2006 Volkswagen Thunder Bunny SEMA Concept

Seems like all i’ve been doing for the last month is researching and shopping for the brake upgrade for my 2001 Volkswagen GTI. It all started as my brake pads and rotors were wearing down and due for replacement. Though it’s almost eight years old, i don’t think the brakes have ever been replaced (i’ve had it for four years, and it only has 76k miles). I’ve been of the “might as well upgrade it when it wears out” mentality, and also had ideas for improving the appearance over the stock braking system. But it turns out that like with many other automotive upgrades there’s a ton of hype and misunderstanding concerning brake system upgrades. And besides usually costing the most, what looks good often doesn’t mean better performance. So it’s been quite a learning experience.

Stock Brake Sliding Caliper Painted Red

After some initial research i was going to simply upgrade to the 312mm rotors up front like on the special edition GTIs and Audi TTs, and get some more aggressive pads. But i’ve had an eye for starting to do some “show” on my car that up to this point still looks bone stock.

I think what really set this all in motion was running across some pictures of the Thunder Bunny sporting white calipers glowing behind gold rims. I’ve been scheming on white as an accent color for my green GTI, and thought something like that might work for me. But the factory brake calipers just don’t look good—partly because the sliding caliper and carrier mechanical design, and partly due to the rough cast iron finish. Even if i did put some kind of coating on those calipers, they would still be ugly sliding calipers with casting seams and an orange-peel finish. Not the kind of thing you want to show off in my opinion—might as well keep them as dull and unremarkable as possible. So that meant new calipers.

[To be continued…]

…ation it’s not too late.
Please don’t make the mistake of driving without a warranty.
You are still eligible to reactivate warranty coverage.
This is the final call before we close the file.
Press 1 to speak with a representative now about your vehicle.
Press 2 to be removed from the follow up list.

I know why i get them, but i don’t know how to stop it. Months (or a year or more ago now) there was a sneaky little insert in my monthly car payment bill that was an opt-out for “advertising” like this. If you didn’t send it back or call, you were automatically opted in. But i set my payments to be made automatically online—so i almost never open the envelopes.

I recently noticed a new round of these opt-out notices from financial institutions (banks, credit cards) in the last month or so. It’d be wise to follow up on those.

me: wow
me: i got this “Monster iCarPlay” cassette adapter so i could plug my mp3 in my car
Gudo: uh huh..
me: first one didn’t work – when i put it in, it started like fastforwarding ,and then spit it out..
me: so i returned it today, and the second one, same thing.
Gudo: well.. looks like you’ll have to upgrade your head unit
me: it has 2 of 5 stars out of 235 reviews: http://​store.apple.com/​1-800-MY-APPLE/​WebObjects/​AppleStore?​productLearnMore=​TA381LL/A
me: nah. it’s just this one thing. my brother’s adapter works fine
Gudo: wow
Gudo: ok
me: wow. like every other review comment is: “didn’t work in my car”
me: woops
me: guess i’ll have to get a different one
Gudo: yea
Gudo: reviews are pretty reliable
Gudo: when theirs that many
Gudo: or.. useful
me: AND, it came in one of those retarded plastic blister packs that are a pain to open and can’t be reclosed.
me: two thumbs down.
Gudo: yea, those packs are actually a discouragement for me buying something
me: yeah… when i first picked it up, i was eyeing it – and it’s only “riveted” on 4 corner points (instead of sealed all the way around), so i thought i might be easier. but no.
me: hmm… seems to like honda/acura. not vw
me: sorted the reviews to “highest rated” to see who got it working
me: oh wait. works for one audi. hmm…
me: WTF???… “I do not have this spaciftic tape (Monster) but I have one from Sony.”… and rated it 5 stars
Gudo: haha
Gudo: nice..
me: well, i’m gonna try opening it up. i had a hunch something might be screwy inside. and i just read a comment that said something about that
Gudo: wow
Gudo: you should probably just get somethin better dude
me: yeah. it’ll most likely be back home at Best Buy tomorrow, but my curiosity is reaching for the screwdriver

How about some pics to top it off:

Blister packs are from the devil.

The iCarPlay undressed.

So, uh… what exactly is this supposed to do?

How about those bare wires all up in the spring?

So for the record, this thing does not work in the factory Monsoon system in my ’01 VW GTI. I also tried it in another front slot loading player and it did the same fast-forwarding thing. When i tried it in my drop-in-and-close boombox, it played okay, but the signal was very weak. But hey, at least the plug is 24k gold. Wouldn’t expect anything less from Monster.