VDUBDRIVEN FEATURE: MK5 OF THE MONTH
+ VRSTEWARTW’s Candy White Rabbit

“This months featured MK5 is VRSTEWARTW’s Candy White Rabbit featuring an OEM + style with retrofitted projectors, a clean stance and lovely Work Equips. Let’s see what he had to say!”

Interview

[VDD] Thanks for taking this opportunity to tell us a little more about  yourself and your car! Let’s start with the basics, what’s your name, location, club/affiliation and car’s nickname – if it has one?

[Ronaldo] My name is Ronaldo Stewart, I live in Burlington, NJ but originally from California and I’m with the JDQ/ESE group.

[VDD] What got you into VWs, i.e did someone you know also work on them?

[Ronaldo] My dad got my brother and I into cars in general when we were younger. When I moved to NJ I noticed all of the mk4 GTIs driving around and loved them ever since. When I got my first VW, a mk4 Golf, I had no clue what to do with it. I found vwvortex and learned everything from there.

[VDD] How long have you been modifying VWs? Any cool current/previous projects?

[Ronaldo] Since my mk4 so about 5 years ago.

[VDD] Now let’s move on to your Rabbit. Anything unique about it’s history?

[Ronaldo] Nothing really, it is my 2nd mk5. I had a GTI but I was involved in an accident and later decided to go with the rabbit since it was a lot cheaper.

[VDD] We love the style you’ve implemented for your car, from its clean front end with retrofitted projectors, stance and the Work Equips. How did you progress to your current setup? What happened to the Red Mugellos?

[Ronaldo] Thanks! The first mod I did to the rabbit was H&R Super Sport Springs but I hated it because of the gap it left me. I eventually bought FKs and ran 19″ Bronze RS4 wheels for a season. I wanted something a little different after the RS4s so I sold those in the winter and put my stock wheels back on and painted them red. Over the winter I found a set of 18″ Work Equip DDC wheels that I loved so I bought those and refinished the wheels myself, which is what I am running now. The TSX projectors took a lot of time but Im happy with the way they came out as well.

[VDD] Do you have any work done to your engine? Any shots/dynos or exhaust clips?

[Ronaldo] There’s nothing really done to the engine besides an ABD intake and GIAC flash. I had a local performance shop called Mufflex do my exhaust.

[VDD] What’s next for your car? Any plans?

[Ronaldo] Nothing really, maybe FI down the road but I would like to start saving some money. Being broke isnt fun these days .

[VDD] Who helped build your car? Any shoutouts?

[Ronaldo] I didn’t really have any help with my car but friends would come over to hangout while I worked on it.

[VDD] Describe a perfect Saturday/Sunday with you and your car:

[Ronaldo] Hmm, a perfect weekend with my car would be waking up to a nice day, washing the car, maybe take some pics, and just enjoy the rest of the day cruising around to some good tunes.

[VDD] Anything else you would like to add?

[Ronaldo] Just a quick thanks to my dad and brother for giving me the interests in cars that I have now and to the whole JDQ/ESE group for providing the fun times.

[VDD] Thanks for taking the time to fill us in about yourself and your car! We can’t wait to see what’s next for your Rabbit and other projects!

http://vdubdriven.com

VDUBDRIVEN FEATURE: MK4 OF THE MONTH
+ flygli’s Reflex Silver Jetta

“This months featured MK4 is Flygli’s Reflex Silver Jetta featuring a memorizing front end, legit wheels and the fact that it’s laying on its frame. Let’s see what he had to say!”

Interview

[VDD] Thanks for taking this opportunity to tell us a little more about  yourself and your car! Let’s start with the basics, what’s your name, location, club/affiliation and car’s nickname – if it has one?

[Clinton] Name : Clinton Franklin. Location : Cameron Park, California. Affiliation : the shop. Car’s name : Scarlett.

[VDD] What got you into VWs, i.e did someone you know also work on them?

[Clinton] My sister’s husband at the time was a VW nut and I guess I started looking more and more into VWs and just kinda fell into a MK4.

