The local dealership here in Tulsa doesn't have any of these issues and
will go out of thier way to even warranty not warrantied items in alot of
cases. I would suggest finding another dealer. Exploding diff's happens on
older cars where the ring gear is connected with rivets. I have a heavily
modified 85' 8v and have never actually shattered a diff even with roadrace
slicks or r tires on it. A freind of mine in PA has a 16v passat that had a
techtonics head and cams, broke the timing chain and murdered the head plus
a piston and at 70k and VW paid for it. He was out of pocket $0.00. Hell you
can go to our local dealer and they will tune out your VW for you when you
buy it new. Lower it, exhausts, chips the whole nine yards. A *properly* set
up VR6 handles very well, I think it's over classed though and it's not
competitive. I have contemplated buying a 1.8 turbo gls beetle for ST, It is
the best handling new VW right now and there are serious power gains from
good bolt on parts, too bad a stage 4 kit isn't legal for ST :) I'd love to
autox a 400+ hp beetle !!. A simple exhaust, chip, cone filter and balanced
injectors push it from 150hp to well into the 200's. The 1.8t has alot of
hidden power. In my opinion the reliablity of the VW cars are very good and
*most* dealers go way out of thier way in service. For instance, our dealer
will do incredible things for customers... Last winter when it snowed real
hard a young woman just bought an 88 jetta from thier used lot. The gas door
was frozen shut and she couldn't fill it up. They sent someone up to open it
free of charge just because she was a VW owner and bought it there.
Mike H.
TSOL #3
85 8v GTi
70 Beetle
>
> In a previous message, <washburn@dwave.net> asked:
> >
> >Does anyone feel that the NA beetle will be competitive in the "new" H
> >Stock next year?
>
> Let me give you something to ponder. The Y2K Golf, Jetta,
> New Beetle, and Audi TT are all supposedly built on the same
> exact floor pan and underpinnings. (The Volkswagen A4 chassis.)
> While the dampers/springs/swaybars might be different, the basic
> suspension geometry should be identical across the line. The
> biggest deciding factor in judging if/which cars will be
> competitive is how much sheet metal winds up above the floor
> pan and especially how much is high over the rear axle.
> I guess that motors could be important too, although
> I can't picture VW paying to emissions-certify a whole
> bunch of similar engines for import.
>
> If the current FWD Audi TT winds up being the hot ticket
> in GS, the Turbo New Beetle may be just a tad slower for
> $12,000 less. The first year New Beetles (HS) all came with
> "sports" suspension packages, which IMO would make them
> the best hope for putting a stock VW into the trophies
> at Topeka. For the person that asked about the V6/VR6
> New Beetle, would you be interested in a car with a
> 70/30 weight bias? (My guestimate.) Unless they have
> changed the tranny ratios since the A3 VR6's, you can
> also count on having a second gear good to 70 MPH.
>
> Speaking of trannies, be aware that they have been known
> to spontaneously grenade differentials on launch - even in
> stock cars. VW knows about the problems, and has decided
> that sending their "warranty police" squad out to drag
> strips is cheaper than replacing the trannies under the
> 10/100 powertrain warranty once they blow. It seems that
> they will do anything in their power to weasel out of a
> warranty claim, and I wouldn't count on any factory support
> or contingency program. At this time last year, it took
> them 78 days to get a factory rep out to look at a spun
> bearing in my engine and authorize the repair, and then
> another 11 days to fix it. They lost their #1 good-will
> ambassador over this, and there's a bunch of current
> and formerly loyal VW owners who have taken an oath to never
> buy another one.
>
> If I still haven't talked you out of buying a VW, :-)
> the company has actually arranged for something that
> may be of interest to anybody curious about the
> autocross potential of the latest VW's. Check out
> http://driversfest99.securitylabs.com/main.cfm .
> VW is holding "DriversFest" at Jones Beach on Long
> Island NY on 8/28/1999. Part of DriversFest is
> a performance driving clinic, with guest instructor
> Danny Sullivan. The clinic itself is supposed to be
> seat time in VW's cars on an autocross course. If
> your picture is hanging on the wall at every local car
> dealership with a sign that says "never let him/her test-drive
> again," this may be a unique opportunity to test-thrash
> a new car the way that you always dreamed about but never
> could.
>
> Since I'm sure that the next question that Mr. Washburn
> was going to ask is how a white New Beetle would look
> with holstein spots, let me suggest that he investigate
> the ginster yellow paint with a big "<G>" on each side.
> Combined with live sod floor mats (cuz real football
> players don't play on green carpet), he'd feel right at
> home..... :-)
>
> -Arthur
>
> 1995 VW GTI VR6, #16 GS, "As seen in the basement at every
> major autocross on the east coast" edition.
>
>
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