History of My 97 Jetta VR6 Mk3 MyVR6.org

AUTHOR

nappent

Added 1 story
STORY CAR

Economically Modified Mk3 VW Jetta VR6

Volkswagen, 1997, Jetta GLX VR6
STORY PHOTOS

Find more info on [URL]http://myvr6.org[/URL]

When I got my VW 2.8L 12v Jetta VR6 I didn't waste any time to start working on it. My goals were to improve 3 factors: style, safety, and efficiency. First things first I start to research all about my car. Since I went from a very mechanical car (1.6l 1980 VW Jetta) with almost no electronics to my 97 Jetta with more sensors and other electronic systems then I can count... I had a little catching up on modern automotive standards.

My research started at VWvortex.com where I quickly found myself spending way too many hours of my day learning about other VW enthusiast's cars. At the same time my knowledge of my car was at the point I could start working on completing my 3 goals. I began with one of the most common modification of replacing my fuel management chip. I installed a GIAC (http://giacusa.com/) which is actually one of the main companies that supplies the OEM fuel management programing for VW. After installing that I quickly saw a increase in MPG by 1-2 miles. In addition, the new chip removed top speed and rev limiter.... Neither of which I needed, but it's a nice bonus.

Next, came the CAI (Cold Air Intake). I picked a Carbonio Cold Air Intake because of the weight saving and reduced heat transfer benifits of carbon fiber. Yet after the install I was not too happy with my engine actually quieting down a lot. Typically during WOT (Wide Open Throttle) my car had a very nice sounding growl to it... much like a old school V8. Yet with this new CAI the air filter was move to about 6 inches from the ground all of the sound was lost deep in the engine and front bumper compartment. On the up side with the CAI I have more open space in the engine bay on the passenger sides for me to have easier access to other componets.

Continuing on, my current core suspension components we in need of replacing so I located a new company by the name of Patec and got myself Holeshot Coilovers via a reseller TmTuning.com. This coilovers gave me height adjustability that I needed. A friend of mine from college spent a full day and guided me through the installed. I also installed front and rear EuroSport Stress bars to increase structional integratie of the car. Basically reducing the flexing of the car's frame. With the coilovers and stress bars it was like driving my car on rails. Very little body roll even when I'm pushing it to the limits. With all of these costing under $1000 I was very happy with the results.

A few months later I finally did my first styling modification. Nothing major but install a European Deep Front bumper lip (spolier). With this install the natural line of the car are enhanced greatly. Yet, it also meant I need to reduce my speeding going over speed bumps and in/out drive ways. No worries it's something I can deal with.

During the same time of the new lip I also did one of my first safety modifications. I've yet to figure out why VW did not do this from the factory but oh well. If you look at my pictures below you will see my blinker and also orange side marker lights on each side of the front bumper. When the blinker is active the side marker light do not blink. The way the blinks are displayed in the bumper you can't see my blinker is active at anything more then 90 degrees or more angle. So I rewired the side marker lights to blink with ther blinkers. I feel much safer now knowing everyone at all angle can see the direction I'm turning. You may also notice that most new cars now have side blinks on the front fenders or side mirrors doing the same thing.

One of my favorite modifications was upgrading to a Magnaflow exhaust. Took me a couple hours to install but the sound is awesome. It has a nice mild deep tone that does not attach cops but will turn a few heads if I'm driving by quickly. At the same time it's nealy as quiet as my stock system when keeping my RPM's low. With the chrome tips it added a nice little touch to my car's rear end.

Next was improving night driving with upgraded headlamps. I acutally have gone through two different pairs of headlamps. The first where very similar to my stock headlamps but used a european beam pattern which greatly increased the light output. The only problem was I wanted to get HID system much like other BMW's, Audi's, and other high end cars. After spending a lot of time researching my options I could put a HID kit into my new headlamps but produce a lot of glare for on-coming drivers or upgrade to a headlamp with a sharp cutoff on the beam pattern. I just happen to find a site that was selling a brand new inPro dual projected headlamps. I got the headlamps a month later and the hid kit a month after that to have exactly the light system I needed. Match with yellow PIAA Ion H3 bulbs in my stock fog lights the output was awesome. The added bonus to safer night driving was that the HID kit used 50% less power then standard bulbs so that was less stress on the alternator and more power for the engine.

At this point I've had my car for several years now and it was need of a good tune up. Installed new spark plugs, fuel filter, larger spark plug wire, my own grounding kit, front/rear O2 sensors, oil change, new oil filter, and cleaned intake air filter. Took my car out for a 300 mile road trip to come back averaging 32-34 MPG for a car rate for 26 high way my modification and tune up we going to save me a lot at the ever raising gas prices.

Now here in the present I have finish doing what I want to do with my car with installing Porche D90 16x8 inch rims. In the VW community many people have installed the same rims on their cars but around town few have seen it done. I'm always getting comments about them. I really didn't want to make my car a show car but something a little better then the average VW Jetta. My only thing left on my to-do list is get my car repainted. I think the previous owner did not take very good car of the paint and it crack on the roof and hood... but I'm still overall happy with how my car has come out.

Take a look at my site [http://myvr6.org] for more pictures and information!

Added on 07-17-2007 by nappent