[VDD] How long have you been modifying VWs? Any cool current/previous projects?

[Clinton] I’ve been modding my car for the last 5 years. My 2 projects before it were a 65 Mustang and a bagged 96 Silverado. The next/current project is building a rock crawler out of my 86 Toyota truck.

[VDD] Now let’s move on to your GLI. Anything unique about it’s history?

[Clinton] Not really, I bought it bone stock and intended on keeping it that way……

[VDD] We love the style you’ve implemented for your car, from its memorizing front end, legit wheels and the fact that it’s laying on its frame. How did you come up with all of the different bits which have come together to produce what your car is today?

[Clinton] Its kinda been a trial and error deal with my car. Its gone through quite a few stages, some good and some not so good. The biggest thing is just trying to get everything to tie in together. I absolutely hated the stock grey interior, so that had to go and was replaced with a full interior swap from a 05 GLI. After 6 sets of wheels I finally broke down and had DPE build me my current wheels. Bags have always been on my mind for the car and after 4 1/2 years of coilovers I pulled the trigger.

[VDD] Do you have any work done to your engine? Any shots/dynos or exhaust clips?

[Clinton] To start with its a 24v VR6, Stage 2 VF-Engineering supercharger, 8.25LBS lightened flywheel, a stage 2 clutch, and a Peloquin LSD for performance mods. I have an exhaust clip before the supercharger if you look up flygli03 on the site.

[VDD] What’s next for your car? Any plans?

[Clinton] I have plans for more body work and a full respray eventually. And I would like to rewrap the seats at some point. Don’t want to give away all my secrets just yet…..

[VDD] Who helped build your car? Any shoutouts?

[Clinton] I’ve had a few friends help me through the years including Alex, Landon, Ricky, and Heath.

[VDD] Describe a perfect Saturday/Sunday with you and your car:

[Clinton] The perfect Saturday would be hanging out at “the shop” with the guys listed above working on the cars and shooting the breeze, the maybe a wash, followed by a drive and photoshoot.

[VDD] Thanks for taking the time to fill us in about yourself and your car! We can’t wait to see what’s next for your GLI and other projects!

http://vdubdriven.com

VDUBDRIVEN FEATURE: MK3 OF THE MONTH
+ Bunkbed’s Windsor Blue Golf

“This months featured MK3 is Bunkbed’s Windsor Blue Golf featuring an OEM + style with a few EOS components, a clean stance and front end. Let’s see what he had to say!”

Interview

[VDD] Thanks for taking this opportunity to tell us a little more about  yourself and your car! Let’s start with the basics, what’s your name, location, club/affiliation and car’s nickname – if it has one?

[Jon] I’m Jon Youells from Forty Fort PA. My friends and I made a joke club called 570-DUBS for h2o club parking last year, the sticker is still on my hatch so I guess it’s official. I reluctantly call the car Golfy.

[VDD] What got you into VWs, i.e did someone you know also work on them?

[Jon] This is my first car, I bought it with money I made helping my dad and working bingo. It had 60k on it and was bone stock. That was 6 years ago. I’ve always had a thing for quirky hatches and the way this Golf was optioned made sense at the time. I stumbled onto VWVortex after owning the car for a year or so, we all know how the rest goes.

[VDD] How long have you been modifying VWs? Any cool current/previous projects?

[Jon] Six years haha. Most of my friends in the area drive a VAG product of some sort, so I’ve had my hands on a good amount of vehicles. I don’t have any real projects at the moment, besides struggling to keep my girlfriend’s ‘94 Golf on the road. I’d love to find a nice MK1 jetta to love. There was one a block or two away from me that never moved. I left notes on the window monthly with no response. I found it at my local scrap yard a few weeks ago with no doors and a smashed windshield. That was sad, but search continues…

[VDD] Now let’s move on to your Golf. Anything unique about it’s history?

