I sadly had to say goodbye to my dependable and beloved 95 Golf III Sport. My last drive was filled with fond memories. It was a more emotional separation than I thought it would be. I've owned it for as long as Andi and I have been married. It was time to say good-bye. So Goodbye, you've served us well!
Autotech says that "The Q-Chip for the 2.0L ABA engined cars provides substantial gains in torque and horsepower at all rpm. The Q-Chip totally changes your once docile (some say anemic) A3 into a spirited runner. Zero to sixty times (Vericom tested) improve by a full second! The car's ability to run to the new, higher 6900 rpm redline is quickened, and the motor becomes much more responsive, which is a nice change on this large-stroke motor. This is the perfect addition to any new Golf."
It took me a couple trips to the mechanics to get the Torx screw driver and drill out a decayed screw in the control unit case. The instructions were fine. It was a bit difficult to wiggle the control unit out of the area it was in. The wires that ran to the unit had a protective tape around them that was completely eaten through with 13 years of Kansas City weather, so I wrapped them all back up with some black electrical tape. Installing the chip went as planned. Once I opened the box, I made sure I was grounded so I wouldn't damage anything, keeping my hands off everything I didn't have to touch on the board.
Start her up. The iddle was going up and down a bit at first. I drove to the gas station right away going slow, letting the car warm up to its new leader. I decided to bring my octane as high as I could in this city. I usually run 91 octane but the chip calls for 93. Ryan with Autotech told me 91 would be fine, higher would yield the best results. BP who bought Amoco has the highest in the city it seems at 92 octane. Octane booster might work and I may try that once but 92 will have to do.
So the car was now warmed up and filled with higher octane. The Eurosport exhaust note changed a bit and the "car's ability to run to the new, higher 6900 rpm redline is quickened" part was felt immediately. It actually felt like someone had a tight grip on my Golf's neck for the last 13 years and just let go. It seemed like the q-chip allowed my other minor mods (Eurosport Exhaust, K&N filter, even Bilstein/H&R set up) to come to life. For $99 and a 1 second 0-60mph improvement, Autotech delivered.
Working for VW, the temptation to buy a tight new laser-welded GTI or even the whispering R32 that sits right next to me all day long is somewhat reduced by having a car that's paid off and fun to drive again.
See more pics of chip removal. Gave the engine a much needed bath afterwards.
Finally all the suspension components are gathered. This is a set of H&R Special Edition yellow springs. Lower than Sports but not as low as Race.
This is the VR6 upgrade for the struts provided by www.parts4vws.com.
These are the Bilstein Sport Front Struts and Rear Shocks also bought from Mike at www.parts4vws.com.
I picked up the bushings and anything made of rubber for the rear shocks, which am sure after 12 years will be shot. Now gotta put all this on the Mk3.
My first car was a 1977 Rabbit. I bought it for 50 bucks in 1989 with the engine sitting in a cardboard box in the backseat. I had it painted for $100. I was absolutely in love with that car until someone ran me off the road and totalled it. I've had many other Volkswagens since - I counted 12. Numerous Rabbits, a Diesel one I took from Kansas to California, an 84 GTi, two Cabrios and a couple of Passats. This is my 1995 Mk3. I've been driving it for 12 years now and the odometer just passed 134 thousand miles. I replaced the exhaust at 120K miles in 2004 and put a K&N filter when I first got it. The car has been begging to be modified for years and for the most part I've long ignored it. After all it's just a mean of transportation. But then again... I figured (read I justified), if I'm gonna keep an old car, I'm going to drive an old car I like. So my philosophy about tuning the car has been: "when it breaks, fix it with the best part possible." Budget wise, it may take months to save and buy the right part, but in the end it's all worth it.
For more about this project/daily driver, click on 'My Mk3' link below.
The exhaust on my 1995 Golf Sport was due for a change. After all, I've been driving the car for 10 years and the exhaust has seen 120,000 original miles.
The damage was so bad, the pipe behind the exhaust was rusted loose from the muffler.
The original mid-muffler wasn't in the best of shape either and it also had to go.
After a little cutting, (electric saws-all works fast) all the bad parts came off remarkably easily.
The new parts could be installed. I chose a new Euro Sport Mk3 Cat-back Exhaust system which uses 2.25" tubing for maximum flow and an increase of 5-8 horsepower. The deep sound isn't bad either.
The exhaust installation is complete. Good for another 10 years.
