Hello From Europe!

Hi everyone! Just writing from Europe to say hello and see if anything is new in good ol USA. I saw the most fucked up thing in Sweden this weekend. I was going for a run and noticed this pickup. It looked like a Mazda or Toyota pickup. Only thing was that it had a big vw symbol on the tailgate. I chuckled to myself because I figured it was someone with a sense of humor. Only thing was the FRONT grill had a VW symbol too! Then the real knockout...The steering wheel was a VW steering wheel! It seems VW sells a pickup truck in Sweden...heheh...Cool. Other cool VW sightings:

Lot's of Golf Synchro VR6's. Of special note is the new Golf 4x4 will be called the Golf 4-Motion. It has the most advanced four by four system ever designed plus a SIX SPEED MANUAL. They are already advertising it on tv for the golf and the Passat V6. Pretty damn cool. The new Passat and new Golf are both HUGE in Europe. They are easily the most spotted car in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. The Passat is, number wise, the Honda Accord of Europe it seems. Most are powered by the 1.8 20V NON-TURBO. With several 1.8T's, very few V6's, lot's of TDI's, and VERY few TDI's (With red I). This is a special sport version of the TDI with about 160HP and 220 ft. lbs. of torque. My friend has a Celica GT-16V (160HP) and we raced a Passat version on the Autobahn last month. From the getgo the Passat just pulled away from us like you wouldn't believe! It wasn't until 230KPH that we caught up to him, but he was cruising at that speed. He probably could run to 240-245 KPH easily. They are REALLY REALLY fast. Plus the Passat is so aerodynamically slippery that's gotta help. They are also putting then in the new Golf! So that's pretty cool. It is common practice here in Denmark to see A2 GTI's zooming down the street. Plus, even more amazing, a whole bunch of turbo GTI's. They screaming down the street with Turbo whining like you wouldn't believe. I have seen some VERY FAST VW's around here. Unfortunately Jetta's (Vento's) are probably the most rare car period. Don't see many of them at all. Other than that you see quite a few Eurovans and quite a few Sharans. The Sharan is more of a Minivan than the Eurovan. Quite cool and most are powered by a TDI or 1.8T. TDI's are very very popular here. That's about it....

Oh tuner info. Well I have found out that ABT parts seem to be cheaper here. For example, I am picking up an ABT Jetta grill for my A3 GLX and it will cost me 288DM which is about $170. Plus I get 25% VAT tax back so that should bring it down to the $140 range. Compare to the $250 AMS wants...Sounds like a deal to me!!!! I think customs charge will be like 10% so I am not too worried.