Mk4 Golf GT TDi 130 - A Quick Project

[mwstewart]

Thank you very much but I'm going to hang on to it for a while.

[mwstewart]

As part of my birthday present my OH bought a Blacksmoke remap and MPPS lead for my birthday.



It was a bundle deal containing both 165 and 180 remaps, with the 165 being a clutch friendly map and the 180 only recommended for cars in good order and running correctly. I've started with the 180.

I think it's fairly well known that the 175/180 maps can drastically shorten clutch life if not driven carefully, but regardless of any remap I drive with a lot of mechanical sympathy i.e. never overload the clutch or induce resonance by loading the drivetrain in low gears, so there's no real change in driving style now the car is mapped.

MPPS is a doddle to use and enabled me to download my current BIN (map file) so I can easily return the car to standard later down the line, if needs be. The whole process takes around 15 minutes.

Driving impressions are good. There are no flat spots, hesitation, or other maladies; it is as smooth as the original calibration. Performance wise it's quite impressive but it's not the immediate change in performance you get with a petrol turbo remap - more a greater feeling of mid-range swell. The 1.9 is an 8v motor and comes with a very small turbo so in standard tune the boost builds very quickly, but post-remap there is actually a better balance across the rev range. Despite the more linear delivery it is pretty rapid and will spin the wheels in 3rd if it’s wet.

[Max M4X WW]

I must have spoken to you about this map about 2 years ago but glad you finally have it! I had the lower powered map I think (it made 169bhp and 280lb/ft) which was quite entertaining but even this map seemed to ruin the clutch and flywheel, we obviously didn't drive it very sympathetically.

[anonymous-user]

I had the bigger map, very raw , very smokey, but fast. Setlled for lower map, lot better and well worth it.

[mwstewart]

Interesting. I was prepared to swap to the 165 file if there were any issues (I'm pretty fussy), but the smoothness and drivability is certainly as good as the original, and it feels less peaky. I did some data logging beforehand with VCDS and the car was running absolutely fine; lots of long fast trips help with that.

I will keep an eye on the smoke. I am running a stainless downpipe and Darkside intercooler btw.

There's a bit of wear in the DMF commensurate with 83k - no noises just a vert sight vibration I can feel - so I will put in a new one and sachs uprated organic clutch in at some point. That opens the door to bigger injectors and 220bhp

[Max M4X WW]

The maps are certainly very good, the spike in power seemed more pronounced but they rev out a lot better.

I don't remember getting too much smoke with a de-cat and milltek system and I'd assume a better cooler (more air) would possibly help with this too. Though the 180 may may create more smoke i guess.

[J4CKO]

I think the MK4 Golf is mellowing into a bit of a classic nowadays, soft spot for them !

This looks like a superb example.

[mwstewart]

Thank you! Nice comment. I've always liked the design, too.

[mwstewart]

Approaching 1,000 miles now and I wish I had done this years ago. The performance is impressive - it's effortless and really rather good fun! I think it's probably the optimum for the chassis. Any more power and I'd want some better brakes and suspension, but then it's a Golf not a sports car, and should be comfortable and practical, so I'm perfectly happy as is.

[mwstewart]

Lighting upgrade - part 2
The OEM xenons are an upgrade over the halogens but despite that still aren't particularly great; I think the limiting factor is the tiny 50mm projectors. I didn't want to spend time modifying the headlights to mount a larger bi-xenon projector setup so I decided to do the following:

- Fit 'uprated' bulbs to the OEM xenon dip beam;
- Install additional 55w ballasts for use with dip beam;
- Repurpose the OEM 35w ballasts for main beam;
- Replace the H7 halogen main beam bulbs with D2R HID bulbs fitted with metal adapter rings.

For the dip beams in the OEM HID projectors I've gone with new Philips Xtreme Vision 4800k D2S. These are a high output bulb that get good reviews.


