GTI MK7 en route and new car dilemmas

Meet the new boss

Well, I'd been looking for some time for a car to replace our 2007 GTI MK5. While our current GTI has been amazing fun to drive and own, it's now 10 years old and perhaps it's time to move on to something different.

The $64,000 question was "what?"

When I began the search, I had several criteria for the new car:

• comparable size to the MK5 GTI
• four doors
• manual transmission
• all-wheel drive 
• no more than 2 model years old with CPO warranty available
• price under $30K

So what does that leave to choose from?

• Subaru WRX

Seriously!!! Audi A4 can be had with manual transmission but might be a bit too dear and is a skosh too big. Ditto BMW 3-series, I would have wanted an E90 (up to MY 2011) not a turbo 4-cylinder... but that's too old for warranty. Focus RS is too mental and too pricey. A Golf R would be perfect but is just too expensive as well. Mini Clubman or whatever it's called is just plain ugly. BMW 1- and 2-series only come in two-door or crossover-y configurations.

I really wanted to love the Audi A3 but it is not available with a manual transmission. I looked at a few and drove one. The A3 Quattro model that fit closest to the list criteria is the low-line Komfort model - 2015 examples can be had with low miles for around $30K. But the Komfort model lacks a ton of the convenience and luxury features that should come standard at this price point - no push-button start, paddle shift, backup camera, or navigation, just to name four. 

I could have lived with that, though, if the car had come with a manual. I must be one of the few people left who is not an enthusiast of VAG's dual-clutch DSG transmission. I find it sluggish and uninvolving around town and I don't like how it hunts around either. I'd considered modding the car with an S-Line flat bottom wheel and flappy paddles, but that could load up to $1K onto the price and it's still a DSG. Backup camera can be retrofitted as well but while you're doing that, why not upgrade to the $35K Progressiv or even pricier Technik models? That's a slippery slope to go down, AND STILL NO 6MT.   

WRX interior - the rolling Pachinko parlour

Abandoning the A3 idea, I drove a '15 WRX and other than the explosive power and performance, I was underwhelmed. The interior was simultaneously plain and tacky - drab upholstery (no leather), no sunroof... but a multitude of shouty screens. Do I really need to know at any given moment what percentage of throttle I am applying? It felt like sitting in a rolling Pachinko parlour... very Japanese, but not to my taste.

So criteria started dropping off the list. First was all-wheel drive. Once that was dropped the answer was clear... another GTI. I know, I know, the Focus ST is a strong competitor. But again, I don't like the flashy interior:

Focus ST spaceship control console

Compare to this:

Teutonic efficiency

You can read all over the Internet about how good the MK7 GTI is; I don't have to repeat it for you. My test drive of a local car bore it out - it was niiiiice. 

So the search was on for a MK7 GTI, 4-door 6MT with Technology package. I'd considered searching out a "Performance Pack" car (that includes 10 more horsepower, bigger brakes and trick front differential) but those seem to be harder to find in a 4-door, non-black non-red car. I decided I wanted the Clark cloth upholstery as well, as I'd seen more than one leather car with notable and premature wear-through on the driver's bolster and I didn't want to deal with that. Plus tartan is cool!!

After exhausting local searches (shout out to Jesse of St. James VW who kept in touch with me and tried hard to find me a car), I found a Carbon Steel Grey car in Newmarket, Ontario at Pfaff Volkswagen. Initial contact and conversation was followed by a price drop on the Pfaff website and I thought it was time to move. We negotiated a bit more over the CPO warranty and arrived at a deal; the car is now en route by truck and train and should arrive in about two weeks.   

I'll post more driving impressions MK7 vs MK5 after the new boss arrives. Now the focus will be on getting the MK5 ready for sale. It will certainly make someone a good car at a great price.

PCA Newsletter and Editorial Musings

What a great photo! Taken by Dan Torbiak, this photo graces the cover of the latest edition (January/February 2017) of Red River Ramblings. Plenty to look at in this issue, including reports on the Holiday party and the Porsche Driving Experience at Barber Motorsports Park, and plenty more.

I write an editorial piece for each issue of Ramblings, and I think that just for fun I'll also reprint my editorial here on the blog. So here goes with Jan/Feb's deep thoughts:

Service above self
That’s the motto of a well-known international service club but it’s something we should remember when thinking about our cars as well. To wit: when is the last time your Porsche was treated to a full comprehensive service?

