MeTsU's 9N3 TDi - Sooty from South Africa

[_po_low_]

looks stunning mate.

if it was my car i change to smaller tires.

greetz

Thanks David.

I would run a smaller tyre if I didn't race.

then buy a second set of wheels

[MeTsU]

Please excuse the poor photos, I'm certainly far from good when it comes to taking shots at night.

Left airvent surround installed:


Right airvent surround installed:


Removing the ashtray:


Centre console:


Installing centre console - I forgot to take a photo of the ashtray:


Centre console coming together:


Centre console finished - for now:


I've still got some final polishing to do. I still need to have the stop tray section, blank off below the radio, the cuppholder, the card holder and the fan control surround done. I am ecstatic with the quality of workmanship. The photo's don't do the parts justice.

The gentleman doing the Carbon Fibre work is very well respected and I certainly see why. The value of the work is close on R6k, but the cost to have this done is close on the R3k mark.

I look forward to completing the centre console.

Ciao, Matteo

[Karson3270]

That looks absolutely stunning MeTsU's! You inspire me so much with the amount of work you have done! Absolutely brilliant! Keep it up!

[MeTsU]

That looks absolutely stunning MeTsU's! You inspire me so much with the amount of work you have done! Absolutely brilliant! Keep it up!

Thanks Karson3270. I appreciate your kind words.

[jimlad09]

this really transforms the dash! dramatically! looks stunning! well worth the fiddly job of fitting (and nerve racking if u cant get it bk on! ha)

[Shaheenem]

Looks really awesome bud! Im really starting to like this carbon fibre stuff!

[MeTsU]

this really transforms the dash! dramatically! looks stunning! well worth the fiddly job of fitting (and nerve racking if u cant get it bk on! ha)

Thanks jimlad09. What I like about it, is that's it's actually rather subtle. You notice something is different in the interior, and when you actually "look" you notice it's rather different.

[MeTsU]

Looks really awesome bud! Im really starting to like this carbon fibre stuff!

Thank you Shaheenem. I was a little sceptical at first, but if done properly with real CF, it is mighty rewarding!

[Dennis]

you're doing a great job mate!keep it up!

[MeTsU]

you're doing a great job mate!keep it up!

Thank you Dennis. Appreciate your comments. Progress will be slow for a while, but I've still got a couple more years ahead of me.

[Turbomier]

cool dash.
thought of doing that to my polo also.
if i only knew where to begin is it a carbon sticker or is it real carbon?

[MeTsU]

cool dash.
thought of doing that to my polo also.
if i only knew where to begin is it a carbon sticker or is it real carbon?

Thanks Turbomier. As mentioned to Karson3270 on the previous page, that is real Carbon Fibre mate. Something like this would probably cost in the region of 500GBP if done by the same gentleman - he was originally based in Germany. Because of our market here, this work costs in the region of 250GBP.

[MeTsU]

Mini-update:

A week or so ago, I did a mufflerectomy - so Sooty's running a straight pipe from turbo to the turn down at the rear. I must admit, it took a little getting used to for the first week, but I'm starting to enjoy the tone. It really is a different sound for a diesel and to be able to hear the vanes snapping open under light to moderate load - gives a rather perspective on a diesel.

Whilst fitting the Carbon Fibre centre console, side air vents and ashtray, I replaced the standard leather boot with a Polo GTi boot. The hand brake lever will follow shortly.

At the same time, I decided to get the nose in the air, drop the belly pan and pull the dogbone mount - and to my surprise, it looked rather healthy. I decided to fit the spare dogbone from the Polo Cup car - it's a 90 shove (orange) poly bushed mount. Immediately on startup you notice the mount is a lot firmer than the standard one. Obviously, added NVH is to be expected, but not as badly as I thought it would be.

There is still a feeling of "a rocking motor" with this mount in, although, it is a more aggressive movement, with less travel. To be honest, I don't think that is it the motor, but the DMF not taking up correctly due to the springs starting to really wear out - I have a feeling they have lost some of their "tension".

My standard mount is busy being poly bushed - I decided to go for 70 shove (black). This should help in keeping some of the NVH at bay, whilst giving some rigidity. I should get this back around mid-week and will fit it.

Ciao, Matteo.

[MeTsU]

I've decided that I won't be racing in the Regional series I competed in last season - I won't go into great detail due to them being so long winded - but the short version is that there's a lot of politics going on and due to having fully prep'd, stripped and caged race cars competing my class, which is supposed to be solely for everyday road going vehicles (daily drives), I won't be running. Anyway...

Here's a few photo's from today's 1st Trackday for the year 2010. I'm glad that I've finally finished off these terribly dry rotted Pirelli P6000's. I think it's time to invest in a set of semi's - they will work out best bang for buck and certainly last a lot longer. My times were ok. I was far off my usual times, due to the tyres, as well as needing to start doing setup on the coilovers. We know what works for the road, but today was the first bit of track time. I did a few laps on my street setting, came in and set the dampers to full hard, and went back out. It was a great improvement over the street setting that I use, but I feel that I need to look into running a high spring rate spring setup. Time will tell.

[MeTsU]