I just got my blackstone labs oil report for the GTI today:



So it all looks good. We'll see about that copper thing but I won't worry about it much.

Also got new tires yesterday. They're Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s and man oh man are they sticky. So awesome.

I have the same tires. They are wonderful!

How much are these blackstone reports? My dealership thinks my passenger side head gasket might be on the way out...this could be an interesting way to find out...although I'm a bit worried that it could be the bearer of bad news.

$20 or so.

Yeah, they're $22.50 and postage was $1.98 domestically.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

Clark, where did you get your tires at? they are mad $$$$$$$ in 18" format

You have 18" wheels on your GTi?

I just sent away another sample of oil on Friday on my truck, hopefully I'll get the results before we move. I did the 2nd one for the Volvo in December and the numbers were identical to the 1st.

A local tire shop by the name of Tire Pros. I called them and much to my surprise they quoted me a price that beat Tirerack ($728 out the door).



I don't, bomb3r does.

thats an awesome deal... you have 17" on your car?

And the problem with that is...

they weight the same as a baby elephant and look stupid.

and the expert has spoken...

Yes, the OEM O.Z. Arriettas in 17x7 with 225/45R17s on them.



It's true, the 18" Hufweizens are about 27 pounds apiece, which is unacceptably heavy. And I don't like how 18s on the MkV require suspension travel limiters either...the 17s are far superior.

yeah, I know that they weigh 30 pounds, however, I was just referring to his comment saying that 18s look stupid.

Anyway, while we are on the discussion... I would like to know what is so bad about the bump stops? Any car will have them, so I don't quite understand the problem.

I think the 18s look great, I'm not too worried about the weight. It's not like any of us are pro-racers who need to save weight wherever we can. I doubt most of would notice the difference. Other than Clarkma, Midnightdorifto, Strangelove, and Mazdaspeed, I can't even think of any people on the forums who track their cars or anything.

You dont have to go on a race track to feel the difference. And yes, i have tracked my car .. under very bad circumstances too

Not being a guy who tracks his car, ever, I don't know personally, but I have read that reducing unsprung weight is one of the most noticeable changes you can make to a car.

No question about it, I notice a big difference in terms of acceleration in my car when I got from 18s to 16s. I just wish huffs did not look so good on the MKV....

Function > form.

Easy!

Yes. No wheel is pretty enough to justify 50% extra unsprung weight over other alternatives. Unsprung weight is something you can really feel, even with just a few pounds per corner, and it's not just track performance, it's ride comfort, fuel economy, braking performance, the aforementioned acceleration...not to mention suspension performance on bumpier surfaces (which matters more on the road than on the track!) My advice: sell the Huffs, get a set of 17" Denvers or something lighter like that.

You guys are correct, in terms of performance. I have been looking at the sub 23 LBS wheels for the car, but I want something along the lines of Porsche phone dialers but I doubt I can find them in the proper size and fit.

I also was thinking about garaging the MKV and getting me an MKIII to drive to work... getting tired of the premium gas.

...tired of paying for premium? That's silly; it's only 20-30 cents more expensive than regular, which represents, at most, a 10% increase. The 2.0T gets good mileage as-is. Especially when the alternative to paying 10% more for gas is to spend several thousand dollars for a second car, insurance, registration, etc.

It's not like the MkV is some high-strung weekend driver anyway. It's meant to do the daily drudge too.

As for wheels, IMO the stock GTI wheels are already like a modern re-think of the Porsche phone dialers.

but in 18" size - they are HEAVY!

Also the insurance on the MKIII will be cheap, but the benefits of having second car are immense. Such as I can take apart the MKV and not worry about having it ready for Monday. Also I drive 35 miles one way to work, so the miles on the MKV are starting to add up.

Ok, I lose. But those 18s are still damned cool. Btw, the mkIII sucked.

Careful there... MKIII is a simple car thats fun to drive... not to mention that they are cheap to buy, fix and maintain.

Another report from my 40,000 mile oil change:



They're right, my car has been doing a lot more city driving for the last month or so before I sampled this, so I'm cool with that fuel thing. Amazing how precise they can get.

Are you using a K&N air filter?

No, just an STP OEM-style (read: paper) replacement that I changed a few hundred miles before I sampled my oil.

common clark... MOD THAT THING! I mean no need to go all crazy but.............. the whole point of owning a VW is to mod it any way besides with 40K you are almost out of the warranty cycle.

I am out of warranty (it's a 4 year warranty and the car is 4.5 years old).

It's not worth modding. I like it a lot but its value to me is greatest in its near-stock form. My current plan is to keep it as a fun, yet practical and efficient, daily driver and get myself something cheap but sporty (like a Miata or MR2 or maybe something else I haven't thought of yet) that can become something I can really tinker with. The GTI's fun but I've pretty much dug to the depths of its talents at this point.

your car is asking for coilover suspension clark.
the fact that you track the car is a very good, you can start to turn out faster laps.

EDIT: Koni makes a new OE replacement strut for the GTi its called the STR.T street strut and the tire rack is selling em for 70 bucks a piece.
some of them plus some H&R springs will have you driving in comfort and getting that new performance out on the track

Yeah I know I could make the GTI into a pretty impressive performance machine...the aftermarket for it is huge, varied, and relatively affordable. Honestly though, consider this: it gets 28 MPG overall average, I've owned it since new and have taken care of it REALLY well, I know everything that has ever happened in this car's life, it is paid off, it is comfortable, and I have already spend the last 4+ years exploring how it drives.

I could make it a monster. But trust me, the GTI chassis, no matter how fast it can be made to go, will never play like I want it to. It just doesn't have it in it...partially because it's a little heavy, partially because it's front wheel drive, partially because of its rear suspension design. I enjoy it immensely for what it is. I don't think it's wise to spend several grand forcing it to be what it's not.

I want a light, RWD car (preferably a convertible for that beautiful California weather) that I can tinker with. Having a second car that isn't critical to have up and running all the time is also very appealing...the GTI can be used to get me to work on time, to get me through the nasty weather. The sports car can be used on the sunny days, the track days, the mountain roads, the weekends. I learned it from the Nurburgring...in cars, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Let things have better focus and you will enjoy yourself more.

I am pretty sure that if you were to re-flash your car it would still achieve 28MPG. I am pretty impressed how mine handles after suspension/wheels/engine mount upgrades. I would not say ZOMG it handles better then a BMW but its pretty darn tight . Although MKV is a completely different beast from MKIV.

Like I said, I know I can make it a monster. I can make it pull 1.1g on the skidpad, pull 13 second quarters, and make the suspension tight and make it stop on a dime. Those are all possible with this chassis and this aftermarket. What I mean that, as a performance machine, its character is that of a quick, but safe, FWD hot hatch. It's not a light RWD sports car, which is the feeling I'm going for more. I cannot make it be anything but a FWD hot hatch (not without throwing like $100,000 at it).

I'm looking for a shift in character, not an increase in performance. The GTI cannot deliver that, at least not as much as I would like it to. It's therefore worth way more to me in its current state, as a dependable, near-new, comfortable everyday vehicle (that I can still look forward to driving, of course).

On a side note, Blackstone's logo is extremely similar to Cold Stone's logo.

I can't argue with that, I commend your ability to express your feelings in written format.