Cory Wolfe

Yes, the Silverado is already lagging behind the F-Series in sales. A few years ago, it was pretty tight race, but the F-Series has opened a sizeable gab over the Silverado and it's only going to get bigger with their revitalized powertrains.

I'm not familiar with anything other than VW components, but, I went with OEM-spec Brembro rotors and Mintex Red pads. Its a good combination, though I ought to have refinished the carriers, as they are pretty rusty and I doubt the pads have smooth travel. Once I replace the rear brakes, I might consider duplicating the combination I used in the front.

So, I just started at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver. Yesterday was my first day, while today I started making deliveries on my own. No big deal here and that's mostly good news, being that I needed a job and all. I made $22 in tips and work went fairly smoothly. With that said, I started off the day by nearly running out of gas. Why? My fuel gauge doesn't work. When it started sputtering, I thought "Sh!t, I have no chance in hell of making it to a gas station." Up hills, I rocked back and forth in a fury to slosh what little fuel I had into the pump's pick up. That worked for only a little while, unfortunately. It came to a point where that seemed to make it worse and all I could do hope I could keep enough speed up to coast over the crest. I'm pretty sure I pissed off some people who were stuck behind me when I crawled to about 25 mph the last few hills. I feel pretty relieved when I hit the last hill and was able to coast down into the valley where I'd find a Gulf. However, I did have an eight of a mile to travel through town first and this just about did it in for me. I had one traffic light to go through and it was red. While coming up to the end of the line in front of me, the engine stalled upon pushing the clutch. I immediately released the clutch and noticed a getaway to a back alley that would lead to the rear of the station, and most importantly, prevent me from having to stop. I take it and blow through some stop signs until I get to the last one. A truck just had to stroll by at that exact moment. Bastard. Somehow, It's still running. I pull out and into the station. I quite literally ran out as I pulled up to the pump. What a relief. I was also late to work because of this. As the day goes on and I make a few deliveries, my power steering pump is beginning to make some noises and steering effort has notably increased. Somehow, my pump ate through most of the fluid in the reservoir. However, I couldn't do anything about it until the end of my shift. By that time, I was sure the pump was going to eat itself, too. A grind here and there, a constant whining made louder by making any turns. Somehow, it hold together til the end where I'm able to stop at an Advance Auto directly afterwords. I buy a bottle of fluid and dump the entire thing in. It's still not up to the level that it should be at, but above the minimum. Hey, no more noise. Although, It's still a mystery as to how all that fluid disappeared without any visible leaks. After this, I make my rounds to all the car lots to see what's new and worthy of being a candidate as a Sunfire replacement. I find a MK4 Jetta and snoop through it for my own personal enjoyment and head over to the Volkswagen dealer after that to look for the new MK6. Indeed, they finally got one in and just like the Cruze last week, these guys left it unlocked for me. They must know how much I love them for doing that. Anyways, I'll have a write up on that later (no pictures, though, unless I go again tomorrow). Back to my story... As I got back in my Golf and started it, I noticed something funny. My odometer and clock had disappeared and my coolant light was mysteriously on. I figure its one of those beloved VW glitches, and switch it on and off a few times. Nope, didn't work, so I head off. I look down and what do you know, my speedometer is gone as well. I look to the left... Yep, no tachometer either. "Well f*ck." The only gauge that is working? My coolant temperature gauge, ironically. So, not only do I not know how much gas is in my tank, I can't even use mileage to estimate my driving range and now have absolutely no clue how fast I am going. I don't even know what time it is! ...Okay, that's a lie since its also displayed on my aftermarket stereo and my cell phone which I wedge inbetween my legs, so perhaps I'm just being melodramatic now. In this picture, I'm going at what I assumed to be roughly 35 mph. As you can see... The needles are lifeless. Not to mention, this is all in addition to my dome light that tends to imitate a strobe light more than anything these days. Sometimes, it'll stay on steadilly; others, it flickers randomly. Then, a few weeks back, the alarm sensor for the hatch decided to suddenly stop working. An alarm is rather useless if you can get into the car without having it go off. The biggest annoyance of everything is my low oil pressure warning light. Not only is it a light, it also incorporates a very audible beeping. When working correctly, this is to warn you that you need to immediately shut the vehicle off. You know, when you have serious oil pressure issues. I'm beginning to wonder about it, myself, but my oil pressure ought to be fine and probably is. These sensors are about as reliable as the rest of the sensors, which is to say, not terribly reliable. In addition, I'm currently running 5w-30 in it along with a cheap Fram filter. VW recommends 10w-40 grade oil in most circumstances, 10w-30 for the winter, and 15w-40 for hotter climates. The latter most of which, I don't think I've ever seen in stores. As well, most people on the Vortex say to stick with OEM filters as these engines simply don't seem to like other brand and quite simply, Fram filters are terrible in their own right. This all has me fairly steamed, especially the timing. My Golf couldn't have picked a worse time to throw all its little charms at me. Some of them have been lurking for a while now and haven't really bothered me. That is, until I sat down and actually thought of each issue in addition to the rest. By themselves, they're really no big deal. Each is a cheap, simple fix and with the exception of the mysterious power steering fluid eating pump, are all electrical issues. The gauge cluster probably needs some soldering work to become operable again and at the very worst, I can buy a used one with "close-enough" mileage for around $30. The sensors are all under $10 each, and I'm an oil change away from (probably) eradicating my oil pressure light issue. Oh Volkswagen, it pains me to love you at times.

