Nurburg4Nowt.co.uk Mk2 Jetta Trackday Car

Last weekend before Cadwell Park trackday so we decided to do a bit of work to ensure we would get the most of of the Jetta.
Nothing too stunning, more maintanence really.



A set of Toyo Proxes 4. These seemed a good choice, only 29 a piece and they get good feedback.

We needed a new set of pads and the Ferodo DS2500 seemed to fit the bill.

Finally a nice new set of wiper blades.....really hope these won't be needed



Had a quick test run and the tyres are much better. Still need to bed the pads in but I'm sure they'll be good.

Really looking forward to next Saturday, fingers crossed for a good day.

 

awesome, keep us posted!

 

Make sure you bed the pads in properly before you get to the track. I didn't, and mine faded badly in the first run, and also a bit on the second.

I thought a a weeks commute of 400miles plus another 550 odd to the 'Ring would do it, but I didn't get them nearly hot enough.

 

Thanks for that, I was thinking the drive up there would do it and thats way less miles

 

No problem. Apparently the instructions are in the box.

 

There are some that should be read then

 

Congrats on the great thread and car. I'm currently in the process of turning my mk2 golf from a daily driver into a track toy and your thread is certainly gonna inspire me to get my finger out a bit more often.

Have you considered converting from digifant ecu to megasquirt? I did this mod to my golf when it was still my daily driver. My engine spec is similar to yours, 2l 8v but with a piper 285 cam. I slowly made the change to megasquirt in the following steps

1. Megasquirt runs fuel digi runs ignition. This didn't work very well, think the digi wasn't happy about running with no injectors wired up so retarded the ignition.

2. Megasquirt runs fuel and spark. This worked really well and was an improvement over the digi. At this point i still had the airflow meter in place soley to mount the cone filter.

3. Threw away the airflow meter and made a bracket for mounting the cone. This made a surprisingly big difference, i suppose the afm was quite a big restriction.

My engine is much more responsive and very happy to rev. I've got the hard cut limiter set to 7100rpm and occasionally hit it accidently. Not had it on the rollers tho so dont know the power output but certainly feels better than the digifant throughout the whole rev range. Must have cost me about 200.

 

Interesting stuff about the megasquirt Tim, thanks.

Little update. The rear windows have been significantly lightened. The inside has been angle grinded out and the glass windows replaced with polycarbonate. Here is a rough photo guide.

remove old windows



Angle grind out the heavy inside of the rear doors



marked out shape of poly windows with cardboard


Jigsaw the marked shape out and file to size


Drill holes use sealant round the edge and job done. Just fronts todo next.

 

mint thread, great job on a budget !

 

this is rocking, nice thread and super car!

 

Cheers guys.

Little update as its been a while.

The jetta has done a few trackdays since cadwell. They have mostly been airfield days just to keep us busy so we havent bothered to do write ups for them as they arent that exciting picture wise! The Jetta has been pounding round them well which is the main thing.

The car is also getting trailered around now. Nice not having to worry about tax and mot.

Update on changes to the car is pretty much all about weight loss. Its been good to have something new done to the car for each trackday and loosing weight is very cheap.... mostly free!

Below wasnt free but for the sheet of poly to do the front windows was only about 35 although slider wasnt too cheap. Used the same method as the rears fitted earlier in thread.




The front doors have been angle grinded out and tided up with some free ally from work. Looks better and is also safer.


(before window was poly and window workings removed)



Spare bit of poly was used in place of headlight to allow air straight to air filter.



Lost 10kg today



Heater system fully removed. Not needed now we can tow in the passat.




Also removed some skin from the boot


Hopefully going to lydden trackday next weekend

 

Like this thing.

 

Rich, Ad,

Are you still active on here? After reading all about your track car buildup, I realised I had seen the beast before. I was at the Nurburgring at the same time as you guys in May 2007. I managed to get a few phots of most of the cars going round, and I've got one of you coming up through Adenau Forest. Also got a couple of NLW73’s Jetta too.

Would either of you like the phots? They're not the best ones taken but they add to the collection I guess!

Hope it's still going well.

Paul

 

Its been a bit long but here are a few snaps from Lydden. Great day and a brilliant little track. Its not far from us either so will be going again for sure.







As post most trackdays we always look for a few more ways of improving the jetta. Here are a few snaps of the mods that are all done in time for Donnington on 25th Aug.

Good ebay find. Fibreglass bonnet for 15

Sprayed up quickly (not great)


Goodridge hoses all round and a fresh lot of fluid. Trying Motul RBF this time.


Then on to the normal passtime, weight loss....This time bumper metal insides removed. Few holes drilled in the front bumper too.



Boot locking mechanism and surrounding metal removed.


This meant boot springs were needed to hold the boot down


Also the boot lifting springs were removed. Meaning a spruced up stick is now needed to hold up the boot ( the other side says its made from carbon fibre )


A bit more weight loss and hopefully a small increase in power with the removal of 2 silencers and the fitting of these 2 straight though pipes. Like the noise now, much more race like


Finally, painted a second set of wheels black. These are fitted with slicks that will hopefully get a try out at Donnington. We were worried about the bigger profile and slightly wider slick touching the coilover as the thinner wheels were very close. Trail fitted the slicks with 5mm spacers, nice and clear of the coilover now, close to the arch though!!




Total weight loss was a pleasing 20kgs

 

Bit of an update, sorry its been so long.

Last year we went on to do a Donington track day which was fantastic. Our favorite uk track so far. Bolting on the slicks halfway through the day was a fantastic experience. Our Gps logger said we were 15mph+ (cant remember exact figure) faster down craner curves.




Finished the year with another Lydden day. Car was showing signs of a tough year.

Bit of a duff moment on cold slicks


After this we started on winter jobs.

Top mounts had gone - Changed
Brake pads needed doing - Uprated to g60 calipers and yellow stuff pads
Bit more power needed - 4 branch fitted and upgrade to Kent GS3H cam
Manual steering rack fitted
Dash board redesigned with starter button.
Short shift welded and fitted

All that is left to do is look into a driveshaft leak, rolling road, camber and tracking. Ive not had a chance to take many pictures. Here are a couple to start with.



Shortshift behind standard version


Not bad welds for me!

 

It's threads like this that make me want to get the f*ck out of the city and have somewhere with a driveway. Massively inspirational, you're a grassroots hero mate.

 

Ive always liked this thread! You guys are an inspiration to us all lol!

Dan

 

hey, its still running ! long time since an update, keep them coming.

 

Great work.

 

Wow, just read this thread start to finish. Awesome work guys! Looking forward to more updates.