch guy.."Sure" Price? ..."€3000 sir." I nearly fell over as I showed them a price from the U.S. of $1800. They flapped about. They had no answer to the question of spares. Their product quality looked good, but I didn't get a good feeling about their backup. Pity.
> 
> V-Maxx: Young guy on the stand showed me kit, spoke about the warranty and TUV, but quickly reached the limit of his knowledge, but rather than wheeling out the BS he asked which part of the country I lived in and then when we realised they were only 45 mins away invited me to come to the business to talk to the owners in more detail, which a week or so later I duly did. They were able to answer all my questions about seals, spares and so on. They also said I could buy direct from them, so I pulled the trigger. The weak Euro played into my hands too as they went down a ton between ordering and paying for them. Nice.
> 
> This is a 4 pot forged aluminium caliper running a high carbon 330mm grooved two piece disc on a lightweight aluminium bell. The pad is an AP CP5200 M-Series pad. They come with a Ferodo street compound pad, but I've sourced Mintex 1166's from my usual supplier for a great price. Also didn't need their lines as I already have Goodridge hoses so they supplied me with suitable banjo adapters.They come with comprehensive instructions including showing you the measuring points for shimming if required. Looking at published OEM weights I should be saving 5-6kg of unsprung weight, we'll see.
> 
> Got most of the dash ripped out at the moment, but once that's sorted they'll be going on and I'll be booking another trackday. Can't wait.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> may sound silly this, but you managed to source the mintex pads that you usually use - did they have to be a specific size to fit into your new calipers as say im assuming the usual equivi pad would be smaller on the standard TT brake calipers?!?!? OR am i wrong and most pads the generic size?
Click to expand...

Okay, as I said in the post the calipers run an AP CP5200 D50 profile pad a pretty regular profile. I deal with Questmead direct so just ordered the compound I wanted in the AP profile.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

iamneallyons said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> My ESP light has been on since I swapped my wheel too, sounds like I have the same issue. Switch would be nice.many clue how they wired it?
> 
> Door cards.....zero progress due for the position of the window motor sitting on the inside of the frame. Got me stumped if I'm honest. Only thought was to run plastic with sliders and dump off the motors and regulators. Makes the job much simpler, but I'm not sure how to get a good seal without it looking a bit cobbled up.
> 
> On a positive note my race studs arrived from the States. Got those fitted at the weekend....
> 
> Drop of thread lock ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Couple of 14mm nuts to set them....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Picked up some spacers cheap.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Needed to get both VAG and aftermarket lug nut wheel profiles for when I move to the Pro Race 1.2's.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So much better than those crappy studs. Easier to mount the wheels and no more loose studs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> Just making my way through this and had a question about this - the threads - do they replace existing threads or what? and do you have to use that thread lock to screw them into the hub to hold them in place???
Click to expand...

Sorry? Threads? Do you mean studs? If so, the studs and nuts replace the standard bolts. In the days before alloy wheels most steelies with hubcaps were thus. The thread lock holds them in place when you break the set of the nuts removing the wheels. I prefer them for two reasons. Firstly you can sit the wheel on them which I find easier when doing stuff and second, and more important, I can see if things are coming loose easier. Having had a wheel come loose on bolts first time out at Curborough, that was enough for me.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Strange old day.....

This fell off, accompanied by a hissing sound.....










.....followed a few hours later by this lot.....










Left a chuffing big gap in the front of the engine bay. How bizarre 

VT


----------



## NickG

Score!! Have you had a weigh in?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Ran out of time. Tomorrow. Felt faintly therapeutic dumping off such a big chunk of weight in one bash.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Got on with removing the rest of the ac gubbins today. Simple enough (with a decent, aka Bosch, multi tool  ) once you remove the charge pipe and strut brace.










I have no clue where some people got their weights from (I've seen 16kg quoted), but this is what the engine bay delete actually gives you back.......

Condenser 2.685kg
Compressor, rubber hoses and bolts 6.95kg
Dryer, bolts and pipework 1.53kg
Ally cross pipes and manifold 0.85

Total 12.015kg

I'll post these in the Church of the lightweight thread.

VT


----------



## brushwood69

Cool 8) :lol:


----------



## NickG

Nice work! So, whats been removed since your last weigh-in at 1240kg? 8)


----------



## Madmax199

Von Twinzig said:


> I have no clue where some people got their weights from (I've seen 16kg quoted), but this is what the engine bay delete actually gives you back.......
> 
> Condenser 2.685kg
> Compressor, rubber hoses and bolts 6.95kg
> Dryer, bolts and pipework 1.53kg
> Ally cross pipes and manifold 0.85
> 
> Total 12.015kg
> 
> I'll post these in the Church of the lightweight thread.
> 
> VT


Like everything else on public forums, information should always be taken with a grain of salt, and there should be a sorting process with the sources posting the info. I got 11.3 kg posted in my list on your church of the lightweight thread, so both within noise range. Good work!


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Nice work! So, whats been removed since your last weigh-in at 1240kg? 8)


Door cards
Cockpit brackets
A/C

Not sure of the +/- situation of swapping the SMIC's for the HG Motorsports FMIC?

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Been working on a few things recently, but no free garage space and indifferent weather had slowed thing a bit.

Fitted my oil catch tank supplied courtesy of ARF. 2 in 1 out 19mm fittings and fully baffled. Threaded bosses on the back for fitting direct to the bulkhead in front of the pollen filter box.

First needed to dump off the big plastic box holding the ECM relay...Dont forget to refit it in the connector once youve removed it all from the box otherwise the car wont start. Ask me how I know :roll: (Thanks Hoggy and NickG).










Leaving this bracket....










Removed with my spot weld drill....










Then drilled and bolted up the can...the relay was relocated inside the trunking...










I kept the PCV as it was functioning fine and I needed to retain both brake booster vacuums so just removed the hockey puck and connected both (new) breather hoses to the inlets. No T piece required with this tank as it has two inlets. Pipercross crankcase breather filter on the outlet needed the internals opening out slightly with my taper drill to fit fully onto the spigot...










Bit of tight packaging, but what's new...










ARF will do us a forum deal on the tanks if there's interest.

Had this debaffled charge pipe sitting in my garage for ages.....










Didnt realise it when I bought it off another forum member that it was a DV relocation jobbie, so although it brings nothing to the table I took the opportunity to relocate the DV. If nothing else it creates a bit more space around the TIP, which will be useful for accessing the sight gauge on the tank










VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Second part of the work: got round to fitting my "one previous careful owner" HG FMIC, ostensibly to generate some space for future development on cold air ducting to the brakes. Spent ages repolishing it all with various grades of soap and mops. Daft really as it'll oxidise in no time...










Finally on the "whilst your in there" principle I thought I may as well fit an oil cooler.

Bought a Mocal kit off the guy on ebay - Matt Lewis Racing. Came with fir tree fittings, the rad, sandwich plate and adaptor, a length of oil pipe, a couple of brackets plus nuts and bolts.

