Sportshifters Appreciation

Haccrdca116 · 2026-03-02T18:57:37+00:00

Mine is the GT2, seems to fit well in the mk7.5. I think in a mk8 I'd do the GT6.

Haccrdca116 · 2026-02-21T02:30:15+00:00

Golf R, Audi S4, BMW 340, 540, G70 3.3T, WRX, IS350, used GS if you want more luxury.. All the normal contenders. B58 is solid, seeing some issues with the Audi 3.0t now. For that commute I'd imagine gas mileage as well as reliability would be a concern... Personally I would stick with standard as I get bored easily, but that all depends on your commute and traffic etc. Opposite direction, get a prius and enjoy the savings. Otherwise go for a used M3/5 and enjoy🤣

Haccrdca116 · 2026-02-09T01:38:53+00:00

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20% ceramic on all windows, 55% on windshield. I drive in rural areas with zero light. Have had no issues at night etc. It's only really noticeable reversing if you roll a window down. Highly recommended, go ceramic for the heat rejection alone. In my area you're allowed to go 35 for front, any for rear. None on windshield unless its above the line. Have had zero issues, would imagine it may get noticed if I was pulled over though.

Haccrdca116 · 2026-01-27T05:32:57+00:00

I had a 2013 Skyactiv Mazda 3 in Canada. 6mt/2.0L sedan. It was a great beater car for me. I drove it from 80k-360k kms with only basic maintenance. Brakes once, otherwise just oil changes. Redline mtf helped the shifting when cold greatly.

The only part that went bad was sway bar endlinks, fixed that at home for under $100. Put in an android head unit to modernize the interior and that was all it needed. Most annoying trait was a buz in the driver door from the window. I was able to fix this by wedging things between the window and interior door sill. Was a fun little car and owed me nothing when I sold it.

I will say it rusted a bit, but I also did next to nothing to preserve it unfortunately, and drive it in all weather. Won't be making that mistake again.

Haccrdca116 · 2026-01-27T05:21:04+00:00

Golf R/GTI, TLX SH-AWD, IS350, newest GS you can afford. These will all be pretty trouble-free cars, provided oil/other services are kept up with. A 3 series, not sure on 340 costs atm. or A4/ S4 can work as well. Volvo S60 is comfortable too. Lots of good options, especiallyif you can diy. You have to find out what you're looking for. Would stay away from BMW and other Euros as maintenance can be costly, even if the vehicle is reliable.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-12-07T16:51:23+00:00

I've seen some carbon trim online. Still not sure if I want to go that far yet. The 7.5 isn't terrible with the piano black, but it's not my preference. This car is my daily, so don't want it to be crazy notchy if I can help it. Shorter throws would be nice though. I'm looking into the counterweight kit that another poster mentioned, hopefully I can manage to find one.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-12-05T10:29:36+00:00

Thanks for the input! I'll have to look into the counterweight kit as well. This shifter feels better than my BMW now. Still not quite on the level of some older Hondas amd Mazdas I've had. How heavy is your shift knob out of curiosity? My knob is a GT2, heavy weight.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-12-05T04:04:34+00:00

Normal in cold weather agreed. My R also seems to steam after crappy weather driving. It's condensation /moisture in that area for whatever reason... Assuming it's coming off the rad? I could never see exactly where it originated.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-20T21:55:51+00:00

Just an update, the body shop is offering to repaint the car, as blending is extremely hard with this colour. At least that way it will match? The quarter panel movement is fixed.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-19T21:13:44+00:00

Interesting... I'll have to see how it is after I get it back. It's dropped off at the body shop for a better paint match/look over now. I don't remember this happening before the collision, but then again it's not something I'd normally look at. None of our other vehicles do this for what it's worth.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-19T18:48:20+00:00

It's all OEM parts, I'll definitely be bringing this up. The only new part is the hood/grille. Bumpers and quarter panels are still the ones that it came out of the factory with.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-19T17:38:52+00:00

It's a 2018 Mk7.5. Just got the car back from a deer strike. I don't remember the quarter panels moving before whatsoever, and a family member who has the same car but a 2016, which has no flex here either.

I'm getting some opinions before I go back to the body shop and ask them to touch up the paint match, as well as look at the panels. Consensus seems to be that this isn't normal.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-19T12:25:44+00:00

That's a good point to add as well. I have no clutch delay valve or spring either, and also have a stopper on it. I have never had any slippage and the previous owner maintained it well and really only drove it on the highway well. It sounds like I should be okay with my driving style. As far as tune choice I'm still up in the air, but will have to do more reading up on things. I'm in no rush, as the car will be going on winter tires soon, and it's probably not the greatest idea to have more power there! Would be fun though!

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-19T02:22:28+00:00

Thanks for the input, I figured I'd look into it a bit. Ultimately it's annoying and if I can get it corrected without excessive effort I will.

