ProfBrown's 2015 GSW TDI Build

15TDICommuter

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2019
Location
South Florida
TDI
2015 GSW
This is one reason to go Malone. From my reading Malone will do tunes for deletes, while Kerma will not. I am not planning on doing deleted at this time.

Malone is the more expensive of the 2, Malone is 550 plus the 195 for the tuner, where as Kerma is 650 all in.


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How much of gain do you expect with a Kerma Tune? Or, whats the thought behind keeping the OEM DPF system in place and going tuned?

You mentioned "not planning on doing deleted at this time". That sounds like there is a possibility?
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
How much of gain do you expect with a Kerma Tune? Or, whats the thought behind keeping the OEM DPF system in place and going tuned?

You mentioned "not planning on doing deleted at this time". That sounds like there is a possibility?

I would expect to get what they advertise, little more little more, or little less based on variances from one car to the next. More power, better responsiveness, a tad (if noticeable at all) increase in MPG. Better highway passing power/hill climbing power.

I will always have the thought of a possibility of a delete needing time be done, if the system fails it’s cheaper to delete than it is to replace say a bad DPF from what I have heard/read. That being said, haven’t really heard of any DPF failures on our cars (due to mileage or scares numbers or maybe better quality set ups?).

Did you also get the DSG tune or just ECU tune?


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ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
Did the DSG service for the car today. Ive done about 40k miles since I got the car back in January of last year. Not too bad. Would have been sooner but this BS pandemic kinda slowed the driving and made me work form home rather than going to the office.

I am pretty sure the dealer when they did the DSG service when I got the car had overfilled it by about .25-5 quarts or so. It did more than drain a little when I first dropped the drain plug out like I had seen in other videos or read about. Plus side is that it now shifts smoother than it did before which is nice.

Also posted it for sale just to see what someone would pay for it lol. Half tempted to ditch the payments and get an older accord and take the MPG hit, but not be afraid of putting 700+ miles a week on a car I make payments on. Could save me north of $200 a month just from payment and insurance. And thats after calculating the increased fuel cost.
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
Looks like Ill be needing tires soon. Thinking maybe the Michelin Pilot AS3 Plus? Those were recommended to me when I purchases these tires, just shyed away from the mileage rating to be honest. It would be nice to get more than a year and a few months out of a set of tires, but I do drive a lot lol. Wonder if I am asking too much to have a decent all around all season tire, that also isn't too loud, but lives a lot of miles? Tire would need to deal well in snow, rain, mud, dirt, dry pavement and not be too loud (this is me being nit picky) and have decent life (50-60k plus miles?)
 

hskrdu

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Location
Maryland and New England
TDI
2003 Golf GLS 4D 5M, 2015 GSW SE 6M
Wonder if I am asking too much to have a decent all around all season tire, that also isn't too loud, but lives a lot of miles? Tire would need to deal well in snow, rain, mud, dirt, dry pavement and not be too loud (this is me being nit picky) and have decent life (50-60k plus miles?)

If I had to pick one tire to run all year, it would be the Nokian WR G4. That way I wouldn't have to take off Nokian Entyres and put on Nokian Hakkas each season (so you know where I stand on Nokian).
 

thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
MICHELIN AS3+ 18000 MILES 7/32 F 8.5/32 R that is running with 0 toe ft. Good in up to a few inches of snow.
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
If I had to pick one tire to run all year, it would be the Nokian WR G4. That way I wouldn't have to take off Nokian Entyres and put on Nokian Hakkas each season (so you know where I stand on Nokian).

Never ran this brand of tire, I will have to do more reading! Getting good life out of the WRG4s?


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ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
MICHELIN AS3+ 18000 MILES 7/32 F 8.5/32 R that is running with 0 toe ft. Good in up to a few inches of snow.

What is the tread depth those tires start at? Think their mileage rating is about 40k, and the average life seems to be about 30k on those?


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Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Conti ExtremeContact DWS06 might be overkill for your location (although the Grapevine does see snow occasionally, so....?), but they rate fairly well and I've heard more than a few VW owners pleased with them.
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
Conti ExtremeContact DWS06 might be overkill for your location (although the Grapevine does see snow occasionally, so....?), but they rate fairly well and I've heard more than a few VW owners pleased with them.

Not quite as far north as the grape vine. More upper San Diego county/lower riverside county area in the hills. We see probably less than a foot of snow a year over the winter months


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hskrdu

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Location
Maryland and New England
TDI
2003 Golf GLS 4D 5M, 2015 GSW SE 6M
Never ran this brand of tire, I will have to do more reading! Getting good life out of the WRG4s?
I have WRG3's on the Golf for three-season use, and Nokian Hakkas for winter in New England/Upsate NY. Once they wear out, I'll replace them with G4's. The G3's are at 50,000 miles or so, I'd have to check my logs.

The old Jetta (still in the family) has Nokian Entyres for summer and Hakka's for winter. Best FE ever on the Entyres.

The Mk7's are on the OE tires, but we have some 5x112 wheels with Hakkas for winter. The other is getting a different wheel set with Entyres- most of those miles are in Maryland, so it will get a dedicated winter tire for 120 days a year.

