I’ve seen so many posts about squeaky brakes (one from me as well!) where people say “lube it!” but not where. My brake was squeaking and 3M dry lube didn’t fix it, nor did Teflon lube.
I put some plumbing silicone grease on it 6 weeks ago and the squeak has been gone since. A small dab at the back of the cylinder in the ball inset, and a light coat along the rod as circled in the pic and you’re done.
We did a poor job acclimating our 5-year old Wheatie Indy to toothbrushing, but he doesn’t even like the taste of the stuff so it was really difficult. He gets his teeth brushed every time he gets groomed but of course that’s not enough and his breath is awful.
Pic shows two different toothpastes that he wants nothing to do with. Getting to lick some off your finger is supposed to be Step One to eventually getting him to tolerate (or even like?) getting his teeth brushed, but he smells it and actively walks away from it.
Anyone have a toothpaste they can recommend that your Wheatie LOVES?
I have a Simagic Alpha Evo Pro 18Nm sim racing wheelbase and I plug it into a Surge Only outlet on a 1500PFCLCD Cyberpower UPS (1500VA). The Simagic power brick states it draws up to 6.0 Amps.
The wheelbase will deliver moments of high force feedback such as when striking a kerb and my understanding is these are moments of high current draw.
Is it safe (for the wheelbase and the UPS) to plug a motor like this into a UPS’ surge only outlets? Can the battery backup outlets be used? Thanks in advance for your knowledge and expertise!
Get your Demo Drive laps in trying out new cars if you can! Unfortunately though this is the shortest Demo Drive after maintenance this season.
Just wanted to get the word out so everyone can check out some cars they do not own yet!
For those wanting to try out new cars, even though iRacing is out of Maintenance Mode, Demo Drive is still available for the next 11 hours, ending just after midnight GMT tonight.
You can enter Demo Drive or see the time remaining in the lower left corner of the left-hand pane in the UI. Enjoy!
TV Cam: https://streamable.com/vv3lfl
Nose cam: https://streamable.com/j70dof
I don’t have covered parking at work and would like to get a sunshade that fits my new GTI in Moonstone Gray really well. What sunshade do you guys use?
I see the Covercraft looks ideal, but $110 for a sunshade is a bit pricey. Plus they are huge even when folded up, where do you put it when you’re driving?
I’d prefer one of the ones that fold up smaller, but all I’m finding are $9.99 cheapos on Amazon.
Would appreciate insight into what others are using, thanks in advance.
Just got a ‘26 GTI SE and am thinking the easiest route to keeping my dog from sliding around on the hairy cardboard in the back is to get a rubber mat like the WeatherTech cargo liner for $110. Anyone have it?
Or the MuddyBuddy for $135?
I thought I saw a CarGo mat for just $35 with no blocks, but I must have been dreaming as all I find are the mat with blocks for $175. I would kinda prefer this carpeted mat but the price just seems like a ripoff to me.
I can see how the CarGo blocks would be really useful so if you have them please let me know if you think they are worth it.
I pulled the trigger and got the 26 GTI SE today and took my 44 pound dog for a ride to get dinner. The “hairy cardboard” material in the cargo area and on the rear seatbacks don’t give him much grip at all and he was sliding around a bit.
I have a rubber-like cargo mat in my CX-5 that works great, and those seatbacks have actual carpet on them so no worries there as well. I didn’t realize the material on the back of the VW seats wouldn’t be carpeted like they were in my wife’s 2018 Tiguan.
Can anyone recommend a good cargo mat and rear seatback protectors that will help give a dog grip while riding in the back? My dog absolutely LOVES going for rides and I want him to be comfortable.
Photo just for fun 😆 some of the little things on the GTI are just so cool.
I'm in the final stages of buying a 2026 GTI SE in Moonstone Gray with the Leather package as I really want the ventilated seats here in hotass Texas. I haven't owned a VW since my wife's 2018 Tiguan, which we had good luck with overall until it was totaled by hail.
What do you DISLIKE about your GTI SE or Autobahn? Or wish was different? Or wish it had that it doesn't?
I'm really on the fence ... I've been driving Mazda CX-5s since 2015 after selling my 2005 Lexus IS300, and had a BMW 325i before that, and a Miata before that. Back then I needed more rear-sear legroom for growing boys, who are now driving themselves so that is no longer a factor. But I just test drove the car and it sure is a lot stiffer ride than I was anticipating.
For anyone with the Autobahn, are the "Comfort Mode" ACC dampers really that much more "comfortable" than an S/SE's dynamic dampers? My friend with an Audi S5 said he can't even tell the different between Comfort and Sport mode in his car - it's always just a firm sporty ride.
Help me GTI Kenobis ... you are my only hope.
I’m buying a new car to hand down a car to our son now that our youngest has his license. I’m dying for a GR86 MT as I haven’t had a sports car for 11 years now due to kids. We have a 45lb Wheaten Terrier and he loves riding in the car but has only ever been in a compact SUV in the back area with the seats down (CX-5, Sportage).
Has anyone taken their 40-45 pound dog in the front seat of their GR86? Can the passenger airbag be deactivated? (I had a Miata and it could but that was a looooong time ago)
I really want a GR86 but I need to be able to take my dog in the car too … thanks in advance for your thoughts folks.
Looking into 2025 and 2026 VW GTI Autobahns and remembered my wife’s 2018 Tiguan SEL blind spot monitoring did not have an audible alert when signaling if a car is in your blind spot. My CX-5 beeps in that situation when activating the turn signal.
Does the 2026 GTI have an audible alert when signaling with a car in the blind spot? Thanks in advance!
iRacing says the Week 13 schedule is released: https://www.iracing.com/iracing-2026-season-2-week-13-schedule-released/
But where is the actual Week 13 schedule so that we can view times and such?
I've looked at the UI in the Official Series and the "Download Schedule" link is still for the full 12-week 2026 Season 2 schedule.
Update: the “Download Schedule” link in the UI linked to the Week 13 schedule at 7 PM CT / midnight GMT.
Just curious, as this is just my 3rd season change and the first with a new car that I can recall.
Greetings Simagic,
Finally got my Alpha Evo Pro and am loving it so far. HUGE upgrade over my Moza R5, with an F4 car I can totally feel wheel slip so much better. It helps me reduce/arrest lockups, spins, etc. Really fantastic to feel the difference over the R5.
I used my GT Neo wheel with the R5 via USB using MagLink, and mapping a "function button" worked great in iRacing. For example, I have btn 1 as "flash headlights," but if I hold down btn 6 and press btn 1, it does "toggle windshield wipers." I've taken the MagLink off the GT Neo wheel now that I have the AEP base. I haven't applied the "tape trick" to the AEP's connectors yet, so I either connect via CANFD if I just power on the base normally, or via USB mode if I press and hold Button 3 (physical button, btn 2 via zero-numbered button IDs) during power-up.
Using CANFD mode, I can map that function-button setup just fine like I always could when using Maglink with the Moza base. However, with USB mode via the Alpha Evo Pro base, iRacing does not recognize that btn 6 is also being pressed.
Wanted to let you know as this seems like a bug for sure since it worked with Maglink, and does work with CANFD, but not in USB passthrough mode.
I'm not seeing a way to submit a "Bug Report" on Discord -- u/SimagicOfficial should I open a Support Request on Discord in order to get a bug filed?
Curious what nM force setting folks are using in SimPro and then in iRacing. I have it set at 14 nM in SimPro and with the Ferrari 296 GT3 I then have to set strength all the way down to 7.1.
Just want to compare to what others are using as a sanity check. Thanks!