[Atl-Atl]

12/23/2017

In the middle of a snowstorm in Denver I picked up my brand new Pure White/Titan Black Golf Alltrack SEL + DAP/LP. Well, it had 24 miles after a few test drives. I really wanted a manual but I wanted Lighting Package, better seats and all the other cool stuff that comes with the SEL even more. Plus my Jeep is manual so I get my fill. If you're interested I have done a few other "documentation" threads, as I call them. Click on the links in my signature to see what's in store for this Alltrack. They aren't always builds so I don't always call them build threads. Plus I like to rant and rave and vent and just post pictures of my adventures and shenanigans, of which there are many!

The car came from Emich VW in Denver. With no haggling I got an out the door price of a hair over $30,000, true OTD including tax title license. Sticker on the car is $36,025. Sale price of the vehicle itself was just over $28,000 so I got nearly $8000 off MSRP. The crazy deals on the internet right now are no joke! :beer:

Monroney Label

Read the entire owners manual while waiting for friends and family to appear on Christmas Eve. I cant tell you how happy I am that the owners manual is actually shaped like a regular book!!!

I spent the last couple days setting up the nav and carplay and all the other doodads this thing has. Its a far cry from my '96 Cherokee that has manual everything and zero options or creature comforts hah.

So far my vagcom tweaks list is:

• Gauge sweep
• Disable door open tone
• Disable seat belt warning
• Seat heater level retention
• HVAC Recirculate setting retention

I tried to enable the "keyfob with car running" function but it didn't want to take the code. I plan to mess around with the ESC settings, XDS settings and Dynamic Steering settings in the near future. Maybe when I have a giant empty snow-covered parking lot...


I love that I can have weather, traffic and ski resort info at the touch of a button.

The night I picked it up. I have literally never owned the car when it was clean. Definitely a first time for that. :thumbdown:

Test drive.

Thats all for now. Lots of stuff is on order already...

 

[syntrix]

Congrats, and looking forward to updates! It's amazing how high these are off the ground, but they look deceptively low.

Wait until you notice Subaru owners staring at your car ALL THE TIME. You can't unsee it once you start seeing them, seeing you. You can start reading their lips in the rear view mirror, such as "wait, is that AWD" or "WOAH, why did we buy this outback" or "How the F did that wagon just corner so fast", and similar holiday expletives :snowcool::snowcool:

 

[PoorHouse]

12/23/2017


If you're interested I have done a few other "documentation" threads, as I call them. Click on the links in my signature to see what's in store for this Alltrack. They aren't always builds so I don't always call them build threads. Plus I like to rant and rave and vent and just post pictures of my adventures and shenanigans, of which there are many!


Thats all for now. Lots of stuff is on order already...

In for off road camping pics.

Wait until you notice Subaru owners staring at your car ALL THE TIME. You can't unsee it once you start seeing them, seeing you. You can start reading their lips in the rear view mirror, such as "wait, is that AWD" or "WOAH, why did we buy this outback" or "How the F did that wagon just corner so fast", and similar holiday expletives :snowcool::snowcool:

Can confirm this is true.

 

[SCHWAB0]

Congrats man! JB4 in the near future?


Sent from my mobile office.

 

[Atl-Atl]

Congrats, and looking forward to updates! It's amazing how high these are off the ground, but they look deceptively low.

Wait until you notice Subaru owners staring at your car ALL THE TIME. You can't unsee it once you start seeing them, seeing you. You can start reading their lips in the rear view mirror, such as "wait, is that AWD" or "WOAH, why did we buy this outback" or "How the F did that wagon just corner so fast", and similar holiday expletives :snowcool::snowcool:

I only have 250 miles on it and I already notice people staring. Got a thumbs up and a smile from a fellow Alltrack driver also. :thumbup:

In for off road camping pics.

Can confirm this is true.

Im still contemplating lift or lower. If I keep my Jeep it will definitely be lowered.

Congrats man! JB4 in the near future?