[Jon] Not really. It’s my daily battlewagon, and as long as it’s running I drive it. I delivered pizza in it for a few years and have driven it halfway across the country a few times. There’s tons of memories in the car, good and bad. I don’t see many Windsor Golfs on the road, maybe three ever. One lives a few towns over and is defnitely sad. Haggard full Kombat Kit, chrome mesh, multilug etc.

[VDD] We love the style you’ve implemented for your car, from its clean front end, stance and the fact that you are making EOS hubcaps look so good. Are you still using this same setup, or have you changed it up?

[Jon] Thanks! I’ve always tried to stay simple with this car, and make a few key items work well together and lend themselves to the car’s original character. It’s not revolutionary thinking by any means, that mentality permeates the quality end of the scene. The challenge is to resist boredom and keep things fresh without overdoing it. I’m changing the setup a bit for h2o this year; busied up some facets of the
car and cleaned up some others. Hopefully I can keep the balance and maintain it’s understatedness, but I’d like to keep it under wraps for now.

[VDD] Do you have any work done to your engine? Any shots/dynos or exhaust clips?

[Jon] The engine is bone stock for the most part. Just a gutted airbox, K&N, and 2.25″ Magnaflow catback. There’s a TT chip in there too. I’ve focused more on meticulous maintenance. Reliability is more important to me today. I’d like to go fast eventually though.

[VDD] What’s next for your car? Any plans?

[Jon] There’s some love taps from me/others over the years that need addressing. The Weitec coils are getting tired too. I’ve always wanted to do a ABA16VT conversion and have some parts for it laying around. Maintaining the 2.0 pan height is just as important to me as going fast. I’ve thought about selling it too… I know I’d regret that move.

[VDD] Who helped build your car? Any shoutouts?

[Jon] My biggest help over the years has been Chris. I think we both got into VWs together back in the day. We learned how to work on them and he took that to school and now does it daily. He’s been there for me though all of the f*ckups and is the mechanic brains. I keep his head on straight with styling choices, it evens out in the end (more or less). My girlfriend Krista has put up with alot over the years too, poor thing.
I’m really fortunate to have some great friends in the scene here and abroad.

[VDD] Describe a perfect Saturday/Sunday with you and your car:

[Jon] Haha there’s no romance left in this relationship. When it starts and takes me where I’d like to go without stressing me out while looking good in the process, then I’m a happy dude. There are still times when I wash it up and stare, and those old feelings come back. For the most part We have an understanding business relationship.

[VDD] Anything else you would like to add?

[Jon] Thanks for taking interest in my car! And thanks to my friends that came here to read this after I told them about it, you’re okay people.

[VDD] Thanks for taking the time to fill us in about yourself and your car! We can’t wait to see what’s next for your Golf and future projects!

http://vdubdriven.com

For some reason our RSS2 feed from our blog stopped updating, so we came up with a custom RSS reader which fixed the problem. Enjoy the latest news fetched every 30 minutes!

The date function for the pixeldub/dyno/exhaust/dubgallery databases was updated today. Now, pixeldub profiles contain both the original post date as well as the latest modified date. A small bug in the browse “week” option for each database was also fixed.

We have just finished implementing the comment notification system. If this service is enabled, when a comment is made on your pixeldub/dyno/exhaust/photo , you will receive a notification email that includes the comment poster and their comment.

By default the service is enabled, you can disable it on your account home here – http://vdubdriven.com/accthome.php

Enjoy!

ABT just announced it’s version of the MK6 GTI, check out the press release and photos below. Can’t say I’m a fan of the body accessories or wheels.

ABT GTI

ABT GTI Rear

ABT GTI Front

ABT GTI Interior

Press release (translated):

“For five decades refined ABT Sportline now vehicles – and to match the anniversary, the Allgäuer the new, sixth GTI before. With these three letters since 1976 are very athletic and quick “Gölfe” means.From the beginning, ABT was the first address for those who have more driving dynamics and wanted. Even the current generation of compact athlete carries the magic code, and of course it is also now available in a stunning version of ABT to have. Already impressed with the performance, because from the standard 210 hp (154 kW) through optimized engine management (ABT POWER) dynamic 260 hp (191 kW). ABT POWER S makes the GTI even sharper: In this case, in addition, a new turbocharger “made in Kempten” are used. Then provide the sporty 2.0 TSI 300 hp (221 kW) and accelerates in just six seconds from a standstill to 100 km / h. Thanks ABT suspension springs, the focus of the GTI satte 30 millimeters lower, making the transmission more sporty golf can be driven. Especially on twisty roads, the abbot of Christian’s chassis attitude really fun. And the brakes from the house of ABT is also in extreme cases vigorously.

