My MKIV Golf R32 look-alike pic blog

Hi all,

Well the post about more Golf blogs finally lit a fire under me so I thought I'd share my some pics as I transform my '03 Golf into an aesthetic R32 clone. First, some background;

I've owned a 2001 Audi S4 since early 2003 and I've since built it up to a big turbo'd, intercooled, fueled, exhausted, suspended, softwared and clutched 400 whp daily driver. However, my 50 mile round trip freeway commute was hardly worthwhile use of such things and I started to feel like I was wasting that car every morning I went to work. I've always loved TDIs, having taught myself how to perform nearly all maintenance on my dad's '99 Beetle that now has 36x,xxx on it, so I knew I would own (at least) one someday. I've also always thought the mkiv R32 was an amazing looking car so for a while I have been developing plans to fill the vacant niche in my transportation continuum and do what you'll see below.

In July of 2013 I picked up this Golf in Ohio from a fellow member here.

(first picture and first fuel up)

It was rough around the edges as expected for 265k, but mechanically very good. So one red eye flight to Columbus, 1900 road miles, and 42 hours later I was back home in Phoenix and very happy with my purchase.

Conceptually, my plan is to have a Golf that gets great mileage, is enjoyable to drive for what I use it for, and looks great. So with a balance favoring comfort over performance, show over go, and DIY above nearly all else... Well, here goes...

Obligatory S4 pics:

Part orders started flowing in, but I started simply:

The old painted and faded turn signal indicators had to go.


...in favor of new clear indicators with LED bulbs.


Broken OE antenna


Sharkfin style replacement


I had to do something about the German flag painted emblem and those hazy OE headlights.


Found a used VW emblem on ebay, installed the Depo euro headlights the PO included with the car after putting Lamin-X covers on them, removed the front plate holder and wired in fog lights.


The bare doors got treated with sound deadener.


Raammat bxt


Ensolite over the Raammat


Inner door panels received the same.

Doors before


Doors after a good cleaning and R32 brushed aluminum handle and door pull.


State of the interior as purchased.


Current state, after monster mats, adding missing retention posts, R-line pedal covers and dead pedal, and oh yeah, a TON of cleaning.


The 20th AE Recaros are sooo comfortable and part of the reason I picked this car.


Added interior LED kit, wired in LED strips and adhered them to the side panels in the hatch, added ebay cargo net from a MK6 golf.

The clear rear lights weren't going to cut it.


That's better.


No before ride height picture, but this is after installing WRD sport springs and STR.T front shocks (PO had just installed new OEM rear shocks). The front is a little too low and IMO looks out of balance so I'll replace the strut mounts and add a spacer if needed. Found an excellent installer to add 20% tint (first non-diy expense). This is AZ after all


No bellypan on the car when I purchased it so shortly after the lowering springs came the evo skid plate which I sprayed with undercoating prior to installation. Not pictured, the oil drain access cover got undercoating too.


Couple layers of sound absorbing/heat reflecting material on the top of the skid plate to further quiet the interior. Yes, it's noticeable.


The sound absorbing material was missing when I purchased the car so I added two layers of the same material that went on the skid plate. This also resulted in a small, but noticeable reduction of interior sound. Added press fit hardware from the PD engine covers.

The engine bay got a very thorough cleaning with 2 cans of WD-40 and a garden hose. This is before.


After. Poor quality picture, but you can still pick out the DG Sigma 5 shifter in there


Sometimes I swear a cleaner engine runs better

Replica OZ Aristos from Powerwheelspro; 18x8" et35.


10mm spacers for the rears.


60mm R-line center cap stickers from ebay stuck to the center caps that came with the rims should do nicely.


Snagged a parcel shelf with the cord retracting reels still working off vwvortex for cheap.


The Depo headlights had a pathetic beam pattern that was nearly useless for night driving. I switched to Euro R32 replicas (also a vortex find) but these aren't really any better. These will probably serve as the base for a Morimoto HID retrofit in the future. In the meantime they're outfitted with 5000k LED city lights, yellow high beams, yellow fogs, amber LED turn indicators and osram nightbreaker low beams. They look great from everyone else's perspective, but the low beams are borderline ineffectual.


Another minor, but very worthwhile upgrade are the euro blind spot mirrors. I can't believe how much I ended up liking these. Head checks are now completely redundant. Don't worry though, I still do them


You get the idea.


Here's the interior as it sits today. Some things to note; lighted Jetta vents, R-line shift boot (I shortened the shifter stalk 3/4 of an inch), and full brushed aluminum radio surround and ashtray cover.


Again, what it looks like on the outside today with the Aristo reps mounted with 225/40/18 Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum tires. I'm very happy with these tires so far, fwiw. Relatively inexpensive, 70,000 mile warranty, they're quiet, and so far perform quite admirably in the dry and wet.

I've done a lot of maintenance too of course. I'm trying to keep good records so here's a more accurate list and timeline of those items so far:

7/20/2013 Dipstick tube
7/23/2013 Windows tinted
7/27/2013 Emergency brake cables
7/27/2013 Aligned driver's door and door latch
7/27/2013 R Line shift boot, Dieselgeek shifter, shorten shift lever 1/2"
7/27/2013 Wheel spacers
7/28/2013 US R32 tail lights
7/31/2013 Insulation on engine cover
8/4/2013 Clean engine bay
8/4/2013 Replace LR brake caliper
8/4/2013 RR caliper return spring
8/10/2013 Brake & clutch hydraulic fluid flush with ATE Super Blue
8/11/2013 WRD lowering springs & Koni STR.T front shocks installed
8/18/2013 Brushed aluminum cup holder cover and ashtray cover
8/25/2013 Depo E-Code headlights, install fog light wiring harness
9/14/2013 Aspherical mirrors and floor mat posts
11/22/2013 Kumho Ecsta LX tires installed on Aristo replica rims
1/4/2014 Changed oil and oil filter; liquimoly 5w40. Air filter. Cabin filter. 4 glow plugs
1/5/2014 Changed fuel filter. Installed wheel spacers
1/11/2014 Viton fuel return lines
1/17/2014 Helix projector headlights and Lamin-x, Hood pull cotter pin
1/18/2014 Magnetic oil drain plug, CTS, aluminum belly pan, 1/2 qt of Redling 30wt racing oil
1/19/2014 LED hatch lights
1/26/2014 Rear floormat posts
1/31/2014 Parcel shelf
2/9/2014 Install cyclonic air/oil separator
3/29/2014 Replace trans & dogbone mount inserts.
4/19/2014 Installed poly front strut mounts, removed rear upper spring mounts
4/20/2014 Radio cage, brushed aluminum console trim & e-brake button. Remove 12v outlet cover
5/3/2014 Replace glow plug harness, install 12V outlet cover in hatch
5/24/2014 Installed komfortblinker and lighted Jetta vents

278,000 miles on it today and it keeps getting better. Best tank to date was 52.5 mpg. Keep in mind it has a .681 5th gear (which was something I didn't know before flying to buy the car! bonus!) and some unknown software.

Major next steps are to tackle the exterior body panels; bumpers, side skirts and rear spoiler. I'm not digging the poly front spring mounts (turn-in is great, but they transmit too much noise and every little bump) so I'll probably go back to OEM mounts + 10mm spacer sometime soon. Custom exhaust is needed to look OE R32... Much to come.

One last pic for today, because details matter:

very nice

Great looking car and great write up too.

Looks good. Keep us updated...

Looking great. If money were no issue, R32 front and rear bumpers and steering wheel would really finish it off nice.

This is what I would love my car to look like:

That's what mine will look like eventually, except green. 4 door and everything. I got the r32 front bumper, gli side skirts, and 20th anniversary rear. Need to finish the engine and get everything painted first. I like all your tasteful mods.

Great write up! I've been trying to follow the same plan, but always seem to make repairs rather than mods. Good luck!

Thanks for the compliments, it's getting there! I've got a couple updates to post.

In the meantime, I'm selling the Long Beach rims and tires if anyone's interested, and the Depo e-codes.

How do you like the wheels? I've heard mixed reviews on that company.

BlankThis said:

How do you like the wheels? I've heard mixed reviews on that company.

Click to expand...

The Aristo reps? Love them. The quality is great and the price is better. I was almost expecting to be disappointed in some way, but they're absolutely as promised.

The only difference I know of between these and original equipment is that OE Aristos are only 7.5 inches wide, but also a little heavier. One could question how they managed to add a 1/2" of rim width and also shaved a pound or two off each wheel, but even with the higher rate WRD springs and poly strut mounts (that I recently removed) they are still perfectly straight and true despite hitting several significant pot holes so no signs of being weak.

head lights

Wish I would have read your post here before I bought your headlights . Hopefully my taste is less discerning than yours and maybe I can be happy with them .it will be harder to love em now that you bagged on em though . On a seperately note the golf looks great .nice build.

fishguru69 said:

Wish I would have read your post here before I bought your headlights

Click to expand...

There's nothing unique about this pair vs. any other Depo e-codes. You'll find varying opinions and pictures of the beam if you've looked.

I probably wouldn't have been happy with anything short of what I have now, which is Morimoto Mini H1 projectors retrofitted into Helix euro R32 replica housings.

Very Nice.

mj.

...which brings me to this update.

Did some work on the headlights:




You can see the full retrofit here, but I'm very pleased with the outcome. This was a very worthwhile mod so I hope my guide encourages others to attempt the same thing.

Here are some finished pics:
All lights off:


Yellow city lights and yellow fogs:


All on:

Also wired it for a stereo install:




1/0 gauge power wire from Knukonceptz:




The hatch currently looks like this:


Sub amp:


Currently disconnected, but will power the front stage:


Cut a little foam off the back and moved the tools here:


Battery sits perfectly on the lip in the spare rim:


Knukonceptz battery termnials:



I didn't manage to get any pics, but I also removed the rear side seat panels, put Raammat on them and ran a 4 channel Knukonceptz rca cable down the center tunnel under the console. I'm currently using a line out converter from the rear channels as an intermediary solution to power just the sub amp.

I drove to MN and back to Phx and didn't want to go without bass so I threw this in here:

It's an old Kicker Solo 8" that I had sitting around. Turns out I like it up front as much as I thought I would so I'm now contemplating creative solutions like;


Still lots of finishing touches left to do;
- Tidy up wiring in hatch
- Create underfloor (from ABS?) for OE hatch floor cover to sit on
- Decide on sub and placement
- Audible Physics midbasses in doors
- Audible Physics widebands in the kickpanels
- A ton more...

So do you happen to have a part number for the lighted vents?
What cars were they in?

Thanks for your write up. I just purchased the euro side mirrors after reading your comments on them. I keep seeing newer cars with the integrated blind spot mirrors but was not aware that they were available for our cars. How easy was the install? Do you simply pull the OEM mirror off and press the new one's on?

PS: Nice older PPI amps!

Euro Side Mirrors

Where does one buy the Euro Side Mirrors?

Sweet project. You're doing great with it.

Very cool. Post an update when you can. Really enjoyed reading thru this.

I didn't read the whole thread but may I ask what brand, type and thickness of sound absorber material did you use?

CHeers.

Wow! PP sedona amps! I have one just like the 200ix that I'm pretty sure is 25 years old. It still pounds in the the trunk of my 2dr golf. I like your project, you are doing a lot of the same things I have done over the years.