Definitely go fast mods in the future. It already feels so fast compared to the Jeep and Dodge that I think Im going to get in trouble. Go fast will come after usability, suspension, brakes and possibly summer wheels/tires.

 

[Atl-Atl]

Well I got back to work doing VCDS mods today. Most of them worked but a few did not. I was going off This compilation site and not all of them worked. Maybe because its a euro site, maybe because its regular Golf based stuff and not Alltrack. Im not sure but I might send the guy some questions and see what he says.

- ESC, I chose the "05" setting because it is ESC on/ASR off/ESC off completely. I dont see myself ever needing or wanting "esc sport" its either on or off for me.

- Dynamic steering, This was a great mod! Probably the single most notable change. I expected it not to do much but the steering feel gets seriously heavy in "dynamic" mode. I recommend. Some notes that are different than what the aforementioned site says, Access code is actually 19249. Once I changed it following the instructions it gave me an error code but it did store the new dynamic setting and seems to have worked.

- XDS, I set the XDS to strong. I havent pushed the car at all yet to notice any difference. Ill play with this one more for sure. Points to note, its actually called "expanded electronic differential lock" which differs from the aforementioned site.

- 5(4) brake lights, I did this just to do it, its done but I dont see it hah. Ill have to drive behind my own car to see what its like.

- DRL off with handbrake, one of my favorite mods, sometimes you want to have the car running but be in stealth mode.

- Carbon look instruments, I could not get this one to work?

 

[Atl-Atl]

Also my crossbars showed up so I installed those and picked up a used Thule cargo box off craigslist. Bars are the "Rage Powersports" universal aluminum locking roof cargo bars part#RB-1001-49. They were $89.99 which is a far cry from $350 for the factory bars. They are obviously a knock off of Thule/VW bars and I apologize for buying fakes. That being said they are pretty nice, you get what you pay for but the are pretty nice.

They showed up and have stickers on them that say Apex by Discountramps.com. Obviously these are a knockoff of a knockoff. Rage Powersports is selling these as their own but not even bothering to change the stickers that have another brand on them. #shrug. They have made in Taiwan stickers which I have to be OK with because I work for a major manufacturer of mechanical goods based in Taiwan. :wave:

These pictures show the clearance over the body. Its close but with the box loaded up with ski gear it doesn't touch and the sunroof opens so Im happy.

The way the clamps tighten it actually bows the bars downward in the center. It gets plenty tight before really curving the bars thankfully. Only one of the two knobs per bar locks which is ok I guess. The knob that locks is an interesting mechanism. It "locks" by removing itself from the tightening mechanism. When you lock it the knob actually becomes loose and spins freely. At first I was worried it would make noise but I haven't noticed any. Im not sure how long this will hold up, we will see. The locks actually have a key stamped "yakima" and numbered lock cores that came with so at least that is replaceable. Im tempted to cut 10-12 inches off each bar. They stick about 6 inches past the factory rails, not enough to hit your head but enough that I don't like how it looks. I use a hitch rack to carry my bikes(hitch install coming soon hopefully) and I will completely remove the roof rack setup in the summer so I don't need the extra length past the cargo box. All in all Im happy for $89. I cruised on the highway up to about 85 and they make a little wind noise but nothing too bad. First trip up to the mountains with the cargo box full of gear is tomorrow. Ill report back.

I paid $150 for the Thule box which is a steal, its hard to find these things under $250 around here. It has some blems and the clearcoat is making the grey paint look yellow. Im thinking of painting or vinyl wrapping it white. I spaced the bar at the farthest distance allowable by the mounting of the box and push it back until it clears the hatch by about an inch. I think its perfect.

 

[Veedubgti]

- Carbon look instruments, I could not get this one to work?

This only works on a full color display LCD like the GTIs have.

 

[Atl-Atl]

This only works on a full color display LCD like the GTIs have.

I did not know that, thanks for the info.

