Modifying: Why would anyone do that to a VW?

Poltergeist said:

Let me make it real easy for you. Because the stock look sucks and it could look so much better with mods. Also like Chris said their engine is not tuned to their full potential and it could be so much better.

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I disagree that the stock look sucks. I think the stock GTI at least, even the standard Golf variants to some extent, look fantastic. I feel part of the reason there are so few standout cosmetic mods that really change the look is because it's not necessary. If anything, slight enhancements in details are all it takes to really set off the stock GTI look. I mean slight like lighting, wheels (although Detroits are some of the sexiest stock wheels you'll find IMHO...and that's coming from someone with Detroit wheels sitting in boxes), and a few other modest mods are all it takes.

I found myself turning back and looking at my car in parking lots even with zero cosmetic work done to it since day one... Even now, my car barely looks much different than a stock GTI other than the suspension/wheels/lighting. Two of the best cosmetic mods are still OEM, the euro lip and R tails.

Yes Hilfloskind, I agree that GTI looks good even in stock. But other VW cars, not so much for me and i thought that was what has been asked in OP.

and I got the Denver wheels, the not so sexy cousin of Detroit, just so I could save a grand for some sexier than Detroit wheels (not that I don't like Detroit)

Oh yeah...Detroits aren't standard in the great white north...shame. Well, I can't say I blame you for wanting to spend the extra on some other options.

I actually only dislike the look of a small number of dubs...the minivan, beetle and SUV models. I love the CC, Passat, Golf models and GLIs (not a huge fan of Jettas beyond mkiv).

haha...great white north...kinda sucks in a way cuz we don't get much

I kind of agree with the OP but understand both sides. I was gungho on getting a tune until I learned of fried ECU's... The stock intake is excellent so the only point of installing a new intake is for sound and looks...the stock intake is actually a cold air intake. I always found it amusing in the Benz forums when some people replaced the intake on the C class...it comes with ram air!!! They actually made the car worse with an aftermarket intake, WTH? Stock exhaust is also pretty good on this GTI as is the suspension, brakes, wheels, audiio system. If anything the GTI is my first car that NEEDS NOTHING except a little more power but it's not grossly underpowered either.

It is a shame that VW de-tuned this car so much for the U.S. (yes it is under-rated per dyno but still de-tuned compared to Euro models). The tune seems like the only performance mod worth any $$$ to me since it actually does add some power.

One thing that I've always found silly and pointless is de-badging of cars...don't see that much here though. That was big on the honda forums... Why do you want to hide what you're driving? A de-badged car looks cheap to me, sorry if I offend anyone. I do like seeing aftermarket lights to change the overall look just a bit but again this GTI is the tits already, ha ha. People comment on my wheels all the time, are those stock? Why yes they are!

again, makes jealous because you guys get the 18' Detroits in the states

totally against de-badge. If i had a 2.5 maybe I'd do it so I can pretend like I'm driving a GTI. But when I have a GTI I dont need to hide anything, because it's awesome! but I'm a fan of re-badge tho the reason why I re-badged is because I have a black car and it would be better if I don't let those silver badges stand out too much because they are so shiny and destroys my black unified look

Why do you want to hide what you're driving?

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exactly.

One reason is to be able to find you car in the parking lot,
because heaven forbid there happens to be another car with
the name number of door and the same color as your car.

In my case 2Door Blue Graphite Metallic , then its the slight
exterior mods which makes the difference such as the wheels
and spoiler for example.... but then again its just a good reason
to spend extra $.

soooo addicted to modding :thumbsup:

possibly even more addicted to reading and thinking about modding than actually doing it :lol:

wutsupdoc said:

soooo addicted to modding :thumbsup:

possibly even more addicted to reading and thinking about modding than actually doing it :lol:

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agreed. I stay up late just to read and think about mods for no reason lol but often it leads to bad decision making and purchasing stuff that I'm gonna regret and cancel the next morning lol fails yes I know

but seriously, the more I mod my car the more I love it.

