Someone Else's Problem: 2018 Volkswagen Golf GTI

But it's noticeable how much faster you start. Knowing the track counts.

Yeah, she also knows to stomp on the brakes where I’m like “but I must save them so that I can go longer!” Meanwhile feeling like I was nearly going off the track. I clearly didn’t learn from my Nurburgring laps as found below in a ring compilation video.

Go to 11:10:
[video]


I’m not ashamed to admit that @ninjacoco can drive and that I cannot. Practice will only help alleviate my shortcomings but that’s not as easy as it sounds. Though I’m about halfway through the lease and way under my mileage limit, I could of course do more trips down and maybe help improve my driving down at H2H. Harris Hill is such a good track if a bit bumpy. The owners asked @ninjacoco after introducing if I was going out before we even had the chance to ask seeing as how they’ve never met me. I was floored not only by the eagerness of helping get coco’s VW 411 going again but also to just let me go out and have a bit of fun. Up here things are very rigid and if you haven’t paid eleventy billion dollars to the track for dues as well as sign all the legal junk and had training, you’re screwed.

There might be some auto cross parking lot racing but I’m just not interested in that seeing as those are so small and the margin of error is nothing if you count hitting cones. This being a lease, I don’t want to possibly scuff paint.

I will drive what I call the Savagegeese Route at home because I’ve been using those roads for years before I even knew his YouTube channel existed. It gets old because it’s obviously a public road which makes things less safe. I’d much rather be on a track where I know everyone is going the same direction and there’s not houses and mailboxes or ditches just off the road.
 
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There might be some auto cross parking lot racing but I’m just not interested in that seeing as those are so small and the margin of error is nothing if you count hitting cones. This being a lease, I don’t want to possibly scuff paint.
I'd be way more worried about driving a leased car on the track than at autocross. One is high-speed, crashes can be quite serious, and insurance probably won't cover it. The other might leave you with scuffed paint that you can buff out yourself.
 
I'd be way more worried about driving a leased car on the track than at autocross. One is high-speed, crashes can be quite serious, and insurance probably won't cover it. The other might leave you with scuffed paint that you can buff out yourself.
I agree.
Autocross is low speed. Less danger.
 
Over the weekend, I started fiddling with the ECU via OBDeleven. About 3 months after the lease, I bought OBDeleven because by default in the US market, you cannot use Comfort Windows via the key fob, only if the key is in the door which on this model is hidden by a plastic cap and is only meant for removal in emergency situations. So basically that is a useless feature to show in the menu. I wasn't going to have that. I turned that feature on as well as switched the Coming/Leaving Home function (headlights go on when you press unlock). I didn't like seeing the ugly halogens on with the DRL's during this so I was able to change that so the fog lights come on with running lights for the coming home. There was also the enable of "Off Road Mode" which basically just allowed temperature, steering wheel position, and oil temp to be shown on the infotainment instead of VW's pointless "Think Blue" menu... In higher spec cars you get pitch, compass, and elevation gauges. Being the "base" GTI (and not a LifeStyle vehicle), I don't have those, so what.

Over the weekend, I got the idea in my head that I wanted to separate the turn signal LEDs from the braking LEDs. I'm super envious of the European GTI's where you get VW's Dynamic set of tail lights and the turn signal is a thin amber strip that draws out from the inside like you see on Audis. Sounds simple right? Nope. I ended up following a tutorial that ended with switching the lights off completely in the back. I was able to mostly get things back to normal but for some reason, Coming Home mode doesn't work and the running lights + fog lights no longer come on if you've been away for more than the duration of Coming/Leaving Home. If I get out after a drive and press unlock or just open the door, the lights do their thing. If I come back after some time, the signals flash and thats it. This isn't cool enough! we must have the baller lights come on! I'm going to have to look at how my Alltrack is set up because I'm almost certain I've changed things to "work." I'm not unsafe but theres just something silly I messed up. I like to fiddle and I sometimes get myself in weird situations that take a novel to explain like you see right now. :D

OBDeleven is a wonderful item except, you can only do a backup of the ECU and theres no way to restore the backup. So when you do what I do, you're a little screwed. Theres a history I can look at for past changes. Despite following that I still haven't fixed it...
 
