StLB5 (Josh)

Thank you to the Academy for the nomination! The way I joined the Passat world was literally by accident. My wife was hit head on in her Camary coupe by a driver who took a corner too quickly in the ice. She was okay, but the car was totaled. Our first child was on the way so we decided to look at sedans. We looked and looked and then found a used 98 black magic B5. It was a stick so I was excited about that. It was on a Chevy lot and they had priced it as a Jetta, the sales order even said Jetta! I still haggled them down a bit and we drove off.

After our son was born, we decided we needed an SUV so we traded my Grand Prix GTP in for an SUV and I took the Passat. I had been reading about chips and gauges and this and that and I was ready to start modding. I first bought a Neuspeed P-chip and to my surprise, it did nothing! I grabbed the boost guage I had from my GTP and was barely getting 1 pound! It was still under warranty so back to the dealer I went. They tried to tell me it was the diverter valve which isn't covered, so I bought a Bailey's DV and still nothing. I took the stock DV in to the dealer and they coughed up a new turbo. Wow, within 48 hours I drove a NA 1.8, and stock 1.8T, and a chipped 1.8T, all in the same car. I didn't do a whole lot more other than some Borbet Type E's and Dunlops. I put a single 12" sub in a regular box, but being a new daddy meant the mod budget just wasn't there.

After a year, I traded for a Nissan Altima 3.5. Great power, bad shifter, but still fun. I put an intake on and blew through 2 MAF's. I decided to try fiberglass for a lower profile sub enclosure and it turned out great. We bought a new house and money was getting tight so I sold it and found a used 2001.5 1.8T.

I knew the car and it was something I'd be happy with along with the smaller payment. I started looking into sub enclosures again and just didn't like the way the JL stealthbox looked or the fact that I would be stuck with one sub option. I bought a little 10" sub and glassed my first B5 enclosure. I posted some pictures and got lots of questions and request to make more. I got more and more into fiberglassing and refined my process and supply chain and it turned into a decent little business. Since then I've built quite a customer base, even had some repeat customers as they have upgraded their Passats. I've met quite a few of my customers from doing their installs, or by coordinating hand deliveries through business trips. I have upgraded my little 10" Boston sub twice now. Once to a 2004 RE Audio 12" XXX in a sealed enclosure, and currently I'm running a 2006 RE Audio 12" XXX in a ported enclosure.

Mods

• Pioneer DEH-P980BT
• OmniFi 20 MP3 player
• Cadence ZRS-9 amp, 2000 watts @ 1 ohm
• 2006 RE Audio 12" XXX dual 2 ohm mounted in 2.75 cubes tuned to 35Hz
• Stubby antenna
• Kamei grille
• Falken Ziex 512 tires
• GIAC chip
• Euroswitch
• Proclip holder for cell phone
• Passport Escort 8500 (blue)
• Autometer boost gauge with custom mounted matching blue LED's in fiberglassed A-pillar

I want to thank all the B5 communities online and here in Chicago. I've learned a lot, and saved a lot from the information everyone has shared. The character in this community is certainly one of the highest around!

B Dizzle Fizzle's note: be sure to check out Josh's custom sub enclosure work for UNITE at http://www.b5one.com/stlb5.shtml.

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