Project "Man Over-Bored" - 2007 Rabbit Grocery Getter

[M3NTAL Kev]

Well, after driving my Rabbit stock for 3 years, I finally broke and started to do some (sensible?) mods.

So far I've done:

• VF Engineering rear engine mount
• VMR V710 18x8.5 "Brass" w/Hankook Ventus V12 evo in 225/40/18
• GTI side skirts
• B&G RS2 Coilovers
• K-Mac semi-race camber plates
• H&R / AWE Time Attack 28mm rear swaybar
• 312mm Front Brake swap
• 286mm Rear Brake swap
• Hawk HP Plus pads all around
• H2Sport Ball Bearing Front Control Arm Bushing Kit
• H2Sport Full Rear Suspension Bearing Kit
• NLS short shift kit
• 42DD shifter cable bushings
• Verdict Motorsport shifter bracket bushings
• GTI golf ball shift knob w/$2 insert
• BSH cold air intake
• C2 Motorsport 93 octane ECU flash
• USP Test Pipe (still being tested)
• Rosen OEM-fit Sat Nav
  
  
• Sparco 383 steering wheel
• OMP steering wheel mounting boss
• Euro Amber Tailights
  

[VW06GTI]

looks good! keep it up

[MarcosMK5]

how do you like those camber plates?

[sticky euro]

whats the $2 insert on the golf ball shift knob?

[M3NTAL Kev]

looks good! keep it up

Thanks! It was hard to give up my track habit cold turkey with the Rabbit, and I'm surprised I survived this long. All of my ex-cars have been heavily modded or prepped for the track. ('90 VR6 GTX, '88 e30 M3, '03 MCS, '90 e30 318is)

how do you like those camber plates?

So far so good. The plates are nice pieces, but they're fairly costly at around $400 shipped.

I am running around 1.75 degrees of negative camber on all four wheels. The plates are doing what they're supposed to, but there is going to have to be some fine tuning. Plus, the alignment shop left my steering wheel a little off to the left which is annoying.

whats the $2 insert on the golf ball shift knob?

Since the car is a 5spd and the Golf Ball shift knob has a pattern for the GTI 6spd, I basically pryed out the shift pattern and found that the Canadian $2 coin fits in the spot perfectly.

[M3NTAL Kev]

Got the car back re-aligned and working great. I gave it a quick wash and took some photos.

On to the "evidence" and non-cellphone photos...

































Comments welcome... and, yes, I know the photos are not very artistic.

[dotkyo]

i laik~ clean =)

[DOQ fastlane]

Proper mods, clean car. Love those wheels too.

[ShadowWabbit]

Did the camber plates make the daily ride quality much worse?

When I went from ksports w/camber plates to ultralows w/o, the ride was much more bearable for the daily drive

[M3NTAL Kev]

i laik~ clean =)

Thanks!

Proper mods, clean car. Love those wheels too.

Thanks! the wheels are going to be changed up very shortly, though. I've ordered some 18" VMR wheels in a custom colour.

Did the camber plates make the daily ride quality much worse?

When I went from ksports w/camber plates to ultralows w/o, the ride was much more bearable for the daily drive

I suppose it depends on the camber plate and the travel you have. My camber plates are almost solid but there is adequate travel in shocks and springs such that their not bottoming out. I'm also not running external bump-stops. I might not be the right person to comment since 4/5 of my cars have been used for instruction in HPDE events and auto-x. I prefer a a stiff suspension. Having said that, I am really impressed with the B&G RS2 coilovers.

[johnnyR32]

the 5 speed insert on the golfball knob is awesome. where did u find the insert?

[M3NTAL Kev]

the 5 speed insert on the golfball knob is awesome. where did u find the insert?

It's the factory insert modified.

Click Here

[Jovian]

Where did you get the Nav and how do you like it?

[M3NTAL Kev]

Where did you get the Nav and how do you like it?

I got it from another forum member that has a car stereo shop in NY.

The device is an OEM fit unit from Rosen Entertainment. The NAV software is iGO 8 based and runs off the SD card. The card that comes with the device is locked down, but if one is resourceful, one can find newer versions of the software online and implement additional features. I am, personally, partial to the speed trap warnings.

[Stupid-GTi]

This is dope..but the jetta is still my fav. So ahead of its time.

[Jovian]

I got it from another forum member that has a car stereo shop in NY.

The device is an OEM fit unit from Rosen Entertainment. The NAV software is iGO 8 based and runs off the SD card. The card that comes with the device is locked down, but if one is resourceful, one can find newer versions of the software online and implement additional features. I am, personally, partial to the speed trap warnings.

