It's so funny when cars sound like absolute monsters under full throttle but seemingly don't accelerate at all. The sound of this thing is absolutely amazing.
Gotta love the sound of a 07K!! Autopower didn't do a very good job at making those bends on that roll bar fit any tighter to the chassis. I've found with those bolt in roll bars, it helps greatly to reinforce them with larger 'back-up' plates, gussets, and it definitely doesn't hurt to weld the base plates in after you bolt them. I ran one in an E36 and when i made those mods/ improvements it made a huge difference.
Absolutely spectacular looking rabbit 👍 I know you have the mods in the description but I think it would be cool to give a breakdown of some of those components. Such as difficultly of installation, why you went the way you did, and perhaps a budget breakdown so people can gain a little bit of insight
Hey man, I can try and do some of that. Firstly, I picked a Rabbit because it was cheap, but mainly because I love that 5 cylinder sound. I know a GTI would be a better track car - easier to make power etc., but I'm not trying to win anything, this is just for my own enjoyment. The suspension was actually installed by NGP racing. They installed the Integrated Engineering intake manifold as well, along with Black Forest Industries engine mounts. They have 2 shops on the east coast. I would def. recommend them for any VW/AUDI stuff. I also ordered the vast majority of the parts from their store online. I went with just Koni yellow struts with race springs instead of coilovers for a few reasons. One, it's cheaper (ended up less than $1,000) two, essentially laziness. I wanted to set it up nice and stiff but not too stiff and leave it. I've had cars with adjustable coilovers before and I'd always found myself fiddling with them and never being quite happy with the setup. I've also had very low cars before which may look cool but are an absolute pain in the ass for getting onto trailers, turning into driveways, your spine health. The brake kit comes from Apikol. It's a complete kit (rotors, pads, everything) with brackets to fit the Porsche calipers onto your VW. It was around $1,300. That again, was cheaper than many of the big brake kit upgrades, and it was also some vanity on my part - I think seeing the "PORSCHE" logo tucked in my VW wheel wells looks cool. If you have worked on automotive brakes before, it was not a difficult install. I switched to braided steel lines when I did this as well. The Autopower roll cage was $1,100. They are a popular, respected company and made a bolt-in kit that fit VW mkV hatchbacks. I installed that myself other than the cross bar that goes along the top of the windshield. That's welded in place once the rest of the cage is installed. I had that part done at a local shop. Installing the cage was straight forward as long as you're cool with drilling thru the bottom of your car. It made it waaay easier to tackle these things when it wasn't my daily driver car. This VW is purely for this purpose so it's not like if something goes wrong I can't make it to work on Monday. That gives you a good peace of mind and kind of a "safety net" for working on your own car. I also installed the Corbeau seat. There's a passenger one also, was just removed at the time of this video. I also installed the G-FORCE harnesses. They are $150 per seat and came from OG Racing. I would also recommend them as a shop. Once I had it all installed, I went by there and had them check my work to see that it looked safe etc. The engine tune came from Integrated Engineering. Once I had their intake manifold installed, they sent me their little OBD-II port dongle. You follow their instructions, essentially plug the car into a laptop, and flash their setup onto the car, easy. It was around $550 and that probably made one of the biggest differences in the car. As far as stripping and gutting the car, I just slowly did that myself in the garage over time. I sold some of the OEM parts online. The Eurojet exhaust was $650 and I had a local shop remove all mufflers/resonators/cats and just weld in a straight pipe. I'm sure I forgot some parts but that's the gist of it haha.
Haha I’m sure there was way more but this is plenty helpful. So thank you for such a detailed response. Always nice to get information like that considering there isn’t much like it on TH-cam, or not from what I’ve come across by. I guess the key take away is to move to the East coast in order to give my rabbit the proper mods haha Always seems like that’s where the fortitude of knowledgeable wizards of the vw/Audi community reside
@@wanvaldez thanks for this as well! I’m currently building the same thing to compete in the 24hrs of lemons and I’ve been spending days looking for wheels. I’m new to all of this and thank you for your help!!
i just got my car back with a new intake manifold and thermostat housing and im stuck between clean and mean and i keep rewatching this and pricing helmets on amazon cuz safety first and youre in VA\ i was raised in virginia round hawt cars
I cant stop watching this video. Was looking for a cheap way to get into some weekend racing and this is perfect. How's the 2.5 held up? Did you refresh it all before taking it out?
