VW Golf GTi Clubsport S

[st33ly]

So guys thought I would introduce my new purchase. I have never put a readers cars post up before so be gentle. This will be my second Clubsport S. The first one was sold due to my good lady becoming pregnant with our first child so did the sensible thing. Sold it and bought a more practical M140. So fast forward six months *****the M140 was too fast and too big for her to drive + she has decided autos are not for her, (She did drive a Fiat 500......


Now a brilliant 5dr VW Polo.)


1st Clubsport S with no AC...Hmmmmmm sweat your balls off in this weather.


M140 being the family wagon that she did not like LOL.

Soooo it was sold after doing less than 500 miles from new and the wait for a another Clubsport S was on. A month later the car appeared locally, as in less than 3 miles away at the Leven car company in Edinburgh. Now the strange thing was I offered to buy this exact car before I purchased my white one. This was 18months prior with delivery miles on it. The dealership had it on a SOR basis and they were desperate to get the car moved on but the first owner would not budge on price. So along came the director of RBS and he bought it to add to his rather tasty car collection. Fast forward less than 2000 miles and 18 months he needed to move it on to add another piece of exotica to his current five car collection. So it was advertised on the Saturday and by the Monday close of business it was mine. Due to work and family commitments I collected the car a week later. I was very kindly collected by Francesco in a rather tasty Roll Royce. How the top 1% live.




















Again we spent ages talking about cars and was given access to very tasty, tasty Ferraris and other Rolls Royce's. These guys are very passionate about all cars. Even the valet staff love their motors. Now on to my car and its delivery. Car is mint and was presented beautifully. The team and Leven Car Company are brilliant. Best car purchase experience i've had and I've bought a fair few cars. 39 currently and I've only been driving 18 years.

A few photos of the car. I was desperate to get out and give the wee thing a blast.

Love Tornado red. Love it. I've had three people so far comment on it and one was a mile away in the petrol station post collection. To me it is my GT3RS. Ill never be able to afford one but this is a keeper and will be treated amazingly and driven on cracking sunny days. I'll provide wee updates as I plan on giving it a good detail so i'll keep you all posted. Thanks to Mark the sales manager and Francesco at the LCC.

Hope you enjoy.

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 09:01

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Honestly guys thanks so much. The kind comments mean a lot. Thank you.

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Podie said:

Any tinkering planned?

So Audi S3 jacking pad kit and VW front mudflats have been ordered, (Don't shoot me but the Pilot Sport cup 2's pick up loads and loads of ste on the road and flick it everywhere.) Im heading to the states soon and seen 034 Motorsport do spherical lower control arms and complete rear trailing arm / suspension package. Its a tad expensive though to buy here. Said to the the good lady that a second suitcase will be needed as I'm also fancying ECS engine mount kit and possibly their cat-less down pipe but don't want it to be stupid loud as I want everything to look factory.

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Thanks for all the kind comments guys.

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RS Grant said:

Absolute cracker, looks fantastic and some great mods planned to sharpen it up further too.

I couldn't agree more with what you say about the guys at Leven Car Company too; I bought my E92 M3 from them at the tail end of 2017 and the service which they gave me was fantastic, a real change from the usual car buying experience. I actually traded in a Tornado Red MK7 Golf too...

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Look forward to reading your thoughts on the CS and seeing the progress you make with it over the next wee while.

RS Grant I’ve followed your M3 thread with great interest. Is great looking at your mods and love the big brake kit. Seen an 380mm AP kit for the CSS. But it’s only 1285kg and standard brakes are really good.

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RemyMartin81D said:

Nice car!

Look after your seats though!

Small up-date. Capital seating tailored car seat cover arrived today. Will get it fitted once I've removed the seat and did a wee clean/ tinker. Want to strengthen the seat foam to stop it prematurely wearing. Apparently the foam for the base is £450. LOL.





Again thanks for all the great comments.

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 08:56

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Olivera said:

Lovely car, would be interested to know what they changed from a normal GTI.

Please tell us you're not going to fit that binbag seat cover though.

It's a custom fit seat cover from Capital seating to protect the stupidly expensive seat. I think someone on the GTi forum had their seats stolen. £12500 replacement cost. Mental.

I'll make up a list of changes over the standard Gti.

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RS Grant said:

Thanks very much, the AP kit was a bit overkill for my use of the M3.. but it stopped me killing the standard brakes (which aren't really up to the job of fast road) and I can't pretend that I don't love the way the big discs and calipers look behind the wheels... it was basically a total man maths purchase!!

Yeah I'm not sure that you would require such an upgrade to yours given that your car is c300kg less porky than mine!! I actually found the OEM brakes on my MK7R to be really good and last surprisingly well, which included multiple trackdays at Knockhill (usually a brake killer!) and a Nurburgring trip too. When I traded it in at c13k miles, I had only replaced the rear pads (strangely!) and there was still a good bit of life left in the front pads.

