Racing / auto crossing TDIs

PDR

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Location
chesapeake va
TDI
2012 golf tdi 6spd
I have been auto crossing for 2 years and am interested if anyone else races their TDI? what kind of racing and what car and mods
 

Lug_Nut

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 1998
Location
Sterling, Massachusetts. USA
TDI
idi: 1988 Bolens DGT1700H, the other oil burner: 1967 Saab Sonett II two stroke
Occasional track day, occasional drag race (1/4 mile), more frequent, but still not regularly, autocross.
Car? Whatever I have had at the time the opportunity arises to compete. 1997 Passat sedan? yup. 1995 TDI powered Cabrio? Why not? 2000 New Beetle with 400k+ miles? Nothing to lose if I rolled it. My wife's Golf? That one was on three more than on four.

"StealthTDI" autocrosses much more frequently than I.
"Indigobluewagon" runs track days more than I do. He has a prefered track-day car, but has used his daily-driver wagon when that prepared car has been laid up and not available on race day.
 

CNGVW

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Location
Bob Mann Auto, 111 High St, Pembroke MA 02359
TDI
Many TDI Jettas and a Beetle Race car run 2010 jetta tdi cup car build roadrace
for HP we run this blue line

17/22 turbo, D24 intake 11 MM pump, 520 Race injectors we run 7 hr per day 2 day weekends
SB Stage 2 E
light flywheel
car weighs 2700 driver and full of fuel
NH in Oct Lemon
 

chaoscreature

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Location
vista, ca
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI Special Edition
Not nearly as neat as CNGVW's car... but here's my daily driver, weekend beater.
I have driven it around Big Willow, Streets of Willow and Fontana. It's fun to embarrass GTI and GLI owners :)
The guy in the CC below kept passing me on the straights, but I would get back by him at the next corner.

Mods include:
Kerma Tune
Stiffer motor, transmission and dogbone mounts.
Spherical bearings in front control arms (rear position only)
Heim Jointed front sway bar links (stock sway bar)
H&R Sport Springs
Koni Sport shocks
S3 strut mounts
Underbody chassis bracing
Rear axle stiffening brackets
Heim Jointed Rear Panhard bar
Better Tires



The other car is my coworkers 2013 TDI, all stock.


Bob, what's the trick to extending the power band out like that, is it the bigger turbo and injectors allowing to keep the fuel going?
 

CNGVW

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Location
Bob Mann Auto, 111 High St, Pembroke MA 02359
TDI
Many TDI Jettas and a Beetle Race car run 2010 jetta tdi cup car build roadrace
Good to see some other TDI road racers I do follow your posts too.
I am in the start of a new build 2000 Golf but may just up grade the Beetle for the start of this year.
CR 2L bigger turbo, HP pump, ported head, new pistons ,custom intake, good base engine should be in the high 200 HP and 400 LB.
With a DSG and button on steering wheel I have a downer 2005 Beetle to pull all the wiring and shiftier stuff.
The handling for my Beetle is one of the bests out there.
Here is one of my drivers what he feels about the Beetle
Hi Bob
Happy New Year!
Just got back from Sebring Fl NewYears Eve Chump car race and had a blast driving the E-Racing E30 Bmw a c class car. This was my first Chump Car race and discovered that there is a huge difference from Chump cars to Lemons cars. The Chump cars are so much better prepared and the caliber of drivers is much higher. As for instance Randy Propost drove several stints for one of the teams. The E-Racing team was well prepared but lost 2 hrs to a broken transmission. They hustled to get it replaced and we were back on the track. In 4 years of racing they have finished all their events.
All that said I really enjoyed driving the your beetle more. It handled so much better than the BMW, was much more comfortable to drive and had more power. All day I keep comparing the beetle to the Bmw and the Beetle always won out. It think the Beetle could do well at Sebring!
I am interested in the WG race in May so keep me posted. Also let me know if you plan on doing any testing as I could join you for that


Thanks Tom
 

PDR

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Location
chesapeake va
TDI
2012 golf tdi 6spd
Thought I would share a couple pics from racing- did a couple of tracks this year that were tons of fun- I beat an R32 and came a wicker a way from beating a very heavily model mk6 Golf R- It was not a high speed track- lots of turns and about 100 top speed -
 

chaoscreature

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Location
vista, ca
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI Special Edition
It's always fun to beat out cars that "should" be a lot faster than ours!
Fastivus was a ton of fun since the TDI's are sleepers next to GTI's, R32's, R's and lowered CC's.

100mph is FAST for an AX! I can't think of any AX event where I hit triple digits. The course designers would always add a chicane or something to keep the speeds down even IF there was enough room to hit those kinds of speeds.

 

adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
Thought I would share a couple pics from racing- did a couple of tracks this year that were tons of fun- I beat an R32 and came a wicker a way from beating a very heavily model mk6 Golf R- It was not a high speed track- lots of turns and about 100 top speed -
Where were these races at? Always been interested in autocross and would like to do some in the Golf!
 

PDR

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Location
chesapeake va
TDI
2012 golf tdi 6spd
"100mph is FAST for an AX! I can't think of any AX event where I hit triple digits. The course designers would always add a chicane or something to keep the speeds down even IF there was enough room to hit those kinds of speeds."

that wasn't an autocross but a curvy track in moyock nc. its tons of fun, not high speed track like VIR, but challenging nontheless.
 

PDR

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Location
chesapeake va
TDI
2012 golf tdi 6spd
"Where were these races at? Always been interested in autocross and would like to do some in the Golf!"