Nah just regular maintenance, obviously perishables like plugs, filters, fluids but that’s it. Plus side also the 2.5s are fairly easy to find and cheap. Actually, my friend is using the car track-only now and he had the young son of HIS friend try a track session. Kid shifted from 5th to 4th…buuuuut it was actually 2nd and buhbye original engine. New one’s already in and it’s out running again tho.
@@wanvaldez sounds about right, on 93 stage 1+ its about 185 but with all that stripped out im sure it feels around 200, what are your plans with it next?
It has the intake, intake manifold, and engine map from Integrated Engineering. I never had it dynoed so I don’t know where horsepower would be at. Butt dyno it feels like low 200s horsepower. It’s a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder that started life around 170 hp I think.
I should have weighed it all but it was too much and not all done on the same day. The stock seats weighed A LOT. It felt noticeably different though right away, even just normal driving on the street you could tell.
@@wanvaldez Thank you! Awesome job you have done with the car. ENJOY. I was planning to start track days with a Civic, but they are overpriced, high mileage and hard to find a clean one. Otherwise they are a little lighter than the Golf and may be have lower center of gravity, because you sit on the floor. I like the Golf better, it is more solid and have German suspension parts for it. I just got a new Jetta Sport 1.5t. and reminded myself again the pleasure of having a manual. But I wouldn't take it on a track. I want to start with something a little more beat up and budget friendly with huge aftermarket parts availability. Also would prefer a N/A engine on a track, because of the linear power. Awesome choice is the 2.5 👍
@@AlexD-xr6so yeah man, manual is so fun. It seems like you are on the right track, having a “beater” car for track days is def. the way to go. You are way more willing to try mods and change the car when it’s just a cheap secondary one you’re not relying on to get to work.
Yep. I have figured out, instead getting a GLI, better get the Jetta Sport and for the difference get a car for the track. Will have lots more fun and can sell it anytime if I need the money. And as you said will feel lot more free towards mods and upgrades. Thank you for all the info you have provided in the video and the comments.
My family has both my dad has a 2.5 and I have a 2.0T fsi, the NA inline 5 is a smoother more balanced engine and with a turbo and some internals and a tune the 2.5 would be miles ahead of the 2.0T in terms of RPM and power. Plus more or less people with rabbits just enjoy a pure driving experience, they aint trying to compete against GTI's or win anything
Such a damn cool and unique build. The 2.5 sounds amazing too, definitely taking inspiration from you 😂
It's so funny when cars sound like absolute monsters under full throttle but seemingly don't accelerate at all. The sound of this thing is absolutely amazing.
Haha that is def an accurate description.
Nice to see a nice 2.5l track spec that’s dope
Hell yeah man! Awesome build! My brother is slowly doing the same thing with his rabbit. Gutted, cage, full IE kit etc. post more!
I have the same IE motor setup and it's fantastic. Smooth power and it loves to rev out.
Gotta love the sound of a 07K!! Autopower didn't do a very good job at making those bends on that roll bar fit any tighter to the chassis. I've found with those bolt in roll bars, it helps greatly to reinforce them with larger 'back-up' plates, gussets, and it definitely doesn't hurt to weld the base plates in after you bolt them. I ran one in an E36 and when i made those mods/ improvements it made a huge difference.
Turned my bug into an offroader and sorta missing scooting around. I should totally do a build like this, would be loads of fun and affordable.
Yep, that was one of the main goals - doing it with an affordable platform.
Absolutely spectacular looking rabbit 👍
I know you have the mods in the description but I think it would be cool to give a breakdown of some of those components. Such as difficultly of installation, why you went the way you did, and perhaps a budget breakdown so people can gain a little bit of insight
Hey man, I can try and do some of that. Firstly, I picked a Rabbit because it was cheap, but mainly because I love that 5 cylinder sound. I know a GTI would be a better track car - easier to make power etc., but I'm not trying to win anything, this is just for my own enjoyment. The suspension was actually installed by NGP racing. They installed the Integrated Engineering intake manifold as well, along with Black Forest Industries engine mounts. They have 2 shops on the east coast. I would def. recommend them for any VW/AUDI stuff. I also ordered the vast majority of the parts from their store online.
