As mentioned in last months episode of my Journal, I had gone a little crazy and bought a few new things for my GTI. As some of you might have seen the car by now in real life, a lot has changed since March and I was tired of seeing your standard GTI on the streets. So, I wanted to bring a little European flair to Dubai to give you a hint on what will follow in the Journal.
| Driver's Log | |
|---|---|
| Date acquired: | February 2010 |
| Total kilometres: | 65,250 |
| Kilometres this month: | 1500 |
| Costs this month: | $8888 |
Well first of all I had to choose a set of alloys for the GTI, as I had good experience with the BBS speedlines from Audi and its just a beautiful alloy I decided to go with them, so I started looking around and almost bought some from Germany as here in Dubai we don’t really have that much of a choice as we would back home on eBay. But sometimes luck strikes and I was talking to Sam from Wheelsandrims UAE and he luckily just had received a pair from a customer. He made me an offer I couldn’t resist and so we went ahead and had them painted and polished and that all set me back 1088 USD but these rims in the offset are quite rare and so I knew I was getting the deal of the day here. Normally you would have to pay Audi 6530 USD for a set of 4 brand new ones, so I could easily say I saved 5442 USD but unfortunately it doesn’t count.
So with one important item already purchase I was off onto the next one which was a set of smoked LED tail lights from Germany. I had seen these on eBay and decided quite quickly that these would suit mine very well. I still had the old lights on mine as it was the 2010 model. So I placed the order, paid the money and then waited until they arrived here in Dubai. I have to admit I was tracking them everyday and Tibor was asking me every second day if they arrived already. Finally after about 3 weeks they arrived at Dubai Customs and I went to collect them which went very easy and the next day they were at the workshop being installed. The installation was really easy and only took 30 minutes.
So the lights set me back 500 USD including shipping and taxes here in the UAE so these are the cheapest items on the car in terms of value but they do make a big impact and the quality is very high. With the first two changes the bar had been set but we still weren’t happy about the look so we came to the conclusion we needed to improve the suspension as its an important factor a lot of people leave out. So we started looking through the internet and quickly came to the conclusion of KW. I knew a guy who builds quite insane VW’s back home in Germany so I contacted him and as I find out he develops suspension systems together with KW to give the cars an even better look. He made me a really good offer for the suspension kit and I transferred the money to his account and he sent out the suspension system.
Now your asking what KW system I chose? Well its the KW V3 clubsport which is basically the closet thing you’ll get to racing suspension for a road car. It took about 3 weeks till it arrived here in Dubai and then had to undergo custom clearance and I had to pay 5% import duty as well. So I called Tibor and told him I will be dropping off the GTI in the morning and he can install the suspension. I think I walked over to the garage like 5 times as I was so eager to see the result. Finally my phone rang and Tibor asked me to come around and I was shocked by the result. The GTI was so low I didn’t know if we would even get it off the lift. The suspension was already preset by gepfeffert to the settings they use in Germany. Well I can tell you this I wouldn’t have been able to drive with those settings which amazes me as the German Tuev is quite strict. So we adjusted the suspension, did the alignment and then took it for a test drive. I have to say the difference is immense and I have to give my compliments to Autohaus for doing such a great job with the installation and also on rolling the arches. Any other garage would have probably just installed it and wished me luck on my way home. The installation set me back 450 USD and the suspension 4800 USD.
So now I have the wheels and the desired ride height but we where still missing something. Tibor had made some good experience with his downpipe in his Golf R and so we quickly decided on a complete exhaust system from 42draftdesign from the states. I had never heard of them but I had checked some soundfiles on youtube and looked at their website and was quickly assured that this would be the best choice as compared to miltek or other brands the price for the complete system was unbeatable. So we ordered the exhaust and 4 weeks later it arrived at Autohaus and the almost final stage of the project was complete. Installation was done within 1 hour and we fired up the GTI and it was just pure satisfaction what this exhaust system delivered. You can drive it normal and the car is as quite as a standard GTI, but when you kickdown it fires up and goes like a rocket. Autohaus is the official 42draftdesign dealer so I recommend you get yourself an exhaust because its just crazy what it delivers. With installation and shipping the complete system set me back 2050 USD but they where well worth it too.
Last on the long list of spends was the map. As I had mentioned before I have tried APR and REVO and with both I had my problems so I was a little skeptical when Autohaus said they can provide a map for mine and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend the money on it. But Tibor assured me it will not have the same problems as the previous software and if it does I get my money back. So he had the car for a full day and installed the software. I came around after work and we took the car for a spin. The map together with the air intake system and the exhaust has created a fun factor where I have to watch out that I don’t get caught by every radar on Dubai roads. It’s just fantastic! I wish Volkswagen would do something like this from stock so I wouldn’t have to spend all this money on the car to have the joy of driving it as I do now. Well then again Volkswagen have heard my cry for more power with the new R 400 but then again I don’t think that would stay stock for long in my hands either. The performance is crazy and quite a few golf R’s have had to learn that too.
That’s all for the month of April in terms of spending. Now I hope to enjoy the car without having to do anything to it but I already have plans up my sleeve.
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