I am nuts

How to preserve your DSG7 gearbox?

2016-05-17T17:43:00.004+08:00

I have been saying this for many times to many different people that ask me and also shared with me about their worries with DSG7 gearbox and how it is putting them off from buying a VW car equipped with DSG7 no matter how tempting the package might be.

Somewhat being the normal procrastinator that I am, finally I put my opinion out to a renowned automotive forum and it became a thread all by itself.

My opinion can be found here in this thread.
KCNG's Guide to Preserving VW's DSG 7-speed Transmission

Bear in mind those are purely my views since day 1 of owning and experiencing the DSG7 in multiple driving condition from heavy traffic, weekend touge and numerous track days.
I am just sharing it accordingly.

Of course your opinion and question is more then welcomed.

A big thanks to Tom from Zero-To-Hundred for giving me the chance to share.

P/S - It doesn't mean that by following my method, your DSG7 won't fail. Any mechanical parts will fail. It's just the matter of time. By using it properly, we can pro-long the lifespan.

Volkswagen Jetta MK6: Boot hinge cover

2016-02-12T05:29:00.000+08:00

I took delivery of my Jetta MK6 in November 2012. A CBU model.

Once of the main gripe I have with the car is the "incompleteness" of the product due to Volkswagen practice of implementing product updates on the car from time to time.

(This will be another story for another time).

My gripe with my car will be this. The boot hinges.

My car comes with "incomplete" boot hinge as shown below.

As shown in the picture, the hinge on the left is partially covered with a plastic cover and the remaining bare metal is exposed. The hinge on the right is totally naked. In my opinion, this makes the car looks "budget".

A closer look on the stock boot hinge.

The left boot hinge that comes with my car.

The right totally naked boot hinge. Just scream "budget" as you can see.

So what I did to fix this was to get a pair of complete boot hinge cover.

The part number for the boot hinge set.

During the installation of the boot hinge, do pay close attention to the retaining clips position as they can be quite fragile. I almost broke one of the clips. If you broke the retaining clips, do not worry as the boot hinge will install and stay in position even with a few broken retaining clips.

The D-I-Y installation took about 5 minutes. Its a simple fit and snap into position job.

The end result is as below.

The right boot hinge.

The left boot hinge.

The overall look.

Now tell me, with the boot hinge in place, it does indeed look better now right?

The cost of this "improvement"?

RM 350.

Satisfaction?

Priceless.

Volkswagen Jetta MK6: Running cost in Malaysia

2016-01-31T23:29:00.001+08:00

Been busy lately to actually complete a few pending post / updates with regards to the VW Jetta MK6.

But one pressing needs that I have seen lately is in terms of the maintenance / running cost of VW Jetta in Malaysia.

There seems to be alot of questions with regards to the maintenance / servicing cost and when a guide is provided to them, they take it as the gospel and when the actual bill is higher, the hoo-hah started.

There is alot of reason why the bill is higher and some is lower.

So stay tuned if you want to know more.
I will be sharing the running / servicing cost of my very own VW Jetta soon.

#todayishere

2015-09-02T13:18:00.001+08:00

#todayishere

Keep flying high. We will always be behind you. Now and forever.

How to get louder DSG fart for Jetta MK6

2015-08-31T21:43:00.001+08:00

There is something addictive about the "pop" sound that the Volkswagen DSG gearbox makes every time it up-shift.

This "pop" sound is make iconic especially on the more performance oriented models of Volkswagen group, namely the Golf GTi.

This "pop" sound is also known as the DSG fart. All VW model with DSG gearbox will have this "fart". Its only a matter of loudness. It is more pronounced on the performance oriented models and very much lesser on the regular models.

How does a DSG fart sounds like? Take a look at the video below and tell me is the sound addictive?

In order to make this "fart" louder, there is a few ways to go about it.
Either you can go down the route of a full exhaust system change or you can do it the budget way.

As for me, I do not really see the need to go for a full exhaust change on the Jetta partly due to one reason, the tiny 1400cc engine. As wonderful as this piece of EA111 engine is, at the end of the day, its major drawback is its small capacity engine.

So what I did was to go the budget way to make this "fart" sound more pronounce.

I did a resonator delete.

The resonator is highlighted in the picture below.

A more close up of the resonator.

The resonator is removed and replaced with a straight thru pipe. The end result is that you get a louder more pronounce "fart" and yet there is not much drone if you are cruising at speed.

The end result is as below.

This is how it will sound like.

Total damage?

About RM 200 for this trill.

P/S - I will take a better video once I get my car as it is now literally a public property.

Car modifications and warranty related issues

2015-08-25T22:34:00.000+08:00

"Will this modifications void my warranty?"

The gazillion million trillion dollar questions that basically get on my nerves and I believe will also get on motorhead's nerve in general.

So to new car owners, the general rule is this (which pretty much is common sense lah, but I feel its lacking alot), modifications DO NOT go hand in hand with warranty.

What does that mean?
That basically mean that the moment you modify something, you run the risk of your warranty being voided.
IF you have modified something and your warranty is voided, please do not go around bitching about it. The terms and condition of the warranty is there for you to see and read. So please read and understand it.

