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SRS Automotive 300+bhp BKD #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 1:16 pm
by Mayor West
Most of this has been ripped from Edition38 so some posts may not make much sense.

Iv'e owned the van for a few years now, I got it from Ryan at Darkside Developments so it was pretty sorted when I got it.

Here is the thread he made on here when it was 1st built:

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When I bought the van the fat 5's had been sold. The fat 5's width, offset & TT wide track didn't work well together on this so had been swapped for some S4 wheels which fitted much better.

I drove it like this for a short period but needed to change some bit's I wasn't too sure of, I bought some new wheels to try but these never went any further than the picture below as I had better plans.

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These looked ok in my opinion but I wanted a more motorsport wheel, as I had already picked the new graphics for the van.

After a late night google session I found the inspiration needed.

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And this is what we came up with.

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These were the wheels of choice, 8x18 Compomotive TH with 225 40 18 Uniroyal Rainsport 3's.

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A few from the dyno after a turbo upgrade.

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Results.

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After this I changed the front seats as the Scirocco ones didn't seem to hold you in as well as the replacements, plus I had 3 sets of FR seat's in stock at the time.

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I added an AUX input too.

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It's been like this for well over a year now but I have more changes planned as I go more "race mode" with it.


New wheels purchased.

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Mock face mount.

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Painted & Rebuilt.

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Bought some new seats & brakes too.

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We made some bases as I'm a tight bugger I didn't want to buy the ones from Corbeau at £80 each. Plus we had some MK5 seats in stock that weren't worth selling so they got the chop.

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I still haven't got the BBS fitted as we've been doing some things with the rear suspension which should be good (And hopefully finished in the next few weeks) so the adapters couldn't be made until this was done.

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While the rear suspension thing has been going on I got sent some rear leaf spring bushes to try which came in nicely just before VAG Tuner track day at Donington which I had booked on at.
We fitted these which seemed to tighten the rear end up and also sent the GAZ rear shocks off for a rebuild as they were goosed.

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We also did some bits under the bonnet too before VAG Tuner. Fitted a new air filter & a Mann & Hummel catch can.

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We also fitted a bigger intercooler too as the other had a slight leak.

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We made these too but when we came to fit them I realised they wouldn't fit the TT hubs :( these came from a MK5 as I had some spares in stock.

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Didn't get any videos from VAG Tuner as I never turned the camera on :(

Got some pics though.

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The next updates should be of the new rear suspension set up which Iv'e been eager to fit for far too long.

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 3:13 pm
by torque777
Looks great..can you tell me the exact symptoms that lead to the diagnosis of leaking intercooler please?

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 4:44 pm
by BowieStare
sweet racevan.

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:36 am
by Mayor West
torque777 wrote:Looks great..can you tell me the exact symptoms that lead to the diagnosis of leaking intercooler please?
We were doing some tuning tweaks and couldn't get it 100% right and smoke was more than expected so we checked for boost leaks and it turned out to be the intercooler, not the pipes as expected. :)

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:37 am
by Mayor West
BowieStare wrote:sweet racevan.
Thanks :)

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:09 pm
by Doc
Welcome Stefan, wicked van.
Was good chatting to you at Donington, even though now I realise I didn't introduce myself.

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:13 am
by Mayor West
Doc wrote:Welcome Stefan, wicked van.
Was good chatting to you at Donington, even though now I realise I didn't introduce myself.
Cheers Doc. Not to worry, sometimes it's better to remain anonymous anyway :)

I did think after you commented on instagram if it was you I had been speaking to at Donington.

Just contemplating on whether to go full race mode with the van and cage it to use it on more track days??

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:23 pm
by Brian the Sn@il
WOW now that's a Racing Caddy 8) 8)

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:22 pm
by Mr. P
What's your catch tank fitted to at the rear of the engine? Can't quite make it out?


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Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 9:00 am
by Mayor West
Mr. P wrote:What's your catch tank fitted to at the rear of the engine? Can't quite make it out?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
1 pipe to the breather on the cam cover and the other to the TIP pipe :)

Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:22 pm
by Mr. P
Mayor West wrote:
1 pipe to the breather on the cam cover and the other to the TIP pipe :)
The circle part is part of the cam cover then?


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Re: SRS Automotive #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:56 am
by Mayor West
Mr. P wrote:The circle part is part of the cam cover then?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The top pipe goes to the cam cover & the bottom pipe to the TIP

Re: SRS Automotive 300+bhp BKD #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:46 am
by Mayor West
Nothing major to add here but Powerflex sent these new bushes to try out, this will make a complete rear bush kit now.

These should be available shortly from Darkside Developments.

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The rear ARB bush doesn't quite fit right as mine has the bigger Caddy Maxi ARB so that is being swapped once the new one arrives.

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Re: SRS Automotive 300+bhp BKD #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:56 pm
by torque777
How hard was it to change the bushes, especially the chassis ones? Also do they now have a bigger gap between hangers? Looks like bush is wider

Re: SRS Automotive 300+bhp BKD #Racevan - Ex Darkside Developments

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:20 am
by Mayor West
Changing them was pretty straightforward, we just burnt the old ones out.

The bush doesn't seem to be any wider, we gave all of the measurements from my van for the bushes to be made and they seem fine.

I didn't think I would notice a difference but even when driving normally in traffic you can tell the rear end is more planted.