30/12/2011 - DIY and Photoshoot with Miles and Rex

Met up with two VWG forum members Rex and Miles. Rex had purchased my old S2TPP silver paddles from me and I had said I could give him a hand with the install. Miles, always willing to lend a helping hand, came along as well. Having done this a lot of times now myself on both my car and other members cars and with Miles having done a few himself, between us it was a very quick DIY. All in all it took about 15 minutes in total to replace the OEM paddles to the S2TPP's.

Since it was over so quick, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and decided to have a small photo session. My Golf R, Rex's MK6 GTI and Miles' latest aquisition : Suzuki SV650S, which is a 650cc bike, but learner legal! Note : get bike licence ASAP!

A small recap from the night. Photography by Rex Abergas.

The meetup location.

Removing the OEM paddles...

...and replacing them with S2TPP goodness. Miles fitting up the new paddles.

Putting everything back together.

Much better. The silver paddles really accentuate the other silver bits and bobs on the GTI.

Never get sick of looking at the rear lights.

Side on profile.

Rex's Tornado Red MK6 GTI. I'd never consider getting a red car but the GTI is one car I would love to have in red. It just pops.

Love the look of Miles' bike in this photo.

It was hard trying to get the position right for this one.

Saved the best for last. My favourite shot of the night.

18/12/2011 - Small Update

Just one decent photo taken from my recent trip to the Hunter Valley wine region.

Location of this estate was made famous by the reality TV show : "Farmer Want's a Wife." 

And just the other day...

20,000 kms travelled since 1st December 2010. A little over a year and still going strong!

09/12/2011 - 1 Year Anniversary Photoshoot By Kevin Gou

Met up with an old friend of mine tonight, whom I haven't seen in a while. It's been so long since I've met up with Kevin and I think the last time we hung out was at my 21st birthday party back in 2006. We first met at one of the cruises/meets when I had my old Accord Euro and when I was frequenting the Honda scene. We instantly connected and would meet up on occasion along with his other friends (who were also into Honda's at the time, aptly naming themselves "Team West"). After a while though, we lost contact as I went travelling for a year and a bit and finished off my studies but still kept in pseudo-contact somewhat via Facebook. He was the photographer at many of the meets I attended and his photos were always fantastic. How time flies. He's now a photographer for carsales.com.au, taking photos of cars at dealerships and recently he's put down a deposit for a Golf R of his own. A United Gray model five door with DSG transmission and he ticked basically every single factory options available except for the Recaro seats. One thing you have to know about Kev is that he's tall and for an Asian to be like 6'5 or something, it earned him nicknames like "Big Kev" and "Yao", after the NBA star Yao Ming. Since the Recaro seats didn't have much adjustability apart from being able to move back and forth and recline manually using the recliner wheel, it wasn't suitable for his needs. The car though will be delivered in August next year 2012 which is the only let down. A keen car enthusiast who much like myself hates waiting for anything has already started buying mods for his future car and is frequenting the forums as well, getting ideas from members who currently own a Golf R.

His current car, a BMW 330i which he has tastefully modded, will be going for sale no doubt once he takes delivery of his new car.

Kev's current ride : BMW E46 330i. Notice the CSL front bumper, subtle matte black grilles and
19" VMR Racing V713 wheels. Also has a CSL carbon rear boot as well as a host of other goodies.

Again, it's amazing how quickly times flies. It's already been one year since I've taken delivery of my car. To mark the occasion, I asked Kev if he was willing to take a few photos of my car and he very generously accepted. Initially, we went to Homebush but there were no carparks that had decent lighting so we ended up at the Rhodes Ikea carpark, a place where many a OzHonda meet has taken place in the past.

I thought it would also be a good idea to list the modifications which has been done to the Golf R so far after one year. So as at 9th December 2011, these are the current modifications on the Golf R. Photography courtesy of Kevin Gou.

ENGINE + PERFORMANCE

- GIAC ECU Reflash (Stage 1)
- VWRacing Cold Air Intake
- EVOMS Heatshield (Ceramic Coated Wrinkle Black)
- 42 Draft Design Oil Catch Can
- Audi RS4 Fuel Pressure Valve


EXTERIOR

- OptiCoat Paint Protection Sealant
- Nanolex Wheel Protection Sealant
- Nanolex Glass Sealant
- Lamin-X Clear Protective Film (Headlamps, DRL)
- ECS Hatch Pop Gas Struts
- PySpeed White LED Licence Plate Lights (No Error)
- JCaps Billet Oil Cap
- JCaps Billet Coolant Cap
- JCaps Billet Dipstick Cover
- JCaps Billet Washer Fluid Cap
- OSIR Mirror Covers (Carbon Fibre)
- Audi TT-S OEM Engine Cover (Candy White with Gloss Black Accent)
- Battery Cover (Candy White with Gloss Black Accent)
- Fuse Box Cover (Candy White with Gloss Black Accents)
- Rear VW Badge CF Inserts (Carbon Fibre)
- Euro Plate Holder Delete
- 5% Black Window Tint
- Rear Wiper Delete with Honda OEM Wiper Delete Metal Plug