I'll tell you what makes me cringe.
The GTI can be had for around $26K for arguments sake.
At that price, it's a little more expensive than its most direct competitors - but given it's level of refinement, build quality, and just overall niceness it's worth it.
That's why many of us choose it.
Option the car up with the Autobahn package and a bit more, and the car is nipping uncomfortably close to $30K. :yikes:
That's cringe level one for me.
Still, a damn nice car, but it's getting up there.

Take that car, and mod it out with a tune, wheels/tires, shocks/springs, exhaust etc., and now we are talking about what may be a
35K GTI. :yikes::yikes:
That's cringe level two for me.

Obviously a persons car, is a persons car, and their money and how they choose to spend it is up to them.
Some people gamble, some go out to eat, some do endless home improvements as others have noted.

I'm not about status, but I still feel uncomfortable bringing a GTI up to A4, 3 Series BMW, or Infiniti G territory.
For me part of the appeal of this car is in it's performance - qualty - price ratio.
Skew that ratio north of 30 Thousand and I grow glassy eyed.

ElectricEye said:

I'll tell you what makes me cringe.
The GTI can be had for around $26K for arguments sake.
At that price, it's a little more expensive than its most direct competitors - but given it's level of refinement, build quality, and just overall niceness it's worth it.
That's why many of us choose it.
Option the car up with the Autobahn package and a bit more, and the car is nipping uncomfortably close to $30K. :yikes:
That's cringe level one for me.
Still, a damn nice car, but it's getting up there.

Take that car, and mod it out with a tune, wheels/tires, shocks/springs, exhaust etc., and now we are talking about what may be a
35K GTI. :yikes::yikes:
That's cringe level two for me.

Obviously a persons car, is a persons car, and their money and how they choose to spend it is up to them.
Some people gamble, some go out to eat, some do endless home improvements as others have noted.

I'm not about status, but I still feel uncomfortable bringing a GTI up to A4, 3 Series BMW, or Infiniti G territory.
For me part of the appeal of this car is in it's performance - qualty - price ratio.
Skew that ratio north of 30 Thousand and I grow glassy eyed.

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I have to say i concur with your comments. I liked the car when i first saw it. The overall quality seemed exceptional. All of the options it came with or where available at a pretty reasonable cost.

The gas mileage was an important factor, gas may go up and down but the trend is definitely up. So we have an attractive package, with good performance and gas mileage at a reasonable price.

Modding/personalization has always been around, i'm from the '52 Ford, '53 Chevy, 54 Merc days, although mine was a '52 Hudson, and everybody did little things. I painted my rims black and put baby moons on, about 10 to 15 dollar mod, i also put a cut out on the car so i could unscrew it and run no muffler, very loud. but i was 17.

I have always appreciated cars, styling, etc., and i have spent way to much money on them over the years.

The GTI is great stock, and to me folks the warranty is extremely important, nothing that i will jeopardize, the money is an issue but the inconvenience, and stress of trying to get something fixed that may be considered tampered with etc. is just not worth it to me.

Continue to mod/personalize if that is your passion, we all have hobbies, things we like to do, but for me the car is well engineered and styled as is.

My list of mods: Red interior lighting, GTI brushed letters with red background material that i painted in the seat handles, and my VW valve stem covers, about 50 dollars worth.

I do have several GTI T shirts, from VW, great material, thin, soft, and for those of you that have materiel seats it has that by the logo, i also have the VW signs in the garage, etc. check out the shirts.

I'm a converted VW fan and i bought the GTI because, for me, it the total package at a reasonable price.

This is quoted from a response to an article about warranties... but it explains why we all mod our cars... It pretty much sums up the Jalopnik manifesto:

"I'm so glad I've always bought old and used and thus have enjoyed the freedom to do whatever the hell I want to do to my car.

