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I would like to start off with a big thanks to the ClubB5 mods for choosing my car for B5OTM.  With so many incredible Passats filling the pages of CB5 these days, needless to say it’s a helluva honor to be included in this group. As with most of the members perusing these pages, cars are a passion, not simply a means of transportation. This passion drives us to not only find a vehicle that we like as it comes from the factory, but to find a platform worthy of dumping a crap load of mod-money into as well!!  Cus after all, it doesn’t matter what you start with, whether it’s an $80 Bug or an $80,000 Phaeton……you know you’re gonna make it your own.  The Passat is one of those cars that meets a lot of the requirements of the “gotta-have” list when it comes to getting the most bang for your buck.

Back in November of ’98, after coming to grips with the fact that I was going to become a father, I decided to take advantage of this fact and use this excuse to go car shoppingJ.  Unfortunately, I was kinda out of my element when it came to shopping for a “family car” so a little research was in order.  While sitting down one night in front of the computer going blind from safety statistics and crash test data….I know, I know…..”who care’s about that crap, what kind of HP does that Minivan put down!!”……cut me some slack though, gotta remember I was now in Daddy mode.  Anyway, I managed to look away long enough to see the last couple seconds of the latest Volkswagen commercial showing off the new body-style MKIV Jetta, which we are all well aware was based off of our beloved Passats.  A couple seconds was all I needed.  That weekend the wife and I went down to take a look at the new Jetta.  After test driving the ho-hum 2.0 liter, we got back to the dealership and started walking through the showroom when the salesman asked me what I thought of the Passat as opposed to a Jetta.   Assuming the price of the Passat would be substantially more than the Jetta, I simply smirked and said thanks anyway.  He then pointed to a Passat sitting outside and proceeded to tell me that he could get me into that one for the same price as the Jetta as it was a loaner car with 1700 miles on it.  Proceeding with the intent of doing nothing more than enjoying the opportunity to go rail on a perfectly good Passat, I told him that a test drive was in order.  Assuming a 1.8L (turbo charged or not) in a 3200lb car would be a bit of a joke, I took the car out expecting the same kind of kick the 2.Slow had in the Jetta……um, I was wrong.

Well, that was that and two days later I was the proud owner of a Fjord Blue ’99 Passat.  With fatherhood quickly approaching and encompassing every aspect of my life, mods were not of the utmost importance for the first couple of years I owned the car.  Although I did keep an eye on new products that were starting to come out, I didn’t have as much money or time as I would have liked to dump into the car, so scrolling the pages of ClubB5 and other VW boards were about the closest I could get to appeasing my hunger for playing with the Passat.  In the summer of ’01, after completing a couple of side-jobs, I finally got a little cash saved up for a drop-in K&N, chip and exhaust.  I decided on Wetterauer software and an Autotech exhaust which is still on the car today….absolutely love the tone of this exhaust.  That same summer I came across a great deal on a set of Carlsson 1/5’s.  Of course, you’ve gotta do suspension if you’re going with big shoes so I opted for a set of Neuspeed springs which didn’t quite meet the handling characteristics or ride-height I was looking for, so those were soon discarded for a set of KW coilovers.  The KW purchase was my first experience with the “group buy” sickness which I still suffer from todayJ.  From there the mods became a frequent source of financial aggravation….school loan payment or HID’s…..mortgage payment or color-matched lowers…... Visa payment or 19’s……diapers or fog lights…. the decisions were brutal.

Then, last winter after spending too much time at work surfing the forced induction boards, I decided that a turbo upgrade was in order.  Not having the kind of money to dump into an APR kit combined with a serious DIY illness, I opted to build my own.  Unfortunately, the arrogance level on some of the other 1.8T boards is a little overwhelming at times so finding out all the info you need to do a custom kit was a bit painful.  To remedy this I hit up Dave Nelson of Collision Specialists in Tacoma .  Dave has an extensive background in forced induction applications on a large range of vehicles.  So, after about a month of hearing from me everyday with yet another stupid question, Dave finally realized I was serious about adding some ponies to my family sedan and we started working on a kit.  I was looking for a setup that would produce good power without sacrificing drivability….and wouldn’t break the bank.  The core of that obviously would be a larger turbo of which the Garrett T3 Super 60 seemed to fall into that category I’ve been very pleased with the amount of power the car is making with the current setup, but I don’t foresee me leaving well enough alone for too longJ.  A trip out to the track back in May after the upgrade was completed was a bit disappointing as 205-55-16 mud and snow tires don’t tend to hook up very well at 19lbs of boost.  Waterwagens would be my next attempt at the track.  This time I left the 19” boat anchors on at each corner assuming this would help me hook up better.  It definitely helped and I ran a pretty respectable best ¼ mile time of 14.55 @ 101.89mph.  I’m sure the car has 13’s in it if it could just find a decent driver!!

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