Hey guys, been a while since I received VAP upgrades from Black friday sale 2020 and finally got done with all of them. Here is my thoughts and some things to look out for during installation. My company owned body shop did the majority of the work but I did help a lot, like A LOT, with my presence and printed guides written by our forum fellows, so, THANK YOU!

Starting with the basic:
2015 F-Type R RWD



Things done:
1) VAP tune
2) VAP Crank pulley
3) VAP Lowering Springs
4) VAP 200 cell cat
5) Mina Gallery full intake
6) Unique Auto Development Apple CarPlay kit
7) Full badge delete and repaint on the rear



Lets go,
1) VAP stage one tune.

Nothing much to be said here, probably the best bang for your buck if you are power hungry and the process is 100% DIY, $0 labor. Adds an extra ommph to your lead foot, especially noticeable on higher rev range when you really get on it. Lower rev improvement is both imperceptible and irrelevant for me, due to the nature of RWD, I never go near full throttle on first gear, and if I'm on the high way, I'm either already in the higher rev range or it is as simple as a tap tap on the shift pedal.



2) VAP Crank pulley with stage 2 tune.

Same as the stage one, except even more ommph, if stock was fast, stage one would be really fast, and stage two would be scary fast. I can't go full throttle at any reasonable speed without the tail wagging. Granted i'm still on winter tires and I should have a better time on summer.

I didn't trust my free labor enough so I outsourced it to a aftermarket specialist, they didn't allow customer in the bay so not much to be said about the installation, I was able to see from afar through the window though. The head technician Randy came towards me with a concerned look, I asked if it was done(I really meant to say is there anything wrong?), he informed me the belt was tight, like really tight, thankfully I remember Sturat@VAP said somewhere that the belt should be tight to accommodate different variations of the AJ engines, so I assured him the parts are correct and it is supposed to be that tight.

At one point three technicians had to work on it together to get the damn belt on. Glad I took it to these guys, I can't imagine what it'd be like if you gave it to someone who aren't as experienced.

The shop is in long island, if anyone needs work done in NYC i'd highly recommend them.
http://www.cambertoe.com/


3) VAP Lowering Springs.

Big one here, I was really skeptical, for one I had a very bad experience on my previous BMW 328xi, I first got Dinan lowering springs on it, It'd hit bump stop on a hourly basis, rides uncomfortable stiff and cornering got worse due to it. Changed to BC coilovers, pretty good stuff for the price, like 1.2k delivered? But rides unbelievably stiff I questioned is this thing even functioning? Later changed back to Dinan springs and bilstein b6 shocks, rides better now, stiff still, and it started breaking strut mounting hat in the front, 5 times total, one time it was so severe the front strut hit my hood and made it raise 2 inches. Gave it up after that. Technically I could go back to stock but...

Now on the jag, stock rides reasonably well, a bit bouncy and jarring on NYC roads, very good on somewhat smooth highways, body roll is perceptible but not too much. After installing VAP springs, all quality remains the same except the ride height and body roll is reduced. Bounciness remains but that's probably the shock. Suspension travel is most definitely shortened but I haven't needed to test it out ;p

This is also the one that gave me a lot of trouble fine tuning, first I had to chase a suspension noise after rear spring install, after triple checking all nuts and bolts were tight, I had to disassemble everything and transfer the spring isolators from the stock springs. Note this people, you NEED the spring isolators, do not forget them, they CAN'T be put on after you have put the strut back.

Fortunately only the rear needed them(in my case), the fronts are nice and quite without them, but please, save yourself some time and hassle by simply transferring them from the get go.

Also, it is very important to make sure your strut center nut and strut mount nuts are torqued to spec, with a torque wrench and special socket. None of the shops I went to had the socket, some of them don't even have a torque wrench, madness!!!!

The socket is called a strut nut socket, here is where I got it:
https://www.steeda.com/steeda-555-89...ng-socket-17mm

Use a torque wrench with it and a 8mm(or 9mm, my memory is getting so blurry) allen key to hold the strut in place. Torque to 20 ft lb.
Strut mount nuts are 13mm and torqued to 22ft lb each.

Interestingly, torqueing strut mount nuts to spec had a greater positive impact on ride quality than torqueing the center nut, I'd have thought the reverse was true.

Overall I'm very happy with the result and would definitely recommend these if you want a lower height.

