New Page 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15000
members - 11/04 |
|
12000
members - 03/04 |
|
10000
members - 10/03 |
|
9,000
members - 07/03 |
|
7,000
members - 01/03 |
|
5,000
members - 06/02 |
|
3,000
members - 12/01 |
| |
|
|
|
B5
of the Month – April 2003
Ed
Carramanzana (schmove)
Ontario,
CA USA
|
|
|
|
While surfing the internet back in 1999, I stumbled
upon one of the baddest B5 Passat variants (wagon) ever!
It was none other than PassArt’s Rennwagen (18”
MAE’s, Caractere front end, dumped on KW Coilovers, etc.).
I was currently in the market for a sedan with high
modification potential and Art’s wicked variant sparked my
passion for the B5 platform.
About the same time, I had found the vortex and
frequented there for awhile until a little upstart club emerged
from the ‘pits’ of the ‘tex.
It was none other than ClubB5 and at that point, I was
hooked. In June
2000, I purchased my 2000 Passat 1.8T in black magic on beige
leather from Puente Hills Volkswagen.
Ah, let the modding begin!
|
|
|
|
It
took me awhile to determine what kind of look I wanted for my
car but in early 2001, my vision for what my car is today was
starting to take shape. After some early mods like clear corners and a K&N
filter, I lowered my car with H&R Sport springs and Neuspeed
adjustable Bilstein shocks set on the lowest perch.
The car definitely looked meaner as this combo lowered it
by 2.25” in the front and 1.75” in the rear.
I
finished off the look with a set of 18”x8” MAK Sonics that
were purchased directly from TSW Wheels.
I’ve received many complements about the subtle and OEM
looking style of these wheels – “Adelaides on Steroids” as
some members have stated! So while my car was looking more aggressive, it still had
some sense of OEM’ness to it.
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately
in 2002, my car was rear-ended which resulted in a smashed right
rear quarter section. The
car was out of commission for a few weeks.
But not to worry, after the repairs the rear end received
a little attention with the addition of a Zender rear spoiler
(thanks, Al – Ture7) and an Oettinger rear apron to finish off
the look of the existing Votex front spoiler.
I
am very honored to be named B5 of the Month on ClubB5.
BIG thanks to Thanasi for having the vision to create
Club B5. I would
also like to thank and praise all the valuable ClubB5 members
that continue to share their knowledge and insight.
And a very special thanks to some of the old school SoCal
B5’ers that I’ve known from the start of all this and shared
some of the now infamous early SoCal GTG’s: Zoom (Edsel),
Passatlover99 (Adam), Neokai (Kai), Drake (Jerrick), Rice_Boy/Passat1.8t
(Ivan), sg1717 (Glenn), and evacboy (Chirag).
I truly hope that ClubB5 will continue to grow and become
a bigger and better community for us to share our common B5
passion. Thanks,
everybody.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
