GTI Autocross experience

On July 19th, Puyang took his GTI to his first autocross event. It was one of the best autocross weather conditions I have ever seen. In fact, most of the drivers that day said it was truly a miracle. Apparently, the land around us was pouring rain while we got dry tarmac, clouds, and a bit of sun. It was the perfect temperature as well, while it wasn't too hot for us, the tarmac absorbed enough heat for some really nice tire grip. We have to thank God for all of it!

Being a front wheel drive car, I was quite impressed with the handling of the GTI. There was definitely understeer and got a bit nose heavy, but it handled the corners quite well. We were also running on the stock all-season tires; a less sticky tire compound, and with soft side walls, so we were definitely at a disadvantage. For the first couple of runs, Puyang left the Traction and Stability control on. It was later that I told Puyang to turn them all off for a better sense of the car's handling. However, from factory there is a system in place for his GTI that helps with cornering. The system is called the XDS, and what it does is brakes the inside wheel on a hard turn so that the outside wheel can push the car back in the proper driving line, thus removing some of the understeer. Ideally, this is simulating what a limited slip differential would do, but for a fraction of the price. However, there would be faster brake wear present if one were to take hard corners all the time.

Overall, Puyang learned a lot about handling his car and driving techniques. He has now set a benchmark for the factory car, and his future modifications will now be compared to this benchmark test. If you want to see the entire photo album for this event, please visit our Facebook Page. If not, then enjoy some of our favorite photos from this event below.

We will have two episodes covering this event which will be aired at a later date. Stay tuned!