Despite my car still not being on the road, I'm lucky enough to have a dad who's very much into cars and a mom who happens to have something semi-sporty, so I was still able to attend yesterday's FATT at Summit.

For the first two sessions I drove the 2000 Golf, known among VWphiles as the venerable 2.slow (and with good reason, the motor is just plain awful). It's stock other than a Weitec spring and shock (nonadjustable) kit and Axis Se7en (or however the hell those idiots spell it) wheels with Kumho 711 tires. This is my mom's car. I've driven it before, and while it is a relatively comfortable car, it's hardly a sports car. Anyway, it shifts like crap, the shifter itself feels like crap, the brake pedal has the most indistinguishable pedal feel of any car I've driven, and it's rated at 122 bhp in a heavy chassis. Needless to say, my expectations were low. Once on the track though, it wound up driving better than I thought it would. The suspension really seems very capable, even though the body is pretty heavy. The low power winds up being sort of nice (although the enjoyment is very brief), as I can just keep the accelerator floored and not really worry about wheelspin exiting turns. Other than that, it just really sucks.

Onto the car that will no doubt interest more of you, the Mini. I drove it for the last two sessions, having driven it only briefly before that (about 20 minutes on a short backroad). Everything feels so precise and tight in the car. The steering is excellent, the shifter is very nice, the clutch has a bit of travel, but grabs decently. This particular one is equipped with the factory sport suspension, which really wowed me. Very little body roll, and what seemed to be very well matched springs and shocks, I was thoroughly impressed, and would not hesitate to compare it to my R's stock suspension. The gearing on the 6-speed was very nice, although even for cruising, 6th seems unnecessary. I would have to agree with many others that an LSD would be nice, as I was definitely getting wheelspin on exit. The engine was also very nice, and a very interesting change from my R. It definitely had more torque down low, and held power pretty well all the way to redline.

Now for a few criticism's, in case anyone is considering getting either of these. For the VW...get a different car. Seriously. It's not meant to be a race car at all. It's heavy and does not have a good anything. While brake pedal feel is awful, placement is also bad, and though I've driven it many times, I still haven't been able to figure out any way to heel-toe in it. The engine is equally awful, sounding similar to a dying cow and providing about as much power. Had the suspension not been changed, it would've taken the top of the pile of badness, as it's just...really really bad. Even if you had the 1.8t or VR6...I dunno, not my thing I guess. I do like the older VWs, but not these MkIVs.

For the Mini, the list is much less. It really is a very capable car I think, and could do very well with just a few of the typical mods. Brakes and tires are the first thing, and an absolute "must" on the list. The brakes fade quickly and don't come back, at all, even after cooling off. While other problems contributed to it, I did wind up going off coming into T5, and a large part of it was that the brakes just plain gave up on me. The tires likewise give up after maybe 10 minutes of hard use. These were the stock run-flat Goodyear RSAs. They did have pretty good initial bite, but again, about 10 minutes into the session, they were very greasy and squealing like a pig. Address those two things and you'll be able to at least pull a full track weekend. I also chose to disable the DSC or whatever the hell they call it for the second session, and the car was WAY more predictable. With it on, coming into any corner with any speed (say, T1 or T5), under hard braking the car squirmed a lot, and felt very loose. With it off, the car stayed planted and felt much more solid. Beyond that, a little more power wouldn't hurt, though then again, it never does, even in a Z06 Vette. One of the biggest engine things to do would be to swap in a lighter flywheel, as the stock one is something like 22lbs, and really feels like it. Heel-toeing was very easy though, and pedal placement was excellent, as was pedal feel. Both the pedals and the steering were very nicely weighted, making you work a little bit, but also (seemingly) giving a very good feel of how the car was behaving.

This really got longer than I thought it would, so I'm gonna stop now. If anyone has any questions beyond what I covered, I'll be happy to answer.

 

I've instructed in a Mini and came away quite impressed with how good the car was bone stock with decent brake pads. It would be on the short list of my next track cars.

 

The difference in performance between a stock-trim Golf 2.0L and, say, a GTi 337 or Jetta/GTI VR6 car is pretty staggering. I agree... the 2.0L cars are just sad. No power, smaller, number brakes, and sad, soft stock suspensions. The sportier models, while built on the same basic chassis, have totally better stuff bolted on to them.

If you were to drive a GTi 337 or 20th AE Golf, the brakes would feel amazing, the power and power delivery stellar and the handling dynamics much more alive.
-Adam (just finished installing some Bilstein coilovers on a friend's 337 today...)

