2010 marks the 35th anniversary of GMP Performance and to commemorate this, we are building a 2010 MK6 GTI reminiscent of the vehicle that started the company, our 1975 Rabbit race car. The Rabbit was the platform to showcase GMP's products then and the MK6 will feature products of today. We will be teaming up with the industries leading manufacturer's to upgrade the performance, suspension and aesthetics in the next 30 days and will reveal the completed vehicle THAWOUT weekend, April 30th-May 1st.



The OG Rabbit in action at Road Atlanta. Follow the build: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zer...age=1

 

So work is underway on the MK6 we are dubbing ED35 and we dont have much time to get it done. Not to mention that we have our S3 build the Race Rabbit Restoration, getting ready for THAWOUT and taking care of business

The car came into the shop to immediately get wheel measurements sent off for the multi-piece gold mesh wheels that will shoe the project.
Here are shots of the MK6 next to its MK1 ancestry.

 

Good Afternoon Everyone,

This is the first update for the build thread and we already have a lot of pictures and info for you. I have taken delivery of the car. Candy White of course, 2 door with the Autobahn package and Navigation and 17" Denvers. As you can see its fresh off the truck with 8 miles on it I was pretty excited to see that.

Now for the good stuff.

We just finished installing and taking shots of the APR Stage 1 ECU Upgade and the Carbonio Intake. Removing the ECU (only the 2010 cars are required) on the MK6 is actually really not that diffult as I thought it would be. You know how prefessional techs can sometimes make difficult stuff look easy and after watching our tech doing it a few times already I thought like most people no way but when it came down to doing my own car (so that I could better assist you guys on the forums for those who don't have the luxury of living near an authorized APR distributor) it was a walk in the park.

The ECU is located directly underneath the windshield cow almost directly in the center of the car and underneath the winshield.
First step was to remove the caps and the bolts from the windshield wipers and then remove the wiper arms themselves. This may take a little wiggle of the wipers but they eventually slide off the motor arms.
Once that's done remove the rubber strips in front of the cow, then remove the cow itself. First there will be 4 screws 2 on each side, remove these first and slowly lift the cow up. An ECU cable is actually attached to the cow underneath so unhook the cable before you pull the cow out. As you can see in the picture above the ECU is right there once you remove the cow and the plastic cover in front of the windshield (sorry I forgot to add that as well.
The ECU slides out to the right and then rotate it clock wise and pull it out with the cable connectors facing the windshield like you see below.

Then you will need to cut slices into the one time use screws so that you can turn them out with a screw driver. It looks worse than it really is those sparks are harmless

Once that's done back the screws out and remove the chastity belt.


Then unplug the ECU Harnesses by sliding the tabs at each end outwards away from the ECU and then they should pull out like a printer cable from your desktop at home.

And that's pretty much it for the end user if they wanted to send their ECU into us to have it flashed simply package it well and ship out to GMP and we will send it back out the same day we receive it.
The steps taken below is what we are actually doing with your ECU once it arrives to GMP or if you came into GMP to have it done if you happen to live near the Carolinas.
As you can see below, first step is backing out the screws around the edges of the ECU. We wear a grounding wrist strap to keep our hands from shocking the ECU




Above is a cable APR made to connect to the ECU and at the other end connects to their programmer which is connected to our computer.


APR's program search engine for dummies makes it extremely easy for every APR dealer to pick the right software for your vehicle based upon the mods you already have. It narrows it right done to one program so that there's no mistakes.


Flipping the programmer on.
I don't ever use valet so I selected stock 91 93 and 100 octane.



It takes about 5 minutes to full program the ECU when its out of the car. Through the direct port its about 10-15 depending on internet speed.

APR always confirms on this screen if the download was successful or not.
After that close it back it and we will ship it back out or put it back in your car! You can always call me and I will gladly walk you through removing the ECU before you send it out to us just incase

 

So today's update is the Carbonio Intake added to the already powerful Stage 1 ECU upgrade from APR. I'll begin with step by step installation just like I did with the ECU upgrade and then give you guys some info on what my thoughts were on it.

Carbonio Intake Stage 1 Airbox Upgrade

Consists of the filter, Flange/tube to the MAF housing, and carbon air box.
Its best to start by removing the top cover of the factory air box and air dam tubing and then remove the bottom portion of the factory box. There are screws around the side of it that simply come out with a screw driver. There will be a little drain hose at the bottom of the factory airbox, you will not need this.



Next assemble the filter to the carbon flange, connect the silicone sleeve
to the MAF housing after you remove the MAF housing from the turbo inlet pipe and MAF sensor.

Put the filter in the air box and screw the two closed. Rubber washers are provided so you don't scratch the carbon with the metal washers and screws.
When your ready to put the intake into the engine bay line up the MAF so that when the air box is in the MAF Sensor housing is pointing straight up to the hood like it did when you pulled it out.

Review
At first I wasn't really impressed with the performance. At first I mean the day I drove it after the intake was installed. However after driving it for a few days and putting about 200+ miles on the car with it I have started to begin noticing a huge difference in power and throttle response. Its almost like the day we chipped it and I think it has to do with the ECU adapting to the added airflow and making adjustments to take advantage. The outside temps have been steady around 75-80 degrees during this "adaptation" period. Today was a little bit cooler this morning in the mid 50's and it was just about impossible to stay out of the throttle. I'm beginning to feel smoother acceleration at wide open throttle as well.
Sound-
I was really impressed with the sound of this intake from the get go. It doesn't make that loud sucking or wooshing sound like the other air intakes with exposed cone filters. It was like as if we turned up the engines volume button a couple notches Even though we sell these and it makes me a bit biased, I was an enthusiast first before I started working for GMP and so I'm always looking for must haves and best bang for the buck for my cars. This intake is a must have for those who are looking to improve upon the software a little bit but aren't quite ready for the exhaust or like the stock exhaust sound but want a little more sound and performance from the engine. For $299 and sometimes less when its on sale like it is now (stocked and ready to ship) its a great bang for the buck and lit looks pretty too

 

So this week my road to Stage 3 has officially started.