But ABT Golf GTI is not just a hot sports equipment for the street, he sees this: The body package, which the designers have designed, underlines the sheer dynamism of the car: No matter which side of the GTI is considered, he always impressed . Rear spoiler attachment and rear bumper, side moldings, front grill and sloping apron and the winding 4-pipe exhaust system form one unit. In addition, the abbots designed a front lip which, in combination with the front apron and the new ABT daytime running lights for a power-performance provides. This fits well then the elegant expressive colors such as: Painting in carbon steel gray metallic harmonizes perfectly with side rails and front lip in the contrast color red are required. Also in the interior, the design continues, because all the apertures, the ring of the combined instrument panels and steering wheel are in the tone painted. One sees the Allgäuer athletes, that he is more than a “normal” Golf GTI – and is the sixth variant of the fast compact with the large tailgate in the best tradition. Even his five predecessors were in the ABT “About Golf”. ABT and GTI, these six letters are easy for 33 years.”

Source – http://www.abt-sportsline.de/tuning/shop/VW-Golf-VI-GTI-5K0_1370_4

VDUBDRIVEN FEATURE: MK5 OF THE MONTH
+ ENRGZR’s Reflex Silver Rabbit

This month's featured MK5 is ENRGZR's Rabbit

“This months featured MK5 is ENRGZR’s Reflex Silver Rabbit that pulls off the Silver and Black look quite nicely – clean textured parts all around, black ASA AR1s, etc. Oh by the way, it’s turbo’d. Let’s see what he had to say!”

Interview

[VDD] Thanks for taking this opportunity to tell us a little more about  yourself and your car! Let’s start with the basics, what’s your name, location, club/affiliation and car’s nickname – if it has one?

[Patrick] Patrick Starkey, Anchorage Alaska. AKEURO, Dub Korps, vwvortex, golfmkv, vwroc, jetta junkie. The ENRGZR Bunny.

ENRGZR's Rabbit

[VDD] What got you into VWs, i.e did someone you know also work on them?

[Patrick] I was into lifted trucks at first. Had about $10,000 into my Dakota and then I helped a buddy put coils on his Jetta. Then my wife wanted hers done. Soon after that, we got wheels, new lights, etc… Then I parked the truck and bought the Rabbit.

[VDD] How long have you been modifying VWs? Any cool current/previous projects? Out of your 3 VWs (MK4/MK5 Jetta / MK5 Rabbit), which one is your favorite?

[Patrick] June of 2007-Coils and wheels on the MK4 Jetta. August 2007-bought Rabbit(been modding both since) My favorite is the Rabbit, but my wife loves the MK4. As of today, she is now rolling on bags.

[VDD] Now let’s move on to your Rabbit. Anything unique about it’s history?

[Patrick] I bought it telling my wife that it was perfect the way it was and needed no modding… LOL

[VDD] We love your Silver + Black theme, what were your influences?

ENRGZR's Silver + Black theme

[Patrick] I am a big fan of contrast, and the European Golf V’s have the texture.

[VDD] Your profile states that your Rabbit was upgraded with a C2 turbo kit and all the goodies that go with it – do you have any dynos or under hood shots?

[Patrick] I haven’t been able to dyno yet. I am in Korea for the summer. I do have a shot under the hood, but it is filthy.

Having fun with the 2.5T

Check out Patrick’s Rabbit in action – Video

[VDD] What’s next for your car? Any plans?

[Patrick] Dyno, rolling fenders, bags???

