My new ride..

[bajacalal]

Cars in the Pacific Northwest experience surface/cosmetic rust.

Where they use salt extensively, your car just turns into a galvanic cell. It's not the same.

I don't like it. It destroys cars, hurts the fishes, kills trees, attracts deers to the roadway, pollutes the water... I'm not sure what the alternatives are but some states don't seem to do it as much.

[R.O.R-2.0]

I'm curious why swap to mkii?  I like the sitting position and the ride quality better in mk2s but I like the handling and looks much better in a mki.  I also think snow flakes are ugly the only thing cool about them is they came on mki gtis.  Interesting use of the aba vc haha.  And I gotta agree with Tyler from what ive seen online pnw has no idea what rust is. I don't think they salt the roads in the pnw do they?  I once saw a guy on vortex chop a mki scirocco up to to pieces because he thought it was too rusty. It only had surface rust and quite a bit of it but not even pinhole through anywhere and hardly any on the body mostly underneath. Man over here there would have been blood shed trying to get a mki scirocco in that good of shape. Worst rust I saw was in Michigan this summer I didn't see any cars more than 10 years old and any car more than three years old had huge deep pitted rust spots. I think maybe the Detroit three have payed the state is aggressively use salt. Anyways cool mkii haha

mk1s handle like a bag of jello..
mk2  had 85k orig miles..
the mk1 had over 250k mi on it.
also a completely worn out suspension/wheel bearings
worst color combination ive ever seen on a rabbit
the mk2 handles 1000x better
looks better while doing it too.
plus, a rabbit is not a jetta. nothing will ever fix that. and i wanted a jetta, not a rabbit.

my mk1 was pretty on the outside.. thats about it. my jetta is pretty all over..

so, there were wuite a few reasons for me to swap to the mk2.

the added suspension travel was the biggest thing in my books.. the mk1s have such little travel that i am CONSTANTLY blowing out struts, and killing wheel bearings.. ive had no such issues with mk2 cars..

plus, im 6'7" tall.. i need as much room as i can get in a vehicle.. and a rabbit is NOT where its at..

@ baja -

they use vinegar mixed with lemon juice around here on the roads. no salt.

[8v-of-fury]

Westy rabbits handle like a bag of jello..

There ya go fixed it lol.

Mk1 Jetta's even base model ones handle great.

[RabbitJockey]

All my mkis had suspension upgrades so maybe my opinion is a bit skewed haha a1 is not a stiff chassis at all and the wheel bearings indeed suck I've had to replace them on all three mkis I had.  Mkii height adjustable seats in a mki help I noticed in my coupe when I swapped to them that I could produce a lot more leg room but mkis just have like a ***ty placement of the shifter and everything else for that matter I can't imagine being 6'7 and driving one my friend who's 6'3 sits with his knees digging in my glove box when ever he rides with me haha

[8v-of-fury]

6'2" and i drive an 84 with 91 height adjustable seats. its perfect.

I feel that the mk3 is the best handling I felt. Front and rear swaybar on a TDI.

[R.O.R-2.0]

6'2" and i drive an 84 with 91 height adjustable seats. its perfect.

I feel that the mk3 is the best handling I felt. Front and rear swaybar on a TDI.

my car has better suspension than a mk3, and is a lighter car..

mk2 and mk3 have almost IDENTICAL suspension.

[JerryGTD]

Speaking of lighter weight, have you noticed a big difference between your Rabbit and Jetta since you did the engine swap?  One would think the 700lbs of extra weight would be noticeable.  1800lb Rabbit vs 2500lb Jetta.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Speaking of lighter weight, have you noticed a big difference between your Rabbit and Jetta since you did the engine swap?  One would think the 700lbs of extra weight would be noticeable.  1800lb Rabbit vs 2500lb Jetta.

theres no way this jetta is 2500.. it does not drive like a 2500# car..

it still goes just fine really.. had it going almost 120 the other day, just rolled on it in 5th gear from 60..

[JerryGTD]

Yeah, the weight written on the registration for my 1991 is 2288lbs. Last time I weighed my car with fuel, me and my toolbox in it, it was 2500lbs.  So 2500lbs is a realistic weight.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Yeah, the weight written on the registration for my 1991 is 2288lbs. Last time I weighed my car with fuel, me and my toolbox in it, it was 2500lbs.  So 2500lbs is a realistic weight.

never seen a written weight for my car, guess i better stop it off on the scales..

my mk2 GTI did weigh 2200# with me, full fuel, and 200# of stereo in the trunk..

[JerryGTD]

Right on. Like I said earlier, I was interested if you noticed a big difference in the two cars. 

I like the suspension on the MK2 better than the MK1 also.   

Your car is looking sweet. Can't wait to see it with the 92s on it.

[R.O.R-2.0]

SUPER DUPER dirty, but you get the idea!

its really not that noticeable. the slight loss in power was greatly made up by the increased suspension capabilities..

i have ZERO REGRETS about swapping the engine from my rabbit to the Jetta.. this car is so nice to drive, that its going to be one of those cars you can fall asleep driving.. the rabbit WAS NOT.

rabbit = 244k miles, odo slips, so who knows how accurate it is
jetta = 84k orig miles.. odo works, so i know its accurate..

that was the deciding factor..

[JerryGTD]

Well that didn't take long. lol

Love those wheels.   

[R.O.R-2.0]

Well that didn't take long. lol

Love those wheels.  

thanks for the comments

(i had posted pics in the "User's Rides" section, so just stole them from there)

i really WAS NOT a fan of the 92s when i got them, but they were on a WHITE car.. then i put them on my gray car, and they looked better, and grew on me..

then i slapped them on my Jetta, and it was just one of those "these wheels were made to be on this car" moments..

when i bought this car, it had 17" 8 spoke Focal wheels on it, and it looked GOOD, but i actually like it better with 14s under it, rather than 17s.. much cheaper/easier to get rubber for the enkeis..

and hell, after i straightened out the enkeis, they drove perfect..

and, FWIW, these ARE real enkeis, and they are the old ones

[DieselBalz]