 

[Atl-Atl]

So I went up to Grand Lake for the last five days. It was a great opportunity to take the Alltrack for a drive and really get to know it. I took the super long backroads route of course. Skied 3 days, did some work on the cabin, drove the car a lot. It was a glorious long weekend of solitude.

Colorado is terrible, sometimes you "have to" drive on roads like this, tell everyone how bad it is so they stop coming. Although the tourists all stick to the highways because they dont know any better. :laugh: Im pretty sure this is precisely what VW had in mind when they built this car.

Heres a clue

Then you wind up in places like this (Winter Park) on a holiday weekend when its supposed to be 35 and sunny and there are no lines... :wave:

Then after about 750 miles in the car you realize there are LED strips in the door cards and your mind is completely blown! Ive owned it for 10 days and I passed 1000 miles today hah, love it. Thats all for now.

 

[PoorHouse]

Then after about 750 miles in the car you realize there are LED strips in the door cards and your mind is completely blown! Ive owned it for 10 days and I passed 1000 miles today hah, love it. Thats all for now.

Nice pics!

The LED strips are cool. I wish they had carried them into the back doors.

 

[Atl-Atl]

Nice pics!

The LED strips are cool. I wish they had carried them into the back doors.

Thanks

I agree that would have been a nice touch but I dont ever sit in the back so...

 

[Atl-Atl]

Copying my post from the DSG programming issues thread into this thread for exposures sake.

After putting a little over 1000 miles on my Alltrack I have some more DSG gripes. On top of the transmission choosing what gear to start from a stop using a seemingly random algorithm, now about 1 out of 4 times when I put the car in reverse, say to pull out of a parking spot or parallel park, it doesn't go into reverse. The camera flips out and pops up on the screen but the car rolls forward. I have nearly rolled into objects/other cars because of this. This is not the normal DSG delay. I am well versed in that, I sold new VWs when DSG first came out and we were trained to explain to customers how there is a slight pause between P and D or R while the clutches engage. Dont throw it into D while still rolling backwards and slam on the gas before its truly in gear(like so many people love to do) thats not what is happening here.

When you put it in reverse you expect it to go into reverse and (after a brief delay) at least hold itself in place if not start to creep backwards right? Instead it rolls forward. So if you have your foot on the brake, put it in R and then look backwards to see where you're going, make sure to keep your foot on the brake until you are SURE it is in reverse. I have counted 4 instances in just over 1000 miles where I had to put my foot on the brake, put the gear selector back into park, then put it into R again for it to actually go into reverse. In all my previous experience with DSG cars Ive NEVER had an issue like this. It will be going into the dealer asap.

 

[Atl-Atl]

Weekend update. Ive been super busy traveling for work so I haven't done a lot of mods yet. Hopefully that will change in the next couple weeks. I did manage to order and install a few little things and have a couple interesting run-ins with other VWs.

I sold the Thule cargo box I had because it was just too big and ugly. After seeing someone post a white Thule Motion XT Alpine box on their white Alltrack SEL I was sold, unfortunately they are out of stock in all of Colorado. When I was depositing the cash from that sale I ran into this though...

Alpine White MKI Jetta. The owner was an amazing old man. He is the second owner, bought it off lease, daily drives it and it is literally showroom new looking. Blue interior is mint. 80K on it. He claimed to also to have a MKI Cabriolet that is red and only has 40K on it and somehow is in better condition! Also mind blowing, he was more interested in my Alltrack than talking about his cars hah.

Then I tried to install my yellow Hella high beam bulbs but quickly realized you have to pull the headlight assemblies to install high beam bulbs, what a wonderful design VW. :facepalm: So I continued with installing just the yellow lamin-x on my fogs. FYI, one 6"x12" sheet is enough if you cut carefully. I like that the yellow is subtle.

Then it was on to the rear bumper protector. I ordered the black rubber one from ebay thats like $65 and quickly realized Im in the wrong business if people like me will pay $65 for this. :banghead: Installs easily enough. The rear end of this thing is getting quite busy now with all the color contrast, sensors, badges etc. going on. Soon it will be time to clean it up, just have to wait for my license plates.

