hi there
its maiden voyage was a success, just got back in. i didnt get pulled over once (its probably still showing as SORN) and i didnt buy or sell any illicit substances
this evening i had the intake system apart as the idle wasnt satisfactory. the idle on mine seems to hang at about 900rpm as youre coming to a stop and then drop to 600rpm when you do actually stop and it does it consistently. i dont know if that is fluke or broken, any ideas?
all in all it drove nicely considering its dodgy geometry and feels quick. the shove feels in the region of 200lbft ish but its most surprising thing is going from 2nd to 3rd flat out, it really does pull well but i think there is more to come.
it responds well going on and off throttle, its easy to drive it smoothly. its relatively lazy to drive as there is a fair chunk of easily accessible torque almost everywhere. you seem to be in a gear higher almost everywhere compared to the Golf 1.8t. An Evo M3 must feel great as they are meant to have an extra 30lbft in most places
the sound is lovely. i wont be modifying the intake or exhaust unless i find a supersprint at a very good price.
only unexpected noise was the rear diff in slow tight turns. i did choose to use 75w90 oil. there is a lot of talk on the net about 75w140 fixing everything
the drive/hoon netted just over 25mpg average which i thought was good
temps all behaved as expected, even the interior is relatively rattle free, im actually slightly smitten with it. just need to sort those lights out to make it look less of a spacker.
geometry in the morning
its been a lot of work but im dead happy with it so far. for not a lot of money i think i might have a bit of a belter
i might rig up my phone as a camera and take it for a drive. it might be a bit of a boring video but im sure someone would be interested