Waist height shot:



Head height shot:





4) VAP 200 cell cat

Now I'd be harsh with this one, I don't like it. Specifically, I don't like it in combination with the stock muffler assembly and it is NOT the product's fault.

It's noticeably louder at cold start, in fact, I'm very reluctant to start her up after 11pm unless absolutely necessary. The overall tone has become raspier and unrefined as many people here reported. And there is a VERY unpleasant "asthma" like sound from 1-2.5k rev on light throttle and lower speed. This unpleasant sound was present on the stock system, too, but is much amplified with the 200 cell cat.

All that being said, I'd still undoubtedly still go for it, since there are multiple posts saying stage 2 melts stock cat in short order and more power is always better. I would further explore aftermarket muffler options and see if it can get improved in the sound department, but that will be another subject. I know VAP offers one, but it is a bit more than what I'd like to spend.

Interesting note, I ran without the muffler assembly for a while(with stock cat) and noticed a sharp drop in lower end torque, "but you said lower end torque are imperceptible and irrelevant!!??", well, weather was sketchy and that's also why I never had a chance to go full throttle and tell if higher end power was increased. What I gather from it though, is that back pressure is real, and I will never straight pipe this thing.




5) Mina Gallery full intake

I got this purely for the super charger whine, while it does give you some, it is almost completely covered by the exhaust note, especially if you have done anything to make the exhaust louder. Probably would still do it again considering the cost is not too high in the grand scheme of things and it does lighten up the engine bay a bit, and it sounds glorious, when you can hear it .



6) Unique Auto Development Apple CarPlay kit

I can't say enough good thing about this kit, pricy, yes, takes a bit of fiddling to fit, yes, the result? Phenomenal. I'd say it is 80% OEM feel and 95% OEM functionality, the missing 10% being it is not as fast as OEM implementation, another 10% for poor call quality(I'm probably the only one or few anyways, detailed in another thread dedicated to carplay kits, AND I have found a work around to this problem so it is all good).



7) Full badge delete and repaint on the rear

Been wanting to do this for a long time, finally pulled the plug, bumper badges had long gone but the spoiler badge remained. Once removing the leaper, you are presented with 2 holes and a recessed rectangular area, fill those and repaint, viola, clean and sleek rear view, mysterious beast!

 

A great and detailed review...and the car looks fabulous. Thanks!

 

Based on my 5 years of experience with the stage ll, it will not burn out the cats. The dyno shows that 200 cell cats do not add any power with the stage ll. Go back to a refined sounding automobile if that is your preference.

 

That'd be the most logical route and I'll probably not go there haha. Thinking of trying a pair of bottle style resonators first, these are cheap and can be fitted without modifying anything. Also looking into J pipe, another inexpensive and simple way to alter the sound.

 

Cats typically damaged by unburned fuel or oil blow-by. If your tuned engine is handling stage II well, there is no reason it would melt cats.

Keep in mind, tuning stresses your engine past spec. Keep on top of fluid changes or you will melt cats, burn valves, cease crank and all that jazz.

 

Really good review. So basically what you’re saying is just get a tune...

seems like everything else is just mediocre

 

Nope, I'm 100% satisfied with 3 out of their 4 products, they are well built and exactly as advertised.

The one(200 cell cat) I'm not 100% happy with, as I stated, is my personal preference and not the product's fault. It looked well built and fitment was spot on.

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Yep, gonna have biannual oil change now. Other fluids will be changed this year to, car has really low miles and everything feels perfect mechanically, but it is approaching 7 years in service.

 

i have just the tune , but i see on the site they have a transmission tune ,can anyone give a ney or yey on it

 

Very happy with my Velocity Stage 2 R! enjoy! Thank you for the write up.

 

Thanks for the write up and pics. Your ride looks beautiful.

