stripethree

Iiiiiiiiit’s baaaaaack.

Finally, the R32 was back in one piece, including the third motor mount, and ready to be thrown around the SIR gravel pit again. I drove the car to work all week and took time on Saturday to make sure everything that was unbolted and replaced or reattached was still securely fastened to the car. It all was. The third motor mount finally arrived on Thursday (after two months! never ordering from that company again…), and I installed it on Saturday as well.

The car felt fantastic. Maybe it was because I’d be driving the much older, slower, and more worn GTI exclusively for two months, or maybe it was just that the whole front end of the car was very fresh and well buttoned together, but it was pretty sweet. There’s no slop in the motor and transmission anymore thanks to the new motor mounts, the steering feel is improved thanks to the new control arm bushings, and transitions were much, much better handled thanks to the new, larger front sway bar. The best part was almost the drive to the event, which was the first highway experience since the repairs. Given that highway speeds and loads were where all the ill effects were previously experience, I was slightly nervous, but no bad vibes were to be found. So it appears that the drive shaft coupling that was replaced was the big problem, and that has now been solved, thankfully. All the other things that got done as a result were just added bonuses. Hey, if I’m was going to go through the hassle and expense ($40 for one time use bolts. Bolts!) to drop the subframe, might as well fix or replace other things. Break one thing, upgrade 3, right?

The autocross results were good; 67.830 (+1), 67.858, 70.896 (+4); minus the cones I wiped out from a nasty miscue at the end of my last run. The clean run was good for 5th of of 44th overall in both raw and PAX times, and 5th out of 11 in the PAX class with a score of 982/1000. Not bad for the first event back in the car after two months. Time only runs were excellent; they can’t be compared directly to the competition runs since the course was altered, making it faster, but my times got better with each run – 66.759, 65.276, 64.676 – were all clean, and my best of those 3 was the 3rd fastest PAX times of 39 time only entrants.

The car felt great from the first launch of the first run. No excess engine movement on takeoff, the 1-2 shift, or when getting off the gas. The car felt especially planted which made me more confident in the results of my driving inputs. Turn in is sharper and the car has a good deal less body roll in transitional elements. I didn’t notice much, if any, additional understeer, which can sometimes occur with a larger from sway bar, but the course layout might not have exposed those effects, and the bar was set at the softer of two settings. The only down side of the day was finding out what the next weak link is, as the front sway bar end links are making plenty of noise to indicate they have had enough. At least the nasty clunking they are making was easy to identify and was not any part of the car trying to dislodge itself from the mother ship to completely ruin my day.

Now that the R32 is running again and all appears well (knock every piece of wood in sight), I have found out that I am not allowed to have 2 simultaneously running Volkswagens. The GTI would not crank when I went to drive it to work Monday morning and since it will start with a jump from it’s younger sibling, it is hopefully the battery and not the alternator. I’ve yet to investigate it further. I got it back on concrete and will just keep driving the R32; perhaps having the GTI sitting will add even more fuel to the motivational fire of getting parts that are awaiting install actually bolted to the car. The brakes are ready to go, I have new stainless lines, new wheel bearings are pressed into the front spindles, the rear calipers have been rebuilt with new boots, and all I need to do is put the brakes together and bolt them on the car. Soon, very soon…

The motor is still at my friends house, and I have not yet gotten injectors and a fueling setup yet. Part of that is researching what will pass emissions and get me the performance I’d like and the other part is tuners not being all that great at responding to messages. Hey, guys, ah, I’m trying to buy stuff from you, answer your messages!