Looked at a couple of different location options, but only one made sense....right infront of the water rad virtually touching it..Dumped off the HG and Mocal brackets and made up some extended ones out of some powder coated ally angle I had lying around. Much more sturdy.










Had it just bolted down using the bottom flanges as per the instructions, but it needed more stability, so bought some ally tubing, cut it to fit, rattle canned the tubes black, then some long allen bolts tied the two flanges to the bracket. Nice and solid, and yes, that is Mrs VT's travel dryer 




























Removed the old filter and losely fitted the sandwich plate wth the supplied adaptor and the hoses attached to get the best orientation...










Getting the fir tree fittings on was a b'stard. I was told to soak the hose ends in hot water, apply a little WD40 to the inside of the hose and the fitting, put the fitting upright in a vice and just push the thing onto the fitting. That didnt work. It would all stop about 10mm short of the red collar, cool instantly and not budge, requiring me to cut the damn thing off. In the end I heated the hose up with my bitumen removing hot air paint stripper, oiled the hose and fitting with engine oil and wearing two pairs of thick work gloves (to prevent Ist degree burns) pushed and twisted the hose ends on. Next time I'll get the two piece screw on Aeroquip ones.

Anyway, the hose length you get supplied looks plenty long enough for feed and return, it's not, requiring me to get creative with the routing. Decided on...up the LH side and through the front shroud of the car, easing and shaping the fins with a file in order to get the angles smooth enough to get onto the cooler. Found some silicone hose, which was a perfect fit over the oil hoses providing a good protection sleeve.










Fittings were just installed with a little copperslip so they come off as and when...Treated the old girl to a new tow strap too 










Filled the filter and fitted it, then cranked the engine without starting, to fill the system before topping up as it was running.










Got a few more things to tidy up inside then it's done........well for now. 

VT


----------



## 1781cc

Loads of nice work there, funny how nothing is ever as simple as it should be, I like the custom fab brackets, inventive!


----------



## NickG

Loving the look of that oil cooler setup VT! 8)

Having bought it as a kit, would you say it probably going to end up just as effective to gather the parts individually?


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Loving the look of that oil cooler setup VT! 8)
> 
> Having bought it as a kit, would you say it probably going to end up just as effective to gather the parts individually?


The kit is okay Nick. Everything you need. It all worked. If I had my time again I would order and pay for another 2m length of hose to give myself some other routing options though the one I have is fine. Out from the filter, alongside the starter, up through the space between the battery tray, radiator hose and boost pipe and through the front of the bonnet slam panel. Nothing is low to the road or going to slip into a moving part - fan, aux drive belt system etc.










Also keeping the hoses inside the engine bay and fitting my FMIC has given me a nice path to the discs for my next project...










The Mocal brackets are just yellow zinc passivated, punched steel. They looked crap when I first tried them. Dumped them off fairly early on in the fitting process.

The fir tree fittings are Aeroquip, just not the 2 part red/blue screw together ones, which I supect would be easier to assemble, though once I ignored the instructions and did my own thing, there were no issues.

One thing making new brackets for the FMIC did was allow me to use one bracket for two functions, whilst extending them got my cooler tight back to the main rad, which you need to do to stop warm air bleeding out between and causing an issue with water temps. I'll run like this for a while and keep an eye on things.I'm thinking I'll probably remove the front crash bar, drill some big holes through it and powdercoat it black. We'll see.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I fitted some hard rubber washers between the cooler flanges and the bracket to provide some damping. Seemed like a good idea.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Two horns and brackets? That's at least one too many for the road...










Another 385g gone.

Relocated the other one into the front of the engine bay. Keeps it out if the way of my ducting path _and_ that's where the wire reached to! :lol:










VT


----------



## Rich196

Spotted you at snett, you looked to be going well and fast.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Aha! So that was you leaning over the pit wall Rich  . Great photos.

Yep the car went great (brake servo issue aside) and I felt like I drove really well. Concentrated on being smooth with single inputs into the steering on the bends. Remembered what I'd been taught here by Callum Lockie.."Turning the steering wheel slows you down, so do it as little as you need to to get round the circuit." Wise words from a top sports car driver. Carrying the extra speed is now showing up the deficiencies in the car. Need more grip, more power, less weight and vacuum reserves for the brakes. Hey ho.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Tell tale from the Snett day...Looks like I have too much -ve camber at the rear....










Always suspected it was so. Get that sorted before the next event.

VT


----------



## 3TT3

Von Twinzig said:


> Two horns and brackets? That's at least one too many for the road...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another 385g gone.
> 
> Relocated the other one into the front of the engine bay. Keeps it out if the way of my ducting path _and_ that's where the wire reached to! :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


That looks like the ext temp sensor bracket,did you relocate the sensor ?


----------



## Von Twinzig

The horn is fixed using half of one of the original horn mounting plates.

Relocated the air temp sensor directly in front of the air filter....reads okay.










Used my Boy Scout cable tie badge skill set again 

Once I've sorted everything I 'll make up some little brackets and fix this stuff properly.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Today I had two things to do..
1. Investigate my brake problem
2. Install my boost gauge in the vent with Nicks adaptor.

Found this on the servo side of the check valve...










Then working my way through all the spaghetti....this...










and this...










and this.....










and finally this.....










Predictably I didn't get the gauge finished.....










:?

VT


----------



## Madmax199

Von Twinzig said:


> Tell tale from the Snett day...Looks like I have too much -ve camber at the rear....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Always suspected it was so. Get that sorted before the next event.
> 
> VT


Steve, -1.3 to -1.7 is the ideal range. I always tell people to shoot for -1.5 camber in the back... if having the most practical static compensation is the goal. More than that and you will always have a portion of the contact patch that does nothing. This pic catches it very well!


----------



## Madmax199

Von Twinzig said:


> Today I had two things to do..
> 1. Investigate my brake problem
> 2. Install my boost gauge in the vent with Nicks adaptor.
> 
> Found this on the servo side of the check valve...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Then working my way through all the spaghetti....this...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and this...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and this.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and finally this.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


Wow, needs a lot of TLC. I think you need to get a pressure tester, visual inspection is good at finding obvious leaks, but many leaks don't show up until pressurized. You may have a sealing system at 5 psi, and one that seals like a sinking Titanic at 15 psi. Do it right while you're at it!

Must have tools is you own a TT (or any turbo car for that matter). Pressure tester and wastegate tester:


----------



## Von Twinzig

So, after running out of vacuum in the servo on the last trackday I rebuilt and altered my vacuum system and plumbed in Max's reservoir mod.

One test drive later......think my Mk1 version reservoir needs an upgrade... :lol:










Back to the drawing board. :roll:

VT


----------



## Matt B

Sorry mate but I did laugh a little at that pic. You definitely need a stronger vac reservoir


----------



## 1781cc

Looks like a busted gym water bottle!!


----------



## Von Twinzig

It's really thick plastic kit sold as a brake vacuum reservoir for narrow gauge railways. Next stop, maybe a stock OEM part, but space is tight.