When we drive our cars only seasonally (as many owners of sports or vintage Porsches do) it’s easy to let regular maintenance slip. After all, we have a limited amount of time to drive in the summer, who wants to waste it with the car idle in a repair shop or sitting in the garage?

The issue was brought into sharp focus for me over the Christmas break. I’d wanted to get a whiteboard for the garage to keep track of oil and filter changes on our vehicles, and finally got out to Walmart to pick one up. Then came the fun part - going back through my records to write up the date, mileage of the latest service for each of the machines.

The GTI was easy - the massive engine repair bill incurred in October was still fresh in mind, and oil and filter were changed at the time as well. Recorded.

The Ducati 848 had benefited from a service (including oil and filter change) at the dealership in early 2016, just after purchase at Christmas 2015. Recorded.

The Yamaha R1's oil and filter had been changed by me in the summer of 2015 and it had done only a couple thousand kilometers since then. Recorded.   

Then things started to get a bit sketchy...

The Ducati 900SS/SP hadn’t been ridden regularly since 2014 or so, but the last oil and filter change I’d recorded was in 2013. Time to put that right in the Spring, even if I’m not going to be putting many miles on - the idea being that if I wanted to ride it on a weekend, I could do so without feeling I was compromising mechanical wear on a sumpfull of elderly oil.

When I went through the Porsche’s records I was in for a bit of a shock. The last I’d changed the oil and filter was in [date redacted] in Andy’s garage! Granted, the car’s not done too much mileage in the interim but it will definitely be due in the Spring. A major service and some repairs will be in order as well, since the blowers are now all completely non-functional after the regular use the car received in October and November.  

So with that resolved I’ll eagerly await springtime (and save my shekels for the inevitable expense of the upcoming oil changes and service). However, I guess I needn’t be too hard on myself given the relatively low mileage elapsed between services and the fact I only use top-brand full synthetic oil - ELF suggests that full-synthetic oil should go 7,500 to 10,000 miles (!) between changes and that’s far far in excess of my current interval - in fact the R1 and 848 only have about 10,000 miles total on their clocks since new!

However, I do heartily recommend the whiteboard method for those with multiple vehicles to maintain. It does help focus one on maintenance needs and I have to imagine it will be extremely satisfying to finally write up Spring maintenance on the board!

Winter tires!

Radar RW-5+

So, for the first time in nearly 30 years of driving (and that includes 30 Manitoba winters), I've gotten winter tires for my car. I hadn't intended to do so, since I'd been contemplating selling the car and getting something different, but my hand was forced. One freezing cold night after playing hockey, I ended up with a flat tire on the GTI that couldn't be repaired (that was another first - I'd never had to change a flat before either!) and a decision loomed... replace one Continental from the car's original set (dating back to 2007!) or take the opportunity to replace all four tires with winters.

After pricing out new winter tires and steel wheels from VW ($1,150) and a new set of Goodyears (on "sale" at the local tire place, $1,100) I hit up the local free classifieds... I found a few used sets of winters but nothing compelling. Then I saw an ad from a discount tire shop promoting brand new winter tires, size 225/45R17, for $89.95 each (!) The inner Scotsman was intrigued...

Turns out these are the "Radar RW-5+" winter tire. If you aren't familiar with the brand (I wasn't), they are made by Omni United, a Singapore-based manufacturer. I couldn't find any online reviews of the tire (it was only launched in late 2015) but I figured any winter tires would be better than my 10-year-old Contis, and for only about $500 installed...!

So I headed out to the tire shop last week and they spooned a new set of rubber onto my VW's Denver 17" alloys. The old set of Contis went in the trash and the tire guy said "you musta been slidin' around pretty good!"

The difference in handling on the new tires was immediately noticeable, especially in acceleration from a stop. The new rubber grips really well on ice and through snow, and is quiet on the pavement as well. Now we're in a warmish spell and the tires haven't yet been severely tested, but I'm very pleased so far.

The only downside is that I've now been spoiled, and will have to have winter tires for every future car as well!

 

Fall Time, 848 in Review and New PCA Newsletter

Wanted to post a couple pics from autumn. We don't get too much in the way of variety of Fall colours, but if you like "red" you're in luck. Here are a couple shots of the 848 and R1 on Red River Drive south of the city.

