My New Addition To The Garage

[whatsisname]

It's a late 2008 (first rego'd Jan 2009) limited edition VW Golf GTI Pirelli. One of about 400 in Australia, approximately 40 in this colour.

It came with a bunch of APR upgrades and I've since added quite a few extras. A few more tweaks and it should be producing 210-215kW at the wheels, which is more than enough to get its 1350ish kg moving. Seat of the pants suggests it has 12 sec potential, although traction is a challenge.

A slightly different experience to Japanese performance car ownership and the interior is certainly a level above the Caldina and 33.

Some parts are amazingly cheap. Brand new upgrade Audi R8 coil packs a grand total of $82 for four, $138 delivered! Brand spanking alloy Porsche 911 oil and coolant caps $56 total. Other parts, not so cheap, like the APR RSC exhaust at well over $2k.

[KISIN]

euro > jap.

dope car !

[SLED]

Very nice Matt! Have to buy my daughter a car and was actually considering a late model Golf as one of the choices!

Gotta love the way the Europeans finish their interiors. Japs could learn a lesson there but price would be an issue then I suppose....and the finish on a 35 is pretty good considering the $$.

Shane's new V8 M3 is a good example of Euro quality.....I suppose you get what you pay for

[MattR]

nice matty. you still got the caldina?

[whatsisname]

G'day Pete and Matty!

Kisin, I agree, Euro is a class above Japanese 'in most cases' in terms of interior trim and fit and finish. But as Pete pointed out the R35 is well and truly on par with most Euro offerings and its performance is unrivalled bang for buck!

Shane has a current model M3? Nice! Pete, one thing I will say about the Golf is that whilst it drives beautifully and feels and looks a million bucks it probably loses out to the Japanese in terms of reliability - case in point the current DQ200 7sp DSG Mechatronics unit. That said it is rarely major hardware failure but more electronic gremlins and software, at least initially. My Pirelli (all Pirellis) is equipped with the DQ250 6sp wet clutch DSG which is the same box in the 10.8 @ 128mph and 600HP APR Golf R albeit with upgraded clutches and fluid. A few weeks back I got German Auto to upload the APR/HP DSG software for improved shifts and more performance and it certainly made a huge improvement.

Yes Matty still got the Caldy. It serves as the family wagon mostly.

[Murry33]

So now you have to buy Pirelli tyres everytime you need some tyres, otherwise it just would feel right lol

[whatsisname]

Yeah it's a bit that like LOL. The Pirelli originally came with P Zeros and even has the P Zero tread pattern through the seats!

[whatsisname]

APR Australia's Golf R in action:

[HOSTILE]

Nice Matt!.. looks like a tidy ride. I've been curious about those Golf Rs myself. Must take one for a drive and see how they go.

[whatsisname]

Cheers Martin. They're a nice car and do a great job at pretty much everything - jack of all trades master of none. I wouldn't give up an R34 V Spec for one though.

I managed to inadvertently activate the APR ECU security program on the way home from work yesterday. Had no idea what was happening initially! Had to think my way through it and a bit of roadside Google action to realise why the car would start but nil response from the DBW throttle. Damn fancy pants ECU. Not like the old school computers LOL

[Nightcrawler]

I forgave you for the Caldina Matt, but now a VW? I am not so sure .....

We need to catch up and play some poker!

[discoPumpkin]

Brand spanking alloy Porsche 911 oil and coolant caps $56 total.

That's so cheap 4 a cap man, and considering I go through none atleast a cap a lifetime it good to know there keepin these prices down

[whatsisname]

The OEM Volkswagen Audi Group oil and coolant caps are your typical boring looking plastic, whereas the Porsche 911 and Audi R8 items are flash looking alloy. I like flash looking stuff, especially cheap, good quality flash stuff.

G'day Andrew, how goes it mate? Yeah I needed a FWD turbo to make a complete set - AWD turbo, RWD turbo and now a FWD turbo Trent was talking about hosting a poker night a few weeks back, but it might require Sarah's permission

The engine cover is a custom job and replaces the average looking OEM version. Without the cover the 2.0 TFSI engine looks like the North end of a South bound camel.

[Nightcrawler]

Yeah good but busy, as usual Matt.

Oh, and speaking of R8s, a certain someone you know had his new toy arrive on the back of a truck today

[whatsisname]

Very nice! Would I be correct in assuming this certain someone sells camping vehicles, like the one in the top left corner of the photo?

[Nightcrawler]

You might be on the right track there

[whatsisname]

I don't know how he copes with the tough decision of which car to drive... R35, R8, AMG etc.

[Nightcrawler]

Haha yeah ... but the AMG is gone - traded the ML63 for the R8.

[heslo]

Good choice

[whatsisname]

I can honestly say I own 0.01% of an Audi R8 - 4 x coil packs and a handful of components shared between the various VAG models