I am new to this forum and have been stalking it for a while so I thought I would chime in. Sorry if I am bad at this forum thing and this may be a long read so I will be short enough while being detailed enough.
I purchased a 2016 GTI non-pp 6MT 2-Door. It is the first VW I have ever owned and I was going to get a Focus ST and then I sat in one haha - there was too much economy car feel for me to feel good about me spending that much money on the thing.
Here is a quick rundown:
Power:
Apr Downpipe
Apr Intercooler
Apr Intake
Apr Stage 2 high torque software.
Apr is not the best deal out there fit is finish is top notch and the software is very good so I am somewhat loyal. Hands down this combination will wake up your car like nothing else. So much more power than stock and very smooth (for is20) power delivery. There are a thousand threads on this so I will not beat a dead horse but for fun go straight to the ECU stuff and supporting mods.
Shifting:
S3 euro short shifter
ECS shifter cable bushings
Very OEM plus! Maybe 15 percent shorter but its not overly stiff or notchy. Very good stuff and makes the arcade shifter feel of stock go away a good bit. You wouldnt know it was aftermarket and that is a good thing.
I have a APR solid shift bracket still in its box and will have it put in soon but not sure if it will make any difference. Peace of mind thing and I hate plastic parts that need not be plastic.
Exhaust:
Apr downpipe (even though that is a power mod and sound is a side effect but yes it makes things much louder)
Muffler delete
Replaced muffler with vibrant resonator
It cost me $270 for everything after the downpipe and I love the sound. Some drone when lugging the engine but very deep and no rasp (and cheap)
- here is a clip I took
In my opinion 4 poppers sound bad but stock you cant hear a thing so this will do.
APR turbo inlet pipe
APR turbo muffler delete
Slight more whooshing noises, maybe better throttle response. You could skip this one if you like big results per dollar but plastic inlet pipes and pointless turbo mufflers dont float my boat. But if you can find any way to make your turbo breathe I say why not. Thats where all the power and response can be found.
Soundskins pro material
Sound deadened my two doors and the hatch area under the spare tire. Awesome! Music is clearer and has better low end response. Road noise is down a few DB. Wind noise can be picked out easier now. Exhaust drone is a hair tamed. There are DIYs on here of how to do this and it makes the ride feel more luxurious, more comfortable, and music more enjoyable. Sound deadening is a big factor in making an economy car feel as if it is in a higher price bracket.
Lighting:
DeautoLed LED low beams
DeautoLed LED high beams
I have a base model (no lighting package/ halogen headlights). These kits are so incredibly bright and the cutoff is OEM (no blinding others) Color is the same as the fog lights and its much safer for me at night. I have bad eyes and bad low light depth perception. This for me was a safety mod not a "cool" mod and I can say it exceeded every one of my expectations. If you dont want to buy retrofit lighting package headlights and a new grill this is a sub $300 that will get you insane brightness and OEM like cutoff. The running lights do look nice on the Helix headlights but cosmetic stuff doesnt do much for me - Form over function I guess. NOTE* you do have to remove the headlights to install these unless you have baby hands and super grip strength.
I also converted all the halogen bulbs everywhere else to led, I hate bulbs burning out and it drove me crazy the trunk light and glove box light were not the same as the dome lights.
Wheels - Stock
Suspension and brakes:
Stock
No suspension or stopping mods but all I do in this car is drive to work and take the GF to Olive Garden. I love the supple yet sporty ride and ground clearance is great for the horse farm errands and driving I do. Maybe Bilstein B8's with Apr springs but thats low priority. Id like to do the Apr front and rear sways with end-links if I committed to the lower ride. I only do pulls here or there so the lack of race car ride is fine at this point in time.
Tires:
Pilot Sport 4S 225/40/R18
Hands down the most important mod here. Tons and tons of grip. Even in the (relative) cold and wet. So much better than the Pirellis they replaced. And somehow quieter too! Comfort and grip are hard to get together but yes they are on the pricey side. Steering feel is improved and grip is lost in a linear fashion. The limit doesnt show up in a quick/dangerous way. I live in the heat of SC though so I can run these all year as we rarely get temps lower than 45.
OBD11
Buy it you wont regret it. Turned off soundaktor (which is ridiculous to have to begin with) - Muffle the turbo because that is too much but a low bitrate V8 intake noise is fine? No door open alarm sound, fogs stay on with high beams (much better near visibility), no seatbelt chime (I always wear one but if I put a bag on the passenger seat I feel silly to have to buckle it in)
I love the code clearing and data from it and if you can at least borrow one you will be amazed what you can see and do. Its a lot of fun and a lot of Audi themes and features are built into the computer but only turned off.
Cosmetic
Stock
Upcoming!
Wavetrac LSD
HS tuning RSR clutch
Sachs dual mass flywheel
Apr pendulum mount
Apr dogbone insert
Fluidampr crankshaft pulley
I am going into GMP Performance next month to have all this done. My clutch is slipping (has been since stage 2) and its expensive but a while you are in there kinda thing to get all this done. Im not sure what to expect doing all this and feedback would be great! The open diff is very disappointing and also I am in the country so grip on sand and mud would be nice here or there. Also the dogbone stuff may not be necessary but it seems like a reliability fix for big power and it'll (hopefully) make the manual transmission even slicker. The fluidamper is a reliability mod in my mind but if I gain any power or smoothness that would be great. (hopefully it will cancel out the apr dogbone nvh too). I will keep you posted on what I feel with this next update and I hope it pulls smooth and reliably!
There are a few other things I would like, mainly is38 but I will play it by ear after I get done with the above mentioned parts put in.
