Fahrvergnügen!

The Volkswagen GTI VR6 - The most enjoyable car for the $$$. It's fast, fun, and reliable too.^*
Your $20 contribution for calling me John will end up here. A worthy cause, yes?
I wanted to buy an American car, but this was the only thing close to my price limit
and met my criteria (really fun to drive, manual transmission, ability to carry lots of stuff).
I'm now a VW convert, and will likely only buy VW or Audi vehicles in the future.

GTI Information

• My Maintainence & Hints page
• VW Pictures I've found or taken
• Volkswagen's own GTI site
• Shine Racing Service's GTI handling info

• From a microphone near the tailpipe - thanks to Ian Frechette)
  
  • Start & Rev
  • Start & Launch
  • 0 to 90 to 0 run
• Inside the car (from Ted)
• What it doesn't sound like

Current mods on my Mulberry 1995 VW GTI VR6 - 114,500 miles since 2/14/95 (built 9/94)

See my impressions of these mods HERE

• 10/99 Added black AX size wheelskins steering wheel cover. $25 from New Dimensions. The leather of the stock wheel has worn badly at the 2, 10, and 6 o'clock positions. Very nice feel, adds considerable thickness to the wheel (which I like a lot).
• 10/99 Removed relay #94 which eliminates the Daytime Running Lights.
• 10/99 Replaced the stock headlight switch with the Euro version. Allows the fog lights to be used alone, or with the high and low beams, and allows for a rear fog light.
• 8/99 Bridgestone RE71 tires (205/50 ZR15) on stock 9 spoke BBS wheels. Had Goodyear GS-C tires which replaced the terrible stock Eagle GA tires.
• 98 Focus clear acrylic headlight covers - rocks put holes in both old headlights.
• 98 WeatherTech rubber front floor mats replaced the dead VW carpet mats I bought in 95. Nice look and feel. Still using the VW carpet rear mats.
• 98 Modified side markers to blink with directionals (turn signals for the rest of you)
  See Bob Tillman's excellent directions.
• 97 Techtonics Tuning EPROM
• 97 ATE PowerDisc front rotors
• 97 Mintex Redbox front and rear brake pads
• 97 Pirelli P210A snow tires (205/50 HR15) with steel wheels
• 97 Mobil 1 15W-50 synthetic motor oil (5W-30 during winter), changed every 5k miles
• 97 Redline MT-90 transmission fluid
• 97 K & N panel filter in stock airbox
• 97 Removed exhaust resonator "suitcase"
• 97 Added replaceable pollen filter.
• 97 Added jumpers to allow high and low beam lights to operate simultaneously.
  Also allows the fog lights to burn with the highbeams.
• 97 Spark plug removal tool (twice). Don't use until engine is very cold!
• 95 Thule 404 roof rack with 529 fork bike rack and 586 4pr ski rack

Maintainence done:
Prices are approximate, I'll eventually look at receipts for real.
^*I'm not so sure about the reliability anymore. Lots of big and little things have been failing. Stay Tuned.