I suppose I should probably post some thoughts on the 848 as it's been nearly a year since it joined the stable. I did ride it some this summer and I have a few thoughts...

First off, as you can see from above, it's beautiful. I think Ducati took the best of the 916 and modernized it for the 1098/848 generation. It's not only great looking, it's unmistakably a Ducati. Somehow, even though it's modern, it avoids looking samey.

Second, it's great to ride. Even though torturous to most, I don't seem to mind the riding position, although I only tend to ride for an hour or so at a time :-)  Power is ample and accessible (especially after the front sprocket swap to lower the gearing a smidge), handling is well up to whatever I throw at it in my sedate rides, and as you can imagine, it sounds fantastic with the Termignoni cans.

Downsides? Well... it's uncomfortable on hot days. Very uncomfortable. With the twin exhausts snaking below the seat, the old crotchal area becomes roasty-toasty in short order. Preferred attire definitely includes my leather Dainese sport pants. It's also somewhat impractical for daily use - pillion riding is nigh-impossible with the high tiny seat, and my magnetic tank bag won't stick on the plastic tank. Certainly if I had to run multiple errands on two wheels I'd be likely to grab the keys to the Yamaha before the 848's. Also, the 848 had a strange starting issue that I think I've just cracked. It has been hard starting this summer - I mean extremely hard nearly-drain-the-battery-cranking-it hard starting. It would catch for a couple of revs, then die. Eventually it would finally catch and run fine. Once it started it restarted easily.

One day for some reason I decided to try to start it with the fuel cap open. Voila, started first try, no problem. Wha? I guess that maybe there's an issue with tank ventilation and a vacuum of some kind may be restricting or preventing fuel flow. I resolve to have it looked at next Spring, but for the rest of the riding year this year I just opened the cap, started the bike, then stopped it, closed the cap and rode off. Worked fine that way.

What else... well, the new issue of Red River Ramblings has been out for nearly a month. Here's a link: http://www.redriverpca.org/newsletters/

Now the Porsche is put away after being driven a ton this Fall (GTI broke down and was in shop for a month, but that's another story) and everybody else is tucked up tight. Can't wait till Spring...

Christmas Present

Sooo... I like Ducatis. I like superbikes. I've always wanted to own a Ducati superbike. There has always been a low-intensity program running in my background looking for a reasonably-priced 851/888, 916/996/998, or more recent superbike for sale, preferably locally.

One of the things I did was to regularly peruse local kijiji looking for likely candidates. Let me tell you they were few and far between! However, back in November, I came across an ad for a "2008 848 EVO" (sic) with only 9,071 miles, at a tempting price.

I tried to contact the seller but was ultimately unsuccessful in pursuing the deal, because at the time I didn't have a mobile phone and the seller was only interested in texting (!). So that fell by the wayside.

A couple weeks later I saw the same bike pop up on eBay! I contacted the eBay seller and found that he had bought the bike off the kijiji guy, but shortly after found out that he'd be losing his driver's licence for two years, and needed to sell. His eBay buy-it-now was quite aggressive, well over the price asked by the previous seller, and upon my asking he said he was sure he'd sell it for that. I wrote it off as I wasn't interested in paying that much for the bike.

About two weeks later, though, he got in touch again and indicated he was open to negotiations near the kijiji price. And it was on...

After seeing and hearing the bike a couple times we arrived at a deal. I ended up paying somewhat less than the kijiji price but the seller was quite happy to make the deal.

The package included a Ducati Performance/Termignoni exhaust and ECU, tinted windscreen, mirror extenders (all installed), a nice Ducati Performance bike cover, and a battery tender. Stock parts included too of course.

Funds were duly withdrawn from chequing account and the bike was delivered a few days after Christmas. It came in a Sprinter van and rolled off into my drive down a plywood ramp (!). The only problem with the bike was a broken internal part in the left handlebar switch - the fault of overzealous tying-down. I've repaired the broken internal bit with two-part epoxy and a new spring pin is waiting at Wildwood Sports for me - cost, $0.21. Yes, twenty-one cents. If only all Ducati parts were that cheap!

