Car: 1994 Jetta GL
Cost: $99.95 from Velocity Sport Tuning (No longer in business)
Impressions:
I blew my tranny and I needed to get a new one installed (148,000 miles). My friend Matt just happened to know of a tranny that would fit in my car for a very reasonable price. The only problem was that it was for a 1986 VW GTi and the gearing was a lot more closer than mine (meaning I would be running about 4000 rpm at 70 mph instead of at 90 mph). This was not something I was willing to live with, especially because I did so much freeway driving. My friend Chris (a VW mechanic) said he could swap the 5th gear from my blown tranny into the new one. I was ecstatic about that -- quicker acceleration, yet I did not loose my gearing for the freeway. Matt had a Velocity Limited-Slip Differential Upgrade for a friend's Scirroco that I could get installed while the tranny was open -- he recommended getting it installed (anything he recommends on my car I'll do). So, while Chris had the tranny opened up, they installed it (DO NOT try to do this yourself, have a mechanic install it). After my new tranny was installed I tried to drive it conservatively while I broke in the new clutch (lots of freeway driving). When I did drive it hard I noticed that during hard cornering I couldn't get one of the front wheels to break loose like I could before. The car also didn't have the problem of spinning one of the front wheels in the rain during acceleration from a dead stop. The biggest difference was in the snow (It has only snowed once since It's been installed) -- with snow tires on, I had no problem accelerating in 3.5 inches of snow, it was almost as if I had four wheel drive. Although it might not be as good the the Quaife, it also doesn't cost as much. If you are having some tranny work done, and you are confident in your mechanic, give it a try. I while I enjoy the added traction, I could never justify the cost of the Quaife unless I was going to get real serious about racing. Thanks Matt and Chris!
Eric Ansay
'94 Jetta GL
