MK4 Golf GTI 1.8t

[Rossios]

So after lurking on here a couple of years decided to finally make an account.
After having driven slow cars all my life (MK2 Golfs, MK2 Polo, SDI Golf), I decided for my 21st i'd buy something abit more 'fun'
I always had a MK5 GTI in my mind, and always hated the MK4s, but after trawling Gumtree on my break in work I came across this last summer

Completely standard 1.8t with FSH and 110k for just under 1k.
Everything was original apart from a gutted cat and an aftermarket radio, front and rear recaros, cruise control etc.
Paint work was brilliant for a near 20 year old car, few scuffs on the rear bumper, couple of stone chips and a lacquer peeling front wing.
Unfortunately it has the ugly-ducking ARZ engine, was released between the much sought AGU and the later AUM.

Mate of mine purchased me a big stupid halfords cone filter the day I brought it home, the diverter valve was knackered so it definitely put a smile on your face when driving a 20 year old golf fluttering and making loud turbo noises! a replacement 710N diverter valve was soon fitted.
I'll update this as I go on, as I bought it as a daily and it's slowly turning into a project car!

 

[Boydie]

The MK4 GTI gets a lot of stick but can be made a great car with a few tuning mods, aesthetic styling (Edition 25 stuff) and just generally kept clean!

Keep the updates coming

 

[Lyons]

I was looking at these a few months back, £1k gets you a clean 1 and that is a lot of car for the money. I can remember when they came out my auntie had a black one with the Recaros and I loved it!

 

[DaddyCC]

Need more photos! Sounds like a nice buy anyway. Defo the last of the best solid VW's imo (galvanized body, engines etc). Not just saying that because I own a mk4, but that's partly why I went for one lol.

What all are your next plans? A rear ARB is highly recommended to make the car feel like you know what it is doing rather than the boatier deader feel

 

[Rossios]

I was looking at these a few months back, £1k gets you a clean 1 and that is a lot of car for the money. I can remember when they came out my auntie had a black one with the Recaros and I loved it!

There's a black one for sale right now and i'm tempted to get it if I can batter the price down abit!

Need more photos! Sounds like a nice buy anyway. Defo the last of the best solid VW's imo (galvanized body, engines etc). Not just saying that because I own a mk4, but that's partly why I went for one lol.

What all are your next plans? A rear ARB is highly recommended to make the car feel like you know what it is doing rather than the boatier deader feel

I have loads of photos and updates on the car over the 9 months or so just need to get them organised! I'll get another write up done tonight but the eventual goal is just a 200ishbhp fun daily while being affordable as I'm a broke millennial lol

 

[veedubnoodle]

Would love a 6 speed 180hp one of these for a wee run about, seem hard to come by though

 

[Rossios]

So after driving it and enjoying it for a few weeks, it was time to get the few mechanical issues sorted with the wee car.
I didn't document this part well so i'll run through it as quick as possible;
First thing on the list was a good service, along with cleaning the oil pick up pipe (these are notorious for killing 1.8t's), cleaning the sump out and tapping out a new sump bung as the current one was leaking

After that went about sorting the bad brake pedal, first replaced discs and pads, then the front calipers were seized so replaced that, and the master cylinder bleed nipples were broke so it got replaced as well! Was a wasted opportunity to put a 312mm kit on it but unfortunately I needed the car for work so it needed sorted asap.

When I bought the car it had a massive aftermarket resonator running up the length of the car, so I replaced it with a toyosport cat back and a direnza downpipe to try to open it up more!

It was at this time it started developing a funny noise, like the sound of a bad blowout, first suspected it be a tensioner, but after doing some research and feeling exhaust gases coming out the back of the engine, I figured it was a cracked manifold so an ATP style one was soon ordered.

Culprit found! ATP manifold was installed regardless and the OEM manifold was fine. Donated it to my friend to get ported by badger5 for his 300bhp 9n3 build.
TBC...

 

[purplea4T]

Would love a 6 speed 180hp one of these for a wee run about, seem hard to come by though

I’d to go to Leeds for my black one, they’re all Highline spec too IIRC, so come with the lovely wood!

 

[buster]

'I'll update this as I go on, as I bought it as a daily and it's slowly turning into a project car!'

Same bought mine as a stop gap, 2 years later I've still got it. Love it, rarb, decent suspension and remap transforms the car. I would recommend changing all the vac pipes to silicone

 

[Rossios]

Would love a 6 speed 180hp one of these for a wee run about, seem hard to come by though

I’d to go to Leeds for my black one, they’re all Highline spec too IIRC, so come with the lovely wood!

