New Mk5 Rabbit

[bankerbalt]

Hey all. New to the vw scene but not the big picture. Have had nothing but bad luck since I got this car but who hasn't? Picked it up in January. Ended up getting hit by an escalade on the drivers side 3 weeks later. Shop had it for a couple weeks and they screwed it up royally so I brought it back. Then I went to pick it up the second time and there was a huge paint chip in a different spot so they took it again. Finally got it back about 3 weeks ago and have been having a little fun and wasting money. Plan to autocross it a little so suspension and wheels were kind of first. So far it has an NLS shifter, solowerks coilovers, eurojet exhaust, carbonio intake, drag dr-37 w/ Dunlop dz102 225/45/17. Waiting to put on some hawk pads, stoptech blanks, Tyrol stiffening kit, Tyrol stainless lines and a Hotchkis rsb. Couple questions though...

Does the front really sway this bad even with coils? I'm rubbing under hard-ish turns but I'm not slammed on it.

This engine I've heard is strong. However I want to know common problems other than the coil packs like every other vw.

Here's a couple pics for the hell of it.





And here's my other beast

 

[ghost_03]

Nice Rabbit. There's a fender screw that people rub on sometimes. http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10909&highlight=fender+screw+mod

Lol I was in Eagan like 2 days ago. Stopped at a Caribou Coffee on my way through. It was tasty.

 

[bankerbalt]

Thanks man. I think I'm actually hitting the bumper somehow. Or the fender rolled a little bit. The front bumper is just now misaligned. I'll take a look tomorrow. Question, was it a noticeable difference in body roll when you tossed that front bar in? I don't want to loose steering much, if at all. I just need less roll

 

[ghost_03]

Thanks man. I think I'm actually hitting the bumper somehow. Or the fender rolled a little bit. The front bumper is just now misaligned. I'll take a look tomorrow. Question, was it a noticeable difference in body roll when you tossed that front bar in? I don't want to loose steering much, if at all. I just need less roll

What offset and width are your wheels? That seems a little odd to me but others should chime in. I thought usually people rub the fenders and fender liners as opposed to the bumper cover. Maybe a p/o didn't put the bumper cover back exactly right. Good news is that's plastic so you won't have to worry about the bumper cover rusting.

Yes, front sway is noticeable. But I also would not do it again. Install is a HUGE PITA...you have to drop the front subframe to put it in, and then when you put it back, it's tough to get the camber balanced left to right [these cars don't have camber adjustment, but you can take camber side to side by shifting the subframe]. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're real good at wrenching, or can get someone to do it for a reasonable price. I probably spent 6-8 hours under the car on that one, as opposed to <30 minutes for the rear bar.

 

[ghost_03]

Oh, and as for problems with Rabbits...the 2.5 is a pretty solid motor, a lot better than the 2.0Ts IMO. There were some issues with 05 thru early 07s with timing chain tensioners on Jettas, not sure if any Rabbits were affected by that.

On my gf's 06 jetta 2.5 we had rear calipers seize up gradually that needed changing, trouble with headlights yellowing, headliner falling, and coilpacks once. Nothing major though, it's been an all around great car.

 

[bankerbalt]

I know the whole wheel is +42. Not sure what that is over stock. I might just be hitting the fender but my bumper is a little off on the passenger side after attempting to go around a round about yesterday. I'll probably just need to raise it an inch or so. I'm not worried about the wrench time to get the sway bar in. Same thing with my cobalt, had to drop subframe. Luckily I work at Oreilly part time for a second job so I can get most stock parts cheap and quick if I need to. Just wanted to make sure major components are nothing to worry about

 

[bankerbalt]

Here's a couple pics...




They're 7.5" wide

 

[ghost_03]

Sounds like you know what you're getting into with the front sway. If that doesn't bother you I would def go for it. More level and planted feeling, although a bit bumpier too. I think the sways on these cars are too small, cars aren't that wide and are a bit tall for as sporty as they are. I didn't notice a change in steering. On my gfs jetta the rear bar was super wiry.

+42 7.5 doesn't sound overly aggressive to me, but it is out there. Stock is around +54 7.5 iirc for gti. Personally I run +45 8 and rub infrequently.

Are you only rubbing on one side? You might also check your camber on that wheel. Should be able to have a degree or so on each side.

 

[bankerbalt]

Yeah I'm no newb to getting down and dirty. Built that cobalt from the ground up. It only hits on passenger side, however I haven't taken a hard right turn to test the driver side rubbage. Camber is set to -1.1 both fronts as I just got an alignment last week. Can bring it back I spose. That lifetime alignment will get its use for sure. Yes the sway bars are small as hell, which is why I went with the thick rear bar, now just to decide a front

 

[theQuixote]

Nice car ??

 

[bankerbalt]

Thanks man. Found my issue. Was bottoming out because the bolts that came with my endlinks came out... Oops. Threw some locking nuts and loctite on there and been good so far. Tossed in the brake stiffening kit, stainless lines, amsoil dot 4, stoptech rotors and hawk pads on yesterday, what a difference! Also threw on the hotchkis rsb I finally got. Ready for first autox on it next weekend

 

[ghost_03]

Thanks man. Found my issue. Was bottoming out because the bolts that came with my endlinks came out... Oops. Threw some locking nuts and loctite on there and been good so far. Tossed in the brake stiffening kit, stainless lines, amsoil dot 4, stoptech rotors and hawk pads on yesterday, what a difference! Also threw on the hotchkis rsb I finally got. Ready for first autox on it next weekend

Lol I bet it handles better now too.

BTW, one thing you will run into with these cars that may or may not have been an issue on the Cobalt is that they use stretch (torque to yield) bolts all over the place.

 

[bankerbalt]

Handles like a dream. Yea I'm gonna have to get a couple new bolts that I didn't replace because I didn't know at the time. Where do us vdub guys go to get stock stuff? For gm, there's a site that breaks the whole car down with part numbers for everything. Vdub got something like that?

 

[ghost_03]

Sort of. Dealers+mechanics with subscriptions have something called ETKA that does that. Not something you can just type in a URL and go tho without a log in.

I usually go to www.ecstuning.com. Most of the parts that tuners want, they have sorted in their menus. If it's not there, I go to the dealer and they look it up in ETKA for me.

 

[Ich_Will]

Hey man. Just reading this post. I'm moving to Rosemount in 47 days (not that I'm counting or anything) so Eagan isn't far. The wife works in Eagan. I'll keep an eye out for you.
X2 on ecstuning.com