Auto-xing a mk4 1.8t

[babarber]

my car is a 2001 jetta wolfsburg edition only mods are under the hood and a tune

so the auto-x season finally started and i competed in my first two events. i havnt done any suspension or tire/wheel upgrades yet because i wanted to see how well it did and what needed improvement. first thing i noticed is i need decent tires really bad.
the most surprising part of the day though is that i had trouble controlling the rear end when pushed to the limit. there were several occasions i had to hit the throttle to correct over-steer surprising most people complain about their fwd cars understeering. btw im picking up a set of tires in about 2 weeks and im going to see how that changes the behavoir of my car(i know it will grip more but im concerned with under/oversteer).

so my big questions are what suspension upgrades should i go with to auto-x my car my class allows coil-overs sway bars strut braces etc

should i go with a cup kit from neuspeed or should i get coilovers
i dont want to spend 1600$ on coilovers but i also want a set that performs and isnt built for the purpose of lowering a car..... keep in mind that the cup kit is 500$ so i want the coilovers to be cost effective compared to a cup kit basically i dont want to spend more then 800-1100 on coilovers

second keeping in mind i had trouble controlling the back end a bit which sway bars should i go with front, both, and what size should i go with

im not an idiot when it comes to suspension choice but i have never built or driven a car with auto-x in mind before so i would like the opinions of those who have been there

[greyhare]

I would start with tires and tire pressure. The car should understeer; it is designed that way.

[babarber]

i did the chalk the tire sidewall trick. after a few adjustments my tire pressures were spot on and the rear stayed planted until i pushed the car to its limits

[bootymac]

Out of curiosity, what tire pressures were you running?

Also, you may want to review suspension geometry before lowering your car. If you're serious about autocrossing, look into Shine kits

[babarber]

42 psi front 37 rear

[Sinner44]

If you're still looking for advice when I auto-x my '03 1.8t GTI here are some things I do


Lock the seat-belt and then bring the seat up to it to try and keep me planted

I bring a weed/pesticide sprayer filled with water to spray the intercooler post and pre-runs (some guys mix in a good bit of methanol in the mixe or use pure methanol (or heet) to facilitate cooling and reduce heatsoak)

Remove the spare tire and leave in the parking spot pre-run

keep my car running after runs to keep fluids moving

On the Coilovers vs. Struts and Springs...I would stick with a good set of sport/cup kit I use a Koni Sport Cup Kit and it works perfectly just adjust the dampening a small bit at a time. I think C-O's are a bit of a waste and unnecessary. A properly selected Strut and Spring combo with outperform a coilover setup.

Bring setup sheets or a notebook with you and record the track layout while you're walking it and also the setup on your car... this will help you get a better idea of what setup works best on what type of course configuration

Get the TT Control arm bushings if you haven't already...no poly's they're garbage...

Be careful what parts you throw on the car they will put you in different classes making you much less competitive in a higher class

Also for tires, I love my Dunlop Direzza Star Specs...they work amazingly on the course

Take driving lessons... it's less about the car and way more about the driving lol trust me on this haha

These are of course just some suggestions and opinions everyone has their own and everyone will argue with these lol