VT


----------



## Matt B

I'm thinking something like a catch can but with just one port and your sorted - metal of course


----------



## Matt B

Or maybe this

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-MURANO-E ... nav=SEARCH


----------



## Von Twinzig

I thought about that Matt, but the ally catch cans are really thin. I think the same thing would happen. This plastic is thick. You can stand on the side without deformation, no problem.

VT


----------



## Matt B

Von Twinzig said:


> I thought about that Matt, but the ally catch cans are really thin. I think the same thing would happen. This plastic is thick. You can stand on the side without deformation, no problem.
> 
> VT


Did u check out the eBay link ?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Yep. That's been there for a few weeks. I asked the seller for some dimensions, without any luck.

VT


----------



## Matt B

I'm sure it's fine lol - bang it where the charcoal canister used to be


----------



## Von Twinzig

Why do most of these canisters have two inlets/outlets I wonder?

I'm thinking I may have plumbed mine in wrong. Max said break into the line on the servo side of the last check valve and insert a tee off to the reservoir. I'm wondering if the tank should be inline between the inlet manifold line and the servo, in effect like a bigger pipe in the line for the servo to draw upon?

VT


----------



## Madmax199

Matt B said:


> Or maybe this
> 
> http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-MURANO-E ... nav=SEARCH


Matthew, I have a Nissan Murano as my work horse. The vaccum reservoir they have is way too small for the use. The goal is to really increase the volume, and this wouldn't add much. The one I run is more than 3 time the storage capacity.


----------



## Madmax199

Von Twinzig said:


> Why do most of these canisters have two inlets/outlets I wonder?
> 
> I'm thinking I may have plumbed mine in wrong. Max said break into the line on the servo side of the last check valve and insert a tee off to the reservoir. I'm wondering if the tank should be inline between the inlet manifold line and the servo, in effect like a bigger pipe in the line for the servo to draw upon?
> 
> VT


It would not matter, the best way for me was to "T" into the line going into the servo (post check valve) -- but placing the auxiliary tank inline (post check valve) does exactly the same thing. Same system and principle, different configuration.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks Max. Didn't think I'd interpreted your spec incorrectly.

Ordered up a set of "Audi Blue Balls" off eBay. No clue where to fit them, but they have to be strong enough I would have thought.

VT


----------



## Madmax199

Von Twinzig said:


> Thanks Max. Didn't think I'd interpreted your spec incorrectly.
> 
> Ordered up a set of "Audi Blue Balls" off eBay. No clue where to fit them, but they have to be strong enough I would have thought.
> 
> VT


There is plenty of space for something like that under the rain tray! That's a "T" line makes more sense than an inline plumbing -- more flexibility with the tank placement.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks Max.

VT


----------



## Antthony

Great thread 

How are you finding under steer these days?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Antthony said:


> Great thread
> 
> How are you finding under steer these days?


Thanks.

The car is very now very neutral with the power, torque and weight I'm running. I have no doubt it will come back as the wick get's turned up requiring some further development. I have my Tarmac rally tyres yet to fit, be interesting to see what they bring to the table.

VT


----------



## Matt B

Madmax199 said:


> Matt B said:
> 
> 
> 
> Or maybe this
> 
> http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-MURANO-E ... nav=SEARCH
> 
> 
> 
> Matthew, I have a Nissan Murano as my work horse. The vaccum reservoir they have is way too small for the use. The goal is to really increase the volume, and this wouldn't add much. The one I run is more than 3 time the storage capacity.
Click to expand...

Hard to tell the size of that tank from the eBay pic. I was simply looking for somethung that was vacuum rated - as we both mentioned we couldn't work out the size. I'm guessing whatever volume it does have is an increase on no tank at all ! 
At the minute I have no vac tank and have never suffered this dead pedal but I will definitely look into plumbing one in as the car is to be track only so I'm sure as I get more advanced then it will crop up.


----------



## Antthony

How do you fare on the track compared to the Subarus and Evo's?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Antthony said:


> How do you fare on the track compared to the Subarus and Evo's?


No clue. They tend not to be on the days I attend (MSV), and the question is largely irrelivent. I'm not doing this to be the fastest out there. For me it's an engineering challenge brought about by a comment my mate said, namely..."They are heavy and understeery. When was the last time you saw a TT on a trackday?

VT


----------



## Antthony

Yeah I understand, was just wondering as a point of reference, especially as they also suffer bad under steer particularly Subarus 

I must say I don't recall ever seeing a TT at a track day either...


----------



## NickG

Don't scoobs suffer badly with lift-off understeer though?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Right, seconds away....round 2!










Audi blue balls. Cable ties are temporary until I get the thing proven.

My hard line to the servo was split so I used the opportunity (following Max's instruction) to insert a tee post check valve...




























Even though this lot's behind the heat shield, I wrapped it all with heat shield blanket and ran the hose here....










I've kept the double vacuum take off from the inlet manifold and connected the TIP to the lower branch of the pump jet valve that used to run to the PCV using a 19mm to 10mm brass reducer




























The crank breather plastic elbow was broken and weeping oil now replaced and with a new O ring. That's now connected direct to the lower inlet on my baffled catch can....



















Cam cover to the other inlet (top hose here)...










Having run the thing with the tee'd hose plugged, I can confirm I have loads of vacuum. The hiss and pop as I removed the plug was comforting. So far so good,

VT


----------



## longodds

'Had it just bolted down using the bottom flanges as per the instructions, but it needed more stability, so bought some ally tubing, cut it to fit, rattle canned the tubes black, then some long allen bolts tied the two flanges to the bracket. Nice and solid, and yes, that is Mrs VT's travel dryer 




























Removed the old filter and losely fitted the sandwich plate wth the supplied adaptor and the hoses attached to get the best orientation...'

'and yes, that is Mrs VT's travel dryer  ' Come on, fess up. It's yours really isn't it?


----------



## longodds

Von Twinzig said:


> Antthony said:
> 
> 
> 
> How do you fare on the track compared to the Subarus and Evo's?
> 
> 
> 
> No clue. They tend not to be on the days I attend (MSV), and the question is largely irrelivent. I'm not doing this to be the fastest out there. For me it's an engineering challenge brought about by a comment my mate said, namely..."They are heavy and understeery. When was the last time you saw a TT on a trackday?
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

I think we're all pleased you rose to the challenge, so have your posts. Bravo


----------



## Von Twinzig

Yep, working through the issues and overcoming the problems is part of the fun for me. This brake vacuum thing being a prime example.

VT


----------



## ProjectMick

Looking good - amazed the blue balls fit under there! You might have to spray them black at some point though!

How come you have kept the pump? I thought by using the vac reservoir you could do away with it? (Especially as you don't have a PCV valve)


----------



## Von Twinzig

ProjectMick said:


> Looking good - amazed the blue balls fit under there! You might have to spray them black at some point though!
> 
> How come you have kept the pump? I thought by using the vac reservoir you could do away with it? (Especially as you don't have a PCV valve)


Blue's my favourite colour.  Anyway, I can't be arsed to paint them. My days of concours prep are long gone.