[VDD] Who helped build your car? Any shoutouts?

[Patrick] All my buddies at AKEURO- Especially Blacknight, and Chris from CCA. Oh, and my wife…

Beautiful shot in Alaska

[VDD] Describe a perfect Saturday/Sunday with you and your car:

[Patrick] Wake up early, wash/wax, then drive out to the drag strip hitting the twisties on the way out there, some auto-x followed by a trip down the strip… And to end it hanging out with my buddies from AKEURO at a local eatery with all of our cars lined up outside…

[VDD] What’s it going to take to get a ride in that “turbocharged 2.5 liter machine of madness.” (just kidding!)

[Patrick] Fly up to Alaska. I’ll pick you up in it.

Sounds enticing

[VDD] Thanks for taking the time to fill us in about yourself and your car! We can’t wait to see what’s next for your Rabbit and other projects!

http://vdubdriven.com

VDUBDRIVEN FEATURE: MK4 OF THE MONTH
+ Silver Snail’s Reflex Silver GTI

This month's featured MK4 is Silver Snail's GTI

“This months featured MK4 is Silver Snail’s Reflex Silver GTI with pretty pink BBS RS 17 in. wheels, Euro bumpers and quite a stance. Many have said that she is almost as hot as her car, we would probably need some pics to determine the validity though. Let’s see what she had to say!”

Interview

[VDD] Thanks for taking this opportunity to tell us a little more about  yourself and your car! Let’s start with the basics, what’s your name, location, club/affiliation and car’s nickname – if it has one?

[Susannah] Susannah Kirstine, Toronto. Clubs: Kool Haus, Low.Life.Society, TMTuned. My cars name is Frankford. J

Silver Snail's GTI

[VDD] What got you into VWs, i.e did someone you know also work on them?

[Susannah] My dad used to race Trans Ams competitively but I bought the GTI because for the price it was the easiest car to tune (learning from dad) and my boyfriend at the time had a Civic SiR and it was faster than it. :p

[VDD] How long have you been modifying VWs? Any cool current/previous projects?

[Susannah] I bought the GTI at 17 it was my first car. I recently got a 2001 Honda CRV as my beater. I also owned a 87 Rabbit Black Tie Edition that lasted all of three months in my parents drive way. Sold it when I realized how bad the a-pillars where, it was to big of a bite for me to chew.

[VDD] Now let’s move on to your GTI. Anything unique about your GTI? (besides the wheels, we’ll get to that below)

[Susannah] Nothing really, it’s just clean I guess? OEM euro bits, and the stance I suppose set it off.

[VDD] We love your Pink BBS RS wheels, did you consider any other wheels in this color?

Susannah's pink BBS RS setup

[Susannah] Yes, I want to buy my friends 18” monoblocks and paint the inserts pink, since pink has kind of become my signature. I was also thinking about getting 18″ Image IFX wheels…

[VDD] Your profile states that your GTI has a Big Turbo upgrade and all the goodies that go with it – Any dynos or movie clips?

[Susannah] I went to the dyno and I have a sheet, nothing too impressive considering I have stock internals and a stock 02M clutch. After my friend MINT GTI (Milos) did the swap for me I realized how pricey a clutch kit is for that transmission and just haven’t had the money for it. At 14 PSI I did 265 WHP and 230 WTQ, the mechanical dump has since been connected so it’s a 3” off the turbo whenever it spools to 10 PSI so it should free up a little more HP and TQ, I can also bump the PSI up to about 17 or 18 safely new dyno sheet soon I hope. It’s a GT3071R with custom AWP 630cc tuning on an AWW motor.

Engine shot (of course there's some pink in there!)

[VDD] What’s next for your car? Any plans?

[Susannah] More HP and interior coming soon.

[VDD] Who helped build your car? Any shoutouts?

[Susannah] Lots of people. MINT GTI (Milos), my friend German, Manolo,  Tom and Marco at SEM Motorsports, my sponsors Unitronic, Katja at TMTuning and Kevin at Altered Altitude Customs.