If you have any questions or remarks I would love to hear them!
I purchased a 2016 GTI non-pp 6MT 2-Door. It is the first VW I have ever owned and I was going to get a Focus ST and then I sat in one haha - there was too much economy car feel for me to feel good about me spending that much money on the thing.
Here is a quick rundown:
Power:
Apr Downpipe
Apr Intercooler
Apr Intake
Apr Stage 2 high torque software.
Apr is not the best deal out there fit is finish is top notch and the software is very good so I am somewhat loyal. Hands down this combination will wake up your car like nothing else. So much more power than stock and very smooth (for is20) power delivery. There are a thousand threads on this so I will not beat a dead horse but for fun go straight to the ECU stuff and supporting mods.
Shifting:
S3 euro short shifter
ECS shifter cable bushings
Very OEM plus! Maybe 15 percent shorter but its not overly stiff or notchy. Very good stuff and makes the arcade shifter feel of stock go away a good bit. You wouldnt know it was aftermarket and that is a good thing.
I have a APR solid shift bracket still in its box and will have it put in soon but not sure if it will make any difference. Peace of mind thing and I hate plastic parts that need not be plastic.
Exhaust:
Apr downpipe (even though that is a power mod and sound is a side effect but yes it makes things much louder)
Muffler delete
Replaced muffler with vibrant resonator
It cost me $270 for everything after the downpipe and I love the sound. Some drone when lugging the engine but very deep and no rasp (and cheap)
In my opinion 4 poppers sound bad but stock you cant hear a thing so this will do.
APR turbo inlet pipe
APR turbo muffler delete
Slight more whooshing noises, maybe better throttle response. You could skip this one if you like big results per dollar but plastic inlet pipes and pointless turbo mufflers dont float my boat. But if you can find any way to make your turbo breathe I say why not. Thats where all the power and response can be found.
Soundskins pro material
Sound deadened my two doors and the hatch area under the spare tire. Awesome! Music is clearer and has better low end response. Road noise is down a few DB. Wind noise can be picked out easier now. Exhaust drone is a hair tamed. There are DIYs on here of how to do this and it makes the ride feel more luxurious, more comfortable, and music more enjoyable. Sound deadening is a big factor in making an economy car feel as if it is in a higher price bracket.
Lighting:
DeautoLed LED low beams
DeautoLed LED high beams
I have a base model (no lighting package/ halogen headlights). These kits are so incredibly bright and the cutoff is OEM (no blinding others) Color is the same as the fog lights and its much safer for me at night. I have bad eyes and bad low light depth perception. This for me was a safety mod not a "cool" mod and I can say it exceeded every one of my expectations. If you dont want to buy retrofit lighting package headlights and a new grill this is a sub $300 that will get you insane brightness and OEM like cutoff. The running lights do look nice on the Helix headlights but cosmetic stuff doesnt do much for me - Form over function I guess. NOTE* you do have to remove the headlights to install these unless you have baby hands and super grip strength.
I also converted all the halogen bulbs everywhere else to led, I hate bulbs burning out and it drove me crazy the trunk light and glove box light were not the same as the dome lights.
Wheels - Stock
Suspension and brakes:
Stock
No suspension or stopping mods but all I do in this car is drive to work and take the GF to Olive Garden. I love the supple yet sporty ride and ground clearance is great for the horse farm errands and driving I do. Maybe Bilstein B8's with Apr springs but thats low priority. Id like to do the Apr front and rear sways with end-links if I committed to the lower ride. I only do pulls here or there so the lack of race car ride is fine at this point in time.
Tires:
Pilot Sport 4S 225/40/R18
Hands down the most important mod here. Tons and tons of grip. Even in the (relative) cold and wet. So much better than the Pirellis they replaced. And somehow quieter too! Comfort and grip are hard to get together but yes they are on the pricey side. Steering feel is improved and grip is lost in a linear fashion. The limit doesnt show up in a quick/dangerous way. I live in the heat of SC though so I can run these all year as we rarely get temps lower than 45.
OBD11
Buy it you wont regret it. Turned off soundaktor (which is ridiculous to have to begin with) - Muffle the turbo because that is too much but a low bitrate V8 intake noise is fine? No door open alarm sound, fogs stay on with high beams (much better near visibility), no seatbelt chime (I always wear one but if I put a bag on the passenger seat I feel silly to have to buckle it in)
I love the code clearing and data from it and if you can at least borrow one you will be amazed what you can see and do. Its a lot of fun and a lot of Audi themes and features are built into the computer but only turned off.
Cosmetic
Stock
Upcoming!
Wavetrac LSD
HS tuning RSR clutch
Sachs dual mass flywheel
Apr pendulum mount
Apr dogbone insert
Fluidampr crankshaft pulley
I am going into GMP Performance next month to have all this done. My clutch is slipping (has been since stage 2) and its expensive but a while you are in there kinda thing to get all this done. Im not sure what to expect doing all this and feedback would be great! The open diff is very disappointing and also I am in the country so grip on sand and mud would be nice here or there. Also the dogbone stuff may not be necessary but it seems like a reliability fix for big power and it'll (hopefully) make the manual transmission even slicker. The fluidamper is a reliability mod in my mind but if I gain any power or smoothness that would be great. (hopefully it will cancel out the apr dogbone nvh too). I will keep you posted on what I feel with this next update and I hope it pulls smooth and reliably!
There are a few other things I would like, mainly is38 but I will play it by ear after I get done with the above mentioned parts put in.
If you have any questions or remarks I would love to hear them!
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