Kept the pump jet as it's an easy way of connecting all the vacuums to one line without the faff of check valves. In effect I'm using it as a Y connector with built in valves.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Dad's memorial track day at Snetterton today. Great weather - hot and dry. New brake vacuum setup performed perfectly, so will work up a more pleasing installation rather than the cable tied affair. Pads are well worn, so now's a good time to move up the CF food chain. Need far more initial bite and stopping power, had to hang on to them too long, too many times today. Car ran great though.

Some of my Porsche mates chariots here too....










VT


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> Dad's memorial track day at Snetterton today. Great weather - hot and dry. New brake vacuum setup performed perfectly, so will work up a more pleasing installation rather than the cable tied affair. Pads are well worn, so now's a good time to move up the CF food chain. Need far more initial bite and stopping power, had to hang on to them too long, too many times today. Car ran great though.
> 
> Some of my Porsche mates chariots here too....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


Fantastic! You had a great day for it... Regretting the AC removal now?! :lol: [smiley=bigcry.gif]


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dad's memorial track day at Snetterton today. Great weather - hot and dry.
> 
> Fantastic! You had a great day for it... Regretting the AC removal now?! :lol: [smiley=bigcry.gif]
Click to expand...

Wasn't too bad actually Nick. Blowers through face vents on full and both windows cracked open. Had worse driving the aircooled stuff through Europe over the years.

VT


----------



## Madmax199

Fantastic! One track TT issue sorted... on to the next one!


----------



## ProjectMick

Von Twinzig said:


> ProjectMick said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looking good - amazed the blue balls fit under there! You might have to spray them black at some point though!
> 
> How come you have kept the pump? I thought by using the vac reservoir you could do away with it? (Especially as you don't have a PCV valve)
> 
> 
> 
> Blue's my favourite colour.  Anyway, I can't be arsed to paint them. My days of concours prep are long gone.
> 
> Kept the pump jet as it's an easy way of connecting all the vacuums to one line without the faff of check valves. In effect I'm using it as a Y connector with built in valves.
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

Makes sense - glad it all worked well on the track for you.


----------



## 1781cc

Looking forward to seeing more pics of this on track, I really want to get to Snetterton [smiley=bigcry.gif]


----------



## Antthony

Great thread  Are you still playing with geo or have you got it pretty well how you like it now? I've set up a lot of cars and sometimes it can take _many_ visits to the track to get it right, only to have to start again when you change something [smiley=bigcry.gif] :lol:


----------



## Von Twinzig

Still working on the front. Can barely get -ve 2 deg camber and need more. Top mounts and Mk2 ball joints next. Car has been setup again last week, though it needs cornerweighting, but quite how that can be done with the rear setup is a mystery. :?

Bit more rake next.

VT


----------



## Wiggles01

Hi VT,

I love this thread and the progress is impressive.

I have a few questions on the oil cooler as I have been contemplating fitting a Mocal 19 row into the space where my side mount inter cooler was once fitted.

If the pipe work is on the top how will the oil be drained during oil changes

Also with the extra capacity I would assume more oil would be needed

Sorry if the questions are stupid as I am just trying to get my head around them.

Wig


----------



## Von Twinzig

Regarding pipework: I 've always fitted them on the top, going right back to my Hillman Imp days. I spoke to a couple of guys who build club race cars before fitting mine and they do the same. With the fittings at the bottom there was a concern (probably unfounded) of cavitation at the top of the cooler when the engine was switched off.

I'm not concerned about drawing every last drop of oil out during changes, I ve been around air cooled 911's for years and they have two whacking great pipes running front to back along the sill, up and over the front RH arch to the oil cooler sitting in the front of the arch, all of which is held behind a thermostat. It holds litres of the stuff that you can never get out without disconnecting the lines and sucking it out and nobody ever does that.

Once installed I turned the engine over without firing to draw oil into the system before topping up. From memory less than a litre, but I didn't measure it. Once the engine was running I rechecked and adjusted the level one more time.

I read on here owners having overheating problems with their midly tuned road cars, they must have something fundamentally wrong. I am giving my car death on track on hot days and my temps sit rock solid on the mark.

VT


----------



## Wiggles01

Thanks VT

That all makes perfect sense to me and thanks for taking the time to explain.

Front bumper off soon so this is another job to add to the list

Wig


----------



## Antthony

Von Twinzig said:


> Still working on the front. Can barely get -ve 2 deg camber and need more. Top mounts and Mk2 ball joints next. Car has been setup again last week, though it needs cornerweighting, but quite how that can be done with the rear setup is a mystery. :?
> 
> Bit more rake next.
> VT


Ah, yeah I have found that most AWDs seems to like about -3 degrees in the front to really lose a chunk of the under steer so it will be good to see if you find a way to get more out of it. Also rear ARB setting can (not always) make a big difference) Have you done anything with castor sorry as they really helps turn in also.
Be careful with rake as you don't want too much weight transfer to the front under heavy braking, but certainly playing with rake will possibly make a big difference to how the rear of the car behaves going by my experience with AWDs.
Are you running similar damper setting front and rear, or is it staggered? Or still playing?  
Cheers.


----------



## Von Twinzig

After removing the door cards I've been meaning to sort out the inner door areas.

First off....pulled fuses 1 and 5 that run the heated and powered mirrors, neither of which are needed, allowing me to get whizzy with the wire cutters. Removed this lot.....










...and soldered in a couple of DTSP momentary micro switched to power the windows until such time as I go plastic....










Needed to sort out some door latch pulls too. Knocked these up from a cheap dog lead using my eyelet kit. Crimped the door pull hook down tight so they won't come out. Crude but effective....



















Tidied both doors up a treat for pennies...










Next stop door cards.

VT


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Nice custom work. Love the switches.

Are you going to make custom door cards? What materials are you planning. Please share your weight savings on those as well Brother [smiley=book2.gif]


----------



## Von Twinzig

Micro switches were half the weight of the big toggle jobbies and cheap as chips. Robust though.

Door card material? Probably some kind of thin ABS. I've looked at CF, but it is surprisingly quite heavy and predictably expensive.

VT


----------



## KarlD

Lightest thing you can make door cards out of is...

get this...

Card.


----------



## Matt B

This is what I'm going to be using when I get my arse into gear

http://www.cutplasticsheeting.co.uk/pvc ... inish.html


----------



## Von Twinzig

Or papier mache as it's called post car wash. 

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Matt B said:


> This is what I'm going to be using when I get my arse into gear
> 
> http://www.cutplasticsheeting.co.uk/pvc ... inish.html


Too thick for my plans Matt, I'll be using 1mm ABS or similar.

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Killed my brakes at Snett last month, so time for a refresh.

Pretty cooked..










LH side was fine, RH side...something a bit funky going on here...



