 

How do the brakes and engine of a 337 compare to the standard 1.8t model? I remember reading somewhere that the brakes were VW Motorsport or something, but if the engine is the same, I'm gonna hold my opinion. Although actually, the 337 does have the 6-speed, which might make better use of the powerband... Hmm... I would've test-driven one of those, but our local VW dealer is pretty **** about "special editions" and such. Apparently they don't allow ANY test drives of the R32 because it's "so rare". I just might have to investigate this more, Adam (which sounds a little weird, as my name is also Adam ).

 

The 337 has a setup very similar to TT Quattros. That is, 12.3" front rotors, 10.something" rear vented rotors and the standard Mk4/TT calipers all around. The master cylinder (I *believe*) is a slightly larger part than the typical Mk4 cars use, as every 337 I've played with has always had very firm brakes compared to my Jetta VR6.

Here's a general breakdown of VW brakes:

All 2.0 models have 11" front rotors and single-piston sliding calipers. 1.8Ts and VR6s, except special models like the 337 and 20th Anniversary GTi, have 11.3" front rotors and a slightly different single-piston sliding caliper. 2.0s suck because you can't just swap the better caliper and rotors from the 11.3-based cars. The hubs are different and it just doesn't work unless you swap the hubs, too.

All Mk4-chassis cars, except the R32, have single piston sliding calipers all around. The R32 has 12.9" front rotors and two-piston sliding calipers, and a larger rear setup as well.

Special models like the 337, 20thAE GTi and R32 all have larger, 10.something" vented rear rotors. Calipers are similar to typical Mk4 rear calipers.

I also believe that all special models get larger master cylinders. I am trying to confirm this as I would like to swap a larger MC into my Jetta.

Now, you can mix and match a lot of stuff between cars, depending on how much work you want to do and how much money you want to spend. For example, my Jetta has the 12.3" rotors and caliper brackets from the TT. I can transplant 337/20thAE larger/vented rear brakes if I wanted to swap the hubs, too, but that gets expensive.


As to the 1.8Ts, they are a few varieties around. They started as a 150HP unit, then 160, then 170, and now 180. The improvements in power were made through computer tuning and going to a hybrid turbo in the 180 HP models (K03, then K03 Sport, then K03/K04 hybrids, I believe.) The Audi TT Quattro 225HP model has a straight K04, I believe, and even more aggressive computer tuning to reach 225HP. Of course, all this is moot as it's pretty easy to get close to 200 HP and 240 lb-ft. out of most of the 1.8Ts with an aftermarket chip like that from GIAC or APR.

-Adam

 

Those sound like big brakes on the VW's, until you realize that you're stopping well over 3000lbs of car

 

My Jetta is just about 3k. The R32 is more like 3200-3300. Yes, they are heavy cars, but most everything built these days is.

 

yeah, i instruct for the BMW club, and i had a student with a mini. the cars are nimble as ****, i never would have thought them to be as trackable as they are...

 

My dad has a mini S and I would defently agree on the flywheel. Down shifting is almost work compared to me with a semi heavy 12lber. Also, it could defently use a limited slip. I haven't driven it on a track, but I have autocrossed it and it quickly became a one tire fire. The brakes are GREAT, however, again, couldn't tell you about the track quality. A nice pair of pads and some ATE superblue would make them even better.

I really think the wheels are just too big on the sports package (17 inches). I would like to see the car in some 15's with more sidewall. I defently think that the wheels and tires hold them back around quick little turns like in autoX.

Seating postion is alright, however, I think that you just sit too high (personal prefrence) Maybe I am bias since my del sol sits you extremly low.

 

This past April I was instructing at a NASA event at Mid-Ohio. Regulars at Mid-Ohio know how dastardly the weather can be (especially in early Spring). The forecast called for snow, so I decided to bring my Mini to the track on the last day. It proved to be a joy to drive on the track. Out of the box it's a solid little car. A set of track pads and some decent brake fluid would go a long way. Even with the rain/slush/snow in the morning seesion, I still managed to cook the factory pads. The car could also use a limited slip and much lighter wheels. The factory 17's are 25lbs, plus 25lb runflats, that's right... 50 lbs per corner!. No wonder the car tips the scales at over 2600lbs. Steering feel is most definitely German. It's very precise and somewhat heavy. It's one of the things that I really love about the car. With a steering ratio just a tick over 13 to 1, it even makes my ITR feel a bit vague. Finally, a stiffer rear sway would be on my list, if I were to track the car regularly. But I keep promising myself that it'll remain just a street car.

 

I've instructed a few people with S's and driven one (finally!) as well, and I love them to death. If they had been available in 2000 I would have a (probably broken) Mini instead of my Si.

A4 chassis Golf/Jetta: . the driving experience is akin to driving a refrigerator. I need to try out a new GLI to see if they got it right just before they axed the chassis. And I'm a closet R32 fanboy.