My name’s Joe. I was born and raised in Buffalo. I grew up and lived on the lower east side (Gibson St. to be exact) all my life until 2004 when I accepted a job that forced me to move to the Metro Detroit. My wife and I have been recently discussing moving back home sometime within the next year for family reasons.
So of course one of the 1st things I did was search around for any local automotive communities. Cars are a huge part of my life and far and away my favorite hobby. I used to be a member of ubrf.org way back in the day but I see that doesn’t exist anymore.
As for my cars, my DD is a 2010 VW Jetta sportwagen TDI. I’ve only had it for a few months and there aren’t many mods to it. All I did was add 18" VMR 710 wheels, a BSH rear swaybar and window tint.
As for my fun car, I have a 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT. I bought it from a guy living in downtown Buffalo back in 2000 and have been modding it ever since.
The car has a Series-II 3800 engine with a 4t65e-HD transmission and a custom turbo setup.
I have run a personal best of 11.367 @ 121.03mph in the 1/4 mile. Needless to say it surprises a bunch of people. I spent a good part of my day at the Woodward Dreamcruise (I live <5 minutes from Woodward and 13-mile) talking about my car to the many people who were checking it out.
I wondered if you were a Fiero guy when I saw this screen named and recognized it from back when I had my 86GT and was on Pennocks a lot. When you make it back I’d love to check out that 3800 swap.
Yeah, well, it’s not that I want to move back to Buffalo and NYS, it’s that I want to move back to my family. Unfortunately they happen to be in Buffalo. I consider this a ‘lateral’ movement.
Yep, I’m the same guy. I’ve been on that board for 10 years now.
I really don’t have a lot of plans for the TDI at the moment. Probably the next things I’ll do will be a panzer plate and coilovers.
I don’t really want to do any powertrain mods right now due to the fact that it’s a new engine and their isn’t much out there for them yet, and there also seems to be a fuelpump issue with this engine according to some of the people on TDIClub.
And sorry, it’s a DSG due to my wife not being able to drive a manual trans. This is my second car with DSG. I traded in my modded Fahrenheit GTI (took 1st in class at Motorstadt VII this year) for the tdi and I was pretty happy with it. It’s much more fun than a regular auto.
Its pump on motor and there are 4 pumps Ive heard of the issue, but it seems rarer then the people on tdi club seem to portray it. there is a aftermarket but your right not as much-as whats available for the older ahu,1z,alh and 105PD. I did test drive the DSG, its not bad… I’m just glad my wifey drives stick If you do ever need help with it once your back in B-lo, you can look me up, (I’m a Guru on TDIclub) i know there is a warranty for now but T-belt and things will be there eventually.
Yeah, I went from one VW with a HPFP problem (GTI) to another VW with a totally different HPFP problem! I’m not that concerned about it though. I run optilube XPD in the tank to help out the fuel lubricity, buy my gas from the same high-volume diesel station and save all my receipts. I’m not that concerned about it but we’ll see how time goes on, considering the powertrain is still pretty new and there’s hardly anyone out there who even has over 60k on it.
The DSG is something you have to get used to driving. I find the people who complain about the DSG the most are people who have never driven a manual before and don’t understand why the DSG can be clunky at low speeds. You really have to ‘learn’ how to drive it.
And thanks for the offer with the help! I’m a member of michiganvw.org and I have made a lot of friends around here with some sweet VW’s and have learned a ton on how to work on them. My friend John has a TDI Doka even.
Please tell me its the 6 speed 