Maisonian's Carbon Candy
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 4:38 pm
Greetings all!
I purchased my 2011 Scirocco R a few months ago from Manchester and brought her to a new home in the south. I absolutely adore the aggressive design and power under the hood and have plans to subtly modify the car to make it my own. Previous to this car, I had owned a 1.8T 25th Anniversary Golf; a fantastic car with plenty of 'oomph' and a timeless look so my heart was set on something in the 'unusual' category.
Needless to say, this car did not disappoint! Driving a semi-automatic DSG took a little getting used to, having always driven a manual, but with the option for manual gear changes from the Tiptronic/Paddles I was set (plus automatic is a godsend in the morning rush-hour commute).
However, there were a few minor issues to address; lack of Bluetooth functionality, no bonnet gas-struts and the dull-as-mud cup holders...
A plan began to take shape.
The Bluetooth functionality was relatively easy to solve after some extensive research. The box of trick under the driver's seat turned out to be the wrong one for the car (the more I dug, the more it looked like the internals had been switched out at some point in its life); a quick order of the correct one for the RNS 510 Headunit and away it went! A clear of the error codes through VCDS and the unit was plug-and-play, all working as intended.
I ordered the dual gas strut kit off Ebay following the guidance in this topic (http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... 37&t=16760" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.) The kit fitted like a glove and provides excellent support for the bonnet when raised. I'm honestly very surprised that the scirocco didn't come with this as standard (even my mum's 2003 Polo has these!) but it was an easy job with a useful outcome. Since taking the photo, the side rubbers have been cut and re-fitted to accomodate the closing bonnet struts.
The next mod attempted was the dreaded covered cup holder (http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... =38&t=1393" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). I ordered the required pieces from a breakers merchant on Ebay, paying about £40 each for OEM parts for both the front and rear. Enlisting the help of my mechanically-minded father, we set about the unenviable task of fitting the central cup holder. For those of you who have not seen this mod before, the locating screws for the cup holder are located UNDER the central console; so to retrofit another one, be prepared to take it out. All of it. We'd read around the subject and followed the advice to 'remove the rear arm rest assembly' first. This proved to be an excellent shout, making access to the whole central assembly a lot easier. The operation was essentially a gigantic Puzz-3D exercise, coupled with a "hunt the torque screw" hide and seek. A few skinned knuckles and two hours later, we'd successfully fitted the sliding cup holder and re-assembled the central console (with the obligatory one screw left over). For those of you tempted to go for this mod, make sure you have patience, flexibility and an awesome Old Man who you can rely on for backup
The rear fold-out cup holder went in 1000x easier, removing the back pannel of the arm rest and two screws to replace.
Mission accomplished, the insides were done! Yes, a little bit of aggro for what is a relatively minor cosmetic change, but all in all I was pretty happy with the outcome. Onto the outside refinements!
Having a bit of an unhealthy love for carbon fibre, I scoured the internet & happened across some tasteful mods for the Scirocco R. Kerscher have been the first to provide a front lip spoiler at around the £300 mark. 5 weeks after parting with the cash, it has arrived in all its carbon glory! Just waiting on some Stainless Steel fittings and I shall have this mounted on the front!
On the cards is a CF rear diffuser (current contenders are the Vary Riefe at a whopping £800 or the matching Kerscher at a more reasonably £400) and CF wing mirror caps. Later on, I plan to repaint the calipers (yellow is at the forefront of my mind currently), add spacers (15mm), change out the alloys and invest in some performance components with a stage 2 remap in mind. Any further changes I'll post in this thread as and when they happen!
Thanks for stopping by to read, I'll leave you with some photos from a good detailing session this afternoon and a mess about with the camera.
I purchased my 2011 Scirocco R a few months ago from Manchester and brought her to a new home in the south. I absolutely adore the aggressive design and power under the hood and have plans to subtly modify the car to make it my own. Previous to this car, I had owned a 1.8T 25th Anniversary Golf; a fantastic car with plenty of 'oomph' and a timeless look so my heart was set on something in the 'unusual' category.
Needless to say, this car did not disappoint! Driving a semi-automatic DSG took a little getting used to, having always driven a manual, but with the option for manual gear changes from the Tiptronic/Paddles I was set (plus automatic is a godsend in the morning rush-hour commute).
However, there were a few minor issues to address; lack of Bluetooth functionality, no bonnet gas-struts and the dull-as-mud cup holders...
A plan began to take shape.
The Bluetooth functionality was relatively easy to solve after some extensive research. The box of trick under the driver's seat turned out to be the wrong one for the car (the more I dug, the more it looked like the internals had been switched out at some point in its life); a quick order of the correct one for the RNS 510 Headunit and away it went! A clear of the error codes through VCDS and the unit was plug-and-play, all working as intended.
I ordered the dual gas strut kit off Ebay following the guidance in this topic (http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... 37&t=16760" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.) The kit fitted like a glove and provides excellent support for the bonnet when raised. I'm honestly very surprised that the scirocco didn't come with this as standard (even my mum's 2003 Polo has these!) but it was an easy job with a useful outcome. Since taking the photo, the side rubbers have been cut and re-fitted to accomodate the closing bonnet struts.
The next mod attempted was the dreaded covered cup holder (http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... =38&t=1393" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). I ordered the required pieces from a breakers merchant on Ebay, paying about £40 each for OEM parts for both the front and rear. Enlisting the help of my mechanically-minded father, we set about the unenviable task of fitting the central cup holder. For those of you who have not seen this mod before, the locating screws for the cup holder are located UNDER the central console; so to retrofit another one, be prepared to take it out. All of it. We'd read around the subject and followed the advice to 'remove the rear arm rest assembly' first. This proved to be an excellent shout, making access to the whole central assembly a lot easier. The operation was essentially a gigantic Puzz-3D exercise, coupled with a "hunt the torque screw" hide and seek. A few skinned knuckles and two hours later, we'd successfully fitted the sliding cup holder and re-assembled the central console (with the obligatory one screw left over). For those of you tempted to go for this mod, make sure you have patience, flexibility and an awesome Old Man who you can rely on for backup
The rear fold-out cup holder went in 1000x easier, removing the back pannel of the arm rest and two screws to replace. Mission accomplished, the insides were done! Yes, a little bit of aggro for what is a relatively minor cosmetic change, but all in all I was pretty happy with the outcome. Onto the outside refinements!
Having a bit of an unhealthy love for carbon fibre, I scoured the internet & happened across some tasteful mods for the Scirocco R. Kerscher have been the first to provide a front lip spoiler at around the £300 mark. 5 weeks after parting with the cash, it has arrived in all its carbon glory! Just waiting on some Stainless Steel fittings and I shall have this mounted on the front!
On the cards is a CF rear diffuser (current contenders are the Vary Riefe at a whopping £800 or the matching Kerscher at a more reasonably £400) and CF wing mirror caps. Later on, I plan to repaint the calipers (yellow is at the forefront of my mind currently), add spacers (15mm), change out the alloys and invest in some performance components with a stage 2 remap in mind. Any further changes I'll post in this thread as and when they happen!
Thanks for stopping by to read, I'll leave you with some photos from a good detailing session this afternoon and a mess about with the camera.
