Official

Newsletter of
the

C e n t ra l
Fl o r i d a
V W- T D I
Club

Happiest of Holidays from your fellow members of the Central

Florida TDI Club, and our greatest wishes for you and yours to
enjoy a happy & prosperous New Year. See you at the GTG!
Sorry this newsletter is coming so late after our
November 2014 GTG. I had hoped to get it out earlier,
but the Christmas Season interrupted my bestintentioned efforts. I thought Id save the design above
as its unique. But please understand the REAL meaning
of Christmas is not a VW, but the birth of the Christ!

Upcoming TDI-GTG:
Even after the Christmas Holiday Season,
we still find ourselves busy with all kinds of
projects and tasks. But we never let our
club sleep, so weve set our next TDI-

GTG: Get-ToGether for SATURDAY,

FEBRUARY 21st, 2015. You can arrive as
early as 10:30am, we start & eat lunch @
noon. Leave when you like or stay until
5pm. We have an interesting tech session
planned, so plan to attend ! !

Price is $6 per person to supply lunch,

beverages & snacks. (Sorry, no youth
under age 16 years allowed.) You MUST
RSVP no later than Wednesday, Feb. 18th,
2015 by phoning 352-572-8421 or email
doctordiesel@cox.net. Well send you map
directions after your pre-registration.

January
2015

What occurred at our

November 2014 GTG
If you missed our Nov. 25, 2014 GTG you
missed a really informative event.
Member George F. gave a terrific, firsthand presentation on a number of
alterations to his Passat TDI, including
power tuning (chipping) his TDI, adding
an after-market back-up camera, and
a d d i n g a f t e r - m a r ke t b l i n d s p o t
monitoring.

Power tuning box (rechipping):

George chose to install a plug-in, boxstyle power chip unit that is able to be
installed (basically plugged in) and
unplugged by the owner. Such a device
is said to increase performance as well
a s r e - p ro g r a m m e d o r m o d i f i e d
computer chips, plus it can be removed
in minutes prior to visiting your dealers
service center for warranty work.
George chose a Race Chip-brand plugin performance box, which has tiny

2015 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President

rotary switches to set your preferred

level of tune. Not only does George
report a significant increase in both
horsepower & torque, he also reports an
improvement in fuel economy of 1-2
MPG.
Installation is simple: 1) unplug the
wiring harness at the fuel injection rail; 2)
install the power boxs T-harness, with
one end going into the fuel injection rail
and the other attaching to the original
wiring socket; 3) run the unused end of
the boxs wiring cable along your
selected path to an appropriate boxmounting location; 4) install the box to a
secure surface (e.g. inner fender, etc.)
with double-sided tape or other secure
mounting system; 5) insert the existing
cable end into the tuning box; 6) secure
wiring using zip-ties (or other suitable
fastener); 7) rotate power tuning micro
setting screw-switches to your preferred
level of tune. Youre done! And when

visiting your service tecnician, feel free

to remove the tuning box by reversing
the previous directions.
Back-up camera: George chose to have
an after-market unit installed rather
than the hassle of a factory unit (not
available for purchase on his model).
Image displays on his radios screen,
though factory-installed unit has nifty
VW badge rotate in rear deck lid to
expose camera lens.
Blind-spot monitoring: Not a VW option
when his car was built, George wanted
the safety of this feature. Sensors were
installed in sides of rear bumper. Small
LED-style bulbs mounted on interior Apillars illuminate when other vehicles are
at the side of his car notifying him to
remain in his lane. Installation of backup camera and blind-spot monitoring
was done by Ocala Customs located at
corner of US441 & FL40 in downtown
Ocala. (contd pg 4)

1: Identifying where original wiring harness socket to

fuel rail is located. 2: Selected routing of supplied
cable. Use zip-ties if desired, but remember the
potential need to remove unit for warranty work even
though manufacturer says the power box is invisible
on scanners. 3: Attach power box to a secure
location; do not allow the unit to bounce around or
remain untethered. Double-sided industrial sticky
tape, Velcro, zip-ties or other suitable fastening
systems may be utilized. 4: Harness in wire loom is
visible to right of yellow-blue dotted line. 5: Close-up
view of wiring harness loom & (circled) power box unit.

2015 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President

7
9

6: Close-up of Race Chip-brand power unit w/o

wiring harness. 7: The box of goodies. 8: Package
details components that come with Race Chip
system. 9: Information about power unit. 10 & 11:
Products photos & text detail the procedure for
installation. 12 & 13: Instructions for fine tuning the
power unit. The kit contains several more pages of
specifics to make installation, tuning & the science of
the power unit more comprehensive &
understandable.

10

12

2015 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President

11

13

(continued from page 2)

For more information on Race Chip -brand products go to http://www.racechip.com.

George points to location of one of two interior LED indicator lights
on the A-pillars that are part of his after-market blind-spot
monitoring system. Exterior sensors are located in sides of rear
bumper fascia. Interior indicators illuminate to notify driver of
vehicles close-by in blind spot.
Blind-spot monitoring and rear view camera were installed by
Ocala Customs, 12 S. Pine Ave Ocala FL, 34471, 352-351-1920
The Central Florida VW-TDI Club does not endorse individual companies, products or services.

What is the Central Florida VW TDI Club?

Mission:

Provide VW-TDI owners with a connection to fellow owners & enthusiasts.

Provide a system for dialogue on owner issues ranging from novice maintenance to in-shop repairs.

Provide this system in a low-key atmosphere centering on good fellowship.

History:

The Central Florida VW-TDI Club has been in existence for over 12 years and traditionally held one GTG per quarter, with each meeting being
held at a different members house each time. The host was responsible for food and giving the tech talk. After about 3 years, interest in being
the host & tech talker diminished so I offered to host the GTGs as a means to keep the club active. This has been the case since about 2005.

We have over 100 interested persons on our mailing list, with an average of 10-15 attending each GTG.
GTGs (Get-ToGethers):

Conducted twice per year, usually in February and late-October or early-November.

Occur on Saturdays (or on rare occasion on Sundays) and begin with lunch at noon and formally end after the tech session, which usually means
about 2-2:30pm. Attendees are welcome to arrive as early as 10:30am and stay as late as 5pm.

The meeting site is in a residence in Ocala. Vehicle repair is usually limited to low-key repairs as we have insurance issues and zoning
restrictions.

We do not loan tools, equipment, software, or publications.

Children under the age of 16 years may not attend.

No dues are collected.

The only charge is (currently) $6 per person to supply non-alcoholic beverages, snacks, and lunch. All persons attending must pay the fee.

All attendees are required to pre-register by the date indicated in announcements.

Announcements and club correspondence is by email only; we do not mail any correspondence. RSVP may be done by phone or email.

Most GTGs are listed on our Facebook page and www.TDIclub.com website, but we do not respond to inquiries posted on these sites. All
correspondence is to be directed to doctordiesel@cox.net.
Questions?
Contact Mr. Chris Mendola, club president, at 352-572-8421 or doctordiesel@cox.net.

FOR SALE : Set of 4 alloy

rims. 17 x 7 Rial Como, made

in Germany. ET 47 5x112 lug.
Fits all Mk5 Golf & Jetta.
Titanium in color. Superior
condition. 4 for $425 obo.
Contact Keith at
fireserpent19@gmail.com
2015 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President