The boras also came in a 6 speed 1.8t and are usually specced to the brim, was a lovely blue one for sale in Belfast a while back. I have wood trims in mine and on the hunt for a cream interior to match it!

'I'll update this as I go on, as I bought it as a daily and it's slowly turning into a project car!'

Same bought mine as a stop gap, 2 years later I've still got it. Love it, rarb, decent suspension and remap transforms the car. I would recommend changing all the vac pipes to silicone

Lovely motor! Hard to beat OEM wheels. I'm in a bit of a sticky situation when it comes to a remap etc, my car came with a k03 so don't want to remap it until I get a k03s but also don't want to replace it until the k03 gives up! Who done the remap on yours?

 

[purplea4T]

The boras also came in a 6 speed 1.8t and are usually specced to the brim, was a lovely blue one for sale in Belfast a while back. I have wood trims in mine and on the hunt for a cream interior to match it!



Lovely motor! Hard to beat OEM wheels. I'm in a bit of a sticky situation when it comes to a remap etc, my car came with a k03 so don't want to remap it until I get a k03s but also don't want to replace it until the k03 gives up! Who done the remap on yours?

The Bora 6 speed 180 would be even harder come by, the 150 outweigh the 180’s by 15/20:1, they are mostly 03 Reg cars. We picked up another 150 last weekend, oceanic green with cream heated leather and sunroof, Irish spec so no aircon and MFA, I bought it 4 years ago, sold it to a mate then my uncle bought it back. We’ve 5 mk4’s between us, 2 indentical 150’s, a 180 5 door, a 2.0 5 door and my Anniversary, so know them quite well.

 

[buster]

'Lovely motor! Hard to beat OEM wheels. I'm in a bit of a sticky situation when it comes to a remap etc, my car came with a k03 so don't want to remap it until I get a k03s but also don't want to replace it until the k03 gives up! Who done the remap on yours?'

Mine was mapped by tuning technics in England (check out his fb page). It had a unknow map on it when I bought it and it ran pretty well but I prefer a more progressive map, the original was all low down power that tailed of to quickly

O and I've a really good k03s for sale if your interested

 

[Rossios]

The Bora 6 speed 180 would be even harder come by, the 150 outweigh the 180’s by 15/20:1

Should have jumped on it when it came up

O and I've a really good k03s for sale if your interested

I'm meant to be looking at another 1.8t soon for spares but if that falls through i'll drop you a pm!

 

[Apis]

'Lovely motor! Hard to beat OEM wheels. I'm in a bit of a sticky situation when it comes to a remap etc, my car came with a k03 so don't want to remap it until I get a k03s but also don't want to replace it until the k03 gives up! Who done the remap on yours?'

Mine was mapped by tuning technics in England (check out his fb page). It had a unknow map on it when I bought it and it ran pretty well but I prefer a more progressive map, the original was all low down power that tailed of to quickly

I had a Passat 1.8T (150) many years ago and got it mapped by Autotune. It was a APU code and being in a Passat was North/South arrangement but I think basically same as the Golf. At that time, the Autotune guy (Ryan?) had a 1.8T Audi S3, so he was quite knowledgeable about them. Might be worth a try.

 

[buster]

Most stage 1 tuning is generic

 

[Blackie]

Nice wee car!

 

[pobmk4]

I had my 1.8T tuned locally.....then changed it to revo software, the difference in driving was incredibly noticeable and both were "stage 1"

 

[Rossios]

Not alot happened with the wee car over winter, I just mostly tried to stay it out of the ditches.

Snapped these H&R springs up on Facebook for pretty cheap, were advertised as 50mm springs but were definitely gave the car a drop closer to 30mm.
Called down to the oul pairs and my step father had a set of Continental contact sport 5s he gave me for pennies.
I also got the track rod ends, ball joints, wishbones and some bushings changed along with some wheel spacers front and rear.
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of this but it greatly improved the ride quality and seemed to lessen the terrible 'boaty' feeling MK4s are cursed with, just needed a front and rear ARB!

Another service due and the plugs were wet with oil, so rocker cover gasket was changed along with the rocker cover getting a right scrub with degreaser.
Also did an Ikea run for a new desk, safe to say the woman wasn't happy sitting behind me on the way back to hers

My mate, Jack and I also made a DIY boost leak tester out of bits from homebase, worked surprisingly very very well!
Gave me time to ponder aswell more on what the plans for the car is, the K03 seems to be getting tired so just waiting for it to lie down so I can press on with engine modifications.
That takes me over winter, Dubshed will be my next update once I gather up all the pictures. Cheers

 

[Rossios]

So Dubshed,

My initial thoughts were not to bring the car along, it was 4 weeks before and I still had some stone chips and I didn't have a set of wheels, the montreals were very tired and couldn't bring them, but after some of the other boys getting indoor and my mate getting home from work abroad solely to go, I decided to pull the finger out and get something thrown together.