So far we have the full exhaust removed. The intake system including the turbo inlet pipe removed (and heat shield) along with the factory K03 turbo/manifold.
So for those contemplating the stage 3 upgrade here's how the install went.
First things first, get the car up in the air and remove the cat back exhaust system if you are upgrading to the full turbo exhaust (highly recommended).
This is quite simple and straight foward. There is a clamp right before the rear axle frame.
Then remove the two bottom bolts that hold the downpipe to the turbo and remove the O2 sensor.
Then lower the car back down take the same process as installing the Carbonio intake and remove your factory air box or carbonio intake system.





You will also need to remove the stage 2 pipe or turbo inlet pipe and the heat shield above the exhaust manifold as the turbo comes up through the top of the engine and fire wall.
To remove the turbo see the pictures below. Its a good idea to soak over night the head bolts and turbo flange bolts so that they dont brake inside the turbo flange or break off in the head. Replacement studs if need be for the turbo flange are a dollar a piece at the dealership if your just doing the downpipe.


Removing the oil and coolant lines.

 

Once you have the exhaust out the bottom turbo bolts loose, its time to remove the discharge pipe from the turbo to the intercooler. It looks like this and runs behind the passenger fender lining.

 

Above is a shot fromt he top of the engine bay down behind the engine in between the fire wall. There is a heat shield there you will need to remove this and the top head bolts that hold the exhaust manifold. The exhaust manifold doesn't have bottom screws just 5 at the top. Its held in place at the bottom with a wedge style bracket. This will come in handy when trying to line up the top exhaust manifold bolt holes during the installation if the larger garrett turbo. Almost works as a second pair of hands

Once your ready to remove the turbo, carefully start to bring it up through the top of the engine bay as you see above. I am told that the stock turbo is actually made in Japan and its not a K03 either on the TSI engines.

 

So this is as far as we got today. Right before it was time to stop and shut down we were able to assemble the heard of APR's Stage 3 package.

Our goal is to have it up and running by the end of the week so we can head up to VIR for APR's VW/Audi Corral. If your local to us and would like to caravan up please feel free to shoot me an email to mkrisel@gmpperformance.com




Tomorrow we start fitting APR's Stage 3 turbo to VW's 2.0 powerplant and the intercooler/plumming.
Below is a little teaser shot of what came in today right off the truck.

 

Wow.. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Hopefully that will be today!

 

Look forward to more updates...

 

Everything is complete now but the website that I have my pictures hosted with is down right now for repairs

 

Stage 3/Intercooler Installation Process and Pictures.

You will see below the process of installing APR's Stage 3 Turbo kit and misc accessories that's included and necessary for installation. Also included in this post will be pictures and steps how to install APR's intercooler as well just incase your on the fence about adding it to your already stage 1 or 2 set up.
Once you have the turbo mounted to the cast manifold and attached the cast down turn pipe its time to bolt it to the engine. First things first place the new exhaust manifold gasket provided by APR in the Stage 3 kit. APR's instructions tell you to slide the turbo assembly up behind the engine upside down or the down turn pipe outlet facing the hood of the car and then when you have it sitting upside down right where the exhaust outlets rotoate the turbo assmebly towards you so that the manifold is now lined up with the exhaust ports and the turn down cast pipe outlet is facing down to where the stock downpipe would be. This is a lot easier with two people. The manifold will rest on a little shelf thats already attached to the motor below the manifold exhaust ports. Then tilt the manifold towards the block and apply the copper nuts provided by APR as well by hand. The stud all the way to the driver side will be the only one you will be able to get to from the bottom of the car. Once you have this one on by hand lower the car down and put the others on by hand and then torque them down to 30 ft lbs.

You see the two copper nuts in this picture? The lower one holds that shelf I was walking about earlier, this doesn't need to come off the car at all. But the upper left copper stud is the one you can get from the bottom before you lower the car and apply the others. To the right is the turbo and to the left of the turbo (hot side) is the cast turn down pipe. This is the pipe when putting it up into this location should first be facing the hood of the car. This was a nice tip from APR and probably saved a lot of energy and about ten minutes or so trying to figure out how to get it up there lol because it won't go up in there with right side up.

Just a shot from the driver front fender well area.
To create some more room you can always disconnect the dog bone mount and the engine will rock back and forth can create a few extra inches of room
The next task is to go ahead and connect the silicone turbo inlet and outlet hoses and connect the oil and coolant feed and return lines, and last but not least assemble the divertervalve kit with your factory divertervalve.



Before you slide the hoses on to their location points make sure you loosen up the clams. APR doesn't send them tight but snug enough so that they are where they are supposed to be because there are a couple different size clamps and the right size clamp for the diameter hose outlet is important
Nice shot of the new air mass sensor housing. This part is very important because it helps APR finely tune their turbo kit by using a larger housing it creates better flow and readings from the sensor for smoother and reliable power

 

A shot inside the housing.

Just in case your wondering, I took all these shots from my Blackberry Tour...
Not too shabby for a cell phone camera


The machined piece that you see here that houses your oem diverter valve is machined in house by APR.

 

Here's a nice top side shot before the MAF housing was installed. Is that a think of beauty or what?