Spring cleaning

Jason finally decided to dust off his Scirocco and put a little love into her this year. As someone who is always searching for that 'next project,' Jason sure seems to forget about this car as a potential candidate for that title. After the Fox was deemed unsalvageable and an offer was made in his Passat, he's been scrambling for something to focus on. Let's hope the 16v is the recipient of that focus...it's got potential.

Jason's Passat, now with more low-n-poke

Jason has been refining the look of his B5 Wagon a bit since he put the 18x9.5" Miro wheels on there a few months back. Very small spacers were added to the rear, to bring it out a little bit and match to the front, plus the front was lowered a little from where it was previously. All told? It's amazing how 'right' VW got it with the B5 Wagons. All this thing has done visually are wheels and suspension, and it looks great.



So far so good. As you can tell by the snow in the background Jason snapped these when it was a little colder, and I haven't heard any complaints yet. He keeps talking about selling this car and buying a W8 Passat, or some similarly more expensive / less reliable / more quirky car, but I think he should stick with what he's got.



After all, with his Fox no longer in the stable (Hen house? Pasture? I couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound like a farm-yard joke...) he can finally put some money into his long-neglected Scirocco 16v. And let me tell you, there's nothing to rob money from a real project like a finicky daily driver.

_WRS

In case you were wondering

A full set of 18x9.5" et40 wheels can in fact fit all the way around on a Passat B5 without any real hassles. I have to admit being a bit skeptical after Jason sent the test fit shots over a couple weeks back, but here's the proof, live and direct!



Jason went with the very finest in Sumitomo tires (and they gotta be run-flats) for his wagon, and the 225/40 yields just enough of a stretch to fit and give that 'super mad stanced' look. They are not so stretched that they look ridiculous or unsafe, at least not in this man's opinion.



These pics were all taken this past Sunday, but Jason's been too lazy busy to post up about it, so I decided to take it upon myself to do so. I've got to say, the 18s really suit the car, size wise, compared to those 19" boat anchors that used to be on there. I wonder if it handles any better?



And for those who are super picky, Jason's already got the car back on the lift (should be this evening) for a little more lowering up front and some 5mm spacers out back. I guess he's not content with the lack of rubbing considering how much it looks like it should. Not to mention the 'Sorry brah, can't give you a ride home cause my car will rub' excuse is always a good one to have in reserve.



So there we go...all dressed up and just in time for more snow. Jason should have pics of the refinements shortly.

_WRS

A Step Backwards... or Up

So this is my first post here on WRS blog. I was hoping my first post would be about the awesome fitment of my new wheels, but unfortunately it doesn't appear that they'll be going on anytime soon. In fact, to be able to get my car back into my neighborhood after all this snow, I had to raise the coilovers up 2 inches and borrow some wheels from my boy Scotto.







So here's how the Passat sits until all this snow melts, or until Baltimore City decides to actually clear the streets of Hampden. Here's a little reason why...

_Jason

Close as a...

Despite the tremendously bad weather which has been plaguing the Mid Atlantic, time was made to do a trial run on the wheels for the Passat. Verdict: It's close. Damn close.



Perhaps dangerously close? I suppose time will tell on that one, but as Jason said at least it'll be easy to tell when he bends one of the barrels on a pothole: just listen for the sound of metal as it rubs on the upright...after taking a good look at this shot I think he may have more trouble with the tire than the wheel, but a 225/40 should stretch pretty good on the 9.5" wheel.



Tires are en route, but as more snow is forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday getting them onto the car will probably take a back seat until the roads are cleared a bit. With Jason's luck the car would end up in a ditch, so better safe than sorry there.



Once the tires and mounted and balanced a second trial fit will happen, and if necessary a 3mm spacer will find its way onto the car, but as is is the fitment is near perfect from the outside.



_WRS

With the Fox no longer, introducing the B5 Wagon

It's tough sometimes with cars. Like all relationships, sometimes you're just more in love than other times. Some of us may entertain ideas of selling our current chariots and upgrading / downgrading for more power / prestige / room / or whatever, while others may look for something more simple, stripped down and basic. It happens all the time. 'The grass is always greener on the other side' and all that crap.



Well Jason, who pretty much has honorary status as an official part of the team now, has these feelings more often than not. In fact, I can honestly say not a day goes by that he doesn't propose dropping everything and buying some random car that could be 'so cool' with x, y or z done to it. Bad bad ideas as he says. So bad they are good. I beg to differ, but then I tend to be more conservative on that front. Usually it involves something that will be impossible to get parts for, or close to impossible to keep on the road (see also: Crazy like the Fox) and so they don't always come to fruition, luckily for him.



Anyways, this 2000 Passat B5 Wagon is Jason's daily driver. Sure he has an '88 Scirocco 16v that he could put money into and drive, which would be fun and fast, but he's a big wimp when it comes to really driving cars (haha) and so he needs something 'cushy' to drive everyday. This Passat was on the chopping block until recently, but after the chips were cashed in on the Fox project, he decided to hang onto it. Unfortunately these fantastic 19x9" Touareg wheels have already been sold to Arno over at Baak 2 Basics, so it was time for some new rollers...the bent and abused steelies simply not being sufficiently pimp for the wagon. The choice: fan-freaking-tastic Miro 111 wheels in a positively massive 18x9.5", all the way around.

Boo ya!

Tires will be 225/40 R18, and seeing as the final offset on the old Touareg wheels was the same as these (et40) the extra .5" shouldn't pose too much of a problem for the old girl. As you can see Jason's taking no prisoners with the ride height (Vogtland coilovers) so it should be sitting very pretty by this time next week. I for one am excited to see it.



I mean just look at that! No lip, spokes go right to the edge, and well, I couldn't ask for much more, and it's not even my car.

_WRS