ProfBrown's 2015 GSW TDI Build

bizzle

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May 21, 2013
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Southern California
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2015 GSW SEL (totaled), 2013 Touareg Executive
You'll need to wait another 20K miles before you can assess the longevity of the Contis. The tire wear warranty doesn't generally equate to 1:1 miles in service and that's especially true with Contis.

In the NE, I'd say you need a winter set. "All Season" tires are realistically only year-round tires in places like California where we've had a lot of rain the past month but won't experience much the rest of the year.
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
I agree 100% my good sir. In the write up about the Conti vs the Nexen I referenced the average mileage the people at America’s tire see out of the contis. These specifically have a 50k warranty, and they generally see 49k according to the averages.


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bizzle

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Yeah I read that but without knowing their methodology it's not useful data. For one thing, most drivers don't check the pressure or tread depth of their tires. At least some bring them in after they're completely shot. We can't say how many but it's not unreasonable to suspect that a lot of people go to a tire store because of tire damage rather than wear unless their tires are completely bald and they get a scare, someone tells them they're on unsafe tires, or they get a ticket.

Remember your methodology courses...you need at least two data points to infer a relationship. The time when customers bring their tires back in is one data point (if that's actually what the 49K average is representing) but we'd need to know what the average tread depth on those tires was, as well, to know whether they had any useful/safe tread on them when they were returned.

That is, just because customers are bringing their tires in on the 50K mark because that's what the label says they're "good" for, doesn't tell us how long they've driving on tires without usable tread. But that's just part of the problem. We don't actually know people are bringing their tires in at the 50K mark from that "average."

To understand that, we'd have to remember your stats courses: there are three different ways to measure "averages": mean, median, and mode.

Take 11 data points from customers replacing tires at 35K, 35K, 35K, 35K, 35k, 35k, 50K, 65K, 65K, 65K, and 80K. When you see "average," it's usually the mean. That's the one everyone does in their head when they calculate an average (add them all up, divide by the total). The mean in this example is 49K, but notice that only 1 customer returned the tires at 50K. That's because mean calculations are not resistant to outliers (the 80K). Remove the outlier and the average becomes 45.5K.

The median is resistant to outliers and is the average we'd want to use if we suspected the data was prone to outliers (like tire wear). The median value is 35K.

Mode can also be resistant to outliers as long as there isn't a cluster of data. Mode is the value that occurs most frequently and, in this example, is also 35K.

So now you have two calculations that customers bring their tires in, on average, at 35K miles (but we still don't know *why* they bring them in or *what* condition they're in when they bring them in) and one calculated average of 49K.

Then you look back at the data set and realize that only one customer brought tires in at 50K, though.

So what does this tell us? Well the main thing it tells us is that the expectations of the researcher as one's model is developed is going to impact the data coming out the other end. That is, if I suspect that tire wear is going to have wide variance because I assume that lots of factors impact tire wear, I'd choose the median value over mean if I wanted to ensure those outliers didn't adversely impact my conclusions. If I wanted to hide those outliers, or if I didn't expect them, I would use the mean but it wouldn't be a very good prediction of what the next person could expect.

If I was a researcher and I expected that some customers were prone to driving on their tires down to the nubs, I'd want to pull the data back to where most customers' experiences are with the mode or the middle of a normal population distribution with the median.

If I wanted to show my tires lasted a really long time and I had those same expectations (that some customers were prone to drive to the nubs), I'd use the mean in order to capture those outliers.

That's why in methods class we say things like, "garbage in, garbage out" and the public says things like, "lies, damned lies, and statistics." The numbers exist, they aren't made up, but the modeling of it shows a very different picture depending on what you assume about the population being studied and how you choose to calculate those data.
 
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ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
You should be a teacher!! Ohh wait... lol. I do agree with what you are saying 100%. And I will know as more mileage is out on these puppies. Will be interesting non the less. The car tire world is far different than the truck tire world I come from. Just for an example, the tires I had on my truck start at 20/32s, and these contis start at 10/32 when new. Huge difference!

I’ll be more than happy to keep you guys updated. I’ll average over 25k miles a year with this car so I will quickly find how long they last and how well they keep me happy with my purchase.


