Coming from the euro game // mk6sean&sarah's build thread

[mk6sean]

Hey everyone,

I've been on this forum for quite some time now and I feel it's time to start a build thread rather than posting in all of the aftermarket threads lol.

To start, I'm Sean and I've been involved in the european car scene for about 4 years now. It sort of started with an 05' Passat that I had in high school. I had very subtle mods done to it and intentions for more but constant repairs really broke the bank.

Shortly after that I picked up a 2013 Jetta S and it was my baby. That was the car that got me really into the car scene I'd say. I learned about suspension, wheels, OEM+ Mods, and almost everything else I know from that car... Around the time I first got that car (the first month actually) I started dating my girlfriend, Sarah. To make a long story short, the jetta evolved from a static setup on OEM Audi Wheels (common in the euro scene) to bagged, independent rear suspension swapped, and on aftermarket wheels.

https://flic.kr/p/wDn4xG

https://flic.kr/p/wJanrG


Sarah and I took that car to multiple shows including SoWo in Helen, GA and H2Oi in Ocean City, MD. After the 2015 show season was over, I ended up parting out this car and getting an R32. (3.2l hatchback from VW)

Throughout the build processes of my Jetta, Sarah lent a helping hand and played a huge role in making that car what it was.

When I met her, she had driven a 2011 Malibu lease that her dad set her up in. Around June of 2014 I wanna say, her lease was just about due and she needed to get into something else. She originally wanted to get a GTI (sorry guys!) from being around euro cars so much, But her dad being one of the head honchos at GM here in Buffalo was pretty set on getting her into another chevy. I helped her look online at different models and we came across the sonic. It was sporty, "cute", and affordable. We talked to her dad and ended up finding a 14" LT Hatch. Dark Gray, with the backup camera, and upgraded 16" alloys.

That summer (my static days) we went to various local shows and get togethers. The winter came and we hadn't really toyed with the idea of modding the sonic, so the jetta build was top priority. Then in the Spring of 2015 we made the 15 hour drive to SoWo. After a crazy, and I mean crazy... weekend of cars and german beer, she really grew fond of the car community. On the way home we searched around online and came across this forum. She's kinda shy, so I joined and it led us to a world of possibility with a car that we didn't even know people modded! (Sorry I'm so naive, just being honest!)

June of that year, we decided to get started and I found a set of used BC Type R coilovers on here. To the best of my knowledge, they were a custom set originally ordered by iraqvet to go super low. The day they came in the mail, we threw them on and man did they deliver.

https://flic.kr/p/CU2TBR


The rest of the summer we enjoyed the sonic as is and scraped literally everywhere we went. :banana:


Picked this up at H2Oi in Ocean City, MD.


https://flic.kr/p/CBuPnz


We raised it this past November, bought snow tires for the stock wheels, and installed Doorman Universal Heated Seats under the upholstery. Over the winter we've been looking at aftermarket wheels and just yesterday we decided on 1552 Turbomacs.

We're gonna try and keep modest specs since this is our first set of wheels for the car and I'm still new to sonic fitment. More than likely 17x8 et30-35. As far as tires I don't know yet.


Too long, didn't read? I thought so...


Car
-2014 Sonic LT Hatch
-Backup Camera
-Lane Assist
-Upgraded 16" Alloys

--------------------------

Mods
-Custom BC Type R Coilovers // About 1" ftg measuring from front lip.
-OEM Roof Rails
-38" Thule Fairing custom fit to rails
-5000k HID Low Beams
-3M HD Gloss Black wrapped logos
-Lamix Smoked Film for Tail lights
-Doorman Universal Heated Seats Driver & Passenger
-Firestone Snow tires on stock wheels
-LED Foglight Bulbs
-Fifteen52 Turbomacs Rally White 17x8 et34 Squared

--------------------------

Plans
-Potential wrap
-Get lower
-Bag over coil set up w/ autopilot v2 / OR new coilovers.

--------------------------

Sorry that was so long, but I hope you enjoyed the story line. I'll continue to update this thread with progress.

@mndgmes

 

[Dubbs_RS]

I kinda went backwards from how you did it. Picked up a Sonic RS in 2013. Modded it for a while and had some fun with it.

Then picked up an R32 last Spring. Still have the Sonic, but most of my time is spent on the VW. Do you still have your R32??

 

[mk6sean]

I kinda went backwards from how you did it. Picked up a Sonic RS in 2013. Modded it for a while and had some fun with it.

