I want to start the above

Press Alt+F4 to give it a good push!

thanks for the advice

no need to push my car... the water pump works fine

You should try joining MCO (MCO.org). They usually have lapping days at Calabogie.

GoesFilled (JP) does a lot of this stuff and i'm sure he will know where to direct you with it. Its a lot of fun, but can get expensive. But its a lot of fun

Solo, Lapping, and Drag do not really mix. Well, not all three of them at least.

The setup for a drag car is totally different, as is lapping and Solo2. A Mk5 is a heavy beast. Mk6, well, that's brand new - so I have no comment there. So, I assume from this that you haven't even got the car yet that are considering taking to the track?

Another HUGE thing about taking any car to the track, you need to be 100% financially committed to being able to ball the car up. If you cannot afford to ball up your daily driver, then you need to consider the act of taking your car to the track - and as such get a car that you can afford to just walk away from if you crash it. I've seen it happen before, and it will happen again...

So, what's the whole story and your intent here? You're not giving us much to work with here yet...

Hi,

thanks for the responses!

Well I have had my car for 2 years now and want to have a little bit of fun with it off the streets.

Tried drag a bit and nailed a respectable 13.6s on the 1/4 but I must admit that drag racing is a little meh...

I'm looking for a little more thrill and want to know if anyone has good tips and/or wanted a green partner for solo2 and lapping. I know 2 guys (tsx and wrx) that do a bit of solo2 (class D and C I believe) and will probably join one of them but I'd rather have a mkv partner.

Now I know that the mkv gti is not the perfect platform but I wish to have fun with it (hey it's not a corolla) and develop my skills so that I don't kill myself when I'm ready to buy a more powerfull car.

As for finance, I don't plan to go all out as this car is a dd but then again have no finacial worries, so I can take a hit.

cheers

Mart

So if you want to go hard core... lapping, auto-x, etc. Get a hitch, a second set of wheels, a small tire trailer, for your wheels, and tools. (Carrying around your tires in the car to the track is a pain)

You don't need to find somebody else who tracks a Mk V or Mk VI, just get out and do it. For autocross, you will want much softer brakes than you will for lapping. Many people who want to be serious about it, and not destroy their stuff for the street is to get a set of front rotors/pads and a set of wheels/tires for autox/lapping. Really, after that it's all seat time. Spend more on yourself than on your car until you get all you can out of it.

Been there done it all. Trust me on this. Seat time, seat time, seat time. Tires, brakes and entry fees. That's what you need to think about spending your money on at first. Then once you have the skills to completely exhaust the capability of your car, then you go and hot rod it to go faster.

Oh yeah....also JettaRacer is into this kind of stuff

Ya, just kinda.

Remember, the driver is the weakest link in all of this. Spend the money on you first, then the car. I can't say it more... seat time, seat time, seat time. I remember when I was lapping with my near to bone stock Nissan 200SX SE-R with basically only an cold air intake, Toyo RA-1 tires and a set of Hawk Blue racing brakes, I would be one of the faster cars in any run group I was in at Shannonville, it was all about seat time, being comfortable in the car, and knowing the line, and where the speed is. The biggest novice errors in all cases - is the driver drives too fast in the slow corners, and too slow in the fast corners. Having a faster car won't cure any driver of that until they learn how to drive. The thing about having a super capable car, is that the driver find his own limits first, rather than the car's and it takes a long time to really get a good sense of car control that way. Also, now with the modern cars all having ABS, stability management, traction control and all, it certainly takes away from learning how to drive the car at the edge and learning how to do it.

So if you want to have fun lapping and doing auto-x, the car is ultimately somewhat irrelevant. Come out with whatever you have, talk to people, it's a small community, and soon you'll know all of the MCO gang if you go to their events, and by far, they are the most helpful bunch of folks you'll ever meet. FWIW, I race a Mk2 Jetta, have a Mk3 and a Mk4 that have both seen a fair amount of tracktime. Needless to say, the Mk3 with only 115hp, may not be fast in a straight line, but with a good set of tires and brakes, there's not too much out there other that will beat you in the corners - even with a bone stock suspension.

Good luck.

everything that JR wrote above is 100000% true. FWIW, my corrado is my current track toy until i have the moolah/space for a beat e36. the prep (for the track at least) only consists of abs delete, H&R coils, and mk4 brakes (the biggest you can fit under 15" wheels). oh yeah, and azenis 615s (which i can't wait to get rid of!)

in regards to seat time, truer words have not been spoken. with the above mods, i generally leave miatas in the dust and have managed to give an older 911 or two a reason to do a double take (of course, they DO walk away once the road is straight ). hell, I've even kept WRXs in line a coupla times...although not for long cuz that effort tends to burn up the engine AND me! it's all about how well you know where the limits are and how comfortable you are at going and staying there.

by far the best prep you can do for the first time out is brakes. a separate set of front pads and rotors (you can get away with leaving the rears as is) and SS lines is the best investment you can make. after that, if there's a way for you to shut off the abs and TC that will be better for learning.

I really wouldn't worry beyond that to start. why? despite what you might think, you DO (ok 99.99999% of people) have the innate ability to NOT drive too hard the first time. get good brakes so you have that safety net and then go out there and shred a set of shit tires so you can then justify buying sticky ones!

I will warn you though, lapping is a drug. CMP is your dealer. get ready to pay!

what do you drive? and what do you have done to it already ?

Hi,

Thanks for all the good comments! Not sure I will go hardcore with my dd... but will definatly track it to develop my skills with this car and just have fun.

I will keep in mind not to go too fast in the slow corner!

For panda: It’s a stage 2+ with autotech hpfp, bsh intake, bsh tpb, forge dv kit, catless 3”dp and mp, neuspeed sport springs with koni sport struts, boost gage, 18” tsw forged wheel (18lbs) with handkook v12, Devil own DVC30 dual water meth injection kit and KVR bp.

13.6 was done with a small boost leak... which was promptly addressed by changing the ridiculous bsh vac line (between the forge dv and the boost tap) with a longuer and tighter line

plus I'm still adapting to the new shift points on stage 2+

cheers

Hahaha good one!

May I add that karting is a good way to practice your racing techniques if you're not ready to burn your own tires and breaks. Invite a bunch of serious friends, not clowns that will bump you and/or make you crash on purpose.

Looked up MCO site and will buy a membership but...

should I wait for next year since the training class appears to be over for this year?

or should I simply go ahead and present myself to an event?

don't care if I look like a newbie but do care about security and... don't want to scratch the top of my car

nice, got a lot more going on than i do, as i am just apr stg1 w 6spd with a couple other bolt ons.. managed a 14.3 your mid 13 is very respectable

I did the same time as you when I was stage 1... 14.365 to be exact

came from 14.9.. stock and now I think I could get a 13.4 or 13.5

but I'm gonna stop there in term of mods... for now

are you dsg or 6sp
and im guessing its an fsi?

i plan to get a downpipe and a reflash but end there.

What software are you running?

apr 93

2008 fsi dsg with eurodyne stage 2 (91 octane) which is equivalent to most stage 2+

boosting and holding around 23-24 psi (boost gage not vbery accurate though)