My Turbo build
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Didn't take long for me to start tinkering with it
Lowered it on H&R Sport springs. Gave it the look I wanted without being too low and bottoming out the factory struts. I didn't want to spend the money on new struts so soon. These springs ride great! Could tell a difference in ride stiffness going over bumps but not bad at all
I also blacked out the VW emblems and roof to compliment the black Turbo package parts like mirrors, spoiler top, etc. I also had the lights smoked. Went with a dark smoke on the front and rear indicators and a medium smoke on the brake lights so I wouldn't attract too much attention from the law
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Lowered it on H&R Sport springs. Gave it the look I wanted without being too low and bottoming out the factory struts. I didn't want to spend the money on new struts so soon. These springs ride great! Could tell a difference in ride stiffness going over bumps but not bad at all
I also blacked out the VW emblems and roof to compliment the black Turbo package parts like mirrors, spoiler top, etc. I also had the lights smoked. Went with a dark smoke on the front and rear indicators and a medium smoke on the brake lights so I wouldn't attract too much attention from the law
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
I wasn't sure if I would like the black roof or not so I had it done in vinyl to start. Now that's it's been on for a few months I really like it so I'm going to change it out for paint in a few weeks while I have the car down for an audio upgrade
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
While they were blacking out the rear emblem I had them color match the inside of the VW logo so it matched the look of the front logo. I couldn't stand that the front emblem was color matched and the rear wasn't. I don't know I guess just weird like that...
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
You can kind of see the Alpine backup camera just above the center of the tag
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
You can kind of see the Alpine backup camera just above the center of the tag
I wasn't sure if I wanted at first if I liked it with or without the Turbo badge but I think I like it better with it. So when they paint the roof and a few other things black ill have them do the Turbo emblem and reinstall it
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
You can kind of also see the Suntek Paint Protection Film (clear bra) that covers the hood, fenders, mirrors, front bumper, A pillars, and top of rear bumper to protect from loading things in the hatch. The headlights, foglights, and front blinkers are also protected with the same material
Stuff works great to protect against bug and rock chips. Especially living in Florida and dealing with love bug season
Although the car came with the factory nav radio RNS-315 it didn't do all that I wanted. Plus working at a car audio/performance shop it's kind of hard to deal with killer aftermarket equipment and not want to tinker
So I upgraded to Alpine's INE-Z928 8" navigation headunit. This thing does everything I could want and some! Plus has a killer picture to watch music videos and movies (not while driving of course! )
Alpine only list their "Perfect Fit" dash kit to work in the Passats and Jettas 09+ but the bolt holes and opening is the same as all of the other models. So I said what the hell it should work, right? Maybe Alpine just hasn't tried it in a Beetle yet... Boy did I find out why they didn't list it! I had to cut the hell out of the dash to make it work! Nothing visible nor anything structural but I had to make enough room for the brackets on the new kit. I ended up removing about 1/2" on each side of the radio and that went about 1/4" deep. That took forever to dremel out!
End result was well worth it though!
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
So I upgraded to Alpine's INE-Z928 8" navigation headunit. This thing does everything I could want and some! Plus has a killer picture to watch music videos and movies (not while driving of course!
)Alpine only list their "Perfect Fit" dash kit to work in the Passats and Jettas 09+ but the bolt holes and opening is the same as all of the other models. So I said what the hell it should work, right? Maybe Alpine just hasn't tried it in a Beetle yet... Boy did I find out why they didn't list it! I had to cut the hell out of the dash to make it work! Nothing visible nor anything structural but I had to make enough room for the brackets on the new kit. I ended up removing about 1/2" on each side of the radio and that went about 1/4" deep. That took forever to dremel out!
End result was well worth it though!
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Liked the look of the factory wheels but I wanted something that would make mine stand out so I went with CEC's C882 20"x8.5" rim in gloss black and machined.
To compliment the factory red calipers and red interior inserts we added a red pinstripe on the inner lip and filled in the etched CEC logo with red paint. Also had custom VW center caps made
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
To compliment the factory red calipers and red interior inserts we added a red pinstripe on the inner lip and filled in the etched CEC logo with red paint. Also had custom VW center caps made
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Using Nitto's Motivo series tire in a 245/35. The tires ride ultra smooth and quiet! They are actually quieter than the factory 18"s although they're a smaller profile!
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
The CEC logo was etched into the lip of the wheel so we highlighted it with some red paint
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
It's kind of difficult to make out in the photos but the car came with a small dual black pinstripe. When the red was added to the wheels we filled the middle of the two black stripes with a small red one. Took a few days to really grow on me but now I really like it
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Now I know most are happy with the Fender sound system but after owning a really elaborate system in my 98 beetle I had and ,again, working at a car audio shop I had to upgrade it!
I'm a HUGE JL Audio fan and have been for over 12 years. Their quality control and strive for constant perfection really make their stuff stand out above the rest! And it can take a beating over and over again
In my 98 beetle I was young so I went for overall volume and tons of bass! 3 JL 10w6s on 1500 watts in a custom box built into the spare tire well so I didn't lose any valuable hatch space.
Now that im much older i dont need all of that bass and am going for quality of sound so I chose JL's ZR line of components and Midbass drivers and 1) 10 w6v3 all run off their HD900/5.
Going to try to cram an 8" Midbass driver in each door rather than the 6 1/2" it comes with and then puta pair of 5 1/4" components in custom fabricated kick panels. Then fill in the sail panel with an additional pair of tweeters. I'm eliminating the rear speakers altogether as I barely hear them and never really ride with anyone in the back
We'll put the 10" sub in a custom enclosure off to the side and finish it factory leather matched material.
I just got all of the equipment in not even 2 weeks ago so we haven't had time to start on it yet but I can't wait to hear it!
For now I'll continue to drool over this pile of goodies
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
I'm a HUGE JL Audio fan and have been for over 12 years. Their quality control and strive for constant perfection really make their stuff stand out above the rest! And it can take a beating over and over again
In my 98 beetle I was young so I went for overall volume and tons of bass! 3 JL 10w6s on 1500 watts in a custom box built into the spare tire well so I didn't lose any valuable hatch space.
Now that im much older i dont need all of that bass and am going for quality of sound so I chose JL's ZR line of components and Midbass drivers and 1) 10 w6v3 all run off their HD900/5.
Going to try to cram an 8" Midbass driver in each door rather than the 6 1/2" it comes with and then puta pair of 5 1/4" components in custom fabricated kick panels. Then fill in the sail panel with an additional pair of tweeters. I'm eliminating the rear speakers altogether as I barely hear them and never really ride with anyone in the back
We'll put the 10" sub in a custom enclosure off to the side and finish it factory leather matched material.
I just got all of the equipment in not even 2 weeks ago so we haven't had time to start on it yet but I can't wait to hear it!
For now I'll continue to drool over this pile of goodies
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Already started the sound dampening since I know it's going to be needed! Dd the hatch door and will also be doing the front doors, front floor boards, and under the back seat (surprisingly not many companies put any insulation under it and tend to be noisy)
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
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Wow, talk about some VERY nice upgrades! (hugs your Beetle)
I can't wait to get my Beetle back someday. Until then, I can't wait to get the giant stack of audio equipment in my garage installed in my van. If I weren't disabled, I'd do it myself like I used to, but that's currently not an option >_<
*hands you to the keys to his little Transit Connect* Do my audio!!
I can't wait to get my Beetle back someday. Until then, I can't wait to get the giant stack of audio equipment in my garage installed in my van. If I weren't disabled, I'd do it myself like I used to, but that's currently not an option >_<
*hands you to the keys to his little Transit Connect* Do my audio!!
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