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15000
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12000
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10000
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9,000
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7,000
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5,000
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3,000
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B5
of the Month – April 2004
Jack Chen (Meph)
Queens,
NY USA
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When it was time for me to buy my
first car, I wanted the simplicity of a nice affordable European
car that was fun to drive and handled well, yet safe and
reliable for my passengers and me. It was while looking for a
used VW Jetta GLX VR6 in 1998, I stumbled upon a spankin new
Windsor
blue Passat GLS. This Passat was a 5-speed manual with a style
like no other, and had all the options I wanted standard AND it
was a turbo! So I decided take the plunge and laid down the
cash. It was pretty much a spur of the moment purchase. The
funny thing is, I did research about the Passat after I bought
the car :) I found several reviews and articles in magazines
that gave the Passat a very positive outlook and high scores in
its class that reassured my purchase. I had owned the car for
approximately two years with a few OEM modifications such as the
Votex spoiler and the infamous new beetle sunglass holder before
discovering VWVortex.com. It was soon after that I discovered
Clubb5.com. It was from these 2 websites where I found what I
was looking for: fellow Passat enthusiasts. There were many
outstanding classy, and sophisticated Passats posted throughout
the years of membership on ClubB5 and VWVortex, which has
inspired me to make my Passat what it is today. From a classy
everyday stock family sedan to a subtle, yet sexy modded sports
sedan :) I've learned a lot from Clubb5. The things that I
learned ranges from do-it-yourself fixes that saved me money, to
modifications such as rolling the fenders, as well as preventive
maintenance information provided by members of the forum.
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Of course discovering group buys
helped a lot too. I loved driving the Passat in its stock form
but I felt it was missing a few things in terms of personality.
Initially, I sought to improve performance as well as handling,
so the first thing I got was the GIAC chip. Soon after that I
got KW coilovers to drop the car about 1.75 inches. Then I got
some O.Z. Superleggeras wrapped with Bridgestone S03s to fill
the wheel wells and sway bars for additional stability. Next
came the Brullen downpipe-back exhaust and the EVO intake for
increased airflow. My final modifications were the Z flow FMIC
for a more efficient intercooler and Wilwoods BBK for better
braking power.
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The boeser hood and hood crease
was very much inspired by Boeserblick's car and the guys at
Auto-fix. It was also inspired by pics I found of Passats in
Europe
. When I drove BoeserBlick (Joe) to his car at Auto-fix when it
was being worked on, I witnessed a work of art in progress. I
was in awe of the final product. The craftsmanship and the
attention to detail were amazing. They had many other nice
Volkswagens there that were having custom work done. It was when
my car got involved in a minor hit & run, in November of
2002, I took the opportunity to have some "extra"
bodywork done as well as fix up the little dings and
imperfections accumulated over the years of ownership. I decided
to have Auto-fix do the work since the owner also has a passion
for fixing up and customizing Volkswagens. The hood crease was
an added flair to the hood. It maintains the sleek aerodynamics
of the hood while also feeds air into the open air intake since
the boeser covered the original duct. So far, it has been an
adventurous learning experience owning a Passat.
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I’d like to
thank my girlfriend Joanna for her love, support and
understanding. 143 623. Props goes out to the guys of Team EEP:
nycpassat @ WG, BarrelMan17 (HiPJ), Jwil, Ture 7,
LetsAudi, AJChenMPH, Fluid, RoxyB5, JonBoy (Mr. Ultra Sport) and
BoeserBlick for their support and friendship. Thanks to
Auto-fix, the guys
at Autobahnfluids, B5bel, Femi , past COTMs and the rest of the
Clubb5 community for all your help and support. It’s always a
pleasure to meet the faces and different personalities behind
the screen names and posts of the members on Clubb5 and VWvortex.
Thanks to the Moderators (Alumni and Present) and TheGreek (Thanasi)
for considering my B5 as B5OTM, and keeping Clubb5.com up and
running, as well as making it a great community to share our
passion for our precious Passats. Thank you for this great honor
to be among the ranks of other awe-inspiring COTMs.
ClubB5
Profile Update: Still stock. J
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