Right now the bike is slotted behind the Porsche and slumbering on its battery tender. Can't say that I haven't succumbed to the temptation to fire it up a few times though! It sounds fantastic through those booming Termis...

It may just be my bias but I find this bike to be absolutely gorgeous. If it rides half as well as it looks I'll be pretty pleased. I know that 848's are renowned as torture racks but I'm confident it'll suit me. After all, I did do a 2,100km long weekend trip last year on an R1 without lasting negative effects. Some sacrifices must be made for beauty!

Touring by R1

So, this summer, my Dad and I embarked on our annual bike trip. Full disclosure: we're not hardcore Iron Butt-types by any means. We just like to ride a few hundred miles to someplace interesting, stay in a decent hotel, have some "road food" (i.e. drive ins and buffets) and generally hang out. Twisty roads would be nice too but not a must, considering where we live...

This year I sketched out a trip to the Cypress Hills: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=znLGIz-lNdGg.kanhSBVwOSLA&usp=sharing

I've posted up a few pictures of the trip just for those who are interested.

This was strange... a traffic light in the middle of rural Saskatchewan. Road construction, but still, I thought it was pretty funny.

War memorial in Ogema, SK. Many sons of Saskatchewan lost their lives in France and Flanders and I am always shocked at the disproportionate numbers that small towns like this sacrificed. The four corners of the memorial had stones with the names of battles from the Great War: Vimy, Passchendaele, Somme, Ypres. I've been fortunate to visit all of those places and I won't soon forget them.

First night we stopped in Assiniboia, SK at the Wheel Inn Motel. Decent room I guess but pricy for what it was. The weather was nice and hot and it was pleasant to clean up the bike after a day on the road. The riding was really good, the only glitch came in Weyburn where we stopped for a drink at the 7-11. After standing around for 20 minutes or so I went to start the bike and... nothing. After a moment of panic I figured it was a loose connection on the battery, so I took off all the luggage, and the seat, to get access. I tightened up the leads and everything returned to normal - no more problems on the rest of the trip. Phew...

The next morning dawned *very* early (Dad refused to set his watch back an hour for Saskatchewan time and got us up at quarter to seven) and we were on the road. I had to stop for a photo with a "Redcoat Trail" sign on Highway 13.

Highway 13 was pretty nice for the most part, but west of Cadillac, SK the road really went for a s***, as they say... cratered and patched surface and no shoulders.

 





Past Shaunavon, though, normal service was resumed. Smooth road with wide paved shoulders and very little traffic.

Our first "tourist" stop was the T. rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, SK. A million-dollar project funded by the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the Centre celebrates the rich fossil record found in this corner of the province.

It's home to "Scotty", a fearsome T. rex found in the area. This thing is awesome.

You get an idea of the size of this animal. Crazy.

The terrain around Eastend is very Badlands-ish and impressive. I would caution fellow motorcyclists that the approach road to the Centre is terrible - just over 1km of loose gravel and large stones. Very tricky on a sportbike but we made it through OK.

From eastend we blasted up to Maple Creek, checked into the Cobble Creek Lodge, had lunch at Caroline's (an excellent drive-in) and then shot down to Fort Walsh National Historic Site around 3:30pm. The ride over to Walsh wasn't without incident though. After overshooting the turn off on Highway 271 (the main road suddenly turns to gravel) we ended up behind two flatbeds hauling grain bins that took up the *entire* width of the two-lane road. They were going about 30km/h so we were eager to get by... I was in front and was able to gingerly sneak past, nearly in the ditch, but it took Dad a while to find his way past. Very inconsiderate driving by the truckers as the pilot vehicle nearly took Dad out!

Fort Walsh was really nice; docents in historic costume toured us around. The fort was built near the site of the famous Cypress Hills massacre and was constructed as a base for the North-West Mounted Police to bring some law and order to the country. The fort was decommissioned after only a few years, but rebuilt in the '40s by the RCMP as an equestrian facility for breeding and training horses for the Musical Ride. Now it's a Parks Canada site.

The road access to the Fort is also a bit challenging. There's a very twisty first-gear road that climbs up to a plateau, then a blast along a ridge top road, followed by a drop down another gravel road (ugh) to the interpretive centre parking lot. Not a problem but you need to be careful.