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thundershorts

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2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
A factor not accounted for is what alignment is set in front toe, or in case of Passat, rear toe and camber. As an example, my Passat, with 56k, when sold back to VW, had 6/32 to 7/32 on the Conti's. It was run since new zero toe both front and rear. Probably would have been good for another 20-25k miles
 

Geist296

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Mar 10, 2015
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Chicagoburbs/ok way outside them now
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2015 GSW SEL DSG White with Quartz/Black interior
Ok I have tried to post but copying photos is driving me nut here lately..
I have always been a OEM+ kind of guy, they are knock offs but you get the gist
[/URL][/IMG]
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Ok I have tried to post but copying photos is driving me nut here lately..

I have always been a OEM+ kind of guy, they are knock offs but you get the gist

[/URL][/IMG]


I am failing to get your picture to load. I will try another platform but on tapa talk it’s a no go.


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ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Gave it a wash for the first time since I got it. Dang, white cleans up so easy! Truly happy with this purchase. It’s nice not having to have a step ladder to clean the roof lol. And that is coming from someone who is 6’3”! Takes about half the time my truck did too. Here are my go too tools.



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ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Ordered my VCDS cable. I went with the one for 3 Vins as I really only plan on having this VW, and helping my neighbor if he needs. If my position changes, I can upgrade it to a 10 vin unit in the future. Reason for ordering this is that I am within 650 miles of needing to do the fuel filter and to do it right you gotta have VCDS from what I can see. I'll be doing some tweaks with it as well which I am looking forward to.
 

740GLE

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NH
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meah, i've survived 10 FF changes ovee the 3 generations we've owned and only primed once and that was out of curiosity, never once had a hiccup.
 

turbobrick240

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maine
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It's definitely not required for fuel filter changes, but a very handy tool to have regardless.
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
I know it is not necessarily required to complete the work, but I will also use it for checking fault codes if I have any, DSG services which then next one is only 20k away (and for me will happen likely within this year around October/November if not earlier), and oil changes to reset the notification. Added bonus of some tweaks to be done that I am thinking will help customize the car nicely.

Also, just doing things by the book tends to work out better with my luck in the long run lol.


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740GLE

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and oil changes to reset the notification.
hold trip reset, turn ignition on (not starting the car) resets oil reminded.

turn 4ways on, hold trip reset, turn ignition on resets service reminder.

I'm all for VCDS and its great to change the throttle response to direct but I rarely dig it out for simple things that don't need it.
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Okay, so I got my VCDS the other day, and I went ahead and did some tweaks tonight.
  • Needle sweep (staging)
  • Remembering the driver and passenger heat seating level for 10 minutes each Enabled fog lights with high beams (no real reason for this other than it would look cool once my new headlights are installed)
  • Enabled comfort opening and closing windows (this I suppose also does the sunroof, anyone know how to make this not happen?)
  • Added the fuel burned quantity to the MFD
  • Removed door chime when the accessory part of the ignition is on
I was notified that the headlights I ordered from Ed were at the post office and will be able to be picked up on Monday. Hoping to get them installed this next week if I can find the time. The reason they took so long to get here is that according to Ed they got stuck in customs for a fair bit of time. Sucks but this is the life of aftermarket if it's not made in America some times. The monitor bulbs came in well before I was notified of the assemblies and the bulbs seem to be quite high quality. The ballasts even have a bit of a cool print on them.
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Dealer messed up and busted my oil filter cap for the engine oil... they said 2 days till they have one in stock... not happy. Have a 2019 Jetta R line as a loaner. I prefer the GSW in just about every way other than the slightly better pick up and some of the newer tech features and the auto setting for the HVAC. Other than that the GSW is better. Most though, I am not a fan of the build quality or the ride of the Jetta. Like a cloud but not direct whatsoever.
 

thundershorts

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west chester pa
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2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
How did they manage to bust the filler cap?...run over it?
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
My guess, is when they got it originally before I bought it and they did an oil change on it, they over torqued it. That or the was a defect in the cap itself when it was caste.

Regardless my luck strikes again lmao


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ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Tinkered on my car last night. Installed the new headlights. Rather easy once you know what you are doing. The Morimoto HID kit was set up for polarized headlights so I had to find the right connector to flip, but once I did it was good to go! Think I adjusted them about right in my driveway, I will know tonight on the drive home from work out in the real world.



Also a couple more tweaks done today. Side mirror dip when in reverse, and the 5 brake light tweak. Factory on these wagons only the outer tail light on either side lights up with you press the brake pedal. To me that always seemed incomplete so now all 4 on the body do as well as the one up top. I made a real short recording of how it looks with blinders on, and hazards to make sure it works. Found the coding while googling, but I only say stuff for the GTI Golfs. I also attempted to do the carbon fiber print in the MFD and the head-unit, but we TDI folk cannot do this.