Went to meet a friend at New Terrain brewing in Golden and caught this gem of a VW in the parking lot. Wish I could have parked next to it.

 

[PoorHouse]

Dang, classic VW's everywhere in CO.

Hope you gave the Jetta owner your number if he ever sells.

 

[kyledooley]

Copying my post from the DSG programming issues thread into this thread for exposures sake.

After putting a little over 1000 miles on my Alltrack I have some more DSG gripes. On top of the transmission choosing what gear to start from a stop using a seemingly random algorithm, now about 1 out of 4 times when I put the car in reverse, say to pull out of a parking spot or parallel park, it doesn't go into reverse. The camera flips out and pops up on the screen but the car rolls forward. I have nearly rolled into objects/other cars because of this. This is not the normal DSG delay. I am well versed in that, I sold new VWs when DSG first came out and we were trained to explain to customers how there is a slight pause between P and D or R while the clutches engage. Dont throw it into D while still rolling backwards and slam on the gas before its truly in gear(like so many people love to do) thats not what is happening here.

When you put it in reverse you expect it to go into reverse and (after a brief delay) at least hold itself in place if not start to creep backwards right? Instead it rolls forward. So if you have your foot on the brake, put it in R and then look backwards to see where you're going, make sure to keep your foot on the brake until you are SURE it is in reverse. I have counted 4 instances in just over 1000 miles where I had to put my foot on the brake, put the gear selector back into park, then put it into R again for it to actually go into reverse. In all my previous experience with DSG cars Ive NEVER had an issue like this. It will be going into the dealer asap.

What was the result of the transmission check? If I had to guess, it needed a basic adaptation (and something you can do yourself with vcds in the future, when you're warranty is up). I've generally found most DSGs acting funky are cured with this.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Atl-Atl]

Dang, classic VW's everywhere in CO.

Hope you gave the Jetta owner your number if he ever sells.

There is quite a huge VW presence in Colorado, especially older stuff. He said he'll never sell.

What was the result of the transmission check? If I had to guess, it needed a basic adaptation (and something you can do yourself with vcds in the future, when you're warranty is up). I've generally found most DSGs acting funky are cured with this.

I have not gotten it checked out yet. Im going to have the oil changed at 5000 miles and Ill have them check it out then. What is the adaptation you can do yourself? I also think I have a bad strut top bearing which Ive been hearing more and more people complain about.

 

[ESS_29]

how are those crossbars holding up after your trip? Still think they are worth it, or would you buy something different?

 

[kyledooley]

I have not gotten it checked out yet. Im going to have the oil changed at 5000 miles and Ill have them check it out then. What is the adaptation you can do yourself? I also think I have a bad strut top bearing which Ive been hearing more and more people complain about.

I'm not up to speed on what version of the DSG is in the Mk7 Alltrack/Sportwagens, but if you look on the Ross-Tech wiki, there is a whole page dedicated to adaptations for the 02G 6-speed (Same version I had in my Jetta and Passat TDIs). This will give you an idea, but DON'T do anything suggested there until you can confirm trans type and what might be supported on the 4-Motion box.

Kyle

 

[Atl-Atl]

how are those crossbars holding up after your trip? Still think they are worth it, or would you buy something different?

They seem good. I took the rack off because I sold the box I had. They had loosened slightly but otherwise worked perfectly.

I'm not up to speed on what version of the DSG is in the Mk7 Alltrack/Sportwagens, but if you look on the Ross-Tech wiki, there is a whole page dedicated to adaptations for the 02G 6-speed (Same version I had in my Jetta and Passat TDIs). This will give you an idea, but DON'T do anything suggested there until you can confirm trans type and what might be supported on the 4-Motion box.

Kyle

Ill research it a little, thanks for the info. I probably wont mess with it. Its been getting better/learning my style slowly as I drive more, Im at about 3000 miles right now.