Blazeguarder's GTi -updated 8/7/2012

[MODDED9N]

Where you get the stubby areal from???

[roop27]

Where you get the stubby areal from???

looks like the aerial from the new polo 6Rs....i have one, picked up from ebay for £15. reception is perfect.

[K.I.T.T.]

As if I've not seen this yet. Nice car, loving the interior!

And how the hell did you manage 63MPG? How much do you get to a tank usually?

Any plans to remap it?

Ash

[MODDED9N]

My 9n3 has the sat nav optional extra so will that areal be able to do the sat nav as well?

[blazeguarder]

Thanks for the comments guys. Really appreciate the feedback.

I did a 205 mile trip, Yorkshire to London, at around 70mph most of the way. I used 14.8L of V-Power to do the journey, which is about 3.26 gallons. Works out at 62.9mpg. I use an iphone app to keep records of fuel consumption (because I'm a bit of a nerd ) but I broke out the calculator to check this properly. Still don't know how I managed it! To be honest, I was a bit worried that the fuel gauge was broken as it didn't move for the first hundred miles! I normally do town driving so usually see about 250-270 miles out of a tank max.

The ariel is one that I got off ebay. It's about 6/7 inches long and I quite like it. Got it a while ago before I realised that the ariel from the 6R is the same length, otherwise I would have probably gone for the OEM one. Can't complain though, it works perfectly. Isn't the GPS one shorter than standard anyway?

Ash, I was looking into possibly mapping it, but I've just knocked my laptop off a table and destroyed it so any plans for that have been postponed since I've had to fork out quite a bit of cash to replace it. Bad times, but maybe next year! Quick enough for now lol.

[blazeguarder]

Right, update time again. Haven't done that much since last time, car's needed new rear bushes which weren't cheap, and I thought I had gearbox issues for a while when the gear change became incredibly stiff. It got so bad I ended up skipping gears to avoid it. Luckily turned out to only need some adjustment and my bank manager calmed down a bit.
Onto the fun stuff...

LED ambient lighting - did this a while ago but wasn't happy with the job at all so did it again. Much brighter and looks a lot cleaner fitted to the interior light unit.


Cruise Control - I've only used it for about 5 miles since I finished fitting it on Saturday morning but already it's changed my life. Bit of a pain to fit but well worth it.


Aside from general maintenance, I'm starting to run out of ideas as to what to do next. Any suggestions?

[v896]

Auto folding mirrors and HID's as the next mod's

[Tim_GTi]

How come you didn't just go for changing your interior bulbs to LEDs?

[Sharpy19]

What headunit are you using mate?

[MODDED9N]

Its a Pioneer AVIC- 920BT . I have the same one Cruise is fantastic. Will be the first mod on my GTI

[blazeguarder]

Thanks for the comments guys, I was thinking about changing all the bulbs (including the sunvisor ones) for LEDs, haven't got round to doing it yet though. I wanted to replicate the effect in Audis and other high end cars where the interior glows red in the dark. Quite pleased with the result.

I like the idea of folding mirrors, I hear its a bit of a job to do and I don't really know where to start though lol.

And yes, the headunit is a Pioneer AVIC F920-BT. It's pretty good, I'd recommend Pioneer stuff. Well worth the extra money.

[blazeguarder]

Haven't bothered putting my winters on seeing as it's been so warm, but got round to it over Christmas and glad I did. Gone from this:



To this. 15" VW Melbournes wrapped in Pirelli Snowcontrol winter tyres.



And only took one drive to get completely covered in grime. I hate road salt...



Aside from that, not much has happened on the car recently. Had a few issues with my cruise control retrofit bringing on the EPC and traction control lights, VCDS suggested that the stalk was to blame but ended up being the brake light bulbs. Bit odd but it's all now working perfectly.

Brakes are going to need replacing soon, so thats a job for the spring but my main goal is to get the front resprayed to sort out the array of stone chips along its leading edge.

Also got a complete set of new tyres on. Currently running Michelin Pilot Sport 3's, done a few hundred miles on them so far and they are pretty fantastic. Definitely recommend trying them if you're looking for decent tyres. Unfortunately, I've also managed to buckle one of the Monzas. If anyone has a spare they don't want that's in decent condition, give me a shout!

[Dom.]

Looks lovely mate!

[steveey]

Looks sweet mate, ive been on the hunt for some of those melbourne alloys for some time now, theyre a bugger to get hold of! I would like a set of monza's but my budget doesnt stretch that far just yet

[blazeguarder]

Thanks guys, yeah I got the Melbournes for my old car and they were sitting in the garage so thought I'd put them to some use. Complete ball ache to find though, managed to get them new off ebay with tyres so got quite lucky. They actually don't look as bad as I thought they would lol, still prefer the Monzas though.