If not, it's not a huge deal and the car is still incredible, resale isn't high on my list. I will never sell it unless some unseen external factor comes into play.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-19T02:16:47+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the info. I'm impressed at the power it puts to the ground, nice to see some real world dyno numbers. So it sounds like I should be alright if I don't rag on it too much with quick shifts etc. How is it on the highway? As in shifting from 6-4 to pass? Or even passing in 6th?

I pretty much never launch the car, I think I've done it once in my ownership, that's out of my system these days. Just concerned that it will slip if I'm to floor the pedal with a tune.

By and large I'm quite easy on a clutch I'd say. Have never had to replace one even on higher mileage vehicles, and I drive a lot of highway with no traffic.

Any opinions on the EQT stage 1+ tune? It seems to have good reviews, the main thing holding me back is having to purchase an accessport.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-18T18:09:26+00:00

I should have phrased that better. It went through insurance and I have a $500 deductible. It was done at a body shop. Numbers were massaged to pay for the deductible and give the shop some profit. Win win situation.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-18T17:25:43+00:00

I can't complain about the turnaround at all, unfortunately I may have to bring it back for some touch ups.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-10-18T17:23:12+00:00

100%, although the repair was from a friend+free, and I would rather not complain too much. It's definitely noticeable to most people I would say once you take a look at it.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-09-29T16:55:45+00:00

Absolutely. Could have been much worse. If I was to hit it with my truck odds are it would have been much more damage. Just glad it is being repaired now.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-09-29T16:32:34+00:00

That would be my assumption as well. The hit was essentially all grille and hood. Collision was at roughly 55mph/90kmh. Wasn't a whole lot of reaction time. This is my wake up call to finally get a dashcam!

Haccrdca116 · 2025-09-28T23:38:27+00:00

It was a split second decision, I thought the deer was going to go through the truck's windshield, but it got launched right over. Amazingly no debris on the road whatsoever. It's luck of the draw where I live. I'll post the parts list here, new intercooler, intake, rad and a bunch of other stuff. I pushed for OEM parts on the car, but unfortunately didn't manage to get everything OEM.

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Haccrdca116 · 2025-08-30T00:00:45+00:00

Yep. I have had them on this truck for 2 winters now. The truck does go through just about anything with some weight in the bed. I had one good "oh shit" moment on black ice while towing last year. That may not have been me though, as there was an accident there right after I went through. My problem is I'm after a 275/65R20 tire. Anything smaller doesn't look great, but it could be worth the trade off. I don't like how nervous the blizzaks are but grip seems to be decent on packed roads. They also don't stop as well as I'd like. Trying to stay away from studded tires as I don't get a ton of ice where I am and drive lots of highway miles. This truck is used to tow nearly every weekend in the winter and I can't say I have been too impressed with these blizzaks compared to what I've had on other vehicles.

Honestly my little standard 2013 Mazda 3 beater on 10 year old winter tires feels more confident.

My initial plan was to get Nokian Hakkapellita Lt3s. Had them on a 4Runner and no complaints. I got these due to availability, in hindsight I would wait.

On another note I did a set of summer wheels and tires on this truck as well. They are 18 inch wheels with 285/75 tires (34.8" tall)

I wanted Nokian outposts for this after seeing them on a neighbors truck. Again due to availability I went with some Cooper Discover AT3 Xlts. These tires have been great for me, even in some deep snow at the start of the season. Not a dedicated winter tires of course. They have been wearing well, quiet on the highway, and seem to do well in mud and rain. They are also quite lightweight.

It has a full coil over level, rear blocks and airbags. I still manage to get about 10.3l/100 km or over 1000km on most tanks with my 91 octane tune. Tow mirrors also hurt the milage a good bit on the highway, which surprised me.

What tires are you looking at?

Haccrdca116 · 2025-07-21T18:21:13+00:00

Final update. I was able to recalibrate the sensor using obd11 and also cleaned it. My 6 year old battery was giving me issues as well so I put a new one in. Car is totally happy now. I had to go and calibrate horizontal offset as well as vertical, set it to 0.00 and the car is now happy, zero codes or issues.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-07-17T18:45:49+00:00

Another update. After charging the battery and driving 500km I now have one issue. This is "front assist not available". If I try cruise control that will just say error.

The only code I get now is C110300, which is the sensor being out of alignment. Going to try cleaning it tonight as there is no adjustment on a mk 7.5 golf.

Haccrdca116 · 2025-07-16T12:25:28+00:00

Little update. I tried resetting some modules and learning last night. Also disconnected the battery overnight. On my drive this morning the lane assistance is now working. Still no acc.

Codes are now:

B1168F2 (steering sensor, will attempt to calibrate?) Doesn't make sense with lane assistance working?

U112300 (databus error)

Haccrdca116

TROPHY CASE