Awesome thanks for the info, sounds like something I might be doing =)

[M3NTAL Kev]

This is dope..but the jetta is still my fav. So ahead of its time.

It's hard to believe that was almost 15 years ago. Hopefully the Rabbit can live up to the standard of it's predecessors. Some pics to reminisce...

1990 Jetta GTX w/VR6 swap


1988 BMW M3


2003 Mini Cooper S


1990 BMW 318is

[Stupid-GTi]

Those wheels were sick on the m3.

[Big Chin]

Canadian car eh? ... Just out of curiosity, where did you get the majority of your performance parts?

[ZippinVeeDub]

you have goood taste

[MellowDub]

AWE Catback with USP test pipe!!! do it!!

[M3NTAL Kev]

Canadian car eh? ... Just out of curiosity, where did you get the majority of your performance parts?

Bought them online and suffered through the duties and shipping.

you have goood taste

Thanks.

AWE Catback with USP test pipe!!! do it!!

I'm considering this, but wonder what kind of hit a high-flow cat would have? Would it negate the revised pipe? I'd like headers and test pipe though, some some quiet (no)cat-back.

[Fantomasz]

how much this navi cost?

[M3NTAL Kev]

how much this navi cost?

Mine was $1100, but there are many options out there starting at as low as 350 and going up from there.

[M3NTAL Kev]

Okay, the time has come to get the car raised up a bit and sorted out. While it looks great and drives decent, it is not properly setup. I'm going to make an appointment with an alignment shop that uses laser equipment and will corner weight the car. They routinely setup exotics and race cars, so this should be worth the time and cost.

A key concept in this Rabbit build is: Performance > Aesthetics

I'll post an update once the work is done. Also, this might be necessary for running the new wheels and wider rubber.

[M3NTAL Kev]

I had my Rabbit corner balanced at a local Solo1 alignment shop today.

Prior to the corner balance, the installers had the car tucking all four tires with the front about a half to three quarters of an inch lower than the rears.

Well, that all changed today as both the front and rear were raised. Now the rear just tucks the top of the tires while the front has a two finger gap.

Cosmetically, not so cool, but man does the car ride well and corner now. It was setup with a 66/34 fr/rr weight bias and then the cross weights were matched up with me in the car. Total weight of the car with me in it was 3300+lbs.

[StevenHenriksen]

Nice job. Cool to see you are actually building it to be "sensible" haha. Maybe one day I will do that...

[M3NTAL Kev]

So here are the post corner-balance, unstanced photos:

[ZippinVeeDub]

I'll be the first to say "lower it"...lol. I totally understand why it's setup that way though, anxious to see pics with wider rubber, any teasers as to how wide and what wheels?

[Dashdog]

Car looks good, but am I the only one here who thought you were talking about boring out your 2.5? You'd probably be the first.

[JKeith0004]

car looks awesome ....def. got me looking into getting a rabbit

[M3NTAL Kev]

I'll be the first to say "lower it"...lol. I totally understand why it's setup that way though, anxious to see pics with wider rubber, any teasers as to how wide and what wheels?

The wheels are VMR V710 in 18x8.5 custom powder coated brass/gold. I'll have them on the car as soon as we sort out an issue with the quality of the powder coat finish. I think the colour tuned out stunning. I got them last night - what do you think?

no flash


w/flash


The challenge is to figure out what tire size to run. I either will stay with the safe 225/40/18 or try to push the fitment to a more aggressive 245/35/18. I suppose is all depends based on my new un-stance.

Car looks good, but am I the only one here who thought you were talking about boring out your 2.5? You'd probably be the first.

The bored part referred to me (with the Rabbit). I don't think cylinder over-bore or other creative builds will start to happen until there are a good number of wrecked cars and cheap used engines available. The other challenge is that the 2.5 doesn't appear to be used in many of the global markets, so parts development is going to happen in North America when and if the demand justifies it. At this point, the easiest way to increase displacement appears to be via boost.

[BluMagic]

wheels should look good....

I want your camber plates

[Eye Candy White]

How did you like the Azenis on the MKV chassis? I ran them on my DC2 Integra, but am debating on whether to step into something like the Direzza or stick with the Azenis b/c I know they are great for the money.

Car is looking nice.

[M3NTAL Kev]

wheels should look good....

I want your camber plates

They make quite a difference. I've had camber plates on 4/5 of my cars - it's the only way to go.

car looks awesome ....def. got me looking into getting a rabbit

Thanks. The Rabbit and GTI share the same chassis, so essentially you can have all of the handling and balance minus some power. I've never had a car with more than 200whp, yet with a good suspension and some driving skill I could lay a whooping on all kinds of big dollar equipment at the track.