My car recently had an anniversary of a sorts. The odometer just rolled over to 130,000 miles. Add 24,600 when the cluster had to replaced and my original owner 1997 VW has 154,600 miles on it.
Asof 1/24/2009: 167,382 getting long in the tooth. So am I.
Replaced stock VW 15" tires and wheels with
TOYO 17" Proxes and DeCorsa Wheels
Replaced headlamps with FK Angels eyes and
went with mesh badgeless grill.
The external antenna is long gone, and in order to get Internet I used a Wilson Quad band GSM amplifier in the trunk along with a high gain window mounted antenna high in the back window. Internet is available to me even in sub basement parking level three.
As for the lettering it reads "Shanghai Volkswagen" in chinese, the EBAY seller claimed it said "PASSAT". I know that there VW purists out there that would say keep it asis and but cars are personal and really up to the owners desires. But I like the look of the Altezzas "not Euro's". It totally changes the look. Takes away the bland.
This is for grins, I stuck on a Transformers badge for this photo, don't worry it's not staying. I was just curious.
Engine compartment: For now K&N air filter. Also, recent repairs/fixes: New wire set and bosch platinum plugs. Another coil pack and yes I did do the epoxy thing once.
I have upgraded all the electronics
My mods:
Had the entire care repainted and all 12 years worth of minor scratches and dents removed. Also in Maryland (Butch's Auto Body Inc, 620 Ritchie Road, pitol Heights, Maryland, 20743, (301)350-5100)
-Gentek Mirror Auto dimming/Home Link/Compass/Temperature
-LED Backup/Parking w/(4)Sensors (see MP3car.com)
-Tire Pressure monitoring system (see MP3car.com)
-In-Dash MOTORIZED TFT Touch Screen 7"
Has (2) Camera inputs/VGA
-GARMIN USB GPS puck
-GSM Bands cellular amplifier WIFI
-VoomPC-II, has Sierra AirCard 875 for WIFI
-Bluetooth, has serial for VAG-COM
-Many Logitech USB hubs powered
-Shark fin to hide XM, GPS and radio antenna
-Panasonic CQ-C8303U Head unit
-XM Direct Satellite Radio Pkg
-iPOD Nano ties into the head unit
-Panasonic CY-EM100U Expansion Box for Panasonic Receivers
-Panasonic CY-BT100U Bluetooth Handsfree Kit
-Panasonic CX-DP880 8-disc CD Changer(s)
-Alpine Power Amp
-12 Pioneer Subwoofer
-Remote car door lock/unlock w/alarm immobilizer.
Car runs great, took a while to find a good shop to work on it. In Laurel Maryland go to
JRS Auto repair (301) 604-9077
14717 Baltimore Ave, Laurel, MD 20707
Things I'd like to do:
Convert to ALL Electric, thats right rip out the VR6 and go totally green.
(see passat-glx-ev.com)
(see www.evadc.org)
Also I have learned howto "Hypermile" That is 31.3 mpg doing in city traffic morning commute. Pretty awesome. I can only manage up to 24 mpg going home. Traffic is way to heavy.
Phobias: I don't let VW dealer shops touch it. They either don't know what they are doing or they are intentionally trying to kill it.
