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Volkswagen Golf: More Cleaning—and New Steamrollers Jul 30, 2009

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Our 1995 Golf is slowly becoming presentable. This past weekend, we finished up the bulk of the interior cleaning by completely disassembling the cabin and replacing the carpet. We took apart most of the dashboard as well as the seats, door and quarter panels. After about five hours of cleaning, we installed some good used carpet from VWParts4Sale.com.

Our worn-out and out-of-round tires were replaced with some new rolling stock. We chose Konig’s new 15x7.5-inch Retrack wheel and Nitto’s 225/45R15 NT01 tire for track duty. (We’ll also be ordering a set of 16x7-inch Retracks with some 205/40R16 Nitto NeoGen tires for street use.) The red finish and fat lip look great on our Golf—and will look even better when we replace the entire suspension and lower the car a touch.

The Nittos and Konig wheels were sourced from Discount Tire Direct. Their prices were good, and they shipped the wheel and tire package quickly. Want to cut out shipping costs? You can also purchase tires and wheels through one of the company’s regional dealers.

Next up, we’ll be tackling some much-needed maintenance and diving into our suspension work.

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Comments

scardeal:

I really hope you use that red elsewhere on the body, because as it is now, those rims look way out of place…
Jul 30, 2009 12:02 p.m.

ZOOMX5:

Will you be going with red Retracks on the 16'' street set? The car is looking good so far. I can agree with scardeal, but at least the car doesn't look generic anymore!
Jul 30, 2009 10:48 p.m.

Per Schroeder:

The red actually matches our logo's red pretty well, so there will be some graphic touches here and there—but it will still be pretty distinctive—which is the point. The street wheels are going to be red as well. Appliance Direct: If you didn't buy a Golf, you paid too much!
Jul 31, 2009 6:12 a.m.

d_jabsd:

It is looking great so far. I'm digging the red wheels. They draw your eyes down so you don't notice the stock ride height ;)
Jul 31, 2009 7:47 a.m.

Powar:

Those wheels look nice. Love the lip.
Jul 31, 2009 8:24 a.m.

speedblind:

Really looking forward to this project. Looks like a good start.
Jul 31, 2009 1:10 p.m.

Travis_K:

How far are you planning to go with the suspension? You can get almost anything for golfs. lol One suggestion on the bushings would be to use the r32 solid rubber ones rather than poly on the rear of the front a-arms. According to people I know who have tried both, they give a noticably better steering feel than the poly ones.
Aug 6, 2009 5:14 p.m.

jungle:

225's will be more rubber than the motor will be able to use….I'd bet your lap times will be better on 205's…
Aug 7, 2009 4:05 p.m.

Per Schroeder:

For track? sure. For autocross, more is almost always better. I'm eyeing 275/35R15 Hoosiers on 15x9s for the fronts with 225s on the rear.
Aug 7, 2009 5:09 p.m.

scardeal:

Do the 15x7.5s rub or anything? Tirerack doesn't like putting them on a Jetta. (Are the wheel wells different on a Jetta?)
Nov 23, 2009 8:47 a.m.

Per Schroeder:

The 225/45R15s rub a little bit in the rear with these wheels, but I rolled the fender so it's better now.
Nov 23, 2009 10:47 a.m.

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