Alright, I looked at tail light parameters in the alltrack, took screenshots, and matched the settings. Leuchte20 had a different setting for what the tail lights are. Once that was changed and some ancillary parameters matched (certain tail light setting brightness that aren’t used but still) we’re back to normal...
 
So this OBDeleven allows you to tweak just about every aspect of the can-bus?

Yeah sort of, the trouble is half of the menu structure is English and the other is German... I’m finding forum posts on how to do certain things which usually works. The trouble is VW changed some of the menus between 2017 and 2018 so the ones who have a MK7 15-17 the menu looks different to what I have. To enable Comfort windows, the 2018’s grouped all the parameters into “ZV Komfort” while older models have it spread out in other areas of the “Central Electrics” section.
 
Been driving it to work to get some time on it again, just over 12,500 now. It could use some tires as it has poor traction of the line in the rain and will plow sometimes on really wet roads. Otherwise, still good.
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there are a few things I would want fixed up if I kept it. LED headlights, a real LSD and not an e-diff and amber rear turn signals. Either the dynamic ones or the standard golf type, I’m not picky.
 
Nothing to report other than I've maybe driven 3,000mi this year. We're way under the lease mileage which is fine. Winter tires were put on 2 weeks ago which will be the final winter with this car as the lease term ends at the end of February.
 
Have you decided whether you're going to replace it or buy it outright when the lease is over?
 
Since you're planning on leaving, I thought buying was out of the question.
 
Since you're planning on leaving, I thought buying was out of the question.
Yes it is. I toyed with the idea in the first year, but then thought "this is the honeymoon phase" and as time has gone on, glad I didn't. It's not like Golf GTI's are rare. Not to say I hate it though, I really do like it and think it's great how you can have a hatchback today that will calmly do 100MPH like it's in town at 30MPH.

I'm not emotionally tied to it and can easily find another.
 
Yes it is. I toyed with the idea in the first year, but then thought "this is the honeymoon phase" and as time has gone on, glad I didn't. It's not like Golf GTI's are rare. Not to say I hate it though, I really do like it and think it's great how you can have a hatchback today that will calmly do 100MPH like it's in town at 30MPH.

I'm not emotionally tied to it and can easily find another.
Find a cheap Golf R near Adenau :p
 
Yes it is. I toyed with the idea in the first year, but then thought "this is the honeymoon phase" and as time has gone on, glad I didn't. It's not like Golf GTI's are rare. Not to say I hate it though, I really do like it and think it's great how you can have a hatchback today that will calmly do 100MPH like it's in town at 30MPH.

I'm not emotionally tied to it and can easily find another.
Ah who am I kidding, there’s *some* emotional attachment, but more so with the GTI as a car and not this specific one. I love the overall package and I will miss it when it’s gone in February. :(
 
Ah who am I kidding, there’s *some* emotional attachment, but more so with the GTI as a car and not this specific one. I love the overall package and I will miss it when it’s gone in February. :(
Buy one in Germany...
 
I learned something this week, I figured with the lease being done through VW that the inspection would take place at the dealer upon return, right? Wrong.

I've since had to book with the inspection agency for the 2nd. Anything can happen in 3 weeks.... Once that's done I will have to bring a copy to the dealer.
 
Inspection is Thursday next week. I've taken Thursday and Friday off as the system said "between noon and 16:00." Cool, thanks.

In other news, the thought of dumping most of my savings to buy this out grows. Also, because my neighbors like to leave food out for the squirrels, it's also attracted other unwanted animals, a skunk shacked up in my garage last weekend. I was able to shoo it out but not without something in the garage getting sprayed. It STINKS in there now which causes the Golf to smell too. :(
 
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