Sticking with my preferred manufacturer I'm moving up to a full race F compound. Looked at both Carbotech and CL (Carbone Lorraine), but frankly, for a track car, I couldn't justify nearly £400 for fronts and rears! 










Changing compounds required a thorough disc clean up using fine emery and brake cleaner...










Including scraping out the grooves...










Fronts all done, rears next...










VT


----------



## Beunhaas

Do your calipers have unequal sized pistons? If so. Is the smallest piston in the leading direction?

Oh dont let max see pistons that far out of the caliper. According to the Yanks it gives poor performance [smiley=clown.gif]


----------



## NickG

I'm no expert at all, but it looks like the tapered pads run parallel with each other, could the caliper mounting be twisted by a couple of mm? Maybe crud on one of the mounting points?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Pistons are equally sized BH, and the car was still stopping at the same rate at the end of the day. I knew they were getting low though, I'd been keeping an eye on them all day.

Just the inside pad was wedging Nick, outside one was fine and worn to a similar thickness to the LH caliper. Good thought though.

Found a note on site suggesting it could be that pad sticking on the slider. I gave them a good clean during the refresh.

VT


----------



## kane

Had a good days read to get here, lots of good info and feedback on mods in this thread. Waiting to see what the new tires will do.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Had an annoying thing occur a couple of trackdays ago, my driver's side Schroth harness buckle disassembled itself on the morning of the event resulting in me having to take the seats out on the drive at 6:30 in the morning to swap the crutch straps over. Pretty aggravating and surprising too.....










Anyway, sent them an email, they wanted it back to investigate the failure. Schroth's technical guy was thorough, even sent me a photo taken down a microscope! Turned out as some point someone had lubrictated the buckle with something that had affected the bond on the locking screw resulting in it failing - not me, so had to be when my previous car to which it was fitted was in one of the marque specialist having some work done.

Couple of weeks later this turned up in the post......










Invoice in the bag for........zero! Now I bought these new and they're now out of date. Got to love German service. First class.

Just got to fit it back in the car now.

VT


----------



## jamman

Beunhaas said:


> Do your calipers have unequal sized pistons? If so. Is the smallest piston in the leading direction?
> 
> Oh dont let max see pistons that far out of the caliper. According to the Yanks it gives poor performance [smiley=clown.gif]


Watch out or Donald will say you're doomed.

@VT let me know when you are going to Snetterton or Bedford again.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Looking to do Bedford next month Paul. Monday 17th?

VT


----------



## Gonzalo1495

jamman said:


> Beunhaas said:
> 
> 
> 
> Do your calipers have unequal sized pistons? If so. Is the smallest piston in the leading direction?
> 
> Oh dont let max see pistons that far out of the caliper. According to the Yanks it gives poor performance [smiley=clown.gif]
> 
> 
> 
> Watch out or Donald will say you're doomed.
> 
> @VT let me know when you are going to Snetterton or Bedford again.
Click to expand...

MAKE THE TT FORUM GREAT AGAIN.


----------



## Beunhaas

Gonzalo1495 said:


> jamman said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beunhaas said:
> 
> 
> 
> Do your calipers have unequal sized pistons? If so. Is the smallest piston in the leading direction?
> 
> Oh dont let max see pistons that far out of the caliper. According to the Yanks it gives poor performance [smiley=clown.gif]
> 
> 
> 
> Watch out or Donald will say you're doomed.
> 
> @VT let me know when you are going to Snetterton or Bedford again.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> MAKE THE TT FORUM GREAT AGAIN.
Click to expand...

 [smiley=weneedyou.gif]

Sorry spoiling your thread VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

No probs. All part of the fun. [smiley=party2.gif]

VT


----------



## Mondo

Gonzalo1495 said:


> MAKE THE TT FORUM GREAT AGAIN.


A Yank with a sense of humour. We should get him stuffed.

[smiley=weneedyou.gif]


----------



## Von Twinzig

Mondo said:


> Gonzalo1495 said:
> 
> 
> 
> MAKE THE TT FORUM GREAT AGAIN.
> 
> 
> 
> A Yank with a sense of humour. We should get him stuffed.
> 
> [smiley=weneedyou.gif]
Click to expand...

_Technically_ he resides in the Confederacy, so historically the other team....so to speak [smiley=book2.gif]

VT


----------



## Mondo

I know, but calling them all Yanks winds them up. :wink:

A bit like TangoTubby calling me an Aussie. [smiley=bigcry.gif] [smiley=furious3.gif]


----------



## jamman

Mondo said:


> I know, but calling them all Yanks winds them up. :wink:
> 
> A bit like TangoTubby calling me an Aussie. [smiley=bigcry.gif] [smiley=furious3.gif]


I thought you were an Aussie :?



(Live you my little Koala licker)

Gonzy of like Fonzy, he's cool which is a rare from that side of the pond.


----------



## Von Twinzig

jamman said:


> Mondo said:
> 
> 
> 
> I know, but calling them all Yanks winds them up. :wink:
> 
> A bit like TangoTubby calling me an Aussie. [smiley=bigcry.gif] [smiley=furious3.gif]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I thought you were an Aussie :?
> 
> 
> 
> (Live you my little Koala licker)
> 
> Gonzy of like Fonzy, he's cool which is a rare from that side of the pond.
Click to expand...

Clue's in the avatar Paul. :roll:

VT


----------



## Mondo

He's just messing with ya; after sharing 'everything' before the RR day last year he knows what side my Tasman's buttered on, to mix a metaphor. 

PS: Paul? :?:


----------



## NickG

This thread is full win, but the best part is the wrong nationalities, wrong names and general banter... :lol:

Gonz = Fonz? Ayyyyyy?
Mondo = Potential Aussie?
Jamman = TangoTubby aka Paul aka James?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Mondo said:


> He's just messing with ya; after sharing 'everything' before the RR day last year he knows what side my Tasman's buttered on, to mix a metaphor.
> 
> PS: Paul? :?:


You've seen the film? 

VT


----------



## Mondo

That lying tart; he said it was just for is own personal use... [smiley=bigcry.gif]


----------



## Von Twinzig

Paul (film)....review....

"The film is about two British science fiction fans who meet an *alien* with a *sarcastic manner* and an *appetite for alcohol* and cigarettes."...

:-* 

VT


----------



## Mondo

Ah, that film. No, I haven't; Mrs. Mondo is a Peggophobe which, to paraphase Jules, kinda makes me a Peggophobe too. :wink:

But for the beard, Mr. Who-ate-all-the-pies and Nick Frost could be twins.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Got the rear brakes changed over last night. Both front and rears originally went in at the same time.

As you can see the fronts are worn out, whilst the rears are barely any different. A bit of wear, but nothing really.










What I'd like to know is how to get the rears working a bit harder?

VT


----------



## Antthony

How much rake are you running compared to standard? There might be too much load transfer to the front if it's too tail high.


----------



## Von Twinzig

Antthony said:


> How much rake are you running compared to standard? There might be too much load transfer to the front if it's too tail high.


1 deg.


