Hello all
I've done a bit of lurking, and this seems a good place to come for GTI based knowledge and advice.
Let me introduce myself.
The user name is a red herring - I'm Ian, and I live in Hampshire. I have some history with GTI's, as follows:
1981 Mark 1, bought in 1983. Helios Blue, full UK spec, bought new by an Army captain serving in Germany. In my ownership it received a Koni suspension kit and Rial wheels with Pirelli P6 tyres and a Zender three-gauge mounting plate with VDO oil temperature, pressure and voltmeter in place of the stereo unit which I relocated to the centre console. I still think that this was one of the best cars that I've ever owned.
My second GTI was a Scirocco. Not any Scirocco, this was previously owned by the celebrated motoring writer Leonard Setright, who had it fitted with a Bilstein suspension kit, 7x15" ATS wheels with Pirelli P7 tyres and a GTI Engineering gas-flowed cylinder head with a lumpy Schrick cam, resulting in 130BHP from the 1600cc engine.
There followed, in no particular order, two red Mark 1's, the second of which was my attempt to build my ideal Mark 1, using Koni adjustable shocks with Eibach springs, top and bottom front suspension braces, BR Motorsport brake cross-linkage, BR Motorsport built 1800cc engine with a Supersprint 4-2-1 exhaust manifold leading into a standard centre and tail section, Brembo brake discs and pads, 6x14 steel wheels with Yokohama tyres.
A Mark 2 Scirocco and Mark 2 16v GTI followed, after which I had a variety of Honda VTEC cars, and since 2001 I had Company cars, the last of which was the 2-litre Bluemotion TDi Mark 6 Golf, which I bought when I took early retirement, and will be part-exchanged two days from now for a 2014 GTI.
So there we are. I look forward to learning more about my new car, which I'm very excited about, and hope that I can, in some small way, contribute something to the Forum.
Ian
