Be sure to watch for the drivers schools at the beginning of the season. I found them to be really helpful.
Seems like the TDI could be pretty competitive with a lsd and the right tires.
yes and no
My Golf MK7 is (now) stock and so is in the HS class (the lowest) for Solo and DS (not the lowest) in MCSCC which is HSAX. When I race in the Solo events, I am competing against the Fiesta ST, at MCSCC, the Fiesta ST is in a higher class. A Chevy Volt is in the same class for both. My times are generally a good bit better then the Volt, and a bit worse then the Fiesta ST. I find that my raw times in Solo with Bridgestone RE-71R tires are pretty comparable to another guy with similar experience, a '15 GTI (GS class) and lesser tires. The guy racing a '15 GTI (also GS class) in Pro and the same tires as me is generally running ~6-8sec faster then me depending on the course.
The stock MK7 Golf TDI has wonderful torque (duh) which will really let you accelerate out of the corners and the power is there when you need/want it. The MK7 has a lighter and stiffer body which helps as well. It does not, however, have any useful adjustments for the suspension (I want camber!), it has a torsion beam in the rear, and you basically have no power to speak of above 3500RPM. That last one isnt so much of a problem in Solo but became more of an issue in HSAX as the season wore on.
You may have noted at the beginning of this that I alluded that my car wasnt in the stock class at one point. Last year I had lowering springs which looked nice but bumped it up a class and didnt really do anything for performance. That put me in a class that, if I wanted to even keep up, I would have to put some serious money into the car. And even then I wouldnt really expect to win. Because of that, I put it back to stock.
Since Ive been asked a few times, here is the full list of racing stuff Ive done:
Bridgestone RE-71R tires (great for Solo, not so good for HSAX)
17x7.5 Enkei Tuning Fujin rims (+5mm offset; lightest rim Tire Rack listed)
Aluminum adapters for the Fujin rims (the original plastic ones lasted 2 races)
Wheel studs with ball seats
Bilstein B6
heavy duty strut mounts
Frozen Rotors
G-LOC R8 brake pads
Castrol SRF
TyrolSport Deadset Subframe Kit
Neuspeed rear sway bar
stephen