28 replies to this topic

[mark300]

every car requires a build thread. heres mine!

 

so the background for my latest car, for this we must go back in time slightly.

around 10 months ago, i had sold my foz on and was in the market for a new car. the ultimate aim was that i would buy a MY11 WRX of some form, and continue along my subaru journey. impatience frustration and peer pressure got the better of me, and i actually ended up in a Golf R as some of you would know. Now, as some of you would know, i was also plagued by issues with this car, including one notable occasion on the christmas cruise where the car mysteriously ran out of oil and i had to do a panicked autobarn run. After coming to a realisation that i was infact, an idiot for buying it, i decided to cut my losses financially on it and get rid of it. while it was an enjoyable car, i didnt love it like i have other cars.

so here i was looking for cars. right after i sold the Golf i bought a 95 corolla which got put straight to daily duties. with this in hand i had decided that i would buy a GD STI and live the 2 car life, dailying the corolla and leaving the STI for weekend duties.

buying an STI these days however is not as easy as it would seem. the first car i wanted sold the same day my golf did (gladly though its ended up in good hands and was actually at HVC15 which i was glad to see). i went and looked at another car which used to be owned by a forum member who i know well, which i thought would be a winner, unfortunately myself and Cam got there and discovered after only 6 minutes that the car had a blown head gasket, so that was striked from the list also. this bought back memories of a trip myself and Cam did to Sydney last year to look at STIs and i remembered the issues that trip was plagued with, everything from cars that looked like they had been through demolition derbies to ones that had blown bottom ends. combined that with an analysis of everyhing on carsales, and the odds werent in my favour. so it really was a settle in for the long haul job.

lurking on carsales as i do, i was looking at newer WRXs, when all of a sudden one caught my eye. MY11, grey metallic, hatchback, premium. it ticked all the boxes that i wanted when i was looking for one last year. add to that, it was the spitting image of the car i wanted to build, right down to the wheels, and had every mod i wanted to do done to it and then some. the price was right, and i saw this as a sign to abandon the STI mission, and go back to the car i should have bought last year. Myself and cam went and looked at it, breaking every rule of car inspection in the process by looking at a dark car at night, but after cam muttered the immortal words "id buy that" i shook hands and started the process. (as some may know the idea was to perform a HVC Miracle and get it just in time, however as banks like to do, they decided to stand in the way and road block that one!)

 

fast forward again and here we are in possession of the new car!

Mods so far:

CP Pistons
ARP head studs
PSR Headers
Xforce TBE
Cobb Short Shifter
Cobb CAI
Rota Grid R 18x9.5+35 wrapped in Khumo KU31s
BC BR coilovers
Whiteline swaybars front and rear
STI rear spoiler
tail light overlays

 IMG_5310.JPG   356.14KB   31 downloads

 IMG_5311.JPG   355.12KB   31 downloads

 IMG_5312.JPG   320.57KB   34 downloads

 IMG_5313.JPG   350.98KB   32 downloads

 IMG_5314.JPG   356.82KB   33 downloads

 

 

Mods to come:
Scan gauge 2
PW Verticooler

DW300 fuel pump
Full lip kit
Turbosmart BOV
sound system upgrade
GD 4 pot brakes

LED lights throughout

 

the first priority for it really is a good service and check over from Cam, and a paint correction and professional detail, as its filthy currently. after that tha brakes to get it up to speed then the fun will commence later this year on adding some more goodies to it.

 

thanks Goes to my good mate Cam as always for looking out for me and helping me find her and give her the tick of approval.

 

Cheers

Mark
 

 

 

[Morgan]

Looks good dude. Enjoy in good health.

[Liberty]

Really nice man. Sucks to hear about the bad run with the Golf. I really dig that colour too.

[Matt]

Looks so dark and awesome! I like it

[nickknack]

How does it compare to the golf aside from reliability? My mum has had an R for a couple of years now, no issues. Barely quicker than a B4 though haha 

[mark300]

How does it compare to the golf aside from reliability? My mum has had an R for a couple of years now, no issues. Barely quicker than a B4 though haha 

 

i reckon theres alot of difference personally.

fuel economy wise, i was averaging around 10-11 in the Golf, im getting 11.2 in the WRX and ive been giving it some jandal all week. im taking it to sydney this weekend so we will see how it handles the open road.

Handling - the golf generally impressed me handling wise, but this is in another league, more than likely attritubted to all the suspension mods, but it really does stick to the road, full confidence in throwing it through corners. golf there was always a bit of hesitance being primarily a front wheel drive car, and on occasions did get the sense of understeer.

