I remember reading that you'd like to upgrade to a bigger turbo at some point? if your going IS38 route I can recommend the HPA unit. I've had this used HPA IS38+ on my car with the APR high TQ tune for 5 years now and it hasn't blown up!

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Yea I'll definitely be upgrading to the IS38 at some point and will be going with an upgraded one for sure; HPA IS38+ is elite, Stratified STR38 I've heard good things about.

Yea need stage 2 tune and have the burbles programmed (fuel cutoff tweak), won't be doing that though....and yes they would be, need to throw TTRS bumpstops on the rear and it levels it out.

They would be the hatch springs or they would be the wagon springs? The suspension guy in me thinks your car is going to drive horrible with hatch springs and a heavy bump stop. You'll hit the bumpstop so often it's going to suck.

I kind of want to turn off the burbles on my car, but I can't do that without going for a tune, and I don't want to unlock the DME for anything. So I'm stuck with burbles.

I think he means the Audi TT rear spring pads, which I have installed on my GTI. Members on the Golf MK7 forums have used this combo with success so it's definitely easier than getting Euro Golf R wagon springs.

Speaking of which, there was someone local who has done the Golf R wagon front and rear bumpers and it looks great!

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Barely driven the car last year. After ice racing the clutch was slipping (ended up being a leaky release bearing) so I couldn’t go too crazy with it. No track days, a little autocross. Because I need to drop the trans to do the clutch I figured I’d do a full trans upgrade. So spent time ordering parts.

While waiting I wrapped the car. Didn’t 100% finish before this horrendous unrelenting rain crept in. Will finish things like mirrors/wing at some point.

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Dropped the trans. New seals, upgraded bearings, braided clutch lines, act throwout bearing, billet shift forks, carbon synchros, quaife lsd, bronze bushings, light flywheel, twin plate clutch etc etc. a bit overkill, but I want it to keep surviving awd clutch drops

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That looks awesome! I'd love to do billet forks one day... I forget what's actually in mine because Toyota went from steel to aluminum forks at one point. It's not a common failure point, but it has happened. Synchros are another issue, they just aren't made any more, so I've been hording transmission parts, but there was a refresh (along with the forks), so there's newer and older versions that are not interchangeable, and the shape of the gears are different too, even if the ratios are the same.

Did you diy wrap? How long did it take you?

Ugh ford has a typical modern mindset. If you break something internally they say “no sorry we don’t sell that. Buy a whole new transmission” lol.

The synchros are a known weak spot in the ST/RS as the tabs are floating cast aluminum. The syncrotech upgrades are solid brass, much stronger. Also the shift forks have these nylon bushings that do the movement, they’re known to crack off. So 2 I replaced with billet pieces and the other 2 are oem but Jacks Trandmissions welds on a bronze bushing to replace the nylon.

The only thing post inspection I had to replace was 2nd gear. Everything in the Tran’s looked brand new, except the synchro engagement teeth on 2nd gear. Not too much of a shock with all the hard 1-2 shifts. But that single gear is about $500 and 6 week wait. And ford doesn’t even sell them either. Stupid

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Of course. Everything DIY on this car for better or for worse hah. Took a few weeks as I just did it panel by panel in spare time. It looks good for someone with no experience, perfect for track car. Not a show car (though I did see some of those sema wrap jobs lol)

Aren't there a ton of E153 around? Or are they not all made equal?

I wouldn't say there was ever a ton, but very few these days.

Anything 25+ years old gets pretty sparse. Add in the cost and hassle of shipping something the size of a transmission and I can't imagine they're easy to find now.

Same reason why I just picked up 2 spare cylinder heads. Better to grab them now before they’re unobtanium

I feel better about picking up a spare set of full strut/spring assemblies with Koni inserts tomorrow lol. Once the OEM supplies of special bits dry up some of them can skyrocket in price too. I just sold a used bumper skin for ~4x more than what they cost brand new, after having paid over 3x for it myself a few years ago.

Do I need to start stockpiling M3 parts now?

Yes. Continue your Guangdong hoarding traditions.