I am a part of a sports car club that does auto crosses and 4 track days each year-
google - Tidewater sports car club- also would love to hear from you - 757-389-6450
 

chaoscreature

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Location
vista, ca
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI Special Edition
You guys are in VA, but for anyone in SoCal following this thread: I will be out at Streets of Willow on February 11th, unless the weather gets ugly.
 

zanzabar

Vendor
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Location
Petaluma, CA
TDI
2004 Jetta BEW 5spd (dual duty track car and daily driver beater)
I'm going to get a LeMons team together in the NorthBay area pretty soon. Will be looking for a junker NewBeetle to set up for hopefully Dec Sonoma and maybe Sept Buttonwillow races.
 

Drnknmnky13

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Location
D.C.
TDI
2002 Golf 5spd, 2014 Passat DSG
for HP we run this blue line

17/22 turbo, D24 intake 11 MM pump, 520 Race injectors we run 7 hr per day 2 day weekends
SB Stage 2 E
light flywheel
car weighs 2700 driver and full of fuel
NH in Oct Lemon

What is the drum attached to the back? It looks like the exhaust is routed through it?
 

chaoscreature

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Location
vista, ca
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI Special Edition
I'm curious about the exhaust tank too. I hope it's not a keg warmer :)

I took the Jetta to Streets of Willow again with Extreme Speed Track Event, running clockwise. I was running a (not so much) blistering 1:37 lap time. It was an absolute blast! I had a few students with me, so I am blaming the slow lap times on the extra ballast :).
I had a couple of people comment that they had never seen a TDI there before!

Unfortunately I took apart my Countour Camera to install a microphone cable and I left my Nikon at home... so no pictures from that event.
 

REDNECKDZL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Location
Omemee
TDI
2001 Jetta, 2015 Jetta, 1984 Wabbit TD, 1986 RX7 waiting on AHU swap


used to autox the crap out of my 01 Jetta TDI, currently building a Diesel RX7, but have a miata to hold me over while i work on the beast
 

shepner

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2006
Location
Milwaukee, WI
TDI
2015 Golf TDI
Last my MK7 for the season last year and am planning to for this year as well
 
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CNGVW

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Location
Bob Mann Auto, 111 High St, Pembroke MA 02359
TDI
Many TDI Jettas and a Beetle Race car run 2010 jetta tdi cup car build roadrace
Hello The Lemon races ask for a theme so we where the Boston Smoker.
We cooked our lunch in it we had ribs and and brisket in it my brother Rick prepared.
It was a big oven ran 275F most of the day.
 

NewbeeMC9

Veteran Member
Joined
May 12, 2008
Location
Upstate, SC
TDI
99.5 6-speed
Drove the old 99.5 last weekend. Not that fast but fun. The tall, all-season tires made it a little bit more drifty, lol. anyway. have to run what you brung.
 

Petra's cousin

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Location
Calgary
TDI
Mk VI TDI Golf Wagon
Looking to take our 2011 TDI wagon out to AutoX in a couple of weeks, any guidance on what kinds of tire pressures to start with? I'm running 235-45/17s (Pilot AS3+). I've only done a couple of days so far with our Miata, but the wife is going to take the novice school so I'm going to bring our wagon along to play with while she has the Miata.

Thanks, John
 

shepner

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2006
Location
Milwaukee, WI
TDI
2015 Golf TDI
Looking to take our 2011 TDI wagon out to AutoX in a couple of weeks, any guidance on what kinds of tire pressures to start with? I'm running 235-45/17s (Pilot AS3+).
Sofar Ive found that "it depends". With the Michelin super sports last year, I slowly kept bumping up the pressure as I got more aggressive to keep the sidewalls from rolling over. Adding the rear sway bar made me change the pressures as well (a bit less overall). I need to check my notes but I believe I was at ~42psi in front by the end of the season. This year I have a set of Bridgestone RE-71R which have significantly stronger sidewalls (and very sticky). I had started out with the same pressures and found the center was getting hot and not the outer edges and so I bumped down to 40psi front, 42PSI rear. Over this last weekend at a very cold/wet HSAX drivers school I was running 38PSI front, 42PSI rear which felt good but I didnt take any temperature readings. Ill try that as my starting point in my next event.

If you take a silver sharpie and make a mark from the tread onto the sidewalls, you will get a good indication of how much your sidewall is rolling. If its too much, increase pressure.

The general recommendation Ive heard is start at +3PSI over recommended and adjust from there. If/when you want to do something about the understeer problem, raise the pressure in the rear until it can start rotating and/or add a rear swaybar.

stephen
 

Petra's cousin

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Location
Calgary
TDI
Mk VI TDI Golf Wagon
Thanks - mostly I was looking for a starting point so I'll pump them up to 42 psi when I get there and work down from there. I've got a box of chalk to mark the sidewalls so I'll check and adjust after each run (I'm a complete novice and this will be the first runs in this car, all the other runs have been in our Miata, so I'm a little nervous about actually getting my act together to get the adjustments done in between runs). I do have a rear bar (GTI bar from the scrap yard) and it made a huge difference in getting the car to rotate in the winter school I took last year.

Just to confirm - your pressures are hot, right?

John
 

DaCooter

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2015
Location
Winchester, Ky
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI
I run track days with NASA. I also do an occasional autox with different groups if the venue is interesting (did the night one at Xenia speedway last fall for ex.).
Brunhilda is pretty stock. Diesel Power fuel box, GTI rear bar, repurposed Merc wheels ( 1/2 in wider and about 15 mm more offset) wearing Falken Azenis RT625K's and Hawk HP+ pads on the front.
Not the fastest girl at the dance but I have aggravated the dickens out of more than a few "faster" cars at Mid-Ohio. I've also snagged a few trophies at the autox meets as well.


Evidently I haven't posted enough to be able to post pictures. I did put a couple in the Jetta folder to grab later.
 
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