Thank you to my 'adopted' region

[Mowgli87]

Hey guys, I had a blast Sunday as well. I was driving the Red VW GTI.

Cholewa, was that you that rode with me on one of my runs? If so, thanks for the tips. You encouraged me to drive harder, which helped me shave off some more time. Maybe I will get to ride in the Thunder Bunny sometime next season. You really seem to know how to toss that thing around!

I should be at several of the events with you guys next season. I will be looking forward to it!

-David

[Jedi1]

You guys are making me miss my VW's! If VW ever gets off their collective arses and brings the Polo GTI stateside the Mini will be sold quickly. I tried to get over there a couple times and say David, but kept getting sidetracked all over the place. Nice looking GTI you have there sir.

Mrs. Vrooom if you ever want to take a Mini for a spin I would be more than happy to swap keys any time . I've spent some time behind the wheels of pretty much every iteration of 911 that ever has been and I have to say I love them all! If the funding is ever there for it I will have a 993! I'm not picky, gimme a base C2 and I'm done, lol.

Vincent, don't for a second sell yourself or the RX short in any way. That car has the potential to give Ricky all the hell he can handle next year and I got a chance to watch you run. You just need seat time. Get the seating straight and just drive the car. Your times will fall in a hurry!

Ricky, I didn't get to run anywhere near as much as I would have liked to this year because of the leg, but every time I got out there I have to say that you and everyone that lent a hand this year made the events run so well. It has been a pleasure running with everyone here and I look forward to making it out alot more in 2009.

Clay and James, SLOW DOWN!!!! LOL. I brought the dead Hoosiers and paid the price last Sunday. I have to thank you guys for always being willing to help out with advice and pushing me to 10/10ths whenever we get the chance to compete. I hope all of us get the chance to do a tour or maybe the Championships next year. I would love to see everyone in HS wondering who the heck we are and where we came from! lol.

Thanks for a great year folks. If your name isn't on here it doesn't mean the love isn't there, it just means I'm tired of typing! Hey Lyle, I'm having people over in 2 weeks, can you make it?

Sean

[chuck schultz]

Mike's valiant

What? A new car?

[Mowgli87]

You guys are making me miss my VW's! If VW ever gets off their collective arses and brings the Polo GTI stateside the Mini will be sold quickly. I tried to get over there a couple times and say David, but kept getting sidetracked all over the place. Nice looking GTI you have there sir...

Sean

HAHA sorry dude. I hope you can find some way to contain yourself next year, cause you will probably be seeing more of me. Any of you guys/gals here are more than welcome to come along for a ride next season; I will take any constructive criticism I can get.

I absolutely agree with you about the Polo. If I could convince VW to do something, here is what their small car lineup would look like:

- Polo as an entry level sub-compact, similar to the rest of the world (ROW). The GTI model would have the 1.4 TSI that the ROW Golf GT has, and manual gearbox (if you want the auto slush box get the base model). They would ideally leave off power windows/locks, leather seating, premium sound system and most other "creature comforts" that we have come to expect in all of our cars. It would come standard with independent suspension, sport springs and shocks (not just the standard kit from the euro spec cars, but a true performance suspension), bigger sway bars, adjustable camber/caster_ I'm not sure about the newer GTI's, but my car is not adjustable AT ALL without camber plates _ , and for the love of God at least optional LSD. Even if they had aftermarket suppliers, I would much rather put a LSD into total cost of a car, and have it warranted, than fork out the big bucks after I buy it. And it would tip the scales at under 2500 lbs.

WOW, I better stop. I'm getting carried away with my dream VW econobox.

They could keep the Golf/Rabbit and Jetta lineup as their well established compact touring car (that's at least the way I view the GTI now). Comfortable to take a road trip, yet nimble enough to toss it through some twisties.

To cover the performance compact line-up: bring the new Scirocco over as the Scirocco, but instead of the 1.4 TSI put the 2.0 TSI in it and keep it a FWD with 6-speed standard, and optional Tiptronic auto...maybe even DSG.

For the R line (here is what I would like to see more than anything): Introduce the Scirocco R-GT. Bring in a more powerful 2.0 TSI, and give it 4-motion and standard DSG, with 6-speed manual optional. Some people may not like the DSG standard, but it is hard to argue the efficiency of that transmission (personally I still prefer manual).

I could go into mid and full size line-ups too, but I will spare you guys the reading

Ahh, to dream of a motorsports oriented VW...

[Demon_ni2]

Hey guys, I had a blast Sunday as well. I was driving the Red VW GTI.

Cholewa, was that you that rode with me on one of my runs? If so, thanks for the tips. You encouraged me to drive harder, which helped me shave off some more time. Maybe I will get to ride in the Thunder Bunny sometime next season. You really seem to know how to toss that thing around!

