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This journey is picked up with my third Mk6 Jetta(/GLI), and by far the most fun/problematic...
(WARNING: Long ass intro, but there's pictures)
My first was an '11 2.5 SEL/5M, my first manual car and the second vehicle I ever drove stick in(first was a '10 Jetta 2.5, ironically). I affectionately named her Heidi, and planned on not parting ways for some time.
Sadly after only two and some change years of ownership, and much fun with the car, I wrongly turned left on a red arrow and was t-boned by a cab. Car drove from Atlanta to Brunswick, Georgia and deemed totaled. Surprisingly, even with airbags deployed and the side crushed in it drove flawlessly on the cold February day.
After this, I knew I wanted something a bit cooler than a 2.5 and I really did love my Mk6, so a GLI or TDI was what I was looking for. I looked around but couldn't find the right car in my budget(whatever insurance paid out, being in school full time doesn't make car payments easy), that was until my father called me and said that a family friend(who managed a Nissan dealer at the time) just had a low mile DSG, TDI come onto the lot. It was hideous. Pinstipe, tan interior, and mud flaps. But it was cheap and was still deep into the warranty, so I picked it up and have the pinstripe taken off and the car professionally detailed. This car was amazing at highway rides, and even on my stop and go commute to work, would return 40mpg. I had plans to delete and tune it, but when the offer came, I took it. Volkswagen bought back my TDI, and I miss it, but this was almost a year ago.
I replaced it with, what I now know to be a basket case, 2014 GLI Autobahn w/ Nav. VW offered me a ton for my TDI, and while I loved it dearly, it was black on beige, and DSG. Beige and not being Manual is where the car lost me and the money was nice to help pay for my education.
The GLI has been a rollercoaster. It was purchased CPO from a VW dealer, but once on the way home, I found a number of issues that were not apparent during the purchase. The rear defroster was inoperable, the front speakers appeared to not work and, worst of all, the clutch was slipping. The car went into the shop and the dealer played along and paid for everything, and gave me a boring Passat for the almost two months they had my car.
I should add, I bought the car tuned, and catless. Absolutely no idea how that passed the CPO inspection...
The car now has:
APR Carbonio Intake
APR Stage II ECU Flash
Black Forest Industries Stage II Clutch Kit
USP 3" Catless DP
Vibrant Ultraresonator
Shitty cheapo flowthrough muffler the PO had put on
VW 18" Goal wheels(pulled off my TDI) w/ BFG Sport Comp II A/Ss
... and will soon have:
Vibrant rear muffler(can't do the rasp anymore...)
H&R Sport Springs
Koni FSD Struts/Shocks
Black Forest Industries Stainless Steel Weighted Shiftknob
Integrated Engineering Solid Shifter Bushings
Redline MT90 Trans Fluid Swap
225/40R18 Conti DWS
Anyway. Car has since had about 16k miles put on it, three oil changes(about time for a fourth), a new clutch put in (again) and a small fire due to some electrical fault with the subwoofer's amplifier. Being in the shop for the initial repairs, and now the fire repairs has really drug me into the dumps about the car, but I also cannot wait to have it back(maybe that's why I'm putting time into this thread again... who knows).
ANYWAY. To the pictures and some videos... finally...
On our way home from the dealer, at 2AM. GLI and TDI together for only a short time.
The car, who I decided I should call Sabine, earned herself a quick wash, wheel swap and the throwing on of my #scene crossbars almost as soon as she arrived home.
Despite the terrible exhaust(and it's drone) a friend and I made the trip down to St. Augustine Beach to see a great band, El Ten Eleven. On our way, we stopped to see(or try to) the scene of a trip flair plant south of us... no dice, but a nice pic of the car.
We decided that while taking I-95S would be the most logical and quickest way, it'd be no fun. So we took our hangovers and drove A-1A down from Fernandina Beach and Amelia, to the Mayport ferry. While it took the good part of a day, it did not disappoint.
Car then earned itself an oil change, new air filter and rotate... always fun. The APR filter was dangerously dirty, so I replaced with an AEM Unit. Oil change consisted of Liquimoly and Mann, only the best. Also threw in some JDMaf yellow fogs, definitely an upgrade over the OEM halogens.
Car was driving funny in early August, so I took it in to my local VW dealer while at school(Jim Ellis Kennesaw, talk to Rafael, he's the bomb)... clutch was on its way out, but not slipping. Ordered the new new and had it put in. Only two days after the install, something happened with my subwoofer wiring, the fuse didn't pop and the car caught fire. That's how she sits at the moment, should be back in my hands soon, though!
(don't think the throwout bearing should come out like this, this caused premature wear and clutch drag on the OEM clutch)
The rest are just some random photos and videos of my GLI that I have taken, along with some of my friends. Enjoy!
(Full Resolution Photos can be found on my flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/128494343@N07/
More GLI(along with beer, my lab and E30) fun can be seen on my insta @benjhad)
Videos of the terrible exhaust before the resonator and with it. The Vibrant Resonator helped, but the muffler is needed. Honda levels of rasp...
(I apologize about the lack of video embedding, it keeps bugging out for me tonight!)
Pre-Resonator, pulling out and getting on it as much as possible on a bad clutch
Resonated and non-resonated clips with flybys
Semi-Cold start and some revs after getting the UltraResonator put in
That's all for tonight, hope to post up here more often with more updates and more low! Night SW Crew!