Yum

[VDD] Describe a perfect Saturday/Sunday with you and your car:

[Susannah] Probably cleaning it, or having a party at my mom’s listening to music.

[VDD] Leaving the most important question for last: Who’s hotter, you or your car? Maybe a pic of you two sitting side by side could help!

[Susannah] Hahahaha, I like to think my car…

[VDD] We’ll let you decide haha:

Susannah and her car

[VDD] Thanks for taking the time to fill us in about yourself and your car! We can’t wait to see what’s next for your GTI!

http://vdubdriven.com

VDUBDRIVEN FEATURE: MK3 OF THE MONTH
+ Beacom’s Sequoia Green GTI

This month's featured MK3 is Beacom's GTI

“This months featured MK3 is Beacom’s Sequoia Green GTI with a Jetta front end, clean Euro accents and a set of Gold BBS RS wheels. Dope. Let’s see what he had to say.”

Interview

[VDD] Thanks for taking this opportunity to tell us a little more about  yourself and your car! Let’s start with the basics, what’s your name, location, club/affiliation and car’s nickname – if it has one?

[Cory]

Name: Cory Beacom
Location: Oakville, Ont. Canada
Club: Bankrupt
Cars Nickname: Baxr (just because it’s the first 4 letter of my license plate)

Beacom's GTI

[VDD] What got you into VWs, i.e did someone you know also work on them?

[Cory] Every since I was around 15 or 16 I started saving for my first car. Honestly at first I didn’t really look into VW’s but after a while I started to get into them with one of my close friends getting one to work on as well. This car is my first VW and I’m sure it won’t be my last.

[VDD] How long have you been modifying VWs? Any cool current/previous projects?

[Cory] Since I’ve had my car – so around 2 and a bit years I guess. At first things did not go in the right direction, but soon turned around, aha. Was helping a friend with a mk1 jetta he had like shaving the bay and other stuff, but we lost interest and he needed garage space back.

[VDD] Now let’s move on to your GTI. Anything unique about your GTI? (besides the wheels, we’ll get to that below)

[Cory] Well my car was found by my parents actually while driving out to a relatives they saw it sitting on a farm with the for sale sign in it. It was also an American car, which I found out later was “illegally” imported when a detective showed up one day to ask me a bunch of questions about who I bought it from aha.

[VDD] We love your Gold/Silver BBS RS wheels, did you consider any other wheels with this scheme?

Cory's current wheel setup

[Cory] I used to have mk4 Wolfsburg wheels with the same scheme (gold centers, polished lips) but felt it was time for some wider wheels with some dish. I also got new flat caps for them with retro BBS logos, which aren’t completely done yet. Was thinking about colour matching the centers over the winters as well but don’t think that is going to happen.

[VDD] Do you have any work done to your motor? Any shots/dynos or exhaust clips?

[Cory] I haven’t done much to the motor yet, lots of maintenance like crack pipe, mounts chains, etc. It does have a gutted manifold, intake and unitronic chip though. I do have an exhaust clip but the quality is bad so I’m gunna have to take a new one.

Cory's engine bay

[VDD] What’s next for your car? Any plans?

[Cory] I have tons on the to do list right now, I’m pretty sure instead of the list getting shorter it just keeps getting longer. I’m in the process of finishing all the pillars and headliner in a black suede. After that I have to get my euro bumpers and new hatch painted. Then airbags. Then turbo? I hope aha but I think I could go on forever.

[VDD] Who helped build your car? Any shoutouts?

[Cory] Lots of my friends have helped me out a lot putting stuff on and together. Thanks to Alex (mk2fu) for letting us all use his garage installing coils and all the other crap we have done in there.

[VDD] Describe a perfect Saturday/Sunday with you and your car:

[Cory] Waking up and cleaning my car and then going on a nice cruise in the country where I don’t have to be worried about cops as much.

Roller

[VDD] Thanks for taking the time to fill us in about yourself and your car! We can’t wait to see what’s next for your GTI and other projects!

http://vdubdriven.com