Hello all! 

 

I have a 2012 Volkswagen Scirocco R 6 speed manual finished in Rising Blue that I will be turning into a 'track car' of sorts and will be documenting it on YouTube.

 

The plan is as follows:

Open intake, dogbone mount insert, anti lift kit (inc alloy control arms), front and rear anti roll bars, short shifter, side quick shifter, A/C delete, engine mounts, gearbox mount, solid shifter bushings, polybushes all around, discs and pads, brake lines, lowering springs, roll centre correction, lightweight 18 inch wheels, exhaust, body bracing, rear seat delete, lightweight pulley, clutch and solid flywheel, custom remap, bucket seats, LSD.

 

The build is starting next Saturday (12/03/2022) but the build videos won't probably start going on YouTube until some time in April - I'll leave the link to my channel just in case anyone is interested - I'll be reviewing each modification on its own to see what's worth it and what isn't.

 

Link - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_veTnUbAp4rwdl-5a6DoBA 

 

I'll leave some pictures of the car in stock form.

 

That's a really nice blue, low miles too. Will keep an eye on your project. Track days?

1 hour ago, Warrior193 said:

That's a really nice blue, low miles too. Will keep an eye on your project. Track days?

Yep - will absolutely be taking it on track at some stage 

Interesting. This gonna double up as a daily driver as well as track?!

 

Whats your plans for correcting the roll centre?

 

Should be an awesome little project 🤙

20 minutes ago, jars said:

Interesting. This gonna double up as a daily driver as well as track?!

 

Whats your plans for correcting the roll centre?

 

Should be an awesome little project 🤙

I will be using it as a daily for a while but at some point it will be a dedicated track car. 

 

Just getting the kit fitted after its lowered to correct the geometry 

Quick update on first round of mods:

 

Ramair intake now fitted - sounds good but not overly loud, definitely a good mod.

 

Powerflex purple dogbone mount bushing fitted - I didn't have much expectations for this because I had no previous experience with this kind of mod but honestly what a difference! Starting up now feels like a race car (probably due to the increased vibrations), much easier to modulate the clutch when setting off (historically I have always struggled with this specific clutch pedal being a bit too 'detached'), more vibrations through the wheel which gives me more confidence, more vibrations through the seat which again gives me more confidence when pushing and the gear shifts also feel a bit more 'notchy' in a good way.

 

Overall very please! 

 

Already have in my possession a set of anti roll bars and adjustable drop links from Whiteline and an anti lift kit and alloy control arms also from Whiteline. 

The next round of mods is scheduled for the 9th of April when we'll be fitting the rear anti roll bar and either a short shifter or a side quickshifter.

 

😃

More mods going on today! 

Whiteline rear anti roll bar with the appropriate adjustable drop links and a Forge side quick shifter, very excited to drive the car with these on!😁😁😁😁😁😁

Rear anti roll bar and side quick shifter are now on! 

 

I've had a chance to drive with them on for a quite a few miles now (went out last night for a good drive and again early this morning) - the RARB is once again proven itself as probably the best mod you can do to a FWD car, the initial turn in is still very much like stock but it gives much more confidence to make mid corner adjustments and it also allows for much tighter lines. It doesn't seem to want to slide the rear out as much (like the Fabia I had) but it certainly feels much better, the car now pivots around the driver, I had high expectations and it managed to be even better than I expected in a different way. For reference we set the RARB to its stiffest setting but haven't yet adjusted the drop links properly. 

 

The side quick shifter is impressive - I didn't have much expectations for this particular mod but it has really made a difference, it's mostly a mod to improve 'feel' so I can't imagine it does much for the actual performance of the car, but the feel is definitely improved. Gear shifts are a bit 'notchier' and shifting between 2nd & 3rd and 4th & 5th is now much sweeter than stock. I will say that with this short shifter now on, it makes the front to back shifts seem so much longer! Really need to get a front to back short shifter now! That will be coming soon anyway...  

 

Next steps:

- Whiteline front anti roll bar and Forge short shifter - both already bought but no date to fit just yet

- Whiteline anti lift kit, alloy control arms and solid shifter bushings (I think from Darkside Developments) - the anti lift kit and the control arms are already here and they'll be going on the car after the front anti roll bar, and then we'll be doing a full 4 wheel alignment including properly adjusting the drop links

I'm forgetting the small DIY bits I've been doing! 

