2004 VOLKSWAGEN GTI 1.8T - www.danmarx.org

September 2006 - Here is it, the ultimate total photoshopped picture. All mods free of charge. Here's a list of what's chopped:

Badgeless Front Grill with Filled Notches

Shaved Side Markers

Shaved Corner Reflectors on Rub Strip

Filled License Plate Holes

4" Stubby Antenna

3" Drop Rear

2" Drop Front

18" Arietta Wheels

35% Window Tint Front and Back

8mm Wheel Spacers in Back

These are basically the only things I know how to photoshop very well at all. The grill is probably the hardest part and doing the drop is probably the easiest. Shaving the side markers and such is pretty easy too. I know the pic is kinda lame with all the plants and my neighborhood in the background, but this was the best shot I could get so far. It would actually cost several thousand dollars to make my car actually look this, which would be totally sweet, but some things I don't think I'll ever do. The 18" Ariettas for example they don't even make, but I could get some 18" Aristos which look nearly identical. And I don't actually mind the side markers, I think they look cool, I don't know why people like to shave them. I definitely need the drop and the tint though. And removing the VW badge in the front would be sick, but again it's a lot of work, and isn't cheap. I'd add some body kit stuff too, like side skirts and front lip, but I don't know how to do it and make it look good. Besides I don't know if I'll ever get around to doing any body kit stuff anyway. I do want to get the VW rear spoiler though.

September 2006 - I washed my car today and took a few pictures. I cleaned off all that muck that builds up on the underside of the sides of the car too. I don't know what it is, but where the paint is all bumpy and uneven, it was just filled with this greasy black tar. I sprayed a bunch of Simple Green on it and just scrubbed it with a sponge. Most if it came off, but while I had the water out, I grabbed a bucket and some car wash soap went ahead and washed the rest of my car. I keep thinking I need to get it dropped, but I can't decide on which rout to go with the drop. Part of me just wants to get some springs and lower the stinking car already, but then the other part of me wants to get a full set of coilovers, like the H&R Cup Kit for for a grand and do it right the first time and just spend the money to do it. I lowered my Civic with some cheesy coilovers and honestly, the ride suffered because it, but I didn't really care because that was my 9 year old Honda. My GTI is nearly brand new, or to me it is brand new, so I don't want to do anything cheap to it, if I can help it. Of course, I'm not made of money either.

I bought some 1/4"-20 black button-head allen-key screws for the license plate in the back and to fill the license holes in the front. It looks way better now in the back with the license plate and the black screws, it's a lot cleaner, way better than the steel phillips-head screws. The front looks a little better, better than just having the holes, but I need to paint the screws Silverstone Gray, or get some caps for them. I'm still working on a solution. Most people say just buy a new rub strip, but I have holes in the bumper too, so, what do you do? The black screws look fine for now.

Today I realized my power steering fluid is low, like 1/4" below the LOW mark on the disptick, so I scrounged around the garage and found a bottle of generic power steering fluid and just as I'm about to poor it in, I stop and think to myself, I wonder if there's some special VW-type stuff I'm suppose to put in here? Sure enough, a quick stop at the Vortex and a search for 'power steering fluid' reveals the real stuff you're suppose use in these cars - Pentosin CHF 11S. Unfortunately it's not something that AutoZone or Checkers carries, so I either have to buy it online, or get it from VW. And from what I've seen this stuff is expensive. Oh well, gotta get the good stuff, whether it makes a difference or not. I'll have to swing by the dealership on Monday. Had I noticed earlier I could have gone today, but they were already closed.

In other news, my first mod arrived today in the mail - a 3" stubby antenna. This things is so sweet! The bolt was too long though and it didn't sit right so I took a jig-saw and a sander to it and made it shorter, so it would screw in all the way and sit right on the car. Now my car looks like a little RC car. My radio reception probably suffers some, but I'm usually listening to my iPod anyway, so who really cares about the dumb radio?

August 2006 - This was the first picture I took of my car when I drove it home from CA. I stopped in front of my house and grabbed the camera and took a few shots. Then when I looked at the pics I realized how completely lame this car looks with the stock ride height, seriously, I have over 3" of gap in the rear wheels and over 2" in the front, and it looks so retarded. Anyway, so I've opted to photoshop the drop on all my car pics from here on out till I can actually drop it. So whatever. Also the front license plate was still on the car in this shot so I tried to photoshop it out, but just made the bumper look worse so I intentionally made the whole picture look scratchy and faded and now you can't tell as much. Oh and I dropped it like its hot. Photoshopping a decent drop is serious inspiration for what your car could look like if you just had the money to do it, so it makes me want to save up to do it. I may do that before I tint the windows. The car doesn't look bad with clear windows, what looks bad is when I'm ready to four-wheel through some mountain. So down the road with the help of H&R or Eibach, or whoever, we'll get a nice-looking drop sometime soon.

August 2006 - I just bought a 2004 Volkswagen GTI, and this is it. I've been wanting to get a new car for at least the last year, and finally decided it was time to do it. I love this little car, it is a blast to drive, and handles well, it's fast, it feels solid on the road, and overall just looks nice, inside and out. I haven't owned a car for myself that built in this century, so even having power windows and door locks is a huge set up from what I had. And it's great. So I'm making this web page all about it. I've got big plans for this sweet car, so hopefully over the years as I have time and money to work on it, it will become something to be proud of. For now it's just a stock everyday driver that looks and rides a little bit better than what I used to drive, well a lot better. =)