• Needed: The passenger window no longer functions. More investigation needed.
• Needed: The left rear caliper needs to be replaced before it chews up another rotor and pad set. Any thoughts of the prev. rotor being installed wrong are gone. It's the caliper.
• Needed: Rust spots are again showing on rear hatch, and more profusely on doors. (see below)
• Needed: Replace door of the cubby between the front seats. Both supports snapped off (one just recently, the other about 2 years ago.
• Needed: Replace A/C system. $1000 thank you. I'll live without it. Moral of this story is fix your AC system right away, don't let parts rust from the inside.
• 3/00 Had ABS rotor on one of the rear brakes replaced, it was loose on the rotor and caused the ABS system grief. Part cost $17.50
• 3/00 Replaced rear brake rotors, pads, inner & outer wheel bearings, seals, and pins. I had a Minnesota shop do this last time, and the passenger side rotor has disintegrated. I was going to do it myself this time, but don't have a lift or bearing press. Parts cost $142 from Rapid, but they sent 4 lug instead of 5 lug rotors the first time around. Also, they sent ATE rotors and Mintex pads, not the Brembo/PBR conmbo listed on the web. Fine by me, but makes me suspicious of the company. They sent the correct 5 lug (Brembo this time) rotors after 2 weeks. Labor for this and the thermostat was $160.
• 3/00 Replaced thermostat, which was getting stuck, and getting the coolant up to ~240° F. Tried to do this myself, but the furthest SHCS (socket head cap screw) was stripped as badly as I've seen, perfectly round. So much material had been worn from the hex head I didn't want to chance dremeling sides onto the outside of the bolt. Had a local VT shop do this for me.
  The overheating caused the following: HVAC switch melted becuase I had to keep the system on high heat to prevent the coolant from completly evaporating. Can't put it into defrost mode anymore. Also made everything on the dashboard, radio, keys, and center console hot enough to burn myself.
• 2/00 Poly-ribbed drive belt $50
• 2/00 Replaced Spark plugs $44 including tax
• 2/00 Replaced the 2 gaskets on the oil to coolant heat exchanger. It was leaking oil quite profusely. Parts cost $7.50, and did it myself in about an hour (could do it again much quicker.)
• 12/99 Had a shop in MN repair overheating by replacing the thermostat. They replaced the plastic part that acts as a manifold for coolant, has three sensors, and the thermostat cover. It was damaged and cracked (leaked all coolant within a day. They stripped a bolt on this part, but reused it, which caused major grief for me and a shop in VT (above). Why they didn't replace the thermostat when everything was already out I'll never know.
• 10/99 Replaced stock headlight switch with Euro version ($70 + shipping). I didn't want to (pay to) do this, but the stock switch melted (don't yet know why), and could not be recovered.
• 9/99 One of the 02A shift cable mounts broke at the transmission. Could not shift into reverse, and extremely vague for forward gears. Temporarily fixed by plastic welding the mount, then covering with a hardening epoxy $70. May be stronger now then when new. VW has replacement cables with new part numbers which would cost $500 to replace, since both need to be updated to the new design. I'll (hopefully) wait until I'm out of school.
• 9/99 Replaced driver front inner tie rod joint. $300 with alignment. Wheel could rotate ~5° independently, and caused speed increasing whine.
• 9/99 Blue Ignitor ignition wires The red vw replacements were arcing after 2 years, these have lifetime warranty. $85
• 7/99 Replaced rubber hose running between throttle body and evaporative emmissions charcoal canister valve. It melted on the heat shield of the exhaust manifold, which burned a large hole. Caused rough idle and hissing sound. $10
• 98 Ignition Coil pack $500
• 98 G11 engine coolant $40
• 98 Cleaned sunroof drains to prevent future passenger side floods (happened twice) $30
• 98 Windshield (stone chip in my line of sight) $insurance
• 98 Optima Redtop battery. $90 (specs)
• 98 Oil filter housing, housing plug, and oil pan plug (VW dealer in NH hacked all with sloppy tools) $20
• 98 Passenger side heated seat wiring harness and control module $100
• 97 Poly-ribbed drive belt $50
• 97 Front brake rotors, pads, and rotor screws
• 97 Rear brake rotors, pads, inner&outer wheel bearings, seals, and pins
• 97 Driver side heated side mirror (cracked) $10
• 97, 99 Wiper blade inserts (twice)
• 97 Both headlights (darn rocks)
• 96 Windshield washer fluid tank $15
• 8 light bulbs (1 fog, 4 tail light, 1 HVAC light in dash, 2 for speedo/tach)
• Spark plugs (every 30k miles) $36 each time

Warranty Work done:

• 98 Repainted rear hatch due to 6 rust spots. For some unknown reason, the rear glass was also replaced. VW won't (yet) cover the same kind of spots on the doors :!(
• 96 Spark Plug wires (I got the cool red ones, now replaced with Blue Ignitors)
• 95 TJ recall
• 95 Car jack recall
• 95 Idle Belt Pretensioner
• 95 Front left wheel bearing
• 95 Rear defroster switch
• 95 Sun visor retaining clips
• 95 ABS control module

1. Shine Racing "Real Street" suspension
   Bilstein HD shocks, 300 lbf/in linear front springs, 200 lbf/in linear rear springs, rear sway bar
   Why I want this suspension. More reasons.
2. NewDimensions/Borla 2 resonator stainless steel cat-back exhaust
3. Jason Whipple (Turn2) front engine mount
4. GTech Pro
5. Schrick intake and 268° cams
6. Dash mounted central locking switch
7. Change interior ilumination from green to red
8. Jason Whipple (Turn2) quick release rear upper strut tie bar
9. Pedal covers for heel and toe downshifting
10. Quaife limited slip differential
11. Alpine/Adcom stereo

Hints/HowTo/Tools for other VW owners:

• Goodyear GS-C impressions
• Pirelli P210 impressions
• TT chip impressions
• Exhaust impressions without suitcase resonator
• K&N filtercharger impressions
• Replacing the poly ribbed drive belt
• Replacing the windshield washer fluid tank
• Replacing the front brake rotors/pads
• Warranty Repairs (ABS, wheel bearing, belt tensioner, A/C, plug wires)

Cars I had fun showing my tailights to:

• Acura Integra VTEC
• Audi A4 2.8
• BMW 325i
• Chevy Impalla SS
• Cadillac Seville STS
• Ford Mustang GT 5.0 (my favorite)
• Ford Mustang GT 4.6 (this was close, if better Mustang driver, I'd have lost)
• Ford Probe GT
• Ford Contour Duratec
• Ford Taurus SHO 5spd
• Honda Civic (supercharged by owner, 210hp)
• Honda Prelude Si
• Hyundai Tiburon
• Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
• Mitsubishi 3000GT except VR4 :(
• Subaru SVX LSi
• Never did catch that white motorcycle going at least 130 mph...

My Driving Philosophy:
When I drive, I want to get from point A to B as quickly and safely as possible, and not trash my car in the process. (Sometimes I take the long way to point B, but follow the other rules. Occationally I won't know where point B is until I decide that I'm there.)
Quickly - high sustained speeds. But I don't launch the car with clutch slip. I'll start nice and slow, and only when the clutch is fully engaged will I step on it. When slowing down, I'll blip the gas and do a matched revs downshift to help the brakes slow the car down. Makes a real cool sound with my modified exhaust. I'll never drive faster than I feel comfortable - very rarely do I even approach this threshold with the Z rated GS-C's. In the middle of the deserted Nevada desert, 7000 feet altitude, 92° F, my spedometer read 145 mph. Very, very fun.
Safely - I drive so other vehicles don't use their brakes on account of me. This can "force" me to accelerate rather briskly, so if a potential lane change would cause someone to slow down, I'll wait. If it won't, but they slow anyway, well, that's not my fault. You won't see me weaving in or out of traffic, either. I really hate passing people on the right, so I'll sit behind someone in the left lane and let them feel my stare. If they don't move over, then I will, but I'll let others do the right thing. Some of the cars in the above list should have beaten me. I guess their drivers don't know how or can't get maximum performance out of their vehicles. I think they were trying. A shame. I don't condone racing on city streets, but if a clear on/off ramp, or a wide open freeway happens in front of me, then I'll drive like I was in Germany. Well within the limits of the car, the road, and (I think) its driver.

VW Links:
VW Vortex - Best spot for VW news, including New Beetle, and the WR12 (2 15 degree VR6's on one crankshaft)
GTI VR6 Email list Archive (driver/hired)
Big Brother is coming...an OBDIII primer
More VW links, etc at GTI Club.org.

Last modified 12 March 2000
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