I searched high and low for weeks looking for weeks, in 5x100 there just seemed to be waves of bora sort and RS6s, but I decided to pull the trigger on a set of Bola B10s (Fifteen52 Tarmac reps). Really wasn't my ideal choice but I got them for pretty cheap and the plan was to leave them up to KLC wheel refurb to get them sorted.
The tyres on the Bolas were rubber bands so sold them and got a scrap 225/40 to do some test fitting, and with the HR springs it sat very very poorly and I lost heart in the wheels.

But with time running out I pressed on and got them left up to get refurbed.
In regards to the suspension, I needed to go lower, I was already on the limit low wise on the standard shocks so I couldn't just fire another set of springs in it.
Bit of an unpopular opinion, but I was chatting to a couple of boys about their setups and due to me living in the town and using the car solely to commute to work 2 miles away, I decided to go with FK coilovers (I also didn't want to spend the same money on suspension as I did on the car!)

Coilovers installed and everything was cleaned while she was up, calipers also got a new lick of silver while I was at it! Also rear brakes will need some attention as they were on the verge of being done. Also big thanks to Caleb, most of the work wouldn't be possible without him!

Once I got the coilovers in and set, I was neutral on how the car looked, although still not thrilled and I knew after Dubshed they would be sold.
So I went for a drive, and holy sh*t, the ride was as firm as a rock and my back was nearly put out!!
I have no idea how boys can drive about on MK4s and Boras on 19s and them trailing the ground.
I bared with it for a few days and they seemed to settle and "break in", and after a-bit of adjusting it was alright, but I knew after the 16s would be swapped back on and the car raised again, the things you do for scene points! Not to mention the Bolas were really really heavy and acceleration was dampened.

So the cleaning began!
Thank you for viewing my small daily driver project, I'm nearly up to date to real time and I'll upload some more tomorrow

 

[southsky sunrise]

Bolas transformed in silver, nice contrast against the green. I’m braking an 18t 20v a3 if you need anything before it meets the crusher... lol health to enjoy

 

[Lyons]

They look great! Any more photos of the whole car?

I know how you feel but, I had 30mm springs and fat fives on my mk5 GTi and they made it drive like turd.

Is the R yours?

 

[Rossios]

Bolas transformed in silver, nice contrast against the green. I’m braking an 18t 20v a3 if you need anything before it meets the crusher... lol health to enjoy

Thank you! I could definitely do with a few bits, particularly an uncracked turbo manifold?

They look great! Any more photos of the whole car?

I know how you feel but, I had 30mm springs and fat fives on my mk5 GTi and they made it drive like turd.

Is the R yours?

I'll get more up when I get back from work, current phone is ancient and doesn't play ball half the time. When doing research on MK5 GTIs when I was interested in purchasing one the one thing that kept popping up was the fact they don't like 18s and ride pretty harsh on them, but I always found 17s didn't do them justice looks wise.
Not mine unfortunately! A good friend of mines, although a lovely car and after driving his and test driving a stock one at my local dealer they never really did anything for me, my heart is with the GTIs

 

[purplea4T]

They look great! Any more photos of the whole car?

I know how you feel but, I had 30mm springs and fat fives on my mk5 GTi and they made it drive like turd.

Is the R yours?

The sweet spot on the mk4 and 5’s seem to be 17” but they look lost especially if lowered, I’ve a set of BBS splits on my mk4 and I swear they are twice the weight of the Anniversary rims. I love the Bolas but heard they had a bit of a weight penalty.

 

[Lyons]

I had a 18” Monzas and Karthoums and they were 100%, I think it was just the extra width of the fat fives coupled with the springs. I’m too old for any suspension mods I’ve decided!

 

[Rossios]

The sweet spot on the mk4 and 5’s seem to be 17” but they look lost especially if lowered, I’ve a set of BBS splits on my mk4 and I swear they are twice the weight of the Anniversary rims. I love the Bolas but heard they had a bit of a weight penalty.

I'm on the hunt now for a set of 17s, particularly TT Comps or VRS Spiders. I'm a firm believer though if a MK4 has a Anni kit then it's 18s or bust looks wise! There was definitely a noticeable difference in drivability between the 18 Bolas and the 16 Montreals