I went with just Koni yellow struts with race springs instead of coilovers for a few reasons. One, it's cheaper (ended up less than $1,000) two, essentially laziness. I wanted to set it up nice and stiff but not too stiff and leave it. I've had cars with adjustable coilovers before and I'd always found myself fiddling with them and never being quite happy with the setup. I've also had very low cars before which may look cool but are an absolute pain in the ass for getting onto trailers, turning into driveways, your spine health.
The brake kit comes from Apikol. It's a complete kit (rotors, pads, everything) with brackets to fit the Porsche calipers onto your VW. It was around $1,300. That again, was cheaper than many of the big brake kit upgrades, and it was also some vanity on my part - I think seeing the "PORSCHE" logo tucked in my VW wheel wells looks cool. If you have worked on automotive brakes before, it was not a difficult install. I switched to braided steel lines when I did this as well.
The Autopower roll cage was $1,100. They are a popular, respected company and made a bolt-in kit that fit VW mkV hatchbacks. I installed that myself other than the cross bar that goes along the top of the windshield. That's welded in place once the rest of the cage is installed. I had that part done at a local shop. Installing the cage was straight forward as long as you're cool with drilling thru the bottom of your car. It made it waaay easier to tackle these things when it wasn't my daily driver car. This VW is purely for this purpose so it's not like if something goes wrong I can't make it to work on Monday. That gives you a good peace of mind and kind of a "safety net" for working on your own car. I also installed the Corbeau seat. There's a passenger one also, was just removed at the time of this video. I also installed the G-FORCE harnesses. They are $150 per seat and came from OG Racing. I would also recommend them as a shop. Once I had it all installed, I went by there and had them check my work to see that it looked safe etc.
The engine tune came from Integrated Engineering. Once I had their intake manifold installed, they sent me their little OBD-II port dongle. You follow their instructions, essentially plug the car into a laptop, and flash their setup onto the car, easy. It was around $550 and that probably made one of the biggest differences in the car.
As far as stripping and gutting the car, I just slowly did that myself in the garage over time. I sold some of the OEM parts online. The Eurojet exhaust was $650 and I had a local shop remove all mufflers/resonators/cats and just weld in a straight pipe. I'm sure I forgot some parts but that's the gist of it haha.
Haha I’m sure there was way more but this is plenty helpful. So thank you for such a detailed response.
Always nice to get information like that considering there isn’t much like it on TH-cam, or not from what I’ve come across by. I guess the key take away is to move to the East coast in order to give my rabbit the proper mods haha
Always seems like that’s where the fortitude of knowledgeable wizards of the vw/Audi community reside
Love your rabbit man amazing!!! , and what wheels are the ones you have on them and how much were they? Would love to have some of those on my rabbit
@@mk5rabbit784 Hey man, glad you like the car. Those are Assetto Gara wheels made by Sparco. They’re about $170 a piece.
@@wanvaldez thanks for this as well! I’m currently building the same thing to compete in the 24hrs of lemons and I’ve been spending days looking for wheels. I’m new to all of this and thank you for your help!!
Pushing the whip!
i just got my car back with a new intake manifold and thermostat housing and im stuck between clean and mean and i keep rewatching this and pricing helmets on amazon cuz safety first and youre in
VA\ i was raised in virginia round hawt cars
Pretty cool that these cars look good either way, subtle daily or track car.
@@wanvaldez thank you for taking the time to reply
Do the 6 speed swap!
I cant stop watching this video. Was looking for a cheap way to get into some weekend racing and this is perfect. How's the 2.5 held up? Did you refresh it all before taking it out?