 

Interesting, I love the 200 cell cats on my v8s. Gives it that v8 Rumble while just cruising, and screams when you push it. Way better than stock. From comments I read before, I thought it would be annoyingly raspy, but it's not imo. It does have that high pitch on a cold start, but it idles down in just a few seconds, so no big deal. Going for an exhaust too. I'd like quicksilver, but they've raised their prices. Might do velocity ap this black Friday instead

 

Hi,

nice report and your F Type looks very good. Your Belt for the pulley was tight? VAP have 3 different Belts, 1438mm,1461mm and 1470mm (measured in the middle, printout on Belt) and so, you can find all what you need I think. If the belt is too tight, it can even rub against the tensioner. The arm of the tensioner then points too much in the direction of the center of the engine, and the arm is stretched as far as it will go. This will make the angle more acute and allow the belt to rub against the bracket on the tensioner. Wouldn't be so good. Which belt was used in the original? 1411s, 1438s? What was built into you now, 1461 or 1470mm?
Thank you very much for your answer ...

 

I did the stage 2 install a little while back and the belt was crazy hard to get on. I ended up giving up and emailing VAP and they said I had the longest belt already and it was just tight. I ended up using some zip ties to attach a breaker bar holding the tensioner to an x-brace behind the radiator. That let me use both hands and I had it on fairly quickly after that.

 

ok, but which F Type Model do you have? The Spring tensioner is very strong, I know.
Is the position from you Spring tensioner after the switch the same? Or is it much more
tense towards the middle of the engine?

BR

 

I have an R. The tensioner is definitely close to the end of its travel now, where it had some more slack before. That's the original reason I stopped putting it on and contacted VAP, I was worried it was so tight it was going to contact another part of the engine nearby and rub. Once I slipped it all the way over and it dropped into place it had plenty of clearance though.

 

Here's a pic I took of where I attached the breaker bar. I don't really have any good pics of the tensioner in the final position because it's in a really bad spot for taking a picture.

 

I'd suggest contacting VAP directly if you want to know more on this product, it came out fairly recently and not many people have had it. From what I know, it is capable of decreasing(increasing??) shift speed and also raise your redline to 7500, with a accommodating tune.

Personally I feel the shift speed change should be relatively safe for a nominal gain, the RPM increase seems more substantial but also "sounds" like a lot of extra stress on both your engine and transmission.

I'm probably talking out of my *** here, hence the quotation mark, I'll leave the view to VAP or someone who has done it.
Very much man, can't wait to put my summers on and really push it!

Yeah it's not annoying by any means, the only real gripe I have with it is the "asthma" like sound in light throttle at 1-2.5k rpm, sounds like a old tired cow catching its breath. Though the fix is also simple, simply drive faster haha. I don't know if there is anything that can specifically "fix" or target it as it is also present in the stock form, the louder cat just amplifies, not creating it. I will try none the less.

Thanks man! I do not have the specifics and unfortunately, the crank pulley is the only part I wasn't able to watch them working closely. I do believe I have got the right belt length for two reasons, 1) I ordered recently(oct 2020) so it should be the latest version. and 2) the car is running like a champ! I did smell new rubber burning smell in the first day after installation, but it quickly dissipated and everything looked and sounded like normal.

 

ok, but I think that has nothing to do with the latest generation, but what setup you have on the F Type. Rubber smell? I suspect that the tight belt, like mine, had lightly touched the engine, which was worn off after a few kilometers and now has space. When the tensioner has to be squeezed completely towards the middle of the motor, the belt lightly touches the tensioner attachment.

 

Hi,

one thing, you have now improved and changed a few things, except for the tailpipes from the exhaust. At least it looks like this in the pictures. Mine weren't as nice on the F type either, I then polished them with a chrome paste. Looks like new again!

 

My car is a 2015 R with full silver oem crank pulley, oem belt size is unknown but i can measure it when i get home. I did not measure vap belt length prior to installing, the thought was that even if i measured it, i wouldn’t have known if that length was perfect for my engine and pulley combination.

From the back of my head, i recall Stuart@vap said there are multiple minor iterations to the way aj133 pulleys are set up and different parts used across different model years, and they had to choose a “median” size that works on all of these.

i did get concerned about the rubber smell initially, but it quickly dissipated and everything is running perfectly, so i think it is just the nature of new rubbers, it is physically touching multiple pulleys in a hot environment after all.

Thank you for mentioning the potential rub though, i will keep an ear on it and do a visual inspection next time o open the hood.

Good catch, they are stock and should look exactly like yours. Mine has been neglected for the most part. I will first need to clean the black build up before polishing haha

the outer two tips has taken on a much heavier build up since i run in exhaust open mode all the time.

Do you have a suggestion for a good sealant/stuff that will prevent future build up after polishing?