MidLife's Race Red ST2

[MidLife-ST]

I tried to avoid creating on of these build threads as they always end up costing me more money!

Had the car for 5 weeks now and @ 6800m. In this time I have completely forgot about anything I liked better on the MK6 GTI I traded in. This car is so much fun!
So now i have a place to consolidate my pictures, any questions I might have, and share my opinion. On to some pics!

Traded in this, tuned, lowered, wheels, comfortable, boring to drive, and starting to have items fail that should not have @ 45k miles.


For this Race Red ST2

Complete with giant hood gap!


3 weeks later Llumar CTX tint, G2 color matched calipers, and Cobb V102 tune



Dipped the wheels yesterday



Motor mounts and intake next!

[brazwewn]

I cannot wait to get my tint done. I am thinking about a the charcoal plastidip. I really like the darker look.

Wes

[Division50ST]

What % tint did u go with? Looks good

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[OrangeRocket]

Looking Good!!!!

[MidLife-ST]

I cannot wait to get my tint done. I am thinking about a the charcoal plastidip. I really like the darker look.
Wes

I changed my mind over and over on what color I was going to go with. I actually bought gunmetal first but sent it back, fearing the primer color wasn't the look I wanted. Went boring black (5 coats black and 3 coats gloss). First time I have used dip and I would think that you actually need to be trying to mess up the job to have problems. Very user friendly and I did not mask (well tried but the mask wouldn't stick). The overspray came off perfect and took no time.
Thanks man!

What % tint did u go with? Looks good
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I pretty sure it's 15/30, it is the legal limit for Florida.
Thanks and glad you like it.

Looking Good!!!!

Thank you sir!

[1BadST3]

Love the mods so far.

I'm curious about your thoughts on the Cobb AP tune. I've read several accounts on here, but am interested in yours specifically because of your history with the modded GTI. Before the tune you said your GTI would walk the ST. Does that still stand? What other improvements and / or drive-ability differences have you noticed from the tune.

Thanks for all the great information.

[MidLife-ST]

Love the mods so far.

I'm curious about your thoughts on the Cobb AP tune. I've read several accounts on here, but am interested in yours specifically because of your history with the modded GTI. Before the tune you said your GTI would walk the ST. Does that still stand? What other improvements and / or drive-ability differences have you noticed from the tune.

Thanks for all the great information.

Thanks man!
I'm still working off my butt dyno as I haven't configured Torque app for the ST yet. I should pull some numbers from the Cobb AP know that you made me think about it. I know the best 0-60 in the GTI when all the stars aligned was 6.7, with 7.1 - 7.3 average. Just the way the car pulled and pushed you back into the seat felt really good. I don't get that feel in this car. It's really why I should get numbers instead of talking out of my butt dyno. These seats are alot more supportive, rowing gears again, and hard to launch smooth could all be effecting the butt dyno. I'm still trying to make a decision on mounts and while I can launch fine at times, I'm still met with hops and thuds more often.

My decision to go with the Cobb AP was based on the hardware and name recognition. The hardware is outstanding but I still feel the tunes are still in their infancy. The tune to the GTI consisited of pulling the ECU, bought on sale w/install was near 900 dollars. Because I bought it during a sale it came "fully loaded" which really means pick 4 modes of the 6 we offer. I found changing the tunes to be scary and never used my cruise control again after the tune. The fact that with the AP you can retune as often as you want is a huge bonus. I used support once and immediately was speaking with a person helping me.

My take on the software is "we are working on it". The GTI tune was 62hp and 82fpt, atleast 3 times what we are seeing stage 1 right now. The GTI motor has been around a long time. The tuners know the motor inside and out. Reliability, longevity, and all them big words I need to spell check have been flushed out. They know exactly how hard they can push the motor and go right to that point and "back it off half a turn". Given time and the great ability to just download new maps we will see these gains in the future.

The GTI only saw 93oct and because of some late in the 4th quarter negotiation I only run <cough> 87oct. I really wanted the tune to have the power of 93oct while still maintaining my end of the bargin. So until I get some hard numbers, I will still have to stick with the butt dyno and the GTI would win in a STRAIGHT line.

[1BadST3]

Awesome thanks for the info again.

Just FYI, my TB ST3 order is being processed at Ford and I'm still awaiting my VIN to start tracking it myself.

That being said, I'm trying to get a game plan of the path I'm going to take when I get the car. I'm a fan of mods, but ones that have been tried and true. The market still seems a bit young to really "trust" anything.

I like your accounts and look forward to reading more about your experiences.

JJ

[MidLife-ST]

Awesome thanks for the info again.

Just FYI, my TB ST3 order is being processed at Ford and I'm still awaiting my VIN to start tracking it myself.

That being said, I'm trying to get a game plan of the path I'm going to take when I get the car. I'm a fan of mods, but ones that have been tried and true. The market still seems a bit young to really "trust" anything.

I like your accounts and look forward to reading more about your experiences.

JJ

You are welcome man. Feel free to hit me with any questions you might have.
Big congrats on the new car. I've owned alot of new cars in my life but never ordered one before. I'm terrible at waiting and it would make me nuts. I also never get exactly the color or options I want. I wanted an ST2 w/roof in white, got the 2 w/roof but in RR. White and black are so easy to add a 3rd color into the build. I keep wanting to break up the whole black/red theme but options are limited.