Nah just regular maintenance, obviously perishables like plugs, filters, fluids but that’s it. Plus side also the 2.5s are fairly easy to find and cheap. Actually, my friend is using the car track-only now and he had the young son of HIS friend try a track session. Kid shifted from 5th to 4th…buuuuut it was actually 2nd and buhbye original engine. New one’s already in and it’s out running again tho.
need to take the sound dampening out of my toledo 2.3. i need to hear more of that vr5
Respect
If I gutted my Rabbit, I could make the money back I paid for the car by parting it out. lmao
Minus the cost of the car how much did this cost roughly?
Sick build, and its my dream for my rabbit
Probably $6,000-8,000
@@wanvaldez thanks 🙏
Doing the same to mine but it's a 4-door :/ haha
So no turbo? Just exhaust upgrade air intake upgrade breaks and the stage 2 tune ?
Nah no turbo.
hell yeah! N/A monster! How's that stage 2?!!
Haha it did make a noticeable difference. I think the weight savings really did too.
@@wanvaldez I've got a rabbit too. Funnest car I've ever owned.
@@wanvaldez if you're done with the flash tool, send it my way. 😂
🔥
Zamn, this savage gutted the rabbit, sounds mad, how much power you squeezing out the 2.5?
Not sure, never had it dynoed. Feels like 200 some.
@@wanvaldez sounds about right, on 93 stage 1+ its about 185 but with all that stripped out im sure it feels around 200, what are your plans with it next?
@@angusmulcahy7946 been avoiding the limited slip diff but feel like that would make a pretty big difference
@@wanvaldez lsd, sway bars and linkages would make the car a whole other animal
@@angusmulcahy7946 oh those others are on there…the suspension is good to go
Do you have any upgraded sway bars on it?
Hey man, I got an upgraded Hotchkis rear sway bar on the back
The new golf GTI mk.5
Engine specifications bro ?
It has the intake, intake manifold, and engine map from Integrated Engineering. I never had it dynoed so I don’t know where horsepower would be at. Butt dyno it feels like low 200s horsepower. It’s a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder that started life around 170 hp I think.
@@wanvaldez yeah great.thanku for feedback bro ❤️🙏
What does it weigh?
Not sure, never had it weighed.
Scary car man hahahaha
Do you know how many pounds did you shave off stripping it completely like that.......I am very curious?
I should have weighed it all but it was too much and not all done on the same day. The stock seats weighed A LOT. It felt noticeably different though right away, even just normal driving on the street you could tell.
@@wanvaldez Thank you! Awesome job you have done with the car. ENJOY. I was planning to start track days with a Civic, but they are overpriced, high mileage and hard to find a clean one. Otherwise they are a little lighter than the Golf and may be have lower center of gravity, because you sit on the floor. I like the Golf better, it is more solid and have German suspension parts for it. I just got a new Jetta Sport 1.5t. and reminded myself again the pleasure of having a manual. But I wouldn't take it on a track. I want to start with something a little more beat up and budget friendly with huge aftermarket parts availability. Also would prefer a N/A engine on a track, because of the linear power. Awesome choice is the 2.5 👍
@@AlexD-xr6so yeah man, manual is so fun. It seems like you are on the right track, having a “beater” car for track days is def. the way to go. You are way more willing to try mods and change the car when it’s just a cheap secondary one you’re not relying on to get to work.
Yep. I have figured out, instead getting a GLI, better get the Jetta Sport and for the difference get a car for the track. Will have lots more fun and can sell it anytime if I need the money. And as you said will feel lot more free towards mods and upgrades. Thank you for all the info you have provided in the video and the comments.
@@AlexD-xr6so yeah dude, for sure 🙌
Sounds like a Lamborghini
What year?
2009
@@wanvaldez Its the exact same as mine, just need to figure out how to pimp this mf out
You in VA?
Yep
Driving a car with a cage and no helmet can be deadly
Could be
Is it still front wheel drive or did you do some sort of swap?
Yeah man, still front wheel drive.
the things us 2.5 owners do to overcompensate for not having a GTI is hilarious
My family has both my dad has a 2.5 and I have a 2.0T fsi, the NA inline 5 is a smoother more balanced engine and with a turbo and some internals and a tune the 2.5 would be miles ahead of the 2.0T in terms of RPM and power. Plus more or less people with rabbits just enjoy a pure driving experience, they aint trying to compete against GTI's or win anything