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Well, I had told myself I wouldn't go try a new S...don't want any more temptations for unnecessary purchases.
Unfortunately, when I went in for an oil change and to do some test sittings in Golfs, Jettas, and GTI's, I had to ask for the keys to a Silver S that's been hanging around the dealership for a week or so.
I took the car out on the highway and ran up through the six speed as fast as I could and tried to get a feel for the acceleration, etc.
The six-speed felt like a shorter throw than stock, but seemed a little loose. Tough to explain, but I didn't like it as much as my five.
Impressions? Maybe honest to god numbers wouldn't bear this out, but I swear this stock S does not feel as spry as my Upsoluted '00 NB. It feels "heavy." It didn't seem to accelerate as fast, or have the same amount of pull when you get on it.
When I was above 3k rpm, I expected to feel the engine to really put my in my seat...but it didn't. Now, my car doesn't snap my neck when I jump on the pedal, but I can tell it's pulling like a beast.
Driving this car made me glad I handed over the bucks 15k miles ago to Garrett and had my car chipped. I also became aware of how much I like my DieselGeek short shift kit over stock 5 or stock 6-speed.
Finally, when I was running in sixth gear, I got a good look at the RPM's for 70 and 75mph. Way back when, I put a lot of effort into finding the info I'd need for swapping my 5th gear out for a taller .72 or .76 gear. Driving this car, I believe I have the numbers I need to pick the gear for a good swap. In the past, this whole decision would have had to have been made by conjecture about what the engine could handle. Once I do the math, I should have an appropriate baseline to match torque, hp and rpm's to pick the gear that would be least likely to give me problems. I may have to do some interpolating since the gear box uses different gears and final drive, but it should be close enough. (Side note: I wish they had made their six speed basically a 5 plus overdrive. Apparently, however this gear box is working, it may give you the low rpms in 6th gear, but by the numbers it isn't getting you better highway mpg).
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Unfortunately, when I went in for an oil change and to do some test sittings in Golfs, Jettas, and GTI's, I had to ask for the keys to a Silver S that's been hanging around the dealership for a week or so.
I took the car out on the highway and ran up through the six speed as fast as I could and tried to get a feel for the acceleration, etc.
The six-speed felt like a shorter throw than stock, but seemed a little loose. Tough to explain, but I didn't like it as much as my five.
Impressions? Maybe honest to god numbers wouldn't bear this out, but I swear this stock S does not feel as spry as my Upsoluted '00 NB. It feels "heavy." It didn't seem to accelerate as fast, or have the same amount of pull when you get on it.
When I was above 3k rpm, I expected to feel the engine to really put my in my seat...but it didn't. Now, my car doesn't snap my neck when I jump on the pedal, but I can tell it's pulling like a beast.
Driving this car made me glad I handed over the bucks 15k miles ago to Garrett and had my car chipped. I also became aware of how much I like my DieselGeek short shift kit over stock 5 or stock 6-speed.
Finally, when I was running in sixth gear, I got a good look at the RPM's for 70 and 75mph. Way back when, I put a lot of effort into finding the info I'd need for swapping my 5th gear out for a taller .72 or .76 gear. Driving this car, I believe I have the numbers I need to pick the gear for a good swap. In the past, this whole decision would have had to have been made by conjecture about what the engine could handle. Once I do the math, I should have an appropriate baseline to match torque, hp and rpm's to pick the gear that would be least likely to give me problems. I may have to do some interpolating since the gear box uses different gears and final drive, but it should be close enough. (Side note: I wish they had made their six speed basically a 5 plus overdrive. Apparently, however this gear box is working, it may give you the low rpms in 6th gear, but by the numbers it isn't getting you better highway mpg).