Then picked up an R32 last Spring. Still have the Sonic, but most of my time is spent on the VW. Do you still have your R32??

The sonic is my girlfriends car and its her project, I just do most of the research / math behind it lol. I have the R32 as my project and I actually just got it in August. I'm working on getting it ready for sowo in the spring. I just picked up wheels and suspension this past month. Hopefully a united motorsports tune will be in the works also.


Mine is a TR MK5. What's yours?

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[Dubbs_RS]

The sonic is my girlfriends car and its her project, I just do most of the research / math behind it lol. I have the R32 as my project and I actually just got it in August. I'm working on getting it ready for sowo in the spring. I just picked up wheels and suspension this past month. Hopefully a united motorsports tune will be in the works also.


Mine is a TR MK5. What's yours?

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Ah okay. In my case, sonic is mine and I still mod it, but my girlfriend is the one to drive it most of the time.

I have a BMP MK4 with an HPA DTM 7670 Turbo kit.

 

[JustSonic]

That is a beautiful VW Dubbs! Not the biggest fan of that generation but it looks magnificent.

 

[mk6sean]

Ah okay. In my case, sonic is mine and I still mod it, but my girlfriend is the one to drive it most of the time.

I have a BMP MK4 with an HPA DTM 7670 Turbo kit.

Ahh so jealous of the mk4... When I was in the market for an .:R, I wanted a DBP MK4 but I couldn't find any low mileage, non molested cars that were reasonably priced. I figured since I was getting rid of my jetta that had 28k, I needed something that would also work well as a reliable daily. I ended up getting my mkv with 48k. Tornado red wasn't my first choice either but I got a smokin deal on it.

Did you buy yours turbo'd? That's something I've always wanted to do but its pricey. It's gotta be super fun to drive though.

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[mk6sean]

That is a beautiful VW Dubbs! Not the biggest fan of that generation but it looks magnificent.

Thank you! That thing was my baby lol. I've got more pictures on my instagram if you wanted to see them. ( @mndgmes ) I figured two on here was sufficient. I didn't wanna flood our sonic build thread with all euro stuff.

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[TheGreenDragon]

https://flic.kr/p/CBuPnz

Daaaawwww! You've got a keeper.

Hard to find a lady that shares an interest in cars. I blame modern culture parenting stereotypes (boys should play with cars, girls with dolls, blah blah blah).

I'm lucky that my wife enjoys talking cars with me, even if she likes the older 40s era classics.

 

[Dubbs_RS]

Did you buy yours turbo'd? That's something I've always wanted to do but its pricey. It's gotta be super fun to drive though.

Not to keep adding more Euro content or anything, but...

Finding a good MK4 is hard. I lucked out and my girlfriend's brother wanted to sell his to get and STI. He was gracious enough to basically let me steal it off him. I bought it with about 60k miles on it and I daily it.

I did buy it with the turbo on it. Absolute blast to drive turbo'd. The HPA DTM Kit is fairly affordable (I mean as far as turbo kits go...) at around $5k. It's low boost, non-intercooled and still stock compression (11.3:1). Haven't dyno' it, but it's rated at about 350 hp. They have options to be able to upgrade for even more power!

Turbo'd or not, the R32's are definitely something special. Love those cars!

 

[mk6sean]

Not to keep adding more Euro content or anything, but...

Finding a good MK4 is hard. I lucked out and my girlfriend's brother wanted to sell his to get and STI. He was gracious enough to basically let me steal it off him. I bought it with about 60k miles on it and I daily it.

I did buy it with the turbo on it. Absolute blast to drive turbo'd. The HPA DTM Kit is fairly affordable (I mean as far as turbo kits go...) at around $5k. It's low boost, non-intercooled and still stock compression (11.3:1). Haven't dyno' it, but it's rated at about 350 hp. They have options to be able to upgrade for even more power!

Turbo'd or not, the R32's are definitely something special. Love those cars!

I hear ya. I looked for months and everything that had less than 80k was priced in the high teens, low twenties... A buddy of mine who had a MK5 ended up convincing me to give the DSG a chance and test drive his. I'm not gonna lie, after I drove it and really womped on it, the dsg totally grew on me. So I turned to the mkv classifieds and found mine. I really wanted the DBP but this one was priced to sell and I got a smoking deal on it.

