Joined
·
240 Posts
Just bought myself a 2013 in black. Loving the car more each day. I wasn't all that serious about buying and could have easily waited. I had a MKV GLI fully optioned, black on black that was a fun daily driver but getting a touch long in the tooth. I've been driving MKV VWs for a while, I had GTI before buying the GLI and honestly wasn’t really feeling any of the dubs these days.
I test drove a few cars back in the summer, Mazda Speed 3 (garbage interiors), 13' ST3 and a heavily modded 14' ST3. The STs were for me right away, I knew I would be back in a hatch but wasn’t rushing. So I wasn't too serious about buying this last weekend but figured I would give it a go. I drove a stock 17' ST3, to my surprise I found it a bit numb and dull. Couldn’t quite put my finger on it, I was very meh about it. Figured I had that modded 14' in my mind still and it turns out they hadn't sold it yet. Gave it another spin, loved just about everything but the noise. Holy **** was it obnoxious! Whistling intake on part throttle, bov hissing at even the slightest lift off and then there was the exhaust noise. Omfg that exhaust was so loud... At every rpm it was just beating down my ear drums. I'm too old and drive too fast for that **** everyday every minute.
That leads me to the 13' ST2 which honestly I hadn't even planned to test drive. It was an ST2 after all. I'm supposed to just not have heated leather seats? No backup camera? Wtf?! So it was drive another car that I don’t really like all that much or get a burger. Ehhh it’s only 10min down the street, why not have a look at least
I get there and she's in the garage waiting for me. It's quite a bit lower then the 14' and is just ever so slightly stanced on staggered Art In Motion wheels. Not hella flush or anything but just enough to look good and most importantly not give up performance. Has a CF chin splitter, yellow fogs all windows are tinted as black as legally possible. Overall it looks fresh as ****. Oh and the 6 piston wilwoods don't look bad either
So they give me the fob I hit the button and she fires right up and sounds pretty good, def not as loud as the 14' but louder and better sounding than stock. We go for a ride and it’s hard to get a feel for the suspension at first. I’m on South Tacoma way all the way down by the 512 heading north. If you’re from the Puget Sound then you already know. This road is total ****. Not a single square foot of it is level or not dimpled with pot holes or chunks of asphalt missing entirely. It’s a rough ride on this road with the car setup this way. I’m having doubts.
Then comes the highway. I blast up the on ramp after leaving some space, the ramp has a moderately tight right hand before a fairly abrupt a merge. I’m tucking into traffic, in and out of the tight spots easily. Total control, responding to my inputs at the wheel, great throttle response, the balance is there. Love that feeling like nobody on the road can keep pace or out drive me, instant boy racer **** eating grin. That was it. This was exactly what I was looking for. All the performance I could want with room to grow and it doesn’t scream look at me.
I wasn’t dead set on this car after the test drive, just the platform and tuning I would do. They gave me a good deal and solid value on my trade. I was offered an easy payment and my insurance moved up by $9mo. That was a wrap. I signed and haven’t looked back.
I love how much less maintenance will cost too. Pentosin and Mann filters on the GLI were about $75 per oil change. Mobil 1 and Motorcraft are half that…. Crazy.
So I have ordered a FL400S filter, Mobil 1, NGK plugs, Motul DCTF an OBDII scanner (to add the heated seats and camera) and I’ll replace the Cobb air filter with an AEM dryflow or Amsoil EaU nano. By the end of the month I’ll install dual catch cans. I’m sending the oil and trans fluid out for analysis, when that comes back clear I’ll get Cobb tuner and possibly do a water meth injection. I may do my stereo upgrades before the Cobb and/or WMI not quite sure yet.
Tldr; love my modded ST2!
I test drove a few cars back in the summer, Mazda Speed 3 (garbage interiors), 13' ST3 and a heavily modded 14' ST3. The STs were for me right away, I knew I would be back in a hatch but wasn’t rushing. So I wasn't too serious about buying this last weekend but figured I would give it a go. I drove a stock 17' ST3, to my surprise I found it a bit numb and dull. Couldn’t quite put my finger on it, I was very meh about it. Figured I had that modded 14' in my mind still and it turns out they hadn't sold it yet. Gave it another spin, loved just about everything but the noise. Holy **** was it obnoxious! Whistling intake on part throttle, bov hissing at even the slightest lift off and then there was the exhaust noise. Omfg that exhaust was so loud... At every rpm it was just beating down my ear drums. I'm too old and drive too fast for that **** everyday every minute.
That leads me to the 13' ST2 which honestly I hadn't even planned to test drive. It was an ST2 after all. I'm supposed to just not have heated leather seats? No backup camera? Wtf?! So it was drive another car that I don’t really like all that much or get a burger. Ehhh it’s only 10min down the street, why not have a look at least
I get there and she's in the garage waiting for me. It's quite a bit lower then the 14' and is just ever so slightly stanced on staggered Art In Motion wheels. Not hella flush or anything but just enough to look good and most importantly not give up performance. Has a CF chin splitter, yellow fogs all windows are tinted as black as legally possible. Overall it looks fresh as ****. Oh and the 6 piston wilwoods don't look bad either
So they give me the fob I hit the button and she fires right up and sounds pretty good, def not as loud as the 14' but louder and better sounding than stock. We go for a ride and it’s hard to get a feel for the suspension at first. I’m on South Tacoma way all the way down by the 512 heading north. If you’re from the Puget Sound then you already know. This road is total ****. Not a single square foot of it is level or not dimpled with pot holes or chunks of asphalt missing entirely. It’s a rough ride on this road with the car setup this way. I’m having doubts.
Then comes the highway. I blast up the on ramp after leaving some space, the ramp has a moderately tight right hand before a fairly abrupt a merge. I’m tucking into traffic, in and out of the tight spots easily. Total control, responding to my inputs at the wheel, great throttle response, the balance is there. Love that feeling like nobody on the road can keep pace or out drive me, instant boy racer **** eating grin. That was it. This was exactly what I was looking for. All the performance I could want with room to grow and it doesn’t scream look at me.
I wasn’t dead set on this car after the test drive, just the platform and tuning I would do. They gave me a good deal and solid value on my trade. I was offered an easy payment and my insurance moved up by $9mo. That was a wrap. I signed and haven’t looked back.
I love how much less maintenance will cost too. Pentosin and Mann filters on the GLI were about $75 per oil change. Mobil 1 and Motorcraft are half that…. Crazy.
So I have ordered a FL400S filter, Mobil 1, NGK plugs, Motul DCTF an OBDII scanner (to add the heated seats and camera) and I’ll replace the Cobb air filter with an AEM dryflow or Amsoil EaU nano. By the end of the month I’ll install dual catch cans. I’m sending the oil and trans fluid out for analysis, when that comes back clear I’ll get Cobb tuner and possibly do a water meth injection. I may do my stereo upgrades before the Cobb and/or WMI not quite sure yet.
Tldr; love my modded ST2!
