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We started the day off by strapping our Golf R on our Superflow dyno for some baseline testing. And yes, this is an AWD car we are strapping down to our 2WD dyno. How, you ask? The Golf R has a way to disable the rear diff so you can run it on a dyno as a FWD car! The haldex rear unit is disabled when the correct sequence of driver inputs is performed. It's a bit of a tedious sequence, much like a Contra cheat code. You first have to turn the key to the ON position, when the dash lights cycle and go off turn the hazards on, pump the throttle five times, and then start the car. You will now see the traction control light turn on which means you are in dyno-mode. The hazards need to remain on while in dyno-mode. If the car is turned off or if the rear wheels roll, dyno-mode will be deactivated. It took us a few tries to get it right, so be careful! We made sure our e-brake was on extra tight while we tested our cheat code results. The dash will light up like a Christmas tree when the power starts going through just the front wheels, so don't worry about that. Once we achieved some repeatable baseline figures, we pulled the car off to start the installation of the Fluidampr crank pulley. Thankfully we have a full shop and the help of Howard from Technosquare at our disposal to allow us to get the car back on the dyno as quickly as possible. This way we could ensure we had comparable ambient conditions for our before and after dyno numbers.
Howard got the car up in the air and quickly set off to get the part changed out. Here he is assessing the situation and devising a plan of attack.
Once the wheel well liner was removed, Howard was able to get a better picture of what needed to be done. Volkswagen placed the windshield washer fluid reservoir down low on the right side of the car and this obstructs access to the crankshaft pulley. The reservoir needed to be drained and removed to get gain access to it.
After removing the windshield washer reservoir, Howard removed the factory crankshaft pulley. This is a view of the engine front cover with the crankshaft pulley removed. Notice the crankshaft indexing grooves on the front of the crankshaft. This design is very different than the more traditional key indexed crankshaft pulley. It's also very easy to remove as there is no need to use a puller.