I'll turbo mine and do cool things one day. Right now I still have the itch to be wide and low, so it'll be bagged :x and then I've got a set of staggered tarmacs 18x8.5/9.5 that it will be on. I really wanted to go with full interior color swap and do a peanut butter black and tan but I didn't realize how expensive it would be to switch cars when you're not trading one in. I still have my jetta parked in the garage waiting for someone to buy it. Two car payments suckkk!

 

[mk6sean]

***Update on the Sonic***

Sorry to spam the thread with euro stuff.

Turbomacs are being ordered this week. Final spec choice is 17x8 et34. As far as tires, what would you guys reccomend? I'm thinking a 215/45/17. That way we can still get the car low and we'll have a little bit of comfort so when she hits potholes I won't have to cry on the inside hahahah.

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[mk6sean]

So the 1552 turbomac dream is starting to go sour... I talked to a friend who could get quotes through them 3 weeks ago. We basically set up a custom offset, color, and bolt pattern wheel. He then had me take the quote directly to 1552 through email and communication isn't one of their best attributes. I emailed them with the quote saying I would be paypal ready as soon as they got back to me... well to make a long story short, they've handed me off to 2 different people who I've had to explain my quote to and who can't email back if their lives depended on it.... Kinda irritating when you're basically saying take my money I can pay you right now...

So, I think we're gonna branch off to other companies. Rotiform was one of our second companies on the list. We like the idea of CCV's or BLQ's. The only problem is that I don't think they make them in 17s.

thoughts?

 

[Dubbs_RS]

That sucks man.

My vote is on the second set personally (on the Golf), but I'm not a big fan of really solid wheels like the first set. I've seen people run 18's on the Sonic no problem.

 

[mk6sean]

Now I feel kinda bad... Sure enough shortly after I posted that, 1552 emailed me apologizing for the confusion and the lack of emails on their end. The original plan was to take a 5x100 set of turbomacs and use inserts to make them 5x105. They couldn't find a set of 5x100 Rally White turbomacs anywhere in their warehouse, so they emailed me and said that they were gonna they were gonna take a raw set to make our desired specs, bolt pattern, and color rather than on an existing wheel. This method would be much more costly and they are doing it for the same price. We ended up sending the payment over today and we should get them in a few weeks.

 

[mk6sean]

That sucks man.

My vote is on the second set personally (on the Golf), but I'm not a big fan of really solid wheels like the first set. I've seen people run 18's on the Sonic no problem.

I feel like it's either hit or miss on fat faced wheels. I had a set of audi monoblocks on my jetta and I loved them. They didn't sit well with a lot of people though...

1552 ended up coming through shortly after that first post so turbomacs are on the way...

Final specs 17x8 et34. I'm kinda nervous to see the ending result since I have very little knowledge of sonic fitment.

 

[TheGreenDragon]

Glad to hear it all got sorted out! I had a nice picture and everything prepared just in case it all fell through. You know, because I get bored and I like photoshop.

 

[mk6sean]

Got my .:R partially bagged yesterday ended up running out of air line so the install will continue tomorrow.

Still waiting on the wheels from 1552. Once we get those and get some rubber sorted out we'll drop the coilovers again. I have a feeling that they are gonna need a rebuild soon though. They seem kinda sloppy lately.

 

[carsNskis]

I miss working for VW. The scene is ridiculous... from all show (like your Jetta S) to all go (rode in a 600hp R32) there's a niche for everyone....and then the classics!

The EA888 is such a monster, and responds so well to bolt ons. Wish GM would step up and drop a euro spec 2.0 in the Sonic...

.....drive it like you still owe the bank money

 

[mk6sean]

One more shot just because it's finally done and I'm in love with it again...

I miss working for VW. The scene is ridiculous... from all show (like your Jetta S) to all go (rode in a 600hp R32) there's a niche for everyone....and then the classics!

The EA888 is such a monster, and responds so well to bolt ons. Wish GM would step up and drop a euro spec 2.0 in the Sonic...

.....drive it like you still owe the bank money

Yeah some of the things you see are pretty interesting. I was telling people on here last August that they should make it out to ocean city for h2o in October. It used to be strictly VW but now it's pretty much anything goes and its a super fun time.

As far as VW's go, this one may be my last unless I get another R32 / Golf R. I love VW and I love their line up, but it irritates me that they don't offer more AWD or even RWD options.

 

[mk6sean]

Again, sorry for the lack of Sonic content... We're still waiting on the 1552s. Once the wheels come in and we can confirm that they fit, we'll order tires and get low. In the meantime we've got some laminx waiting to go on and ideas to wrap part of the rear bumper. I'll try and snap some pictures soon.

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