----------



## Antthony

Von Twinzig said:


> Antthony said:
> 
> 
> 
> How much rake are you running compared to standard? There might be too much load transfer to the front if it's too tail high.
> 
> 
> 
> 1 deg.
Click to expand...

You measure rake with degrees? Is that then one degree higher in the rear than standard? Do you have any idea how many mm that would be?


----------



## Von Twinzig

Yep. Once the car is flat and level on the Hunter I hand the guy my inclinometer, which is placed on the sill. Simple and far more accurate than trying to measure off some part of the car.










VT


----------



## Antthony

Ok well, I know in setting up a lot of Evo's for Track, Hillclimb, and fast road, rake makes probably a bigger difference to handling and even brake performance than pretty much anything else. In the UK especially there is a trend to have the rear end up in the air for some reason, which is often effective on many rear wheel drives, but modern AWDs generally don't like it (gravel rally cars being one exception).

One example, by raising the front of my last Evo by 15mm from where it was and changing nothing else, I was able to pull an extra 600 rpm in 4th around a long high speed corner. All of my brake issues also went away as a result. Not a coincidence. Turn in also improved as well as corner exit on hairpins.
We have also seen similar improvement on Hill climb Evo's and Subarus (the Subarus actually like the front up really high compared to the back).

Food for thought anyway mate


----------



## Von Twinzig

So after several rounds of new stuff on and old and redundant stuff off (a/c etc) I though it high time I revisit the scales.....










To say I was a bit disappointed doesn't tell it. Nett/nett....identical weight. This last 40kg is proving tough to shift :?

VT


----------



## Gonzalo1495

Von Twinzig said:


> So after several rounds of new stuff on and old and redundant stuff off (a/c etc) I though it high time I revisit the scales.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To say I was a bit disappointed doesn't tell it. Nett/nett....identical weight. This last 40kg is proving tough to shift :?
> 
> VT


Love this thread and how light weight this car is. You've done an amazing job with the weight reduction. I can't imagine there is THAT much more left to shed without butchering the car is some manner.


----------



## NickG

Hmmmm, what's gone/changed in summary?

With best part of 15kg lost from the AC it makes you question the accuracy of the scales maybe?!


----------



## Antthony

VT I wouldn't worry about it too much mate. You've done an awesome job getting it that low, and weight reduction is a bit over rated to be honest. Yes lighter weight helps braking and handling in most cases, but as far as acceleration you need to actually remove a fair chunk to equate to a noticeable improvement, and increasing engine output is generally better.

I think if you have taken out as much as you can without hacking into it i'd leave it as you don't want to start losing structural integrity of the body. I've seen too many race cars made extremely light but then needing a shit ton of bracing added to try and get rigidity back. A lot of the Touring cars i've crewed on are not actually that light, they are full of seam welding and elaborate cages, but they out corner much lighter and more powerful cars.

I raced Starions for many years and they were so solid they didn't need seam welding. The TT feels the same to me


----------



## 1781cc

I concur with Nick - have a look at the scales, maybe try somewhere else, I've used two different scales at recycling centres, about 8 months ago, and in both cases I was around the same weight as you and I haven't removed as much stuff, so I think either yours are accurate and the ones I used aren't or its the other way round?

In any case, I feel lexan windows are in your immediate future :twisted:


----------



## Von Twinzig

I'll check out another WB, but I don't expect any change. Theses public WB's are calibrated and checked regularly.

I spoke to my racing Scoobie mate Olly and he gave me some comfort. His view.....I've replaced bad weight for good weight, which makes sense I guess.

Looking at the free stuff I could deffo save a bunch by pruning out the loom, which would be an interesting winter evening project. He suggested getting a spare one and working on that then swapping out mine, that way I have a working setup to flip back to if I run into a problem. Beyond that I think I'm at the edge of the free stuff now. Plastic windows etc are all worthy areas for attention, but come at a cost.

My target was sub 1200kg's, I'm thinking now that might be tougher than I first imagined.

VT


----------



## 1781cc

I was chatting to a guy at Rockingham yesterday with an ST that had lexan windows and he gave me details, so I've dropped the supplier a line and will enquirer about a group deal if there's enough interest, his ST was £249 for 4 windows and the rear with sealant and bolts, both fronts had sliders as well, 4mm lexan.

Chasing a number is one thing but if you can address some more out of the front it'll be more good weight out of a nose heavy car, shame it's easy to save so much at the arse end


----------



## Von Twinzig

Cool. I've got an inside contact at Plastics4performance. Be interested to see what can be done.

Ironically, from a weight perspective the TT is the complete reverse of the problems I've had with 911's. Easy off the front, hard off the rear of those puppies. :roll: Hey ho.

VT


----------



## 1781cc

These guys are www.acwmotorsportplastics.co.uk - quite a difference price wise If they come in like the focus


----------



## V6RUL

Von Twinzig said:


> I'll check out another WB, but I don't expect any change. Theses public WB's are calibrated and checked regularly.
> 
> I spoke to my racing Scoobie mate Olly and he gave me some comfort. His view.....I've replaced bad weight for good weight, which makes sense I guess.
> 
> Looking at the free stuff I could deffo save a bunch by pruning out the loom, which would be an interesting winter evening project. He suggested getting a spare one and working on that then swapping out mine, that way I have a working setup to flip back to if I run into a problem. Beyond that I think I'm at the edge of the free stuff now. Plastic windows etc are all worthy areas for attention, but come at a cost.
> 
> My target was sub 1200kg's, I'm thinking now that might be tougher than I first imagined.
> 
> VT


Wagon rated weighbridges measure a working load of 40,000 KG.
Weighing a car of say 1300kg should be done on car scales as the resolution will be more accurate.
Ive seen weighbridges flip to the next value in 40kg increments and should not be trusted for car weights.
Steve


----------



## Von Twinzig

Thanks for the heads up Steve. Every day's a school day it seems. [smiley=book2.gif]

VT


----------



## Von Twinzig

Well, after a bit of research seems these WB's mostly measure in 20-40kg chunks, and as Steve pointed out, round up. So it's either off to a corner weighting company or, interestingly enough, a VOSA kit set up in a lay-by, as those puppies are accurate to the kilo apparently.

VT


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> Well, after a bit of research seems these WB's mostly measure in 20-40kg chunks, and as Steve pointed out, round up. So it's either off to a corner weighting company or, interestingly enough, a VOSA kit set up in a lay-by, as those puppies are accurate to the kilo apparently.
> 
> VT


So in theory.... I could be lighter too!! 

In a way this is good news if it always rounds up!


----------



## brushwood69

When I put mine on corner weight scales mine came in at 1287kg but mine has a rear cage and all the trim still. What do you think all the trim weighs VT?

Say 25kg for the cage
OMP subframes could be cut down but then not fia approved or a 2 bar set up welded in to say 10kg (ish) 
1200kgs seem a stretch with trim so I'm think sports libre next year which means HANS but I had to get one for rallying this year so all good there but anything else goes ;-)

Lets have some more pics of the car vt!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Worth a punt d'ya think?