(WARNING: Long ass intro, but there's pictures)
My first was an '11 2.5 SEL/5M, my first manual car and the second vehicle I ever drove stick in(first was a '10 Jetta 2.5, ironically). I affectionately named her Heidi, and planned on not parting ways for some time.
Sadly after only two and some change years of ownership, and much fun with the car, I wrongly turned left on a red arrow and was t-boned by a cab. Car drove from Atlanta to Brunswick, Georgia and deemed totaled. Surprisingly, even with airbags deployed and the side crushed in it drove flawlessly on the cold February day.
After this, I knew I wanted something a bit cooler than a 2.5 and I really did love my Mk6, so a GLI or TDI was what I was looking for. I looked around but couldn't find the right car in my budget(whatever insurance paid out, being in school full time doesn't make car payments easy), that was until my father called me and said that a family friend(who managed a Nissan dealer at the time) just had a low mile DSG, TDI come onto the lot. It was hideous. Pinstipe, tan interior, and mud flaps. But it was cheap and was still deep into the warranty, so I picked it up and have the pinstripe taken off and the car professionally detailed. This car was amazing at highway rides, and even on my stop and go commute to work, would return 40mpg. I had plans to delete and tune it, but when the offer came, I took it. Volkswagen bought back my TDI, and I miss it, but this was almost a year ago.
I replaced it with, what I now know to be a basket case, 2014 GLI Autobahn w/ Nav. VW offered me a ton for my TDI, and while I loved it dearly, it was black on beige, and DSG. Beige and not being Manual is where the car lost me and the money was nice to help pay for my education.
The GLI has been a rollercoaster. It was purchased CPO from a VW dealer, but once on the way home, I found a number of issues that were not apparent during the purchase. The rear defroster was inoperable, the front speakers appeared to not work and, worst of all, the clutch was slipping. The car went into the shop and the dealer played along and paid for everything, and gave me a boring Passat for the almost two months they had my car.
I should add, I bought the car tuned, and catless. Absolutely no idea how that passed the CPO inspection...
The car now has:
APR Carbonio Intake
APR Stage II ECU Flash
Black Forest Industries Stage II Clutch Kit
USP 3" Catless DP
Vibrant Ultraresonator
Shitty cheapo flowthrough muffler the PO had put on
VW 18" Goal wheels(pulled off my TDI) w/ BFG Sport Comp II A/Ss
... and will soon have:
Vibrant rear muffler(can't do the rasp anymore...)
H&R Sport Springs
Koni FSD Struts/Shocks
Black Forest Industries Stainless Steel Weighted Shiftknob
Integrated Engineering Solid Shifter Bushings
Redline MT90 Trans Fluid Swap
225/40R18 Conti DWS
Anyway. Car has since had about 16k miles put on it, three oil changes(about time for a fourth), a new clutch put in (again) and a small fire due to some electrical fault with the subwoofer's amplifier. Being in the shop for the initial repairs, and now the fire repairs has really drug me into the dumps about the car, but I also cannot wait to have it back(maybe that's why I'm putting time into this thread again... who knows).
ANYWAY. To the pictures and some videos... finally...
On our way home from the dealer, at 2AM. GLI and TDI together for only a short time.
The car, who I decided I should call Sabine, earned herself a quick wash, wheel swap and the throwing on of my #scene crossbars almost as soon as she arrived home.
Despite the terrible exhaust(and it's drone) a friend and I made the trip down to St. Augustine Beach to see a great band, El Ten Eleven. On our way, we stopped to see(or try to) the scene of a trip flair plant south of us... no dice, but a nice pic of the car.
We decided that while taking I-95S would be the most logical and quickest way, it'd be no fun. So we took our hangovers and drove A-1A down from Fernandina Beach and Amelia, to the Mayport ferry. While it took the good part of a day, it did not disappoint.
Car then earned itself an oil change, new air filter and rotate... always fun. The APR filter was dangerously dirty, so I replaced with an AEM Unit. Oil change consisted of Liquimoly and Mann, only the best. Also threw in some JDMaf yellow fogs, definitely an upgrade over the OEM halogens.
Car was driving funny in early August, so I took it in to my local VW dealer while at school(Jim Ellis Kennesaw, talk to Rafael, he's the bomb)... clutch was on its way out, but not slipping. Ordered the new new and had it put in. Only two days after the install, something happened with my subwoofer wiring, the fuse didn't pop and the car caught fire. That's how she sits at the moment, should be back in my hands soon, though!
(don't think the throwout bearing should come out like this, this caused premature wear and clutch drag on the OEM clutch)
The rest are just some random photos and videos of my GLI that I have taken, along with some of my friends. Enjoy!
(Full Resolution Photos can be found on my flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/128494343@N07/
More GLI(along with beer, my lab and E30) fun can be seen on my insta @benjhad)
Videos of the terrible exhaust before the resonator and with it. The Vibrant Resonator helped, but the muffler is needed. Honda levels of rasp...
(I apologize about the lack of video embedding, it keeps bugging out for me tonight!)
Pre-Resonator, pulling out and getting on it as much as possible on a bad clutch
Resonated and non-resonated clips with flybys
Semi-Cold start and some revs after getting the UltraResonator put in
That's all for tonight, hope to post up here more often with more updates and more low! Night SW Crew!
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