Well, tell Volkswagen that. They did the same thing with the 4th generation Passat in the 90s. It was really just a warmed over 3rd gen similar to this just being a warmed over 6th gen.

Volkswagen is classifying it as a new generation. With the exception of the roof, all the body panels are new. The interior is carried over, however.

I must say, I was quite surprised to see the reveals by Lotus. I was not expecting a whole line-up. Out of them all, my favorite is definitely the Elan, followed shortly by the Esprit. After those, I like the Elite. The Eterne is okay, while the Elise looks odd to me. As a whole, its definitely a blander look for Lotus and basically kills anything the brand originally stood for... but I like the basic design language I'm seeing. Eterne: Elite: Esprit: Elise: Elan:

Let me just say... I love being short and small. Any car feels roomy to me.

Clicky

I must say, if you were to ask me, MK3 VW's have the most factory-looking aftermarket headlights. That might be because the same company (Hella) manufacturers both the OEM units and the a good portion of the available aftermarket units.

I've thought about driving down to that town and just driving around looking for that car and find him the hard way. I'm fairly set on that car, it's not something I want to pass up without a fight.

I have one in mind, its just a matter of contacting the seller. He's a bitch to get a hold of. Won't answer his emails and I've only been able to get him once on his phone. Since that one time, I've gotten a "This Virgin Mobile number has been temporarily disconnected" so it sounds like the guy can't pay his phone bill. If I do eventually get a hold of him again, it looks to be in better condition than mine. It also happens to be a very rare car. In 1994, instead of a GTI, VW offered a Golf "Limited Edition" or otherwise known as a Golf Sport. Basically, it came with all the GTI goodies including rare plaid sport seats, the only ones to ever be offered in MK3s. They offered this model for 1995, as well, in addition to the GTI. There differences were in the engine. The first year GTI's saw the introduction of the VR6 and only offered that engine while the Golf Sport had the 2.0. It won't be the VR6 I always wanted, but its dirt cheap. As long as the 2.0 runs good, it'll be a good buy. Clicky

Basically, there's a few good threads about it on the Vortex. I've long planned on eventually switching all of my backlighting to red, like later Volkswagens. But, I don't plan on doing it until I get one worth investing in. Here's a great DIY on LCD mods

The odometer screen is another story. With that, there's a little film sandwiched inbetween that gives the screen its color. Basically, you can reverse it to where the coloring of the background and numbers switch, or replace it with a film of the color you want. I've heard of people taking the film out of an old alarm clock screen and using in their cluster.

I'm not one to usually give GM any slack but... People complain when the production vehicle doesn't look like the concept. When it does look like the concept, people complain that it looks like the concept due to *insert reason here*. I love the CTS coupe because it looks like the concept. I don't care about the back seat. Will I ever be sitting back there? Absolutely not. I'm not buying this car to use it as a taxi. If I were, I'd get the wagon.

Actually, Chrysler is the first automaker I've heard of storing the mileage in anything other than the cluster. Usually, the cluster itself, along with any buttons or switches, will probably be lit with LEDs. It namely depends what sort of voltage the LED is running. Alot of the time, you'll find the stock lighting using 12-volt LEDs. You have to make sure to use the correct voltage LED. If you choose a lower voltage LED, then you have to deal with resistors and whatnot. If it is lit with bulbs, sometimes you'll find an overlay that gives it the color, with the bulbs being clear. With the white backlighting in Chevrolets, there's a good chance you won't find an overlay that, but they make little colored condom-like covers for bulbs.

I can't speak for GM's, but with VW's, we get use the VAG-com.

Hmm... MKVII diesel. That sounds intriguing.

I know the feeling. Good to hear you're okay.

NOS-ify that bitch.

"The Bad Touch" - The Bloodhound Gang

I think the biggest thing is, I wish I wouldn't have bothered to keep the replacement panels the same color. In the end, from the previous owner's respray, it doesnt match anyways. Had I done that, I could have body panels that are in top shape. That and there is still alignment issues up front, I've got rusty rocker panels, and the body just isn't in that great of condition.

Pin it! Pin it! Pin it! Pin it!

If I get to it, yes. I'm looking into some interesting options right now, so what comes next isn't really in the works yet.

Just to make a correction, the Malibu is ahead of the Impala and the Fusion and the Sonata YTD so far. The Sonata was only 3rd for the single month of August. Top 10 Mid-size Sales: Toyota Camry - 220k Honda Accord - 211k Nissan Altima - 148k Chevrolet Malibu - 147k Ford Fusion - 145k Hyundai Sonata - 128k Dodge Avenger - 36k Chrysler Sebring - 29k Subaru Legacy - 25k Mazda 6 - 24k

Problem is, I feel like I didn't really accomplish anything. I started with a beat-up Golf and now I have a slightly less beat-up Golf with some extra goodies. I spent alot of time to have the result be only slightly better than before.