Despite this, Tony remained steadfast in his pursuit of Euro excellence and ordered a new 2.8 VR6 12v. After installing it, his appetite for acceleration took him to GMP Performance, where he netted a VF-Engineering stage 2 supercharger topped with a Nitrous Express 50 shot of laughing gas.
When all was said and done, Tony claims his blown Jetta spins the rollers to 260whp without the bottle and 360whp with gas, and assures us he's surprised many domestics with motors twice his size.
While the car was getting boosted at GMP, Tony had the crew whittle away at the exterior. It took almost eight months but the car finally left the shop looking better than new.
Rolling into the light of day, it wore a new blanket of mirror-like Cadillac black paint that accentuated the subtly pulled rear fenders and newly acquired GTI facelift. In addition, it also had a shaved Xeon R32 front bumper, EuroGear carbon hood, Hella Mk5 headlights and a Kamei badgeless grille. Continuing the exterior excellence were skirts and rear spoilers from Caractere, carbon mirrors, Hella smoked tails and a VIS carbon trunk.
GMP is also the distributor for German manufacturer RH wheels, which supplied Tony with then-unheard-of RH AL Cup wheels matched to sticky Yokohama AVS skins. The color-matched 18x8.5 and 9.5" shoes plus H&R coilovers completed the package.
To make sure all his precious hardware would be safe, Tony added Zimmerman drilled rotors squeezed by painted Audi TT calipers.
The interior, like the rest of the car, has seen more changes than Michael Jackson. Sliding inside, occupants first notice that the passenger airbag now plays home to Auto Meter oil pressure, battery voltage, A/F and boost gauges. In addition, the car also sports a wealth of Sparco bits, including Torino 2 seats, Cromo pedals and a Flash 5 wheel. Finishing touches include the pair of nitrous bottles nestled behind the front seats and a set of silver ABD gauge faces.
From the outside, the faint whine of the Vortech blower's helical-cut gears fill the air with a sonorous whistle, but inside the car your brain is rattled by acoustic artillery orchestrated by an Alpine IVA-W200 touchscreen head unit. It works a quartet of Bazooka amps and co-axial mids, in addition to the pair of Triangle subwoofers. Adding to the electronic excellence is a PS2 and rearview-mounted 5.6" LCD screen.
Staring at the wall of trophies and awards Tony Mairena and his '01 Jetta have earned, you couldn't imagine the misfortune he overcame to achieve excellence. "My greatest satisfaction isn't the trophies; it's about being an enthusiast and having somebody compliment the car," said Tony. "Seeing somebody appreciate all the hard work makes it all worth it."