I just picked up a free non-running 1989 Audi 80 quattro as a parts car for my 1991 80 quattro. I've pretty summarily taken what I need off of it, leaving a perfectly good chassis, seats, transmission and AWD system. It's missing a couple body panels and most of the engine.

Know what else I've got? A 1994 Subaru Legacy AWD station wagon with a bent frame, shot transmission and enough rust on the body to pretend it just came back from a nice Sunday drive on mars. And a perfectly good, strong-running engine.

Oh, and a friend with a machine shop for making custom engine mounts and bell housing adapters. Who is also a 24-hours of Lemons fan.

Many many many many many many many warranties would be nigh voided were these cars new.

In my opinion, warranties do naught but cockblock potential students of hooning and mechanical awesomeness.

"Oh my god! That is epic! I would love to do it, but...it would void my warranty..."

If any of my previous cars had never had warranties, I'd probably still not even know how to change a tire. Warranties create timidity and co-dependence in otherwise potential Jalops and car enthusiasts. Are warranties good for people who merely want to commute in their beige little toaster?

Yes. Because those people aren't enthusiasts. They have no interest in freeing up extra ponies by helping the car breathe better, or getting a higher torque curve by re-lobing the cam. They could care less about the weight balance or the torsion chassis stiffness or the fact that their goddamned headlights are aimed into oncoming traffic. And it's these people, the automotively illiterate, who need a warranty. They rely on it to safe them from their own passive ignorance and laziness.

But what about those who DO care? A cold-air intake is one of those things that is priced so effectively it's nearly free horsepower. A new exhaust? Sounds better and adds power at a reasonable price. Intercooler? Awesome. More power, better reliability. Adding a turbo? Sweet. Gobs of new power and better gas mileage. Tuned on a dyno? Very little work on your part to make your car all it can be. Do you know what else all of these things are?

Learning experiences. Education. Wisdom. The building blocks of becoming a true petrolhead and future Jalop. Toying with your car bonds you to that car. Emotionally and intellectually. It helps you become intimately familiar with what your car is and what it can and cannot do. If these truck owners had shown the initiative to just tinker a bit, they would have known that their frames had an inherent weakness before testing its limits blindly.

And if they weren't so co-dependent on their warranties, they could have fixed that weakness. They could have reinforced the frame right there for relatively cheap. And with that the would gain not only a better understanding of what makes their truck tick, along with confidence in it's abilities and the piece of mind that at least that part of their truck is up to the task at hand because they personally made damned sure of it.

I honestly believe that when people quit being enslaved by their warranties and allow themselves the freedom to customize and tune and tinker and play with their cars, it not only teaches them about their cars and all cars in general, it also make their lives easier and less stressful.

Wait, less stressful? Bu aren't warranties all about peace of mind and less stress? Yes. The same way abstinence is good for peace of mind about not having an STD or accidental pregnancy.

But so is responsible sex, except that's also fun as well as helping you be less stressed and have the peace of mind that hey, you are in fact capable to getting laid. The same way being a responsible car owner allows you peace of mind while also letting you have fun with your automotive ward.

Since you know how your car works and what's been done to it, when something goes wrong, instead of wondering what the mystery thing under the hood is doing and whether the magical almighty Warranty Gods will cover it, you instead pop the hood, pop open your Haynes/Chilton/Bentley manual and proceed to study the symptoms, diagnose the problem and, you know, do something about it. Not only do you save money by doing it yourself, you also get the peace of mind knowing that you can personally ensure that the problem is fixed, as well as be content in better knowing how to fix it next time. And if you must buy tools for the job, guess what:

They're you're tools. To keep. You own them. Forever. You don't have to pay each time they need to be used. You paid for them one time and every time after that, they're free to use for yourself. And you don't have to pay the dealership or service department triple-digit markups for work that, as an enthusiast, will do naught but enrich your own life and your own wallet.