For the main beams in the halogen reflectors I've gone with Philips Xenon Standard 4300k D2R. I'm OK with the service life comprise associated with cycling bulbs in a non-bi-xenon main beam application.


I've bought a generic Chinese HID kit for the ballasts and wiring. I figure that as long as the ballasts are kept dry, secure, and fed the necessary current they should last a while.


There's not much free real estate on the back of the OEM xenons so I found the best place for the additional harness & grommet was the centre of the dip beam bulb access cap. The loom braid is free of its securing heat shrink in the following photo but it was put back when I'd finished mocking up.


I mounted the 55w ballasts on the rear of the headlights using high strength adhesive gel tape.


I rewired the headlights internally by swapping the dip and main beam triggers, so the OEM ignitors and ballasts mounted behind the front arch liners now power the D2R main beams. The 55w ballasts power the dip beam bulbs. I also upgraded the two 10amp dip and two 15amp main fuses to 20amp.

The results are good: dip is now approaching the performance of a good 78mm/3" projector and has perfect light distribution with no dark or light spots. Cutoff is OEM. Basically it's as it was before but with increased light output.

Main beam is considerably brighter but obviously given the housings are halogen reflector the distribution is not perfect, however overall there is more light and more range than before. I'm happy with that.

When I get chance I'll get a photo of the system in action.

[Emeye]

Good effort - I really like Mk4 Golfs. I have a question - and apologies if it has been asked before but I only had time to skim read this thread - but why did you go to all the effort to fit the VW satnav, TMC and Cd changer when you could have fitted any number of modern double din satnav units that would have done everything and much more? One of the appeals of the Mk4 is the double din slot sat there gagging for a decent unit.

Please don't take it as a criticism, more a question as to your thinking - I have fitted many headunits, speakers etc into cars - the biggest challenge was a double-din, fully steering wheel and reverse sensor integrated, Pioneer Carplay headunit into my last car, a BMW E92 - always, other than sometime single din aesthetics, the aftermarket head-unit was a major improvement in both power, sound quality and functionality.

[mwstewart]

Emeye said:

Good effort - I really like Mk4 Golfs. I have a question - and apologies if it has been asked before but I only had time to skim read this thread - but why did you go to all the effort to fit the VW satnav, TMC and Cd changer when you could have fitted any number of modern double din satnav units that would have done everything and much more? One of the appeals of the Mk4 is the double din slot sat there gagging for a decent unit.

Please don't take it as a criticism, more a question as to your thinking - I have fitted many headunits, speakers etc into cars - the biggest challenge was a double-din, fully steering wheel and reverse sensor integrated, Pioneer Carplay headunit into my last car, a BMW E92 - always, other than sometime single din aesthetics, the aftermarket head-unit was a major improvement in both power, sound quality and functionality.

Cheers. The two big ones for me:

- My car has DSP. The factory Sat Nav (MFD) can be coded to suit and once active it runs the DSP amp in the boot and provides an additional couple of menus related to its setup. The MFD is also a better source than the normal head units.
- My car has full height FIS which comes with an additional screen for nav. It has the usual stuff like road name display, junction diagrams, and countdown to next turn/junction etc.

Obviously the OE system works from the MFSW but I know aftermarket ones do too.

If there was a tasteful looking branded/non-Chinese aftermarket unit with integrated BT and iPod that supported DSP and cluster display then I would definitely consider it.

[Craikeybaby]

I know Alpine are doing some with tight integration to various VW models, not sure if they go back as mk4 Golf though,

[GrantB5]

Just read through this whole thread and love the work you have put in. Will be subbing.

I have a b5 passat and my clocks resemble the mk4 golf. I'm looking at the possibility of sticking the bezels from the b5.5 clocks also, far as I am aware the diameter of the clocks are the same as yours people refer to mine as the mk4 golf clocks.

How did you bore the cluster to allow the bezels to fit? Also do you have an up to date photo of the clocks installed?

