I am a small car enthusiast who enjoys maximizing the utility and communications capabilities of my car instead of having separate vehicles for each need. With my current car, a 2017 VW GTI, my efforts transformed a "hot hatch" into a commuter, travel car, ham radio station, audio sound stage, workhorse, and weekend joy-rider. My videos feature my endeavors toward achieving, expanding, or maintaining this goal. You, too, can "do more with less." Feel free to visit my other sites by using the links in my banner, including my Amazon storefront where I feature some of the equipment that's in my car.
Feel free to contact me by visiting stealthgti.com/about-me/ or ke4wmf.com/about-me/, depending on your interest.
I just bought a 24 Jetta. I have not owned a VW since 1990. I have been buying Hondas and Toyotas, Lexus, for the past 30 years. The reason I even went to look at the new Jetta was the way the Asian dealers are treating people now. They are being too greedy, not a single deal I tried to make with them did not have thousands of dollars of dealer mark ups added at the end of negotiations. The Jetta has a 2k dollar rebate on it now and I got it for under invoice and the dealer took all the dealer add ons off the price of the car. To make it simple, I would not pay the price to get into an Asian car again. I had forgotten why I liked VW cars. They drive great, I love the stiffer suspension and the seats. My last VW was also a Jetta, I had 139k miles on it when I rear ended a pick up. It was a great car. I was impressed with the new Jetta, I have been averaging almost 50mpg, thats hybrid mileage these days on a regular gas engine. Time will tell if my new Jetta is a good car, but I do like it better than most of the Asian cars I have owned .
The linked box on amazon has measurements that say 50" length in the specifications section despite 46" being in the tittle. Was this the case when you purchased? I only ask as I have the same curt cargo hitch carrier and would like a good fit if possible.
VW gets a bad rep because of the cost to repair i.e. German parts are not always easy to find depending on where you live. On top of that, there are less VW techs/mechanics outside of the stealerships, and they know it. I also find that some indie Euro shops don't work on older dubs, and most of them are used to getting BMW's and Benz's for the most part, only because there are more of those on the road.
my cargo box caused my sunroof to shatter and they didnt have one on back order, also I couldnt go to car wash anymore, or go to parking garages, and in SLC you cant even go to the Whole foods parking lot cause of clearance they put up!
HELLO SIR AND EVERYONE HERE I HAVE A QUESTION PLEASE, CAN A START STOP VEHICLE USED FOR CHARGING A DUAL BATTERY SETUP PLEASE BECAUSE I THINK HAM RADIO WILL HAVE SOME ISSUE IF EVERYTIME THE VEHICLE START OR STOP THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE
I just test drove a Taos and...I really liked it. Did some research though and the head gasket issues seem very real. Add to that some brake and electronic issues reported. Really a shame. I'm not sure I want to take a chance on a 24' assuming the problems have been fixed. May just go in the complete opposite direction and pick a boring Toyota Corolla Hybrid.
Great in depth review and one of the most informative GTI exhaust videos I've seen. Although I have an MK6 GTI, the sound is very similar to the MK7. I have 3” catless TBE (BBE DP and Magnalow CB) but it had the same drone. I recently added a Vibrant 17950 and it’s perfect now. Completely quiet in the cab and less raspy outside with a nice deep tone. Sounds refined. I appreciate the input and help to make the right decision to eliminate the drone. Thanks again 😊
@@DvpperCam - I don't. I think most mechanics prefer to swap-in a replacement, even if it's used. An engine swap is cheaper than the labor behind a rebuild.
Thank you kind Sir, VW dealership tried to charge me over $800 (apparently it required 2 and a half hrs of labor) just to replace the blower motor which also included $189 diagnostic fee 🙄. I declined (still had to pay $189 diagnostic fee), went to Autozone, bought a blower motor for my 2021 mk7.5 GTI for $174, a t20 driver for about $8, and within 50 minutes I had successfully installed my new blower motor and tested it. Mind you half of that 50 minutes was spent on trying to put the blower motor back in 😂. This experience has single handely got me back into fixing my own car again. Once again thank you for this video 🙏🏾.
You make a crucial distinction between Issues impairing mobility (engine / roadside problems) and faulty infotainment systems. These bugs scew reliability nrs away from 'techy' cars.
I have a 2012 vw golf gti and recently I’ve over 5 litres of coolant in because it keeps disappearing after short drives. I don’t see any leaks so anyone have any idea what’s going on?
The coolant has to be going somewhere. If you don't have a leak, then I recommend having your oil analyzed to see if there's any evidence of coolant in the oil. Good Luck!
Question: you mentioned it's best to not exceed 100lbs of cargo. Does this include the weight of the cargo-carrier itself, or do you mean 100lbs additional cargo? I recently bought an aluminum Tow Tuff Aluminum Luggage + Bike Rack carrier which weighs 48 lbs on its own. My car is a Subaru sedan rated for 300 pounds tongue weight. I'd definitely rather be on the safe side. Any advice would be appreciated!
I recommend 100 lbs of actual cargo, not including the weight of the rack itself. That's due to my car's 175-lb tongue limit. In the case of your Subaru, you could probably haul 200 lbs back there. I think I may have shared a graphic in the video that explains the cantilever effect of the rack. Thanks for visiting!
Thanks for writing. One fuse diagram that I have indicates that the blower is fed by F14, which is located behind the door that's below the headlight switch. However, that *could* change between model years. Do an image search for the fuse diagram and for the location of F14 to see where it is. The fuses are not in a nice, straight line. Good Luck!