I appreciate Michelin and Continental, and generally have Conti for bike tires, but after switching to Nokian over a decade ago, they are the only brand that I actually seek out and purchase (the cars go through other tires that come with rims, or were new from the dealer, etc.). Nokian (Finland) is well known in the Northeast for their Hakkapeliitta, and has made some inroads for all-weather tire sales in the US. I like their production process, the features that they seem to innovate (or are early adopters), that they are (AFAIK) a dedicated tire company. The prices are sometimes higher, but the FE and LRR numbers are impressive, and the performance outshines others when compared to like-use tires. I would caution that not all their tires are made in Finland, and that those from the plant in Russia have had the typical problems in production runs (we exchanged 2 Entyres back in 2009? for new ones at warranty price due to low speed noise). They also have a US plant, and have typical industry production agreements with Bridgestone and... Cooper?

Tires can be difficult to evaluate with any significant objectivity or repeatable results. I disregard most anecdotal opinions, so you should feel free to do so with my favoritism. I can say that in over a million miles, the best FE we've seen is on Entyres, the best all-weather tire I've used is the WR series (the G2 was probably better than the G3, but my G3s weren't bought new), and the the Hakka is best snow tire I've used. I would rather have front wheels drive and Hakkas all around than all-wheel drive.

Also noted, some series of Nokians will be asymmetrical or directional, and some owners prefer to avoid this; I'm obviously fine with it.
 

thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
As3+ start with 10/32 Profbrown, I never had a snow problem with them in Pa here, you won't either. Running with zero tow does extend tire life greatly, no uneven tread wear, no rounding of outside edges.
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
Picked up some used rims today. Found the on Facebook for a pretty decent deal. One of the has some light curb rash, but mostly surface level honestly. May or may not have them re-powder coated. Got them for about 1/3 what they would cost new if not less so I can’t complain. Planning on putting some Continental Extreme Contact DWS06s to them. Higher mileage warranty than the A/S3 plus, for about 25 or so less bucks a tire. Stellar reviews online as well.






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nathanso

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Location
Redwood City, CA
TDI
2015 GSW TDI S 6M (sold)
How do you avoid unknowingly buying someone else's bent/out-of-true rims? Here in the pot-holed SF area, wheel repair shops do a brisk business charging half of original list price to straighten a bent rim.
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
How do you avoid unknowingly buying someone else's bent/out-of-true rims? Here in the pot-holed SF area, wheel repair shops do a brisk business charging half of original list price to straighten a bent rim.

This is a slight worry I have, but also deal seemed too good to pass up. They look very straight on both inner and outer areas of the barrel, and in general not beat up/sit flat on flat surfaces. I suppose I will find out if I got played right? Think if that’s the truth I can still sell 2-3 for what I paid for the set separately.

I was also thinking, I may go with 235/40/18s instead of 225/40/18s to help retain some sidewall (about a quarter inch) and help with the stretched look on an 8 inch wide rim.


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jverheul

Active member
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Location
WLV, California
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL
This is a slight worry I have, but also deal seemed too good to pass up. They look very straight on both inner and outer areas of the barrel, and in general not beat up/sit flat on flat surfaces.
While on a 9 month road trip I picked up some used stock 17s for my A3. $100 and he swore they were straight and round. I had time. So I went to see them, put my car on flat ground and in park but no emergency brake. Got out the emergency jack, took off the right rear and used that hub. Bolted all 4 up with one bolt and spun them. He was not kidding. I have been burned before.
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
I stopped by Americas Tire today on my way home from work, had them order in a set of some 235/40/18 Continental Contact DWS06 tires. I will be getting the set up installed on the car this Saturday if there shipping is accurate. Everything I have read shows these will fit, look nice and since I would be going with a 235 over the 225, the sidewall will be slightly larger to help with ride quality and what not. I think I will be quite pleased. Should save me about 3-6lbs per corner of un-sprung weight too. Rims alone are 19 each, where as my factory ones must be 22+, and the tires are 1 lbs lighter each as well. Might be a totally different car come saturday!
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
I stopped by Americas Tire today on my way home from work, had them order in a set of some 235/40/18 Continental Contact DWS06 tires. I will be getting the set up installed on the car this Saturday if there shipping is accurate. Everything I have read shows these will fit, look nice and since I would be going with a 235 over the 225, the sidewall will be slightly larger to help with ride quality and what not. I think I will be quite pleased. Should save me about 3-6lbs per corner of un-sprung weight too. Rims alone are 19 each, where as my factory ones must be 22+, and the tires are 1 lbs lighter each as well. Might be a totally different car come saturday!
The Genevas are 24 lbs.
 

ProfBrown

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Location
So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
Got them installed today. Happy with em so far. The look is what I was going for, ride is only minutely firmer (not necessarily a bad thing). And braking seems a little lighter for the same level of stoppage. Seems I cut about 6 lbs per corner. Rpm is about 50-100 lower at freeway speeds like 75. Tires are 235/40/18s on 18x8 TSW Nurburgring wheels, 45mm offset.




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