 

I've removed the parcel shelf, boot carpet liner thing, the tools and spare wheel and also the under bonnet lining thing. This has saved about 18kg in weight and has improved intake sound quite a bit.

 

Then I've also fitted a pedalbox - I know it's a very marmite mod but I had one in the Fabia and loved it and now in the Scirocco once again it didn't disappoint. It gives more intake sound because of the throttle reacting in a more linear fashion when on the pedal and also allows for a bit more fun around corners - the rear seems to be a bit more lively on lift off, potentially down to the fact the throttle closes more abruptly? I don't know, but I know it feels awesome!

 

Next DIY bit coming very soon will be removing the rear seats and fitting a Stern Performance 'clubsport pack' (read: rear seat delete kit)

 

 

I'm very excited for this next stage and I'm extremely happy with how the Scirocco is behaving now - reminds me of my Fabia so much which means it's hilarious to drive 😁😁😁

Rear seats are officially OUT!! 😃😃😃😃

 

Front anti roll bar & adjustable drop links will be fitted on 11th May

Forge short shifter will be fitted 11th May

Anti lift kit & alloy control arms will be fitted 25th May

Solid shifter bushings will be fitted 25th May

Pictures will make this much more interesting  

8 hours ago, jars said:

Pictures will make this much more interesting  

I'll try and get a picture with the seats out - when doing things I'm more focused in filming so the pictures end up being neglected 😅

Front anti roll bar and short shifter now on ! 

 

Not super impressed with front anti roll bar yet... Short shifter is pretty impressive

So today I had the whiteline anti lift kit installed along with the alloy control arms and solid shifter bushings and also a full alignment - the shifter bushings really are worth it! 

 

On a separate note, for anyone interested, the install videos are now starting to feed onto the youtube channel

Apologies for the lack of updates in the last couple of months - I had family over on holiday and more recently I had a pretty nasty case of covid so car stuff had to take a back seat for a while.

 

On a more positive note heres whats been done to the car since the last update! So I wanted to take advantage of the Summer to do a few cosmetic bits on the Scirocco (I never bother doing little bits like this and then always get jealous when I see other cars looking really nice with them done) 

 

Yellow seat belts

Custom car mats

Front and rear VW badge de chrome 

Limo tint from B pillar back

Chameleon tint on the windscreen (still within the law - takes the edge off a bit when the sun is out but unfortunately does little for other headlights)

Yellow brake calipers (it was hard to find a place to get this done - first enquired at a very popular place in Yorkshire and they quoted over £1,000 which I thought was unreasonable)

Installed the full rear seat delete kit

 

De cheromed badges

 

Front and rear tints

 

 

Seat belts

 

 

 

 

Custom mats

 

Rear seat delete kit

 

 

 

 

Quick update:

With 'Phase 2' quickly approaching which will include remaps, exhaust and regular trips to the track I decided to leave the car with JBS for a week to get everything in tip top condition.

The car has had a tiny intermittent misfire at idle for pretty much a year now so we decided to change all 4 injectors, the car now feels much more responsive, more powerful AND I got over 40 MPG driving home from JBS without even trying, is it possible that the old injectors were faulty to a point where they were impacting responsiveness, power and even fuel economy?! I hope someone more knowledgeable comes along and clarifies.
While changing the injectors they also checked for carbon build up and their comments were "not factory fresh for sure, but no actual build up either, just very little signs of carbon" which I found a bit surprising considering it is now 10 years old and has 56k miles, but great to know the carbon build up issue isn't as much of an issue as I thought.

 

Overall very happy and stage 2 can't come quick enough! Also very much looking forward for SMF and fluidampr conversion which I THINK is going to be the next visit to JBS.

It's official! The Scirocco will be going on track for the first time on the 17th of September!

Stage 1 remap booked! I think 8th of October...

Track day number one done! Spent the morning at Blyton Park and I was overall very impressed with the Scirocco. I was never in anyones way, I didnt get overtaken at all, the brakes felt solid the whole time I was out on track and I used less than half a tank - not bad for a morning at the track. 

 

Now I've got the stage 1 remap booked for a couple weeks from now and I've already booked my 2nd track day (also at Blyton Park) for a couple weeks after the remap.