Page1: The car and the mods
Page2: Turbo Project
Page3: Pictures
Here we go. Where to start. Well, this is my first volkswagen and so far, I simply love it. It beats by far the Celica GTS I had just before. I would like to thank Sergio at Prestige Volkswagen for the car and his outstanding service.
Here is the beast. This is the very first picture of it. It was taken at the dealership upon delivery. I received it the 29th August 2006.
The very first thing I did was to change the wheels. When I bought the car, I already had something in mind. I had 3 miles on the car and I was already at the performance shop. Once I got to RMR, Shane was very helpfull and gave me good advice regarding a good wheel/tire package. I chose the Spyn ZX in 18inch. I think that they suit the vehicle pretty good!
As soon as the wheels were installed, I thought that it needed to be lowered. It really looked like a 4X4. Finding a suspension setup wasn't a piece of cake since no one had something in stock for the new rabbit. I had to travel all the way across Montreal and pay VAG MOTORSPORT a visit in order to get my suspension setup. I ended up buying a Patec F1 spring kit which are designed by the same engineer as H&R. I was really in a rush to get my setup since WATERFEST12 was approaching and I wanted the ride to be lowered and sitting as low as possible for the roadtrip.
While at the waterfest, I picked up as many parts as I could find that would fit my new car. I ended up picking up a shortshifter kit made by NEUSPEED, AUTOTECH front and rear adjustable swaybars, ECSTUNING smoked bumper lights and a FREEDOM DESIGN stubby antenna. I was somewhat disapointed with all that. I was planning on finding a Rieger lip at the Waterfest but it didnt happen. Here is 2 pictures. The first one shows the Autotech rear swaybar next to the OEM one while the second picture shows the Autotech part installed. I couldn't believe how much better the car handled after that modification.
As soon as I got back from the waterfest, I contacted the local Rieger importer and ordered my lip. After a month and a half of torture, it finally arrived. I was so happy that i drove there Shumi style. It looked perfect but seemed like it was missing something. I wanted to keep the lip black since it doesn't draw as much attention. It looks more subtle. To be a little bit more of an eye catcher and look different as well, I painted my front grill in semi-gloss black. No need to tell you that I was pretty nervous doing so. Painting a part of a brand new car using some tremclad spray can was being a bit of a rush but after all, I am very happy with the turn out!
Once that was all done I started to think a about performance. Because the only CAI out was the ABD and it is selling for an arm and a leg, I decided to go with a Custom CAI that I made myself. I wont get into details but I noticed HUGE gains and went on the dyno using the stock intake box and then switched to the custom CAI. here is a picture of the CAI and below a graphic of the dyno.
So what is going to be next? A turbo Setup? Hum, that would be interesting... lets just say that i already have a few interesting parts!
Turbo Project