So please do not go around asking the question. You basically make yourself look stupid.

You itchy backside want to modify, you run the risk of your warranty being voided.

Common sense. Grow some please.

And yes, I am very sensitive to this question. Sensitive as in very sensitive and potentially I will go super saiyan ape-shit if being asked question.

Here's a customary potato after a rant post.

P/S - modifications is not the same as enabling/disabling BCM functions.

[Review] Volkswagen Jetta MK6 1.4 TSI - An onwer's review

2015-08-23T20:29:00.001+08:00

Volkswagen Jetta MK6 1.4 TSI , launched in Malaysia back in October 2011 in a completely built-up (CBU) guise, imported wholesale from Mexico. The Jetta then retails for RM 149,888 without insurance.
The newer Jetta is now being assembled locally in Pekan via completely knocked down (CKD) packs and retails for RM 130,888 without insurance.

The difference in specifications between Jetta CBU and CKD can be found here.

A C-segment option in the already crowded C-Segment market in Malaysia where the Jetta will have to go up against the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla Altis, Nissan Slyphy, Peugeot 408, Kia Cerato K3 to name a few.

There is already test drive reviews by the usual motoring sites and magazines. Now its about time to get an owner's review as the owner will be the one using the car day in day out as compared to those motoring sites that only has the car for a couple of days.

To be continued... brain jam... LOL

[Review] BC Racing V1 Coilover Kit for Jetta MK6

2015-08-21T23:49:00.003+08:00

At the turn of the year, I've finally outgrown the stock suspension.

So its time to search for a performance suspension kit to fulfill my requirements.
After sometime of hunting around and exchanging knowledge with fellow petrolheads, I decided on BC V1 Series coilover kit.

For those lazy bum who is too lazy to even click or tap on the links, the specifications of the BC-V1 Series is as below.
- 30 way adjustable damping
- Adjustable spring platform
- Height adjustment via bottom mount to retain full damper travel
- Dust boot to protect damper seals

The kit I ordered come with the following spring rate installed.
- Front spring rate of 8k
- Rear spring rate of 5k

As per the norm, I have the kit ordered and installed at EA Autoworks. The kit cost me about RM 3.6k inclusive of installation.

So up on the hoist my car goes to have the stock suspension removed and replaced with the new BC Racing V1 series coilover kit.

Front suspension view.

Rear suspension view

Upon completion of the new suspension installation, the car is lowered from the hoist and lo and behold, the ride hide is really slammed low.

The original ride height of the Jetta is 60cm.

The preset ride height of the new coilover kit I believe should be in the region of 54 cm there about. My mistake as I did not take the ride height measurements. That is like 6 cm (60mm) of height reduction.

As the ride is slammed too low for my comfort (days of slamming it too low is behind me), its time to bring out the calculator (not literally lah, doh) to recalculate the optimal ride height and to get the proper preloading adjustment done.

Installing a suspension don't always meant removing the old and plunk in the new. A good tuner will always know and make an effort to get the entire kit preloaded spot on and mind you, preloading is not just as simple as twist, turn, voila kind of job. This is where I trust the folks at EA Autoworks to get it right.

For your info in a nutshell, lowering your car too much don't meant it will always handle better. At times it can and will cause the handling to be worst then stock as lowering a car too much can cause the suspension geometry to be thrown out the window.

So be smart when lowering a car (no doubt a lowered car looks nice, but can it handle as well as it should?).

Case in point the car below. Looks nice but the handling will be crap (if it is not already crap to begin with).

Anyway back to topic, after much discussion on the ride height by taking into consideration the original suspension geometry setup, it is decided that we will test out a 2cm (20mm) height reduction.

So from a ride height of 60cm (600mm), the car is lowered to 58cm (580mm).

(No, I do not use fingers as a height measurement tool)

This is how the car looks like when the height adjustment is completed.

Closer look at the front height.

As for the damping, after some period of fine tuning which of course involve some run up and down the usual mountain route, I have come to find that by running between 16-18 "clicks" for the front and 12-14 "clicks" for rear, you can achieve a balance between handling and yet it will not be as trashy as it will be over uneven or rough surfaces while being driven around daily.

Please bear in-mind that I use the word trashy instead of comfort as there will be no way a coilover kit even at its softest settings it will never be as comfortable as a stock suspension.

If you want comfort, please stay stock.

There is less diving and squatting now under hard braking or sudden hard acceleration compared to before. This basically allows me to put more power down much earlier and also provide some improvement in braking stability.

With the damping for daily and weekend runs pretty much nailed, its time to turn the focus to the track. Of course it goes without saying that the suspension will be set to the hardest setting in track lah. Double doh.

A remarkable improvement. I am able to put my power down much earlier compared to before as the weight transfer is much more manageable now. With the new suspension kit and of course some help from the Big Brake Kit and RS3 rubbers, I managed to shave 6 seconds off my previous timing.

View it here.

#throwback picture

Mountain road test - checked.

Track test - checked.

2 test down and its time for the ultimate test of ferrying family members (my grandma and her 2 younger sister and my mom) around town visiting relatives in Jalan Ipoh, Cheras and Kemuning.