Powweerrrrrr- Golf always impressed me in this category, launch control, foot flat sports auto, it was a rocket, the power was very linear and held it all the way to redline. however there was no real rush of the turbo kicking in. opposite for the wrx. you really do get the push back kick sensation from the turbo, which to me is what its all about.

the golf overall was an awesome car, really well finished and defintely excellent build quality but in some respects it felt a little too overengineered. its hard to really explain it fully, but you really got the sense of there was alot going on in the background behind you and alot of computer doo hickeys doing stuff.

[nickknack]

Yeah i've driven it enough to know what you need. Fast car but doesn't make you want to hoon

[aekOne]

congrats on the purchase mate. likes very tidy

[Niko]

Nice hatch!

 

Awesome write up comparing Golf to WRX.

 

Dem wheels.

[mark300]

Nice hatch!

 

Awesome write up comparing Golf to WRX.

 

Dem wheels.

 

i could go on for days comparing them

 

both are really capable cars for a "sporty hatchback", both are generally compared in the same category when comparing them.

 

but to me they are a night and day comparison as a drivers car

[mark300]

myself and cam finally had a free day today to do a service on the car and go over it. 

works today included:

 

- oil change and replacement with fumoto valve (
- replacing crappy chrome wheel nuts with black wheel nuts
- hub centric rings (because whoever put the wheels on didnt value his wheel studs)
- adjusting the BC set up and camber
- the Cameron Johnson once over and tick of approval

 

luckily the car passed all checks with flying colours. 

will go in for a wheel allignment next week now, and identified a few others things to add to the list now for future modding. 

[Cam.]

Don't forget the uec, fixing the cobb intake that would eventually rub through and cause a lean out, restrictor pill installed in boost gauge line and nappy delete

[mark300]

in preparation for the sunday street meet drag racing this sunday and thanks to the glorious time of year that is tax season, i went on a bit of impulsive purchasing for some "improvements" for my car. 

arriving this week we will have:

1 x Black Process West Verticooler
1 x Turbosmart Kompact BOV
1 x Hard Race Pitch Stop Mount
1 x Hard Race/Group N Transmission Mount
1 x Scan Gauge 
LED lights throughout the car.

hopefully fitting it all up Thursday if we are blessed by good delivery service from couriers. 

[Jmorris959]

Nice buy mate just curios if you have any idea how much power its making?

[Cam.]

215kw at the wheels with shitloads of middle range torque. Give or take 5kw's depending on the weather

[Robert]

Verticooler!

Nice

Retune after the work or not going to bother ?

[mark300]

yepp Cam is correct. 
215kwatw on the MSR Dyno. give or take as you please depending on your view on dynos

im going to get a retune later on this year, probably around october. im going to replace the cobb air intake with a process west in guard intake, so when that happens ill get a retune done 

[Jmorris959]

215kw at the wheels with shitloads of middle range torque. Give or take 5kw's depending on the weather

nice man with i could have a wrx but p plates

[mark300]

so quick update. 

most of my goodies arrived and got fitted on the Thursday as planned. Unfortunately the verticooler wasnt complete smooth sailing, but thanks to Cam it all fitted up in the end and looks schmick in the engine bay, ill upload some pics of it later on. unfortunately my Diff Bushes still havent arrived but thats another story. 

Took it to the Sunday Drags the weekend after getting it all installed, and managed to run a best of 12.88 at 170kph with a 1.760ft time. My goal was to crack into the 12's so im pretty stoked to get that time. strangely, my slower times i was running a 175kph trap speed, so i feel there may be more in the car.

[mark300]

update time. 

my latest round of mods are now completed. 

 

Verticooler has been installed. comparison photo of it installed versus the stock one. my stock one was actually starting to leak and had cracks from the end tanks so good timing. Photo after cam had finished swearing and cursing. 

 IC comparison.JPG   186.14KB   16 downloads

 

shifter bushing comparison pre install. Thanks go to Lachy, he actually had bought these to install on his car, and we had them on the bench at the time. Cam realised we had to take mine out to install the Gearbox mount, and he kindly let me use his to install in at the times. Top bloke he is. 

 shifter bushings.JPG   122.39KB   15 downloads

 

comparison here of OEM versus Hardrace gearbox mount. gearbox feels alot better now with these additions and very solid

 Gearbox mount.JPG   125.96KB   16 downloads

 

Pitchstop mount also went in

 Pitchstop mount.JPG   98.46KB   15 downloads

 

Drags came after this, this was my PB timeslip

 Drags PB.JPG   79.91KB   15 downloads

 

My Diff bushes finally turned up, and Cam unfortunately had a few good words for this also. 

 Diff bushings Cam.JPG   121.13KB   14 downloads

 

thanks as always to Cam for looking after the rig, and coming along to the drags to keep her running tip top, blokes a legend.