I should be at several of the events with you guys next season. I will be looking forward to it!

-David

I KNEW IT!!! (this is a little off topic, but)

i thought i had you on my last run but you went even faster then me and i was mad
i think i need someone to give me some pointers next time also... anyone willing to watch me overdrive the cra(pee) out of my car.
I will get you next time David, if im in the same class as you still!!
I had a blast trying to figure out how to do that course even faster. (and i didnt hit any cones, untill fun runs)

[Mowgli87]

I KNEW IT!!! (this is a little off topic, but)

i thought i had you on my last run but you went even faster then me and i was mad
i think i need someone to give me some pointers next time also... anyone willing to watch me overdrive the cra(pee) out of my car.
I will get you next time David, if im in the same class as you still!!
I had a blast trying to figure out how to do that course even faster. (and i didnt hit any cones, untill fun runs)

I think we both had a very successful day. If this was your first event ever, then you did much better than I did a few months ago. Even for your first event in that car you did well. I hope we are in the same class, I like some good competition.

As far as learning, I cannot stress enough the importance of riding with as many people as possible. You should preferably try to ride with some of the guys who have been doing it for a long time, but even riding with other novice drivers can help. In my first two events I only drove the course alone once! I made it a big point to try to have a more experienced person with me every time, and I rode with lots of people.

From a novice perspective, seek out rides with people who drive a car similar to yours. It is a blast to ride along in high powered AWD and RWD cars and you can learn a lot about the fastest line for a course. However, I found it easier to learn braking/accelerating points by riding along with Mini's, Honda CRX's, Acura RSX, etc.

If at all possible, try to ride with someone BEFORE your first run. 1) it helps refresh the course layout(especially if you work first group), and 2) you can feel how fast the course is so you will not be surprised when you get in your car.

[Cholewa]

As for these r-gt scirroccoccocos... they need to put a t5 in them. As in the same 2.5L I5 that's in the rabbit and jetta right now, just to kind of show up all the 2.0t fanboys who think nothing is faster than a 2.0t.

and it has to have the dsg. no questions.

ps: never call it a thunder bunny, while vw's attempt to make a good rabbit were well planned, the execution was terrible and the thunderbunny is a prime example.

[Jedi1]

You are honestly downplaying the Rabbit quite a bit in my opinion. It is a great little car. The 2.5, while nowhere near as potent as the 2.0, is still a great motor. I've said it a thousand times. If Greg hadn't let us buy the Mini from him I really believe I would be running an HS Rabbit right now and I honestly think it has the ability to strike fear in the hearts of Minis's and Mazda 3's everywhere. Just my opinion.

[Cholewa]

the "Thunder Bunny" is a modified rabbit with a horrendous body kit, turbo, and some other goodies... basically just something to feed the vortex with. it's disgusting, and not in the good way.

[Jedi1]

Haven't seen that concept. Thought you were talking about Rabbits in general.

[Mowgli87]

As for these r-gt scirroccoccocos... they need to put a t5 in them. As in the same 2.5L I5 that's in the rabbit and jetta right now, just to kind of show up all the 2.0t fanboys who think nothing is faster than a 2.0t.

and it has to have the dsg. no questions.

ps: never call it a thunder bunny, while vw's attempt to make a good rabbit were well planned, the execution was terrible and the thunderbunny is a prime example.

The reason I would go with the 2.0 is weight benefits. I'm not sure how much each one weighs, but I would guess the I-5 is a bit more; then you go throw on a turbo and IC piping and it just goes up. But then again the HP/TQ of the I-5 turbo could greatly outweigh the 2.0, I really don't know. Personally I'm more of a 1.8T fanboy, cause I haven't really had much time with a 2.0 TSI yet.

Sorry, I didn't know how much you resented the Thunder Bunny. I kinda agree about the body kit, but the performance upgrades were pretty nice. I will refrain from using that name again when talking about your Rabbit.

[Jedi1]

Just went to Vortex and looked at the "Thunder Bunny" concept. If you don't like that you need your head examined! It's clean and very Euro. The front Bumper looks like the TDi Challenge bumper and I dig it. Not a huge fan of the pinstripes, but other than that it's gorgeous.

Have not seen the inside of the car yet. So I reserve judgment on that part of it.

[TouringBubble]

I agree ... the car looks pretty good. I could do without the 2 small vents under the front badge, but otherwise I like it. The interior has a few cliche pieces, but nothing to call it "terrible." I want to see the engine though.

[VroomGrrl]

I agree ... the car looks pretty good. I could do without the 2 small vents under the front badge, but otherwise I like it. The interior has a few cliche pieces, but nothing to call it "terrible." I want to see the engine though.

Here's a video of some test & tune on a Thunder Bunnyby c2 motorsports:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2bzgSuN2Ec

[Cholewa]

It looks like someone is screaming.. and it's hideous