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=153066

My problem....gravel drive. :roll:

VT


----------



## NickG

What a method!! :lol:

I like it, for £30 odd quid or whatever, I'd love to give it a go!


----------



## Von Twinzig

Got a flat and level concrete area Nick? If so I'll stump up the scales and wood.

VT


----------



## NickG

I've got more then enough room on the factory floor at work! Probably even the timber too!! :lol:


----------



## Von Twinzig

I found a guy with proper corner weighting kit on the way to Northampton today. Happy to weigh our cars.

VT


----------



## 1781cc

I'm in Northampton, where's that? We should organise a group weigh in one day


----------



## Von Twinzig

Earls Barton...Track Tek. Lent me a battery. Nice guy. Running in the BMW Compact Cup series.

VT


----------



## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> Earls Barton...Track Tek. Lent me a battery. Nice guy. Running in the BMW Compact Cup series.
> 
> VT


I went to watch that last weekend at Silverstone!! Brilliant race series, loads of action!


----------



## Von Twinzig

NickG said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Earls Barton...Track Tek. Lent me a battery. Nice guy. Running in the BMW Compact Cup series.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> I went to watch that last weekend at Silverstone!! Brilliant race series, loads of action!
Click to expand...

Yep, he showed some in car video on his phone. Nuts! With All the cars within a few seconds of each other contact is inevitable. All steel panels though so you need to be hard wired to a breakers yard with a decent supply of broken compacts.

On another subject...I put the idea of a Saturday morning weighing session to Nick and he was totally up for it. If we can get 8-10 cars there, pay a small fee, he'd run the session. If you social media guys could do your thing too, that would help. What do you think?

VT


----------



## 1781cc

I'm up for that, but I'm off on holiday on Sunday for two weeks - December is ideal (gives me time to get some more crap out ha ha)

Btw, spoke to the lexan window guy today, I'll probably be taking my car to him so he can template it, guide price for windows, £108 for driver and passenger, so considerably cheaper than anyone else, he's gonna cost based on my car, then offer a 10% discount for members of the this forum once we've got a templates set sorted


----------



## Von Twinzig

December will be fine, gives us chance to rustle up the numbers.

Windows sounds great, but the big weight is in the rear hatch glass. Does the side window set include the quarters?

VT


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## 1781cc

Those aren't firm prices, it was a guide on two windows in a convo about his vs plastics4 - he's going to cost up front and rear quarters, windows and rear glass - he needs to see the rear glass to work out the curvature first, if he puts together a kit it will be templates with bolt holes, etc

He needs to do some research on the frameless nature and how to best support it to it doesn't flap at speeds - he pointed me to his Flickr page and an E36 he's done frameless and I've sent him a link with those window latches you mentioned previously as being on the scooby- early days but he's interested, will keep you posted


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## Von Twinzig

A day or so before the last trackday my Odyssey 680 finally gave up the ghost. After 7 years it stopped holding a charge. I managed to borrow a second hand Braille, which got me through the day, and I had intended to get one until I found out the price...£200 

Anyway, after a trawl through the interweb I tracked down this puppy.....










Same size, 1kg lighter, more power, 4 year warranty, locally available and all for only £50. Billy bargain. My existing posts fitted too albeit with a slightly smaller Allen screw.

Working up a relocation plan now.

VT


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## TT Tom TT

Von Twinzig said:


> A day or so before the last trackday my Odyssey 680 finally gave up the ghost. After 7 years it stopped holding a charge. I managed to borrow a second hand Braille, which got me through the day, and I had intended to get one until I found out the price...£200
> 
> Anyway, after a trawl through the interweb I tracked down this puppy.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Same size, 1kg lighter, more power, 4 year warranty, locally available and all for only £50. Billy bargain. My existing posts fitted too albeit with a slightly smaller Allen screw.
> 
> Working up a relocation plan now.
> 
> VT


What weight is your battery VT? Just curious in how heavy or light my battery is by comparison as mine was the same price.

They look very similar if not identical with just different branding so I'm expecting the same weight.


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## Von Twinzig

5.78kg, so a bit lighter than the Odyssey.

VT


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## TT Tom TT

Von Twinzig said:


> 5.78kg, so a bit lighter than the Odyssey.
> 
> VT


That's 1.02kg lighter [smiley=bigcry.gif]... If only I knew.


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## Von Twinzig

TT Tom TT said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> 5.78kg, so a bit lighter than the Odyssey.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> That's 1.02kg lighter [smiley=bigcry.gif]... If only I knew.
Click to expand...

I see salads in your future Tom :lol:

VT


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## TT Tom TT

Von Twinzig said:


> TT Tom TT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> 5.78kg, so a bit lighter than the Odyssey.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> That's 1.02kg lighter [smiley=bigcry.gif]... If only I knew.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I see salads in your future Tom :lol:
> 
> VT
Click to expand...

Absolutely :lol: [smiley=bigcry.gif]...


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## KarlD

TT Tom TT said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> 5.78kg, so a bit lighter than the Odyssey.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> That's 1.02kg lighter [smiley=bigcry.gif]... If only I knew.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and you wouldn't have had to paint the top black for a stealthy OEM look...


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## TT Tom TT

KarlD said:


> TT Tom TT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> 5.78kg, so a bit lighter than the Odyssey.
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> That's 1.02kg lighter [smiley=bigcry.gif]... If only I knew.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Yeah, and you wouldn't have had to paint the top black for a stealthy OEM look...
Click to expand...

It's black and also hidden by the battery panel with OEM screws 'for a stealthy OEM look'.


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## Von Twinzig

Elvis has left the building.....












VT


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## 1781cc

So funny we're all doing the same thing at the same time!


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## TT Tom TT

What are you 3 doing? Bitumen scraping?


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## 1781cc

Destroying our heaters!


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## TT Tom TT

1781cc said:


> Destroying our heaters!


Oh yeah! I wish I could join you but I need it along with the rest of my interior, blasphemy I know. Looking forward to seeing VT's, yours and Nick's weigh-ins.


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## Gonzalo1495

TT Tom TT said:


> 1781cc said:
> 
> 
> 
> Destroying our heaters!
> 
> 
> 
> Oh yeah! I wish I could join you but I need it along with the rest of my interior, blasphemy I know. Looking forward to seeing VT's, yours and Nick's weigh-ins.
Click to expand...

Same, and after all the work I've been doing lately, this looks like WAY more of it :lol:. I'll have to pass for now. Looking good though gang, nice to see some proper weight shedding going on lately.


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## 3TT3

:lol: 
Its like "how low can you go" , next thing discs of metal will be drilled out 
edit btw belated happy bday TTtom .


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## Von Twinzig

Got this lightweight jobbie going back in. I don't do motorbikes.










VT


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## Von Twinzig

Got whizzy with the angle grinder this afternoon.......



















 8)

VT


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## 1781cc

How much does all that little lot weigh?


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## NickG

Yeaaaaah!! Whats the damage?


