Time to start ticking off the boring maintenance jobs, starting with the quick and easy PCV valve. Now before you read any further, I am not a trained mechanic just yet, so don't take what I say as gospel. I am mainly going off the advice from friends and forums.
So then, the PCV valve, these valves seem to be a common issue and many people early on adopted a PCV delete as the OEM part just didn't do the job. Many revisions of the part later it now is recommended to be the best option when it comes to a solution.
Now before changing the PCV valve, I was getting a bit of oil going back through to the turbo as well as the odd cloud of white smoke when moving off from a standstill. Common signs that your PCV has seen better days. With the new PCV valve, I also got a new gasket as it was only a couple of quid extra. Removed the old one and fitted the new one in all of 20 minutes, super simple and peace of mind achieved, regarding the PCV at least.
Whilst I was under the bonnet and this job was so quick, I had a look at the coil packs as the OEM units were in place and I want to update these to a set of the R8 coil packs every man and his dog runs in a modified VAG car. Safe to say they had seen better days but I will have to wait for a payday to treat the motor to a new set of them. (Unfortunately no picture here, clearly I was in a rush to go and do something else.)
Now no power is going to be added because of this change, however not everything you do to your car has to be about power. Completing little jobs like these can help bring you joy in ways that you probably wouldn't expect, even if the forum nerds say it's easy and a 1-second job. So see what maintenance jobs you can undertake and have a crack at it, even if you need a few friends round to help out. Working on your own car gives you satisfaction like nothing else can, especially when things go right.
Enjoy the ride,
E.