1992 Volkswagen Jetta GL. Purchased Last year with 114,000 miles on 1.8 8v DIGI-2 engine with A/C. 5-speed stick shift.

PERFORMANCE:

REPAIRS/REPLACEMENTS: CV joint/axle, engine subframe and sway bars, entire brakesystem/lines and proportioning valve, alternator, belts, coolant temp sensors, PCV line, ISV line, all of the main maintenance parts such as spark plugs, sensors, the battery, wiring harnesses, .

MODS/UPGRADES/ADD-ONS: Swiss-Cheesed Airbox, Enrichened Air-Fuel-Ratio, Gutted out Catalytic converter, MSD Blaster-2 Ignition coil, K&N FILTER, EIP tuning Solid Billet Aluminum Front motor mount, Poly rear mounts, Delrin suspension bushings, Cat-Back TechTonics Exhaust with Flowmaster 50 muffler, NEUSPEED Front Upper Strut Tower Brace (Tie-Bar). I have alot of little added on parts that im sure i forgot to list such as Air intake Parts, Knock Sensor Bushing, Electrical Modifications, Re-Routing of Tubes and re-machining of certain parts. Currently at somewhere around 130 hp. I wouldnt say that its lower than 125 hp but its not more than 135. Its still lightweight and the engine-bay is not cluttered.

NEEDS: Front Rotors & Pads, Shift Linkage Rebuild, New shocks and Springs, New tires, New Hood, New Radiator.

NEXT UPGRADES (Within 3 months): 8mm Bahn Brenner SparkPlug Wires, Thermostat Controlled Engine Oil Cooler, H&R Springs with KYB shocks, 15" bbs wheels with Pirelli tires, Cross-Drilled rotors with Mintex Pads, TechTonics Short-Shift weighted Shifter kit, Billet Fuel Rail by Bahn Brenner, TechTonics CHIP. ($1500-$1750)

NEXT UPGRADES (Within 12 months): BahnBrenner 15+ PSI Lysholm Supercharger and Intercooler, EIP Tuning BigValve Head with titanium valve retainers, solid lifters, 270 degree TechTonics Cam, EIP tuning Lightweight Flywheel (~8lbs), EIP forged Pistons, Chro-Moly Connecting Rods and Crank upgrade kit, TechTonics Full Race header. (~$8,000) Put to between 400 and 500 hp.

RIDE: The vehicle whips pretty hard with the solid billet motor mount and the poly rear mounts. The front and rear swaybars wwere replaced with 25mm stiffer ones so cornering is better. The car spins up the tires between 1st and 2nd gear and it puts out a nice big squeal between 2nd and 3rd. It currently has an exhaust leak and my spark plug wires have seen better days. The torque has been pushed further up the powerband so the engine needs to be revved up before it really tugs hard. The stereo and speakers has been removed. The car hooks on corners and i still havent been able to squeal the tires around a corner. The vehicle will 3-wheel if i take it fast enough around a corner. First and Second Gear are Neck-Breaking but 3rd gear is still pretty torquey.

Cosmetics: The Rear Passenger windows have been tinted 65% but not the actual back window for visibility reasons. The vehicle has been debadged for the most part but left mostly stock-looking with its big-bumper setup and non-split front windows. The color is Montana Green and the vehicle has the manual-crank sunroof and Aero-headlights.

The Exhaust tone is a deep, full PURR tone during idle but becomes very throaty around 2000 rpm and then screams from then on. The vehicle almplifies its exhaust afterfire and "burps" when decelerating with the clutch engaged. The fact that the vehicle has no working catalytic converter allows it to pop and crackle alot and will occasionally give out a loud crack and backfire during heavy accleration and quick shifting. The intake growl is very strong and used to be noticable until the solid motor mounts were installed and the car started shaking like a whore in church. I WILL HAVE MORE PICS LATER TO GIVE A BETTER DESCRIPTION.

Current Issues: The car doesnt run right when it is cold. Ive diagnosed a few things but i think it may just be a CTS or a different sensor. My exhaust leaks out the flange between the downpipe and the CATCON so that has been a pain. The engine will heat up and the exhaust leak goes away and the running problem goes away after 5 minutes. When i first installed the MSD Blaster-2 ignition coil, i burned out my coil to distributor wire and the engine ran horrible and was misfiring. I tested the resistance on all of my wires and each sparkplug wire was at about 4,500-5,000 ohms. The sparkplug to distributor wire was at about 90,000 ohms which is about the resistance of a 100 foot long spark plug wire. The fact that it was that wire made all 4 cylinders run like crap rather than just one cylinder from one wire. Ive been replacing things left and right this past month. I replaced/installed the following things from June-Present...
Engine Subframe
Alternator
Front Motor Mount
Strut tower brace
Performance Swaybars
Ignition Coil-Distributor Wire
Ignition Coil
Ignition Wiring harnesses
Shifter Knob
Pedals
Many Bushings
THAT ALLTOGETHER ACCUMULATED TO $980. I havent been working many hours ($500 per week) and i have a few expenses and bills to pay off so i usually have about $300 to spend each week on car parts.

This vehicle really is a sleeper. Many people ask why i keep the 8v engine but many people dont realize the potential and reliable performance that these engines can put out. My engine is beat on and maxxed out every single day and it shrugs the abuse right off. These engines are so durable that snapping timing belts rarely ends up with bent valves or ruined pistons or emptied wallets. Many people also ask me why i dont put big expensive rims and custom bodywork on it. My answer is always that the car gets used. Many people who spend $2000 on a set of rims will not whip it around a hairpin turn at 60 mph in fear of scraping a rim or scuffing a tire sidewall. I will just spend $500 on a good-looking set of used BBS wheels but nothing i will lose sleep over if i scratch or scrape one. My object isnt to make the car look fast, people know that it packs a punch when they hear it and see how it runs. My object with this car is for people to look at it and say "oh that looks nice and clean" and they would expect that the engine is in good condition but not tuned to the max or putting out WHP 3 or 4 times that of the stock BHP. It is a car used for surprising people. (Ive hustled a few times) such as...BMW 325is,Audi A4s,Honda Civics, Honda Accords,Cadillac CTS-Vs,Toyota Celicas, Talons, Eclipses, 3000GTs (Stealth), Dodge Dakotas, Chevy S-10s, Dodge Neons, Chevy Cavaliers, Chevy Cobalts, Honda CRXs, the list goes on. Its used as a Daily driver but occasionally take it up to the Dragstrip. Theres alot of Really loud Hondas and "Tricked Out" cars that impress people initially but lose the race to the inconspicuous little Jetta with an Eggbeater Motor in it.