Thanks.

[mwstewart]

Craikeybaby said:

I know Alpine are doing some with tight integration to various VW models, not sure if they go back as mk4 Golf though,

Thanks - I'll look into it.

GrantB5 said:

Just read through this whole thread and love the work you have put in. Will be subbing.

I have a b5 passat and my clocks resemble the mk4 golf. I'm looking at the possibility of sticking the bezels from the b5.5 clocks also, far as I am aware the diameter of the clocks are the same as yours people refer to mine as the mk4 golf clocks.

How did you bore the cluster to allow the bezels to fit? Also do you have an up to date photo of the clocks installed?

Thanks.

Thanks. I used a Dremel with a sanding drum attachment to remove the lip detail on the speedo and rev counter. It will be obvious what must be removed once you have the cluster fascia in front of you.




The foil is easy enough to remove as are the needles, but place a piece of cloth around them to protect the foil face. You may already know this but the coolant temp and fuel gauge sweep are different between Passat and Golf. There are some clever people out there who have figured out how to reprogram the Golf cluster bin to match the Passat foil, but that was further than I was willing to go, so I left the Golf fuel & water gauges and needles, and just changed the speedo and tach.

[GrantB5]

Thank you for that, I must of been half asleep I didn't realise you changed the speedo and tacho I only noticed the bezels, nice touch also.

Gonna give this a go in the new year for sure.

[Warby80]

As i was progressing through the thread (read it all this morning) i was wondering to myself if you would come across Blacksmoke remaps. I flashed a 165bhp file onto my brothers 140k mile pd130 ibiza fr in august, it has since done another 6k miles with not a peep from the clutch or flywheel. It was run on a dyno mid November and produced 170bhp/298lbft which he was very happy with.

Its great fun to drive and pulls much harder than standard while producing very little smoke, great value for the £70ish inc the cable that it cost!

[martin mrt]

mwstewart said:

Craikeybaby said:

I know Alpine are doing some with tight integration to various VW models, not sure if they go back as mk4 Golf though,

Thanks - I'll look into it.

GrantB5 said:

Just read through this whole thread and love the work you have put in. Will be subbing.

I have a b5 passat and my clocks resemble the mk4 golf. I'm looking at the possibility of sticking the bezels from the b5.5 clocks also, far as I am aware the diameter of the clocks are the same as yours people refer to mine as the mk4 golf clocks.

How did you bore the cluster to allow the bezels to fit? Also do you have an up to date photo of the clocks installed?

Thanks.

Thanks. I used a Dremel with a sanding drum attachment to remove the lip detail on the speedo and rev counter. It will be obvious what must be removed once you have the cluster fascia in front of you.




The foil is easy enough to remove as are the needles, but place a piece of cloth around them to protect the foil face. You may already know this but the coolant temp and fuel gauge sweep are different between Passat and Golf. There are some clever people out there who have figured out how to reprogram the Golf cluster bin to match the Passat foil, but that was further than I was willing to go, so I left the Golf fuel & water gauges and needles, and just changed the speedo and tach.

Alternatively you could fit the internals from Bora Sport clocks, I've done this on a few of my mk4s and the foils swap over fine, including the fuel and temp gauge.

[mwstewart]

martin mrt said:

Alternatively you could fit the internals from Bora Sport clocks, I've done this on a few of my mk4s and the foils swap over fine, including the fuel and temp gauge.

Thanks Martin. I do have a set of 'full FIS' Bora Sport clocks in the workshop, but I prefer the R32/Passat style for my car, as it isn't overtly sporty.

[The Cush]

Mark, I just picked up a TT subframe with the reinforcements, and I was wondering if you had a picture of your completed install? There are two stiffeners that come off the back, and on a standard mk4, there is no mounting location. How did you address this?

Cheers and thanks for the write up. It's been super helpful with some of the modifications I'm doing. 👍

-Pat