HKPassat (Chris)

Many have asked, "Why a Passat?" Not a surprise when many of my friends have a more "young-age" aimed vehicle such as A4 or Golf. I have to say, my relationship with my B5 Passat all came quite accidental. The first time I overcame a Passat was when I drove my friend's '00 V6 FWD to do some quick moving into my new residence in August 2002, and I was like, "Hey not bad at all!" Before this, I had only aimed my car shopping segment within the VW/Audi models with a 1.8T engine. One day, I was going through some classifieds, and found this used car dealer in Providence, RI selling my current car though it was a V6. As I was there visiting some friends over the weekend, I decided to swing over to the dealer to check it out, and here I go I picked up my current '99 V6 FWD on Monday.

First, and foremost, I want to thank Bryan and the members of B5one for this honour. Bryan IMed me one night while I was sleeping so I did not respond (and thank god he didn't hunt another person right away for May's oneB5); called him the next day and he informed me I'm oneB5 for May. I was shocked for the moment, but was more than flattered to accept this honour. Bryan has said the reason for this honour is that my car has come a long way, but I truly believe that it is so far from being finished. Since the establishment of B5one, the regional aspect of this community has provided me enormous amount of support in a wide sense, and a great place for interaction with enthusiasts of similar interest both locally and through the Internet.

I had minimal exposure to VWs until I came to the States, where various friends' ownerships of VWs & Audis with attention-catching and refined performance have greatly captured my vibes for these cars. This car has been my first ownership of a vehicle, and I guarantee I have never enjoyed a single decision so much.

There has been good and bad experiences of my ownership. Like some other owners out there, I have had a rough time in dealing with some problems of the car for a period, which had almost made me sell the car for another car. Due to various mechanical problems that I had experienced when I first started owning my vehicle, I was introduced by my friends to VWvortex and subsequently ClubB5 to seek advice and pick up some knowledge, which had ignited my vibes for this endless mod temptation. And trust me, it's you guys out there that have kept me owning this vehicle.

Having no experience with car modifications, or a proper car ownership in the past, I had thought that my car would remain stock until I sell it. The mod process was also much delayed by the dealings with mechanical problems which consumed much of my funds, but once that was out of the way, mods have been out of control. By now, I can confirm that is now a rejected hypothesis, extensively proven by the list of modifications that I can find, though has caused some level of monetary damage (just like how it might have for a lot of you reading this!):

Mods

Suspension/Brakes/Performance

• Custom Painted Body Color 17" X 7.5" Audi A4 Sport Package Wheels
• Eibach Pro Kit Springs
• Koni Sport Adjustable Shocks
• Brembo Cross-Drilled Slotted Rotors
• Mintex Pads
• Custom W8-look Dual Exhaust (by Lou's Custom Exhaust, Boston, MA)

Exterior

• Custom Paint (slightly more pearl than original satin silver)
• Painted Lower Valences
• 35% Charcoal Tint
• OEM Chrome Grille (by Shanghai VW)
• Chrome Door Handles
• Chrome Mirror Covers
• Honda S2000 Antenna
• OEM Mudguards

Lighting

• Euro Spec HID Projectors
• Euro Switch
• Euro Spec Rear Fog
• Whelen Undercover Strobe Lights
• Whelen High Beam Flashers

Interior

• OEM New Beetle Sunglass Holders
• Double-Din Conversion

Entertainment

• Sony CDX-M630 CD Receiver
• Super SP-700 7.5" LCD Monitor with built-in TV Tuner (Mounted on 6th Switch)

While compiling a list of photos for this article, I coincidentally happened to find two of the following interesting photos. I did not specifically plan to take these two photos like that, but has shown some interesting contrast of the vehicles between the two timings.

From this, in October 2002:

To this, in February 2004:

The Dolphin Gray B6 A4 in the photos belongs to my friend, Shane, who has also given me enormous support and ideas through this process. Both our cars have gone through similar length of ownership, and both cars have come a long way.

So much of looks and others having done already, the next stage that needs to happen in this awesome machine is more gos, as well as completing the entertainment system. As Julian (djjewels@B5one) has said about me, "HKPassat leaves things ghetto until it's needed [to be in order]." Well, I am trying to get more organised.

I want to thank all of you for supporting my work, allowing me to accomplish various goals - I definitely would not have come this far without you all. It has been my honour to contribute to this community and I hope to continue to be part of its growth.

Other oneB5s

B5one is a licensed club of Volkswagen