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Thu May 15, 2014
18:35
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I had purchased a VF Engineering "pendulum" transmission mount from the good people at ECS Tuning a while back,
and I finally felt good enough (after a recent neck injury) to install it. The 3.2 VR6 in the R32 makes a bunch
of torque, so those factory rubber mounts take a real beating. Soft and unpredictable throttle response, lurchy
downshifts, and less-than-crisp upshifts can all result from this. I don't know what the DSG R32s felt like
when they were new, but I know what mine (with 96,000 miles on it) felt like when I got it. I had chalked up
the strange throttle response to it being drive-by-wire, but the lurchy downshifts were especially annoying.
The VF Engineering mount, shown below, uses a polyurethane insert to fill up the voids in the factory rubber
mount on the chassis side, to increase rigidity. I bought the full mount, which includes the aluminum
"pendulum" parts, fitted with polyurethane bushings:
It was a breeze to install - it only took about an hour, and that was with the kids "helping". To install
the poly insert, I greased it up with a little bit of petroleum jelly and tapped it into place with a rubber
mallet. If you're just doing this one mount, supporting the engine isn't necessary (but it can help the bolts
come out a bit easier), this mount only keeps the motor from rocking back and forth on the other remaining
mounts. I needed to use a jack to crowd the engine just a bit to get the holes to line up when installing
the new mount.
The mount made a very noticeable difference. The throttle response is definitely sharper, downshifts are
amazingly good now, and upshifts are a little bit more crisp. I noticed absolutely no difference in
vibrations or harshness coming through the chassis.
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A1 parts for sale:
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Item: Intake air pre-heat hose (from exhaust manifold shroud to air box), for Scirocco 2 (1982+)
Condition: New
$12
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A2 parts for sale:
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Item: GTI dual-round grille with inner lights, bulbs, and lower trim strip
Condition: Used, lower trim strip is weathered.
$35
Item: Parcel shelf strap, 3 available
Condition: New
$3.50 ea.
Item: 8 (eight) valve guides, German, standard size, for 8 valve head
Condition: New
$24
Item: Wheel cylinder (for rear drums, obviously), 2 available.
Condition: New
$12 ea.
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A3 parts for sale:
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Item: Parcel shelf strap, 3 available
Condition: New
$3.50 ea.
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A4 parts for sale:
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Item: OEM Water pump, ALH engines
Condition: Used, 130,000 miles
$20
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