I really wish we could get tow packages on cars again. I dont need to tow a train, just 3000 lbs or so. No reason, with the size of modern cars, we cant get tow packages to do that.
If you're in the US, visit etrailer.com to see if they offer a hitch for your car. It may not support 3000 lbs if your car can accept only a Class 1 hitch, but you may be surprised by what's available. Good Luck!
If you need a new turbo ANYWAY (my '15 GTI Autobahn which I purchased not 7 months ago as a one-owner 53K mile car apparently does, at 54K) and are looking at similar expense anyway it's very hard to resist. The car is currently running a Unitronic Stage 2 tune w catted DP (previous owner installed at approx 40K) which I have to assume contributed to this absurdly early turbo failure, or not, as it seems getting a lousy factory turbo can just happen to unlucky Mk7 owners now and then. Unitronic has an IS38 upgrade Stage 2+ tune and as the car came with their accessport connector and switching it to my name is a one-time $150 cost for all their tunes, so that'd be the cost-effective way to deal with tuning. Don't wrench myself but know a local VW/Audi tech who will do the install for me, whatever turbo I go with, as a side gig, so will be much less than the $4500 my local rip-off German Specialty shop quoted me (to replace and install another OEM IS20.) The car's used as a light daily (work at home) which means grinding, horrific Atlanta traffic and streets and freeways, but weekends to be let loose in the mountains and eventually, track. It's a manual 6 as well, making the city grind that much more not fun, and the loss of low end does concern me. Maybe a hybrid creation? Bit more $ upfront but seems like a lot of the upsides of both. Oh, and emissions were a real drag initially w the Stage 2 and DP (even catted) took a lot of $$ noodling by said Specialty shop to get it to pass, wonder if bigger turbo adds to that headache as well. TY for your info-packed and candid vid, it's very helpful, and I've got a big decision to make! Cheers!
The best cars are a little more expensive to maintain, I think! The European luxury brands come to mind. I'm sure they're fantastic machines, but too rich for my blood! VW is a great middle ground. Thanks for visiting!
@@StealthGTI Aud $31 Is about 20 USD so it's really pretty cheap end I don't think there making much money As there normally purchased by elderly people who use them in there mobility scooter carriers so the price is pretty low
OK, I’m so overwhelmed at this point. I’m just gonna subscribe to your channel. Who do you talk to with all the stuff and what I just don’t understand I love technology but what in the world would I do with all this stuff right now I’ve got three GRMS radios. I’ve got one of those T8 HT’s which is supposedly 10 W HAM And GMS radio . the only problem is as far as licensing goes all I have is my Private pace license with instrument rating and my UAS certificate, but I don’t have anything as far as radio licenses. That’s probably a problem for transmitting. OK I’m gonna let you finish the video thanks a lot.
My radios operate on a variety of bands. So, although I have four microphones, they pack the capability of having many more since I can switch between bands. My primary band is ~146 MHz, aka "2-meters." That's the one that I use every day to talk with local hams. The others are for when I want to talk outside of my region or to contest and experiment. It's overkill, for sure, but it's all part of the fun. Check out my "KE4WMF" play list for more videos specific to ham radio. I have a rather long "FAQ" video there, too. Take Care!
When you show that full shot of the car with the antennas on top, my mouth dropped open hello from Phoenix, Arizona I own a GRMS radio that I’ve never even turned on that account for anything? I really want a 50 W mobile even though I don’t know what I would do with it.
HAHA! Yes, my car can be quite overwhelming. In my experience, GMRS is more of a tool for specific gatherings instead of a preferred medium for reaching out to strangers. Ham radio is the place to be if your interest is in seeing who you can reach. I'll address your other comment in a separate post. Thanks for visiting!
My radiator is 38 inches tall, which is two inches taller than the Scorpion caphat radiator. I think 36" may be better and yields a little bit of "buffer" when tuning 17m. I have since removed the W8UZZ caphat and gone back to Scorpion. The smaller caphat is easier to pack when traveling. I will still tinker with other ideas, though. Videos in the works... Thanks for visiting!
Ordered the pan but the gasket is unavailable thru Amazon. Saw it on another site & in description it says PAPER. So i wanted to know is your gasket made frm Rubber or Paper?
Some sites say that it's made from "fiber." Mine was fairly rigid; so, I suspect that it's a reinforced paper of sorts. It's still holding well. Thanks for visiting!
Good informative video. Really thought out. P.S. you look like Matt Damon, so it’s sorta like Jason Bourne is giving me a heads up on the pros and cons of putting a cargo carrier on the roof of my vehicle, so that’s cool lol.
Unitronic Stage 2 tune on my mk5. I replaced all coils and sparks and it's still misfiring. A week before that I bought ecs tuning fuel injectors because the fourth one was stuck open so I went ahead and replaced all four of them but they were on the cheaper side. 340 dollars compared to the 1000 dollar oem ones. I have a cylinder 4 and 2 misfire under heavy load and up hills. Do you think it would be from the none oem fuel injectors??
I cannot be sure. The earlier cars are known for bad coil packs, but you also have a mix of aftermarket parts. Even at IS38 tuning, I'm still using factory coils, injectors, and OEM R7 spark plugs. IF you're confident in your plugs, coils, and injectors, then check your compression and leakdown. Good Luck!