After dinner at the Commercial Hotel in Maple Creek, we headed off to bed in our very nice new room. The next day, since we were so close to the Trans-Canada Highway already, we decided to take it back home. The day started off unpleasantly windy, but that cleared up after an hour or so and we were able to maintain a comfortable 130km/h speed (indicated ;-) on the highway.

One place we stopped was Grenfell, which has a very tidy little tourist info building staffed by two very pleasant elderly ladies. There's also these cool miniature grain elevators outside!

We also stopped in Whitewood, SK, which is a town with some family history for us. Dad's great-grandfather, Arthur Biggins, ran a store in town in the 1890s. Family legend has it that his son, Fred, was the first white child to be born in Whitewood and was the object of some wonderment for the indigenous population there. Whitewood is known for its murals and this is one called "Market Day".

Here's a close-up - Arthur Biggins' store!

From Whitewood we planned to stop in Moosomin for the night and have a swim - it had been a long day. But when we got there, the clerk at the Canalta wanted $159.95 for a room, insisting the only rooms available were suites with kitchenettes. The three cars parked in the lot told us that this story was likely fictitious, so we figured we'd just carry on the 150-odd kilometers to Brandon and save ourselves some money (that's how we roll). So we stopped for dinner in Virden at the A+W (Dad had a coupon) and got back to the house in Brandon just after 9pm. Mileage that day was about 750km - that's a long day in the saddle of any bike, let along a hypersports bike like the R1. I was ready to stop.

Total mileage for the trip (for me) was just over 2,150km, as I had to come from Winnipeg. We had a great time - now I have to figure out a destination for next year!

I also thought I'd write a little bit about the gear I use on these trips. Although I'm not necessarily an "ATGATT" person I pretty much always wear these boots when riding a bike. They're Teknic boots that I got in 2006 at a bike show here in town. I remember that show specifically because it was the intro of the Ducati Sport Classic range and there was a Sport 1000 there in yellow that I lusted after. I spoke to the sales guy who encouraged me to get it as he said it was a limited production bike that was sold out everywhere. I went home after the show and went on the Internet and of course what he said wasn't true at all (it was only the Paul Smart bike that was limited) and that put me off so much that I didn't buy the bike, but ended up getting my '95 900SS/SP later that year instead. I did get the boots at the show though :-) They've seen lots of miles and the only problem with them actually happened on this trip - one of the seams on the upper blew out. Fortunately the Leather Patch stepped in with a repair that looks great and seems durable.

The pants I wear for touring are these Firstgear leather/textile ones. They were a hand-me-down about 5 years ago from my friend David who... "outgrew" them. I actually wear them a lot as I like the style, and the fact that they tuck into my boots.

Jacket is Alpinestars and is probably about 10 years old. Got it at the Toronto bike show. It's been a great jacket and is very practical, with a zip-out lining for cooler weather. On this trip I started mornings with the liner in but by lunchtime it was hot enough to remove. The only thing that's gone wrong with the jacket is that one of the poppers in the liner that attaches it to the jacket sleeve near the wrist has broken. Not a big deal since each sleeve has two.

Helmet is an Icon Mainframe "Death from Above" in the "Technicolor Puke" colourway ;-)

I got this helmet in 2008 and it has an interesting history. At the time I was an active member of the Hawk GT mailing list and one day, a message popped up from moto-journalist Aaron "Double-A-Ron" Frank, a list member, offering some gear for sale, including this helmet.

Apparently Aaron had been given the lid and used it in a photo-shoot for the launch of the Kawasaki ZX-10R in Qatar, in 2007. He wrote me in an email that the bike hit 300km/h on that circuit, so this helmet has gone faster on his head than it likely ever will on mine!

The front fairing stopped a few bugs along the way, as well. Looking forward to taking out some more next summer ;-)

PCA Red River Ramblings - Three issue update!

Well, I've just noticed that I've neglected to update the blog for awhile, and there's actually even some content to post... three (three!) issues of our PCA region newsletter, Red River Ramblings.

The September/October 2015 issue featured a test drive of the 2015 Boxster and a report from Parade.

The November/December 2015 issue documented our club Concours d'Elegance event and had a story on club member Andy's strange obsession with VW Rabbits.

The latest issue - January/February 2016 - features a lengthy story on a roadtrip to Rennsport Reunion taken by some of our club members, with some truly stunning landscape photography.

Check them out!