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## Von Twinzig

2.305 kg..... 










VT


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## 1781cc

Nice work! Good savings still


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## watersbluebird

Von Twinzig said:


> 2.305 kg.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


I bet you're carrying too much fat. :lol:


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## NickG

Blimey, that's quite a lot of weight. Better still it doesn't even feature on my "get under 1200kg" list of things to remove... Bonus!!


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## Von Twinzig

watersbluebird said:


> Von Twinzig said:
> 
> 
> 
> 2.305 kg.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT
> 
> 
> 
> I bet you're carrying too much fat. :lol:
Click to expand...

Nothing a couple of decent #2's won't fix.

VT


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## Gonzalo1495

Nice job, I admire the commitment to weight savings. Keep it up! Eyes are glued to this thread [smiley=book2.gif]


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## TT Tom TT

It's pretty criminal what has to be done to these cars to make them light-weight. Other than the extra running gear for the 4wd what actually is it that makes our cars very heavy? Serious question. I mean I know the engine and ancilaries is like 100-150kg or so and then the same again for the 4wd stuff. Is the other stuff just literally the chassis and the body panels?


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## Von Twinzig

I'm guessing it's a "sum of the parts" kind of thing.

When I removed the rear tow hook housing it was bonkers heavy and held on by 7 bolts! In comparison my 911 track project before this had a threaded hole in one of the (ally) bumper crush tubes that the tow eye screwed into. Weighed nothing. There's big areas of double skinned panels (911 had very few, flat floor included). There's numerous brackets on brackets and the wiring loom to power all the comfy stuff is as thick as your forearm.

I had the all steel Porsche at 1100kg with an interior, my mate Andy was a genius with his. Total weight before he sold it was around 950kg and his own "built in his shed" 3.0 n/a engine made close to 300hp. Great car.

These cars were never sports cars, they were in effect a small GT, so weight was never a real consideration. Modern safety requirements doesn't help either.

VT


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## Gonzalo1495

Von Twinzig said:


> I'm guessing it's a "sum of the parts" kind of thing.
> 
> When I removed the rear tow hook housing it was bonkers heavy and held on by 7 bolts! In comparison my 911 track project before this had a threaded hole in one of the (ally) bumper crush tubes that the tow eye screwed into. Weighed nothing. There's big areas of double skinned panels (911 had very few, flat floor included). There's numerous brackets on brackets and the wiring loom to power all the comfy stuff is as thick as your forearm.
> 
> I had the Porsche at 1100kg with an interior, my mate Andy was a genius with his. Total weight before he sold it was around 950kg and his own "built in his shed" 3.0 n/a engine made close to 300hp. Great car.
> 
> These cars were never sports cars, they were in effect a small GT, so weight was never a real consideration. Modern safety requirements doesn't help either.
> 
> VT


Well put. Luxury comes at a price! The toe hook housing in the rear is absurd however, you've motivated me to get it off tomorrow.


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## 3TT3

Cut holes rather than remove, if they arent load bearing?..oh and I got a metal splinter in my eye (iris) grinding, cos I lifted visor to see better.That part you can put down to "Im a dummy" , but "lets be carefull out there" :lol: 
The tow hook and rear balance weight been gone thru before


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## Von Twinzig

You know it makes sense. 5kg of unnecessary pig iron. The funny thing on mine was it was so rusty you'd have never screwed the eye in properly if you had needed to use it. Daft.

VT


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## Von Twinzig

3TT3 said:


> Cut holes rather than remove, if they arent load bearing?..oh and I got a metal splinter in my eye (iris) grinding, cos I lifted visor to see better.That part you can put down to "Im a dummy" , but "lets be carefull out there" :lol:
> The tow hook and rear balance weight been gone thru before


Holes are on the menu. 

This was the previous projects door handles 8)










Those brackets held the glove and centre console on, neither of which I have. There's one bracket on a bracket welded on the thing just to screw the ESP box to. Completely unnecessary. It's gone.

VT


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## Madmax199

Looking good! Love the no nonsense approach, keep at it and it'll eventually get light. Marius Jackson in South Africa got his Quattro coupe down to 1,000 Kg race weight (he made composite hatch, doors and panels), and I'm not too far behind. There is plenty of room to get the chassis to be light, it's a matter of putting in the work. I have composite trunk, aluminium propeller shaft, lexan window, lighter brakes and wheels and a few other small items in my to-do weight reduction list.


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## Von Twinzig

Thanks Max. My mate Stephen (Ex Ferrari F1) gave me the focus. His new business works on saving weight on race and super high end road cars. He's a fanatic. At 1240kg he gave me some pointers and told me not to contact him again until the thing was below 1150kg. I haven't even looked at Titanium/Ally/Plastic bolts and machine screws yet! :lol:

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Hands up trousers down...I've been a lazy b'stard, project wise, since before Christmas, primarily because my garage has been colder than the South Pole. Anyway, bought a garage heater (completely useless) and got these back from the anodiser today (not useless at all)......










Onwards and upwards.

VT


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## Mondo

How much weight does anodizing add? :wink:


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## 1781cc

I rattle canned mine! I think yours will last longer without scratches...

I think we're all guilty of this at the moment, I don't want to drop the antifreeze to do the heater, get stuck and have a frozen engine in the morning


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## brushwood69

UPDATE

UPDATE

UPDATE

Waiting [smiley=book2.gif]


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## Von Twinzig

brushwood69 said:


> UPDATE
> 
> UPDATE
> 
> UPDATE
> 
> Waiting [smiley=book2.gif]


I take no joy in confessing not to have looked at the car since way before Christmas BW. Garage has been freezing despite several loaned heaters, and on the nice weekends we've had other things on the calendar, either that or I just couldn't be arsed. Need to find my mojo if I'm to get this thing done. :?

VT


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## Von Twinzig

Made some progress today......



















VT


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## NickG

Von Twinzig said:


> Made some progress today......
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VT


Ooooo go on then, how much did that beast weigh? Are you replacing it, or just removing it for loom access?


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## Gonzalo1495

Or even better, replacing it with a light weight aluminum rod? I'm sure a machine shop could replicate something like that in a few days easy! Nice job Stripper V.


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## 1781cc

Isn't this structural? Loom looks easier to work with but presumably something is going back in its place, too much to attach to it... sensors, column, fusebar, etc?


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## Von Twinzig

Well, life moves on and so has the TT. Had some fun and met some good people, but life has become too busy to do the thing properly and I'm not wired to do things half-hearted. The final "really" moment came when the cost of keeping it on the road each year became double the 911 for a car a tenth of the value. A trailer would have been next, but then I need a suitable tow car and frankly I couldn't be arsed. I'll drop in to the motorsports section from time to time and if I can be of any help just pm me.

Have fun guys and stay safe.

VT


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## 1781cc

Shame to see you go mate, hope its found a good new home with someone who will carry on your good work. A lot of what you posted was a good help for me getting mine off the ground, so really appreciate your efforts.

Enjoy the next phase of your driving enjoyment!


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