VW Golf R32 (MkV) – Entry 009
After much deliberation, I took the plunge yesterday and bought myself a set of alloys! This was a bit of a landmark for me as I’ve never bought any aftermarket products before. By all accounts modifying is a slippery slope but I’m looking forward to it. The first mod then is a set of 19×8 CMS C8 alloys, bought from Tyremen for £700.
CMS aren’t that well known in the UK but they produce over 3.5 million wheels a year including original equipment wheels for the likes of Bentley, Peugeot, Renault, Seat, Toyota, Fiat and Volkswagen. In my opinion, the C8 design is the smartest wheel they make.
I needed to see the wheels in person just to be absolutely certain, so yesterday I set off on a three hour drive up to Hull. The journey was most enjoyable, not much traffic, plenty of sunshine and the added bonus of meeting a fellow .:R owner (MkV Shadow Blue – WR55 ***) who I acknowledged with a flash of the hazards. Plus an amusing game of follow the leader with a 350Z for twenty minutes.
Upon arrival it soon became obvious I’d been the topic of office conversation at some point. Despite only brief email contact with one of their sales guys, they all seemed to know who I was and why I was there (one of them had even found my wheel photoshop on here!).
After checking the fitment and calliper clearance I was at the counter entering my pin faster than you could say “my car’s amazing”. The wheels are now sitting in my house awaiting tyres. Hopefully, if I can get them ordered by mid week I’ll be able to have everything fitted next Saturday.
Here’s a few pics, what do you think?
Stay tuned…
VW Golf R32 (MkV) – Entry 008
My car’s a write-off!!!
Just kidding, all is well at the 2500 mile mark. I’m very much used to the power now, almost to the point of being blasé. I’d like to drive my old Pug 206 again just to remind me what 75bhp feels like (broken accelerator maybe?).
I recently came to the conclusion that third gear has a flat spot between 3000 and 4500 rpm (approximately). It’s as if the acceleration plateaus rather than continuing to build exponentially. In other words, I feel the power steadily increase from 1500 up to around 3k but at this point, the rate becomes constant until above 4k where it picks up again.
The thing that’s been puzzling me is that I’d expected to see this reflected in my RPM Data (Entry: 007) but the 3rd gear line is fairly linear. Is my data inaccurate? Have I come to the wrong conclusion? Is it all in my head? Tonight I decided to put an end to my mental turmoil and take new readings of 3rd gear. Here’s what I found…
The above data has been taken from a video recording which is more accurate than the method used previously. The graph shows that after 1900 rpm the revs rise constantly by 400 every 5mph increment.
So what does this mean? It’s all in my head! I’ve been out tonight and accelerated in 3rd from 20mph through to 70mph on several occasions and there’s no flat spot, it’s very progressive. I believe the reason behind my thinking was due to 3rd being less brutal than 1st and 2nd. Maybe I’m expecting more of a punch when I flaw it at around 40 mph (3100 rpm). Anyway, glad I’ve got to the bottom of it, even if the process was a bit mental!
Next entry should be more exciting, stay tuned 
VW Golf R32 (MkV) – Entry 007
Nothing much to report really, my wonder machine and I are growing ever closer. 1,900 miles and still an absolute pleasure as always.
I went out for a spin last night… wet roads, near freezing, and I couldn’t really tell (except for one corner – keep reading). The grip still surprises me, ok so tight corners do induce understeer if you get on the power to early but if driven correctly it won’t happen very often. I did have one minor indiscretion though. I was on the way home on a familiar road, turned in for a 30-40 mph corner, fed the power (half throttle) just before the apex and at that point I became a passenger for around a second as the car elegantly drifted sideways onto the other side of the road. I must have ran over a section of ice and put the power on at a particularly unfortunate time but it was a stark reminder that no matter what fancy gadgetry you may have, it won’t change the laws of physics. It was safe though and secretly quite fun
While out on the drive, I took a few RPM measurements. I did the same with my Pug 206 and found it useful for “rev matching” which (as I’m sure most already know) is a technique for performing smooth downshifts. One simply memorizes how many RPMs different the various gears are from one another at the same speed, and then matches the engine’s revs with the gear they are shifting in to by blipping or feathering the throttle.
Here’s the data…
And finally, after a good clean of both cars this morning, my brother and I went out for a quick photo shoot. It’s the first time we’ve put them next to each other and I don’t think his Zetec S looks out of place next to the blue beast…
I like the last one the most so I’ve had a little mess around with it.
Hope you enjoyed the read, until next time…
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