I will be doing a separate write up for the headlights more when I can get some more pictures of them with a video. For now here is what you get lol.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_3ijmRORdY
 
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ProfBrown

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Jan 16, 2019
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So Cal
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG
Couple new tweaks, added ESC sport to my head unit as an option. I have it set up as ASR OFF/ESC SPORT in the head unit for traction control. Also changed the throttle control to direct, and deactivated the starting vibration reduction.


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ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Where can we get the coding for the 5 brake light mod

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Right here mate. Mostly says for GTIs, as it seems they get most of the tweak attention, but it worked for my wagon too. Seems some of the systems match. Same way I found the ESC Sport option in the coding.

https://sites.google.com/a/naturaln...7-vcds-how-to/lighting/four-five-brake-lights

Here is the coding for the ESC sport setting. If you have a GSW it should say "02" in byte 29 as this link says. I was able to follow it just fine.
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showpost.php?p=93373&postcount=4
 
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ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Well got the dynamic turn signals in on the car, and changed the mirror caps. No vids of the dynamic turns. Don't feel like posting them to the YouTubes...
 

thundershorts

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west chester pa
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2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
Noticed you still have not changed your rear bulbs to led. deautoled.com sell red powerful led bulbs for tail/turn/stop. Check it out, think you'll like them. Avoid the cheap bulbs sold on ebay. deautokey.com
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
Noticed you still have not changed your rear bulbs to led. deautoled.com sell red powerful led bulbs for tail/turn/stop. Check it out, think you'll like them. Avoid the cheap bulbs sold on ebay. deautokey.com


Correct, I have not done this yet. Once one fails I’ll swap em all to LED. I dont know how long they typically live, but until then, I’m keeping the stock halogen ones.

I am for sure planning on getting these LEDs however. They are on my list of eventual upgrades.


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bigb

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Arizona
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2015 Sportwagon S
Noticed you still have not changed your rear bulbs to led. deautoled.com sell red powerful led bulbs for tail/turn/stop. Check it out, think you'll like them. Avoid the cheap bulbs sold on ebay. deautokey.com
One of my concerns driving a small car is someone plowing into me when stopped, are these LEDs you mentioned quite a bit brighter than the factory lamps? Maybe that and the 5 brake light mod would be a good idea to reduce the chance of a rear-ender especially with so many distracted drivers out there.
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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2015 GSW SE DSG
One of my concerns driving a small car is someone plowing into me when stopped, are these LEDs you mentioned quite a bit brighter than the factory lamps? Maybe that and the 5 brake light mod would be a good idea to reduce the chance of a rear-ender especially with so many distracted drivers out there.


Yes the LEDs are far brighter. Least in my opinion. Check out the site that company that he posted, if memory is correct they have videos of the comparison on their site and it is noticeable. The reverse to me looks very modern as far as brightness like compared to new Lexus cars. And I 100% recommend the 5 brake light mod. I noticed immediately that people keep more distance, likely because stock it doesn’t seem like the brake lights are on.


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bigb

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Arizona
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2015 Sportwagon S
Yes the LEDs are far brighter. Least in my opinion. Check out the site that company that he posted, if memory is correct they have videos of the comparison on their site and it is noticeable. The reverse to me looks very modern as far as brightness like compared to new Lexus cars. And I 100% recommend the 5 brake light mod. I noticed immediately that people keep more distance, likely because stock it doesn’t seem like the brake lights are on.


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Oh yeah those are nice lamps, I can see myself spending some money there. I need to look and see if my Sport trim has foot well lights. In looking at the low beam, high beam and DRLs is looks like the DRLs are our high beams as well?
 

ProfBrown

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So Cal
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Oh yeah those are nice lamps, I can see myself spending some money there. I need to look and see if my Sport trim has foot well lights. In looking at the low beam, high beam and DRLs is looks like the DRLs are our high beams as well?


I have aftermarket ones lol I can’t remember. I swore the drl was the parking light of the stock units. The same light that functions as the turn signal? I dont know memory is mush.


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bigb

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2015 Sportwagon S
I have aftermarket ones lol I can’t remember. I swore the drl was the parking light of the stock units. The same light that functions as the turn signal? I dont know memory is mush.


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If I wasn't already in my jammies I'd go out and check.....maybe someone will chime in
 

thundershorts

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Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
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2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
The deautoled.com has specials, black friday,etc. The sportwagen set is six bulbs, the hatch is four.
 
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