INTERIOR

- White LED Interior Light Full Replacement Units
- Custom Gloss Black Interior Trim
- JCaps Billet Seat Recliner Wheel Cover
- S2TPP Paddle Shifter Extensions
- Engraved "R" and "Eject" LED Dead Buttons
- Engraved "Garage Button" LED Push Button Mod
- OSIR O-Rest Dead Pedal
- OSIR O-Pod Mono (Gloss Black)
- OSIR O-Pod Dual (Carbon Fibre)
- OSIR Step-GT Door Sill Trim (Carbon Fibre)
- DEFI Advance BF Control Unit
- DEFI Advance BF 2.0 Bar Boost Gauge (White, 60mm)
- DEFI Advance BF Oil Pressure Gauge (White, 60mm)
- DEFI Advance BF Exhaust Gas Temp Gauge (White, 60mm)


WHEELS + SUSPENSION

- UniBrace UB Chassis Brace
- Whiteline Anti-Lift Kit
- VWRacing Lower Engine Mount
- H&R Front Sway Bar (24mm : Hard Setting)
- H&R Rear Sway Bar (26mm : Hard Setting)

11/11/2011 - VWG Carpark Meet

Christina had organised a carpark meet for the VWG guys as it had been a few months since the last meet at Homebush. This time, the venue was at the Entertainment Quarter carparks at Moore Park. In addition to this, there was word that this meet would be a club feature in February's issue of Fast Fours & Rotaries next year so everyone was told to wash their cars if they wanted the opportunity for it to be photographed. I washed mine earlier today and had brought along a few detailing items just in case it rained or drizzled but neither happened which was good. It turned out to be a very nice day actually. The meet was scheduled at 7:00pm.

I'll let the pictures do the talking. Photographs courtesy of Ed, Josh and Kwong.

VWG meet at the Entertainment Quarter top level carpark.

Volkswagen teamed up with Adidas to showcase a special limited edition Golf GTI Adidas.
Unique features include 18 inch Serron alloy wheels (named after a Finnish race course), Bi-xenon headlights,
Adidas-badged B-pillars and Golf R LED rear tail lights. Limited edition of 500 in Australia. In every other way though, it's exactly the same as a regular GTI.

Tendy's Scirocco R. It's sporting its new carbon fibre rear diffuser by Garage Vary, a JDM company.

He is another wheel whore. Volk Racing G12's which Ross had on his Black Passat R36 at the Homebush meet & greet. Click here.

It may look factory but this car also has a host of goodies, such as an ECU tune, intercooler, high pressure fuel pump, DSG tune all from HPA/HGP,
VW Racing intake, ARQRAY custom titanium catback exhaust, KW V3 coilovers and huge RS6 8 piston BBK's amongst other things.

Pierre's Audi 8P S3. Recently back from his overseas trip. Always good seeing him and his S3.
Subtle and refined. Love this car.

The 19" BBS CK wheels in anthracite set his car off perfectly. And the red BBS centre caps completes the look.
He is looking at a new set of wheels though. Should be interesting!

MKIV Golf R32. What's special about this is that it was supercharged.

Candy White MKVI Golf GTI, Black Magic Pearl MKV Golf GTI Pirelli, Tornado Red MKVI Golf R.

Arranging the cars for the photoshoot. White, Black, Red.

Justin's MKV GTI which is currently for sale. A fine example of JDM mods executed properly on a German car.

Chris' Tornado Red Golf R. This is a colour which is available in Europe but was not available in the Australian brochure when the Golf R was launched here.
He somehow persuaded the salesperson to get this in as a special order and waited 9.5 months. It took this long due to getting the compliance for this car.
Thus, this car in this colour is as rare as hens teeth. Only three known examples in Australia. Looks better in the flesh!

Dev's MKIII Golf VR6 is always a welcome sight amongst the sea of new school Golf GTI's and R's.
Not bad for a 19 year old green P plater.

Ray's MKV R32 sporting 19" ADV7.1 wheels. This is the only other R32 which has the Capristo exhaust apart from Jose and Adam.
Needless to say, it sounds great.

The MY11.5 MKVI Golf GTI's now come with DRL's integrated in the headlights if you option the Bi-Xenons.

Michael's "beasty" Golf R. He plans to enter this car in the World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC) next year. Big things on the horizon!

Stock as a rock MKVI Golf GTI with factory optioned 18" Denver wheels.

Tech guru and all round good guy Miles' MKV GTI. Great example of simple, subtle mods which can transform it into something different without being over the top.

Group shot.

Another one.

Lora's Polo GTI being flanked by two MKIV R32's. Don't let the cute look and small stature of the Polo fool you.
It packs a punch with a plethora of quality mods along with a GIAC ECU reflash, pushing close to 150kw at the front wheels,
which will be super fun and super quick in a car that weighs approximately 1100kgs.

GTI : Function over form.
R32 : Form over function.
Yin Yang.

A fantastic photo of Dave's MKV R32 and Pierre's S3.

I love this shot. Tendy's Scirocco R facing off against my Golf R.

The meet was great as always. Very chill, always fun catching up with the regulars and of course, putting the faces to the forum names by meeting the newcomers. Big props to Christina for organising.

The Fast Fours & Rotaries feature should be in the February issue next year, hitting newsagents australia wide. There were 2 or 3 photographers from the magazine who also took photos at the meet. Curious to read the article and see the photos that were taken.