As I did not change the suspension settings from the previous track day, I take this opportunity to see if there will be complains from my family members that I am ferrying around.

Running around the said area with the hardest settings while driving at the legal speed limit, there is no complains what so ever from them. In fact they don't even realize that I am running on coilovers.

I am quite surprised at this.

So suffice to say, at the hardest setting and driving around at the legal speed limit, the ride is not as trashy it is supposed to be (over the bad Cheras road condition and the infamous uneven Kesas Highway). There is still some degree of refinement or "comfort" to be found.

Of course you don't charge over speed bump like you would on a stock suspension lah, the rebound will surely jolt the passengers. Just be more careful when going over speed bump and all will be fine.

With the family member test successfully aced, I don't think I will be reverting back to my original street settings anytime soon.

Apart from family members, I have given a couple of Jetta owners a ride and their collective view is that even at the hardest settings, it is still decently refined.

Even a buddy of mine who has a GTi MK7 and driven my car around town, commented that the car handles quite well.

Now come the question (as usual), will it void warranty?

My answer will be "What do you think? This is a modification."

Ok seriously, the question will always be, why BC? Why not KW or Bilstein or some brand more "continental"?

My honest answer and opinion will be as below.

No doubt KW or Bilstein coilover kit might be better compared to BC V1 Series but how much better will it be against BC V1 to justify the price tag difference between a KW or Bilstein kit?

A KW V3 coilover kit will most likely cost you around RM 8k region. Since it is twice as costly as my BC V1 coilover kit, will the KW V3 perform twice as good? My personal opinion will be maybe just 15%-20% better at most.

At the end of the day, its your money and your choice. If you can afford it, by all means go for the branded kits. I am here just to share what is my experience with this BC V1 Series coilover kit and that I am happy with it.

Pictures with EA watermarks credit to Drex Chan of EA Autoworks.

[Review] AP Racing CP5200 4-pot brake kit for Jetta MK6

2015-07-22T23:03:00.001+08:00

Towards the last quarter of 2014, I had my stock Altis brakes upgraded to Golf-R MK6 brakes for an improvement in braking performance.

With a bigger disc (345mm vs 312mm) and a bigger caliper, it provides a much greater bite and of course with a bigger disc size, the brakes will be able to take much more heavier punishment before suffering from the dreaded brake fade.

At the turn of the year, towards the end of Q1 2015, I decided to get the Altis upgraded further in terms of stopping power.

After looking around and the indecisiveness between Brembo or AP Racing BBK (Big Brake Kit), I decided to go for the AP Racing BBK.

I purchase my AP Racing BBK from AC Gruppen Singapore. The boss, a nice guy name Jun, deals with my queries and provided some very sound advice.

(Do let me know if you wish to purchase BBK from him. He carries Brembos and AP Racing).

My AP Racing kit consist of

- CP5200 4-pot caliper

- Mounting bracket for Jetta MK6

- 330mm Slotted original AP-Racing rotors

- Steel braided brake hose

- Ferodo DS3000 brake pads

All in all, it cost me SGD$2899 (RM 8200 with today's exchange rate).

I did not install the brake kit in Singapore. Instead I opt to transfer the kit back to Malaysia and have it install at Acanta Autotech.

Installation is straight-forward and a couple of hours later, the brake kit is now in place.

Looks good isn't it?

After some initial period of bedding in the brake pads, its time to test out the brakes.

Where else to test if not for the usual hill-climb route.

The braking performance of a 4-pot setup as expected, is a major improvement over a single pot setup. There is no need to slam the brake pedal to extract some serious stopping power from the BBK. All you need to do is just to modulate the brake pedal and watch the speed drop and it seriously drop really fast.

Really confidence inspiring when some serious braking power is needed. You know the BBK will just give you the braking power the moment the brake pedal is depressed.

With the hill-climb route test done and over with, its time to hit the tracks.

Again as expected, in the tracks the brakes performed flawlessly. There is a renewed sense of confidence in braking much later before a turn. You just know the BBK will slow the car down before the turn.

One thing I found out on the Jetta is that if we are to stand on the brake pedal with this BBK, the weight transfer of the car is very much different compared to when I am on the R-brake kit. The rear of the car will loose its grip much earlier as the weight transfer from rear to front during hard braking with the BBK is much more apparent. This will upset the car balance prior to entering the corner if the front end of the car do not have enough traction and grip to cope with the more sudden increase of weight transfer.

This could be solve with a harder and stiffer front suspension or upgraded rear brakes.

I will update once I've experimented with this 2 solutions.

On the streets, this characteristic is not apparent as we are not pushing the car to the limits unlike on the tracks. So in this sense, it is pretty much safe and fool-proof. So do not worry about getting your car brakes upgraded with BBK.

On a final note, in my opinion, the Jetta stock brakes (which in fact is the same brakes found on the MK6 GTi, whiich technically means the Jetta is already running BBK out from the factory) is more then capable of stopping the car.

If you want improved braking power and upgrading to a BBK is too big a budget, getting the next best thing will be to use a better brake pads. You will feel an improvement for sure, just don't expect wonders like what BBK can offer you.

Apart from braking power, BBK adds to the aesthetic value of the car.

As the saying goes, "kereta slow tak per, janji gaya ada" (it's ok if my car is slow, as long as there's style)

Hehe.

P/S -

As I am using a Ferodo DS3000 brake pads, my brakes will be generating huge amount of screeching sound in slow moving / town traffic application. Those that have driven my car or have gone driving with me will know.

The screeching sound is annoying loud and if you can't stand the sound, stay away from this brake pads. This brake pads provide crazy amount of bite but the trade-off will be the annoying loud screeching sound.

The original AP Racing brake pad that comes with the kit will not emit annoying screeching sound but of course it wont match the Ferodo DS3000 in terms of bite.

DQ200 (DSG7) - VW Jetta 1.4 TSI

2015-06-08T00:06:00.001+08:00

I have written about the DSG7 discovery previously.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Even though it is DSG7, but the car in question is a Malaysian VW Passat 1.8 TSI.
Those few article helps in clearing doubts about the DSG7 but on the Passat 1.8 TSI.

Now I would like to take an opportunity to share about DSG7 mated to a Malaysia VW Jetta MK6 1.4 TSI which seems to be gaining popularity.

In this post, I've shared that I am now running 177HP and 270NM of torque to the wheels.

This easily exceed the supposedly known 250NM torque limit.

For easier reference

RED is stock power figure.

BLUE is new power figure.

I've have been running with this power figures for about 1.5 months now. In this 1.5 months, I've been to the track, gone on some B-roads drives, high-speed drives and the usual daily grind and everything is still holding up very well.

A complete scan of my car controllers shows a clean bill of health. Even the DSG7 clutch reading shows that everything is working fine.

Even though the period is just a short 1.5 months, I've just wanted to share what is my personal experience thus far and let people judge themselves if the 1.4 TSI / DSG7 combo is as fragile as what people (usually non-owners) claim it to be.

Nothing beats hearing from an actual owner directly.

For information sake, I've use the following fuel type:

Petron RON95 - Nov 2012 to August 2014

Petron RON97 - September 2014 - January 2015

Shell V-Power Racing - Febuary 2015 - current

This car is still being daily driven at the moment and its now clocking 80k km.

Software upgrade - Projec'A Stage 2 Map for VW Jetta 1.4 TSI

2015-06-07T23:00:00.000+08:00

What good is a hardware if there is no software to make full use of it?

As mentioned here, the car have a hardware upgrade done to it. Now since there is a hardware upgrade done, it is imperative that the software be upgraded to make full use of it.

So I turned to my usual tuners, Project'A for the software upgrade portion.
After much discussion with them on my requirements and expectations, we got to work.

For the first step, it involved taking the existing ECU file for a base reading.
But before that, the ECU needs to be taken out from the car.

The placement of the car ECU is as below.

Once the ECU is taken out, the base reading will be done.

This is how the ECU looks like with its covers off.

With the base readings, the team at Project'A then proceed to work on setting the parameters according to my requirement.

Lets just say they work smart and fast. Overnight, they completed the necessary parameters and the next day, it is ready to be loaded to the car.

Met up with them again and they then proceed to load the new parameters to the ECU.

Once the entire process is completed, we proceed with some adaptability test.

With my butt dyno, I can feel that the car has much more mid range to top end power now and the car accelerate much better then before. The mid range (3k-5k rpm) acceleration was superb. There is no need to go down a gear.

The next step of course is to get the car on a dyno machine to prove what I've felt with my butt.

And wait for it.....

RED is stock.

BLUE is with Project'A.

So the dyno pretty much confirm what I felt with my butt.

The new map has a peak 22HP / 34NM gain over the original map with the bulk of the gain in the mid-range section, the section that will be used most in our daily drive.

The mid-range section (3k to 5k) rpm now is very much better. Personally this is how the car is supposed to be direct from the factory.

On the original map, I need to downshift a gear or 2 in order to gain some urgency in acceleration. With this new map, most of the time, there is no need to go down a gear to get the same urgency, even on the super long gear 7. All you need to do is to give it slightly more throttle and the car will go.

Apart from the huge improvement in the mid-range portion, the top end also felt livelier. Previously if I am to rev beyond 5.5k rpm, the car don't really pull as it is already at its limit of the power out put.

Now with extra 22HP gain in towards top end, the car is now more eager to go. The top end no longer feel like you are wasting fuel for nothing.

And lets just say, with the extra 22HP going to the wheels at the top range, the speed that you can reach is quite fascinating. Not super-car territory but more than good enough for a 3-box family sedan.

So like a certain tagline, you gotta "Drive it to believe it".

It's time for the million dollar question, why is the HP/Torque figures "low"?

Why is it not 195HP or 290NM of torque? Is this tuner not good in tuning?

The answers to all the question above is because this is exactly what I've specified to the tuners. I am not chasing for peak figures. I am going for drivability and they get the job done to my expectation.

If you want peak figures, they are able to get it done for you. I have no doubt about it.

Just bear in mind this, with higher output, the stress on your engine internals is higher too and don't forget about your dear friend, the DSG7 gearbox.

As for me, I am happy with what I have and yes, my 1.4 TSI engine and DSG7 gearbox is still fine, very much alive and kicking, if you all want to know.

P/S - Question about warranty will not be entertained.

PP/S - Fuel consumption question will not be entertained too as FC is in direct relation to how heavy your right foot is.

Some hardware upgrade

2015-06-06T21:43:00.002+08:00

The modification bug bite a couple of months ago and there is a pressing need to scratch it.
So scratch it I will.

This modification involved killing the cat.
Yes. Cat.

I killed the cat here.
Of course I've pre-order my downpipe a few weeks before hand.
I highly recommend Jian Hang due to Ah Wa superb workmanship.

This is how the original factory catalytic converter looks like.

How the engine looks like with the factory catalytic converter removed.

I junked this restrictive factory catalytic converter into a custom after-market downpipe.

A comparison of the factory catalytic converter and the aftermarket downpipe.

Now what is the difference after swapping to an aftermarket less restrictive downpipe?

Frankly speaking, you won't feel any difference but this step is required if you are to enjoy the full potential of the software portion.

Hehe.

Stay tuned.

VW Jetta - CBU vs CKD specifications comparison

2015-04-08T00:48:00.001+08:00

The VW Jetta in Malaysia has finally began its CKD operations.
The Jetta will be assembled in Pekan, Pahang and will join its Passat, Polo Sedan and Polo Hatchback brethren as one of the locally assembled VW model here in Malaysia.

The CKD operations begun from April 2014 onwards. Any Jetta delivered from May 2014 onwards will most likely be a CKD model.

The CBU (from Mexico) model will no longer be on sale.

So finally my lazy ass brought me to bring you people a more complete spec-to-spec comparison compared to what you have read out there.

Of course I am more complete laaa, I got a CBU model ma..
Ok jokes aside. Lets go through the similarity first.

On the power and transmission front, the 1.4L twincharge engine (160PS, 240NM Supercharger + Turbo Charger) and the 7-speed DSG dry-clutch gearbox is the exact same unit as found in the CBU model.

On the safety front, you still get 6 airbags (Dual Front + Side + Curtains), ABS, EBD, BA, ESP and

ISOfix anchors with top tether on the 2 outer rear seats.

On the convenience front, you still get the same
- fabric seats
- dual zone aircond
- glove compartment cooler
- rear aircond vents
- auto lights & wiper
- auto-cruise
- coming home and leaving home lights
- all round one touch power windows
- electronically foldable side mirrors with heating function
- front and rear fog lights
- auto dimming rear view mirror
- interior front and rear seat map/reading lights
- overhead sunglass storage compartment
- 3 12v power socket (front seat, rear seat, trunk)
- rear hook mounted on B-Pillars

On the chassis front, it maintains the rear multi-link suspension as before. (Thank god !!)

(Multi-link rear suspension yet able to provide 510L of boot space that somehow feels much bigger. Real world usage as below.)

On the outlook and exterior front, it is exactly the same as the CBU model. In-fact, park a CBU and CKD model side by side, you won't be able to tell the difference at all.

So far so good?
Now for the items that is omitted in the CKD models.

No Driver and Passenger vanity mirror lights for the CKD model. (CKD left, CBU right)

No Tyre Pressure Monitoring. (CKD left, CBU right)

No paddle shifters on the steering wheel. (CKD left, CBU right)

Relocation of the aux-in port to the headunit. More on this later. (CKD left, CBU right).

(Ignore the USB port and the ESP off switch on my car.)

So much NO, now time for some yes. Haha.

Fret not, with the CKD model, you do gain something.

You gain the following.

RCD320 with bluetooth support compared to the RCD310 model that comes with the CBU Jetta's.

(Sadly RCD320 do not support OPS function). Don't worry, the CKD Jetta still have 4 front and 4 rear parking sensors.

The Aux-In port is now built into the RCD320 head unit. The SD-Card slot and USB slot is also found on the head unit itself as compared to RCD310 where the USB in is located in the glove compartment.

With the CKD, you have a 6 speakers (Front Tweeters, Front & Rear Door mounted speakers) setup instead of the CBU 8 speakers (Front and Rear Tweeters, Front and Rear Door mounted speakers).

You now have a leather based adjustable arm-rest.

Well, certain CBU models has it too due to the running changes that VW constantly does to its product.

So there you have it, the different in specifications between the CBU and CKD models.

The original list price for the CBU model is RM 151888 without insurance while the CKD model list price will be RM 134888 without insurance factored in.

All in all, the CKD is RM 17000 cheaper compared to the CBU model.

Will this RM 17000 able to offset the missing functions/features? You have to do the math yourself.

Should you buy one? (Below is purely my personal thought)

If you are buying a car purely based on power with some decent handling thrown in, then this is the most powerful car in this price range. No car comes close, not even the Peugeot 308/408 turbo. The 1.4L twincharge engine and DSG gearbox combo will simply blow the competition away. Not to mention the hilariously cheap yearly roadtax (RM70) in relative to the performance that you get.

But if you take a moment to calm down and step back and look at a bigger picture, to be frank, apart from the engine and gearbox combo, the Jetta is actually quite plain outside and inside. Everything is just functional and business like.

There is no sat-nav of anysort, heck there is not even a touch screen head unit. Apart from that there is no funky push start button or keyless entry or some fancy light greetings when you walk near your car. Just plain o'l remote control and insert key and twist to start way. If you are fine with this method like I do, then its good.

Also do bear in mind this is about the only car north of RM 130k that do not sport leather seats. Not a deal breaker but still to think that even leather seats is found in cheap cars like the Myvi, at least VGM should have offered some option for this.

(Fabric seats yo..)

As for the maintenance and servicing, to be fair there is some improvement in the service centers lately but in general the experience is still some step behind what Toyota and Honda has set.

So at the end of the day, your money, your choice.

RCD510 Reverse Camera Kit for VW Jetta MK6

2015-03-24T23:31:00.001+08:00

Roughly one year plus after I swapped out the original RCD310 to a RCD510 touch screen unit for the altis, I finally got my lazy ass to go out and get a reverse camera kit for the RCD510 head unit.

(Actually its more like I found out that my RCD510 can support reverse camera after 1 year plus lah..)

Anyway, went to my usual shopping spot and managed to get my hand on a OEM RCD510 reverse camera kit.

For those who wants to know, the part number will be for this reverse camera kit is 56D827566A.

This is how the whole kit looks like below.

A close up of the reverse camera module.

The reverse camera is connected to the rear of the RCD510 head unit as below.

This will be how it will look like once the reverse camera module is installed.

And finally this is how it will be look like once everything is in place.

Installation of this reverse camera kit is very straightforward actually.

Caveat is provided that you know what you are doing lah.

If not, it will be better to get some one experience to do it for you.

Now for the million dollar question... Will this void the car warranty?

What is the question again?

On a final note, you do need some VAG-COM coding to get the camera kit recognized.

DQ200 (DSG7) - The max torque story v3

2015-03-23T22:33:00.002+08:00

From the previous v2 DSG DQ200 post here, the team at Project'A continue to refine the Stage 3 map on the Passat B7.

With more refining done to it, as expected, there is a bump in power output too.

The final figures are now as below.
Numbers are on wheel.

Peak power is now 297 PS, up from the previous 284 PS.

The major gain will be the torque as there is consistently at least 350NM of torque available from 3.5k rpm onwards as compared to the previous 300NM.

Overall, with this new map, apart from a gain in power, the daily drivability is much more linear too as regardless what is shown in the graph, the actual drivability is better than before.

And yes, this is the exact same Passat as before with DSG7 (DQ200) gearbox and running on stock clutch pack.

And yes again, this car is still being happily driven around town by the owner.

For more information, contact the guys at Project'A.

Golf MK7 TSI - 2 mode ESC

2015-03-11T11:23:00.004+08:00

To owners of Golf MK7 1.4 TSI in Malaysia or Singapore, anyone interested in this?

Hehe..

Image credit to TJ_HOOKER from VWVortex.

Jetta MK6 ESC/Traction Control Off Button

2015-03-10T00:50:00.003+08:00

The current generation VW Jetta (A6, Typ1B)(2011 onwards), also known as the MK6 version, do not come with the option to turn off Traction Control or ESC for all markets.

Indirectly this can make the car quite dull in a sense that you can hardly do a handbrake turn, J-turn or some induced oversteer without the electronic nanny coming into play.

Thankfully for the VAG group, almost all their components are literally interchangeable across all models ranging from Audi to Skoda. With this in mind, I went out to source for an ESC off kit for the car.

Installation of the kit is very straightforward as it is literally plug and play as the ESC module in the Jetta is infact shared across all the PQ35 platforms. The only thing missing in the Jetta MK6 ESC module is the bloody "ESC Off" kit.

Grrr...

So what I did was to obtain the kit for my Malaysia Spec 1.4 TSI Twincharge Jetta and have it installed to the car. Just possibly the only Jetta MK6 in Malaysia with the option to have "ESC Off".

I've gotten the kit online here and the good folks at EA Autoworks installed it for me.
With installation fees of course.

Below is how it looks like after installing the "ESC Off" button.

Now, after the installation of this kit, it allows me a certain control over how much of fun before the ESC kicks in.

Why did I say so?

Because after installing the kit, and by pressing the "ESC Off" button, it only turn off the Traction Control (ASR). This basically means that I am allow only a certain degree of "wheel spin" and a very small degree of "oversteer" before the ESC cuts the fun.

So what I did was to do an "ESC defeat" by changing the coding of the ESP module.

With the "ESC defeat" coding done, I am able to turn off ESP completely by holding down the "ESC Off" button for 3 seconds.

With the ESC completely turned-off, yep, it is indeed fun time as you can do a complete 180 degrees handbrake turn, J-turn and more.

So at the end of the day, what is it that is being done?

Press "ESC Off" once - Disable Traction Control (ASR)

Press and Hold "ESC Off" for 3 seconds - Completely disable ESC

Note:

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is there for a reason. Go figure.

DQ200 (DSG7) - The max torque story v2

2015-03-06T12:40:00.003+08:00

Continuing from here, where it shows that the DQ200 (DSG7) potential maximum factory rated torque of 360 NM instead of the more commonly known 250NM torque limit, I am fortunate to have a friend to test out this theory.

The car involved is a Passat B7. A Passat B7 that is locally assembled in Malaysia with a 1.8L turbo-charged engine with a rated 160PS and 250NM output stock from factory. And yes, it has a DQ200 (DSG7) gearbox mated to it.

So what we have done to the car is the usual full custom exhaust system, upgraded coil packs, upgraded spark plugs, upgraded the factory turbos, upgraded the stock intercooler, junked the factory intake and replaced it with an APR intake kit and not to mentioned we have a stage 3 Project'A map done to the car.

With all the mods and fine-tuning to the engine mapping done, we finally arrived at this figures below.

We managed to push the Passat to a final figures of 284PS and 321NM on wheels.

This is done with a fuel rating of RON97.

In case anyone has been wondering of the durability, this car has been running around town since 5th of May 2014 till now without issues. Total stock gearbox with stock clutch pack.

On top of being daily driven, this car has also seen the usual mountain road runs of Ulu Yam and Genting Highlands on an almost bi-weekly basis. Not to mention too the usual high-speed runs on the highways around the country.

A closing note:
This is by no means an absolute fact about DSG7. This is purely based on the personal experience that me and my friend have playing around with the "supposedly fragile" DSG7.
Mod at your own risk.

Updated:
I've gotten the green light to reveal the tuner.
This Passat is running on a stage 3 Project'A map.

More info on the stage 3 output here.

Another Track Day

2015-03-02T22:28:00.000+08:00

2015 started off kinda good to me. Early in the new year, I have another opportunity to have a go in the famed Sepang International Circuit (SIC).

Yup, its another open track day for the track junkies. I grab this window of opportunity to test out the newly added items to the Altis right at the end of 2014.

I have the brakes uprated from the original calipers to the brake kit from a Golf R MK6 armed with Ferodo Racing brake pads.

I have also junked the original absorbers which is already at its end of service life for a pair of coilover kit from BC Racing. Its a V1 series with 8k rated spring rate for front pair and a 5k rated spring rate for the rear pair. Damping is 30 way adjustable.

On top of that, I have the previously used Kumho KU36 donuts swapped with a new fresh set of Hankook RS3 rubbers.

A perfect time indeed to get those items tested out and see if I can improve on my previous time which is just right below 3.00 mins per lap done in a completely stock car with Kumho KU36 tyres and uprated brake pads on stock calipers and disc.

Taking a break after one of the many laps.

Safety car is deployed due to some mishap.

At the end of my session, my best time as captured by the Race Chrono app is as below.

A good 6 seconds improvement even with traffic on track.

All this done without any power mods apart from an air intake kit.

This gives me a renewed confidence that I should be able to hit 2.50 per lap (without power mods) if I am to further improve on my braking, throttle time and also racing lines. Time will tell on this.

All in all, I had a good fun session learning more about the capability of the car.

A final shot of the Altis after the track session.

An Island city night drive...

2015-02-17T08:49:00.001+08:00

Taking full opportunity of having my own here, I went out for a night cruise around this Island City to catch the sights and sound from a different perspective.

Somehow ended up at Gardens By The Bay.

A nice at night really.

P/S -

Pic are taken by phone cameras.

Sony Z1 Compact and Samsung Galaxy Alpha.

No DSLR trickery here.

RON97 vs RON95 - The comparisons

2015-02-05T11:38:00.001+08:00

RON97 vs RON95 arguements has been going around for quite sometimes already with some saying RON95 is shit fuel and RON97 is the better fuel and provides more power, better mileage etc.

Now that Paultan has done a RON97 vs RON95 fuel test as written in their article here, I think I can further add on to their test.

For those lazy buggers who are lazy to click on the link to read, Paultan's team basically does a fuel consumption test between RON95 and RON97 on 2 similiar car, namely 2 VW Polo Sedan 1.6 and 2 VW Jetta 1.4 TSI with one of the Polo being filled with RON95 and the other with RON97. Its the same scenario with the Jetta too with one running RON95 and one running RON97.

The cars are then driven as "real world" as possible through a mixture of heavy traffic routes, trunk routes, highways and so on to find out what will be the consumption be at the end of the journey.

Now please click the link here to find out more as I won't be repeating their article here.

My personal test
What I am going to show here is that, what will be the difference in power between RON95 and RON97 on the same car, which is a VW Jetta 1.4 TSI belonging to yours truly here.

For this scenario, while the car has been running RON95, I've managed to dyno the car to get an output figure for reference purpose.
For the RON97 dyno, I filled up the car with RON97 for 4 tanks before hitting the dyno again. This is so that I've completely clear out as much RON95 as possible from the car fuel tanks.

Between the last RON95 tanks and the 4 tanks of RON97, roughly about 1800 km's has passed.

And the car is running on stock ECU map. No performance remapping done. Plain stock map from factory.

Now enough of text, time to show hand.

Click to enlarge the dyno chart image.

RED is RON 97

BLUE is RON95

Now from dyno chart, between RON97 and RON95, there seems to be no significant power gain.