Do you get up to Knockhill much? I'd love a look at the CSS in person sometime.

We could maybe organise a decent drive about fife and the Lothians if you fancy? Or further up north.

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DaveK-S1 said:

MIght be worth putting a set of Sportster CS or Pole positions in it and save the original seats

I did contemplate getting a standard GTI seat from a cat D motor. I then thought the seats are just part of the car and such a shame not to use them.

I’m super super careful getting in and out. So is the good lady. I put most of my weight through my hand on the kick plate lol. Sitting over the bolster.

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Porsche911R said:

standard brakes don't hold up on track and the disks are not sided so one heats up more than the other !

Gyro do a race disk set and some RS3 ducts for more cooling.

OR you can buy this and be coolest guy in the pits. Also saves 20 kg odd which is sweet.

https://www.essexparts.com/essex-designed-ap-racin...

great cars the CS and CSS.

Sorry I missed your post Porsche911R.
That kit looks mental. The CAD designed calliper is just epic. (You could stop the car on a 10p with those bad boys.). Brilliant find thank you.

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I can't believe it. I've made readers car of the week!!!!!!!! Massive thanks to Matt Bird for the article. Thank you.

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chazwozza said:

Lovely, lovely car. I'm looking in a few months to splash out big on a new car and not really a fan of fwd but this appeals. Couldn't have a white one though and would be putting a minimum 15k a year on it. How have you found it so far. Too hard for a daily?

As a daily perspective the suspension is just not an issue, even in Edinburgh. When in soft dampers I think the ride is superb. Much more compliant than my M140 and RS 275 Cup S with Ohlins (Even at the softest setting.) It would be a shame to use it as a commuter car. So far its just a typical gold GTi. Solid, well made and well whiteout copying. "Does exactly what it says on the tin". However it just feels proper special. Think I'm now on my fifth comment from a passer by on how good it looks.

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So super small up-date. This arrived from Europe today. Euro Octavia VRS foot rest. Matches the rest of the pedals well I think.

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 08:24

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DanielSan said:

New Bolsters for the Honda Recaro's are easy to get and not all that expensive

So as above my old DC2 i bought and replaced the seat bolster from Capital seating. I contacted them last week and asked for seat advice regarding the VW. I was told that VW own all the right to the design and their will be no spares produced by capital seating. They produce Honda items because they no longer own the patent.

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 08:28

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vpr said:

Good work OP

I bought my CSS new and never ever tire of driving it. It is so far removed from a std GTI you wouldn’t believe it. I ran both side by side for 2 yrs.

Yes there’s a great deal of road noise and popping and banging from the exhaust but for me that makes it special and raw, I love raw.

I thought it lacked a cage and harnesses to complete the theme so that’s what I bolted in.

I have a number of fast hairy cars and I honestly don’t think you could get from A to B in any of them quicker than the golf.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Would absolutely love to see photos of your cage and harnesses. It would remind me of my R26.R. (Wish I kept on to that one. I’ll see if I can find a photo.)

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vpr said:

I bought a new R26r too, great car and that’s why I thought the CSS was lacking that extra bit of kit

That’s amazing! Where did the cage and harness come from? Want to share the rough costs? Appreciate a public forum so you can email me.

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Skornogr4phy said:

That's certainly a step up from the Megane you sold me! Lovely car, and certainly in the same style of fast trackable hatch. Amazing to get featured on the front page. Good luck with the car and the baby!

Hey dude.

Great to hear from you. The Megane was just epic and what a talented car it was. The CSS just pulls even harder and is easier to adjust. No going under the car and clicking dampeners, (Part of the fun though). Did you manage to sell the car in the end? What you driving now?

Cheers.
Craig.

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Adrian E said:

Any more info/part numbers on these? I bought myself a decent low entry jack with a rubber pad, but if there's bits from the VAG parts bin that make it easier it'd be great to know (GTI PP owner!)

Car looks lovely

When the parts arrive I’ll get the numbers up and photos also. 👍

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vpr said:

Harvested from any motorsport supplier, mine are Schroth to keep the German theme.

Cage us from Weinster (need to check spelling) a German company. I spotted the sticker on the record making car and looked them up. Completely bolt in with no holes drilled. Can be removed with no evidence of it ever being fitted

Price depends on spec. I ticked every box and I think it was about 1600 sheets from memory

I’m loving the cage and harness mate. Just looks so good. I’d go for black cage and black harness’s. Definitely a future mod. Does the harness just bolt in?

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So small up-date today folks. Replaced the kick plate. I refinished the brushed stainless steel however it was dented in three places. Thinking that it would just pop out buy a new section and i'd glue it back on. How wrong. Complete new section had to be ordered. £370 inc VAT. Was simple to fit. I thought it would be easier to remove the seat. Simple to remove four bolts. Next up-date. Sort the scratches on the binnacle cluster.






Next up-date. Sort the scratches on the binnacle cluster.

Cheers

Edited by st33ly on Thursday 25th July 08:31