I think warranties are the British Nannies of the automotive world. Yes, they're handy in a pinch when you've got to got out of town for a week and don't have the time or ability to watch your child (ie. car) for that period of time. But rely on the Nanny too much and eventually your 'child' will be too old for the Nanny to watch any longer and suddenly you're stuck with a burden that, while technically it is yours, you don't know the first damned thing about it or how to take care of it.

Except if nannies were actually like warranties, if at any point you decided to be a responsible, loving parent and take your child out for a fun day at the park or clothes shopping or to get a haircut, or hell, even to drop them off at school yourself, you would from that day forth no longer be allowed to ever hire that nanny again.

In my personal opinion...fuck the Nanny and do whatever you want to your car. It is yours, after all."

Here is the link to the article:
http://jalopnik.com/5820104/are-ford-raptor-frames-too-weak-for-off+roading

Notice that the author specifies an old or used car.

An intake is "free horsepower?"
An intake is lots of money for virtually no horsepower.
Same thing goes for an exhaust.

Don't get me wrong, I like them both - but on a car like ours they add up to hundreds of dollars for something that looks and sounds good - but contributes little.
It's up to us the car owner to decide if they are worth the money or not.

As far as warranties being "nannies" he's got to be kidding.
If it weren't for the warranty, I wouldn't be driving a new car.
Knowing that "if it breaks, it's covered" is half of what I'm paying for.
I'd save a good chunk of change and buy used were it not for the piece of mind that a warranty offers.
Maybe mod that with some of the money I saved with no fear of voiding a warranty.

All of the mechanical education the author speaks of can be gained on a used car - even a barely used car for a fraction of the price.

Blow a transmission, have a fuel pump fail etc. and need to fork over a lot of money for a hefty repair bill - you'll be happy to have that nanny.

I like having a warranty to work out the kinks that virtually all new cars have. It's also nice to know something catastrophic can be taken care of, if necessary. At the same time, this is my first brand new car purchase and the warranty experience with MY local dealership has been nightmarish in no uncertain terms. I actually look forward to the warranty period expiring so I don't have to ever deal with them again...

I've modded my car with care and deliberation despite the risks to the warranty. It's not only been fun to do for obvious reasons but I have also learned a TON about how to work on my own car in the process. When the warranty period is over, which will be in a year or so at this rate of mileage consumption, I'll be confident that I can handle many of the normal work that will come up on my own. On top of that, we have a dedicated VW/Audi performance shop in my town that does excellent work and is run by two guys that live and breathe VWs (think VW tattoos, their own MK2's for daily drivers, etc...).

ElectricEye said:

I'll tell you what makes me cringe.
The GTI can be had for around $26K for arguments sake.
At that price, it's a little more expensive than its most direct competitors - but given it's level of refinement, build quality, and just overall niceness it's worth it.
That's why many of us choose it.
Option the car up with the Autobahn package and a bit more, and the car is nipping uncomfortably close to $30K. :yikes:
That's cringe level one for me.
Still, a damn nice car, but it's getting up there.

Take that car, and mod it out with a tune, wheels/tires, shocks/springs, exhaust etc., and now we are talking about what may be a
35K GTI. :yikes::yikes:
That's cringe level two for me.

Obviously a persons car, is a persons car, and their money and how they choose to spend it is up to them.
Some people gamble, some go out to eat, some do endless home improvements as others have noted.

I'm not about status, but I still feel uncomfortable bringing a GTI up to A4, 3 Series BMW, or Infiniti G territory.
For me part of the appeal of this car is in it's performance - qualty - price ratio.
Skew that ratio north of 30 Thousand and I grow glassy eyed.

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True, however, a K04 GTI -- let's say the final "price" of the car after mods is $35 -- isn't really competing with an A4 or 3 Series BMW. Price wise, yes. But a K04 GTI is more comparable to an S4 or M3, which are both up in the $50,000 range. So you could almost argue that the more you mod your car, the more valuable it is, because a GTI that cost 26 and has $9000 worth of mods is competing with cars in the 50 range.

Just some food for thought :w00t: