Once again I’m humbled by both the quantity and the quality of the cars that showed this year. Considering WaterWërks is a new show (one that will fill the void WaterWagens left in the VW/Audi community in the Pacific Northwest- something it succeeded at) I feel incredibly honored that my car was chosen best in class.

Preparation was not unlike the previous year. I did not pre-register as I was not sure if I would show or not until a day or two before the actual show. Once I made up my mind, I downloaded the judging sheet to give me a clear idea on what criteria the judges would be following and then worked on the car accordingly. I honestly knew it would be challenging to even place on this show considering the class was GTI/GLI rather than Jetta/GLI and traditionally GTIs are more common and more prone to be owned by an enthusiast versus a Jetta which decreases the chances of a GLI placing.

The detailing routine began as usual. I skipped the clay since the paint is still rather clean and went straight to polish/glaze/sealant with the Porter Cable. I must have started around 10:00AM and did not really finish detailing everything until around midnight. That included making sure every single corner of the car was free of dust and grime, including every visible and reachable square inch in the engine bay, wheelwells, wheel barrels and portions of the undercarriage reachable with your arm (I would have done the whole underbody of the car but I don’t have jackstands at the time).

I was only satisfied with the appearance of the car until I parked on the show grounds and began dusting again. The dust that had gathered on the way to Cheney Stadium alone took about two hours to be completely removed from the wheelwells, wheel barrels and engine bay. Thankfully I did bring my thin bristle brush to give all those small areas a once-over. I was finishing up micro-detailing the car when the judges came over so got to show them around the car, and gave them a quick synopsis of everything that has been done to it thus far.

Overall, I feel the effort paid off. As much as I enjoy detailing my car on a regular basis, spending over 12 hours at a time is grueling work. Yet, it feels good to receive recognition over maintaining a spotless car. And while my car was certainly not the one with the most attention-getting modifications, it scored high enough to earn 1st place again.

Thanks to Joel Parker and Mike Gilbert for some amazing photos! See you next year!

(Image below is huge so click at your own risk).

Well, this was an unexpected surprise, considering I wasn’t even thinking of entering the show until the day before. I got a hold of the judging criteria and prepared accordingly. I was able to achieve a pretty consistent level of cleanliness throughout the car, including engine bay, wheel wells, wheel barrels, door jambs and other nooks and crannies. WaterWagens judges are known to be stickler about clean cars (the rumored white glove never made it through the judging process, however) so I wanted to be prepared and it actually paid off.

I did give the car a full paint treatment (4-step process) that consists of wash-claybar-wash, polish, glaze and seal so the paint was extra shinny and glossy. Unfortunately, rain didn’t stop falling until about 10 minutes before the judges made their way to my car, which meant I spent all morning constantly wiping the car dry. I may invest in one of those mobile tents for next year. Thanks to Justin for letting me use his road safety kit which netted me an extra 5 points and thanks to Joel Parker for the great photos!

See you next year!

As accurately described by autopia.com:

The Porter Cable 7424 most closely mimics circular hand polishing. Imagine being able to make 2,500 to 6,000 tight hand circles in a single minute and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how the Porter Cable 7424 does its job. It works just like your hand, only at super-human speed! To put the beauty of this machine into complete perspective, it works 100 times faster than a buff athlete, but it never gets tired! [...] If you have previously owned a random-orbit car polisher that made a lot of racket, but did little else for your car’s finish, you will appreciate why I call the Porter Cable 7424 an athlete. Most consumer polishers don’t have enough power, have a very small orbit (often less than 1/4 inch), and have limited accessories. The Porter Cable 7424 is the first machine to shatter these limitations.

Indeed, the machine was able to get most of the scratches out by combining it with Meguiars 83 polish and a set of Country Lake polishing pads (thanks for the tips Brian). some of the deepest hairline scratches (and other scuffs I put in myself during the claying process) did not come out. I think I need a bit more abrasive polish for those.

Thanks to Brian for the help. :)

- DSG transmission with integrated steering wheel paddle shifters
- Top sport heated leather seats
- Sunroof
- Dual Zone Climatronic air conditioning system
- Premium audio system with 6 disc in-dash CD changer & mp3 readable
- 17″ alloy Classic X rims
- High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights
- Foglights
- Leather wrapped multi-function steering wheel with sport perforated leather handles
- Aluminum sport pedals and cabin trim
- Black-Anthracite headliner
- Leather wrapped shift knob, e-brake handle and DSG shifter

Coming off my previous MkIV Jetta into a MkV GLI was quite an upgrade. The GLI is the sport version of the Jetta, much like the GTI is the sport version of the Golf. These are the enthusiast-oriented trimmed vehicles from Volkswagen and they don’t disappoint. First impressions after the page brake.

Handling on this car is superb compared to the more flexible MkIV. Even with stock suspension, the car handles amazingly well on hard cornering. The power delivered by the 200HP 2.0T FSI engine is also amazing. Torque is available very early in the RPM range and is well distributed throughout all the way up to redline. Against my idea of breaking in the car easy at least for the first 600 miles, I had a lapse of spirited driving in which I was able to test the cars limits and I wasn’t disappointed. Pairing this engine with the DSG transmission is unbelievable. There is absolutely no lag and shifts are instantaneous; power is completely linear from 1st all the way up to 6th gear (Thanks to its electronically controlled wet dual clutch system, DSG switches gears in 8ms (milliseconds) which is faster than any manual transmission can do even under control of a professional driver). Throwing DSG into Sport mode makes for some serious transformation; The best way I can describe it is as if the car has suddenly become pissed off and is viciously trying to eat asphalt… truly exhilarating. Rowing your own with the paddles is also quite amazing. Shifts are equally instantaneous and seamless. It feels like you’re behind the wheel of an exotic supercar. You also have the option to row gears with the shift knob in regular tiptronic fashion… make no mistake though; this is no tiptronic transmission.

Interior fit and finish is top notch. The cabin is well designed, solid throughout all panels and well illuminated. Two red LEDs illuminate the center console cascading from the sunroof control panel down on to the shifter. The signature Volkswagen blue gauges are back in all their glory but the instrument panel is much better designed this time around and feels more organic and natural to the lines of the car. The GLI comes equipped with all sorts of goodies from the factory, such as the stainless steel badge insert in the sports leather-wrapped steering wheel, trim throughout the cabin and doors and pedals which give the car a very sporty and upscale feel. All plastics are rubberized and are soft to the touch. Everything has a hefty feel to it and nothing feels flimsy or easy to break, from vents to handles and latches, everything is top notch inside the car.

I’ve read early complaints of vibrating door panels with the speakers. I can say I have no complaints at all in this regard. Even though there is no external amplifier on this sound system, power delivery is good albeit a tad high on the treble. There is more than enough volume to comfortably listen to music over anything else, road noise and passenger talking included without any distortion or rattles. Having an mp3 readable 6 disc changer built into the head unit is a nice thing to have as I can carry most music I could ever want to listen to and iPod and auxiliary input connections are quickly being supported by 3rd party manufacturers as well.

Cargo space is great; the trunk is simply cavernous. I don’t have the figures in front of me at this moment but cargo space is simply amazing and much improved over the last generation. This is also true for legroom for rear passengers. The interior dimensions of the car are more in line with the previous generation Passat rather than the old Jetta. Five adults can comfortably ride this vehicle with absolutely no issue at all. The rear passenger seats also have an awesome feature; there is a small door between the seats that opens to allow large, long items to pass through. This is called the “ski pass-through”. However, this same compartment has built-in storage and cupholders. Sitting on the back of the car suddenly feels like you’re inside a luxury car rather than a sports sedan.

Overall, I am very pleased with the vehicle. It is clearly a step up over the last generation of Volkswagen sedans. Exterior looks take a bit of getting used to. The car has some sporty lines that are not commonly found in German sedans. However, once the car is seen in motion and in person, you can tell that this is unmistakably a German engineered vehicle. Wide front fenders are obvious, more so than the rears because the body is already so wide on the back. The car has some very strong and muscular hood and fender lines that make for an aggressive look. Coupled with the new Volkswagen “face”, including black shinny shield, red stripe (very much a throwback to the early GTI) and honeycomb trimmed grilles, you can see where the design of the car was headed. It all makes sense once you observe the final product.

More to come.