What you most likely gain is that with RON97, the engine delivers the power smoother compared to RON95 and thus gives the impression that RON97 "produce" more power.

Basically with a smoother engine, the engine sound or note will be less harsh and thus reinforce the impression of more power.

So whats the moral of the story?

Unless you are running performance map or a performance/race/tuned-up engine or driving a performance/sports car, there is no noticeable difference between RON95 and RON97.

So for others driving regular cars and can't decide between RON95 and RON97, the only question you need to ask yourself is , "Can my pocket afford to pay more for fuel?"

Your personal call.

Vagcom - Services for hire

2015-02-01T22:50:00.002+08:00

Been considering this for a long time coming.
Finally decided to make this as my part time job.
After all I do need to recoup the cost of the equipment right? Haha.

My Vagcom services for hire is now official.
The services is available for any VW, Audi and Skoda vehicle.

What can I provide?
Basically I can provide a full vehicle diagnostic to ensure that your vehicle is all fine and dandy.
I will be able to inform you about hidden error (ie, errors that do not trigger a checklight on your meter cluster) and also the resolution for it.

Apart from diagnostic, I will also be able to enable/disable features and functions of the car that you never know existed.

For example, on the MK6 Jetta in Malaysia, below is some of the functions that can be enabled or disabled.

Alarm beep on lock and unlock function & Auto Rain Closing function

Total amount of fuel to refuel (in Litres)

Additional example of features/functions will be found here and here.

The cost for the services will be as follows
- Polo Sedan / TSI - $30
- PQ/PL Platforms based - $50
- MQB Platforms based - $150

The cost includes the following job scope
- Full diagnostic of the car
- Enable/Disable functions of the car
- Free Enabling of discovered functions in the future (no future charges)

If only diagnostic is required, it will cost a paltry $10.

The reason why MQB platforms based cost so much is because there is alot of functionality in the MQB platforms to play around with. Some of the MQB platforms examples are as below.

Options to disable/enable Daytime Running Lights.

DRL dim when signal is enagaged. Brightness of the DRL can be adjusted to. Individually at that.

Driving School Mode - Driving information display in your headunit.

Enable auto closing in rain and also alarm chirp on unlock and locking of the car.

The million dollar question.

Will it void warranty?

No. It will not.

So for more information, please feel free to contact me via any channel below
+60123636750
+6594286836

Vagcom - Golf 1.4 TSI MK7 Malaysia - Needle Sweep/Staging

2015-01-31T21:01:00.002+08:00

I work on this quite a while back.

Was trying out the multiple functions of the MK7 controllers, and my word, there is just too many functions to play with. I have yet to have time to explore everything completely.

Basically a lot of the functions can be controlled all the way down to the brightness of the U-shaped LED bar.

The interesting thing is, unlike the bigger brother on steroids, the Golf GTI MK7 laaa, the Golf 1.4 TSI has its needle sweep/staging disabled on startup.

What I did was to play around and managed enable it as per the video below.

I got a happy 1.4 MK7 owner there.

There is still more to be discovered as I go on.

Now, if only I have the time.

Vagcom - Polo Sedan (6R) 2014 CKD Malaysia - needle sweep/staging capable !!

2015-01-19T20:44:00.000+08:00

Had the opportunity to play around with a Polo Sedan (6R) via Vagcom over the weekend when I was home.

Found out that there is actually more to meet the eyes.

From the time I had with the car, I managed to discover the following.

Single Door unlock

Press unlock button on the remote once, driver door unlocks. Press again, all 4 doors unlock.

Front Wiper Tear wiping

Front wiper will perform a final wipe about 5 seconds after the previous wipe cycle to try clean up remaining water drips that may still be on the windscreen.

Emergency Lights Flashing

Emergency lights (Hazard lights) will flash together with the brake lights upon hard or emergency braking to alert motorist behind you. Default will be only brake lights will flash.

Lane change flash
When the signal stalk is tap lightly, the signal lights will blink 3 times. This is usually too short, so the blink count for this car is raised to 5 times to gives more visibility.

Interior Lights activation with rear lid

Cabin lights will turn on if the boot lid is opened via remote.

Sensors tone settings

The reverse sensor tone can be changed to a different tone (9 different beep to select from) and also the volume of the beep can be adjusted to be softer or louder.

Refuel Amount
Display Amount of fuel (in litres) to refuel to full tank

Alarm beep on lock and unlock
For this particular unit of Polo Sedan, the locking and unlocking of the car is literally via the sounding of the car honk. Owner decided that the honking is too loud and thus this is not enabled.

Finally, the ultimate will be this.

The Polo Sedan is able to do a Needle sweep/Staging on start up. Looks good eh?
I'm guessing this could be the first Polo Sedan in Malaysia with needle sweep/staging on startup?
*fingers crossed*

Other functions that I've discovered but do not have the time to trial and test it out will be

- Coming Home lights

- Leaving Home lights

- Daytime Running lights

- Cornering lights

- Instant fuel consumption / Average fuel consumption display

Will work on it once I have the chance with the car again.

A Car...

2014-10-15T22:31:00.005+08:00

A car...