If you can't tell from the car already, I love attention," Christina Tran of Cleveland, OH began. "People automatically assume a guy owns my car. So when they find out it's mine, they're in shock."
This '03 Jetta 1.8T is one of the more extreme female-owned Volkswagens to appear in et. Custom paint, air suspension, big brakes, shaved bodywork, full stereo; it possesses an abundance of show qualities that rival anything on the North American tuning scene.
Currently in her mid-20s, Christina has poured sweat and tears into her Jetta since she acquired it in '02. Still a student, the road toward building her dream car wasn't easy, having started out in an old Mitsubishi Eclipse GS when she turned 16. "I always liked cars because my dad subscribed to lots of car mags," she explained. "I got the Eclipse and then met my husband, Minh, a year later. He helped me build it up and eventually turbocharged it."
The rice-rocket quickly showed signs of poor reliability, so Christina moved onto her first VW. "I always loved the Jetta," she told us. "I used to go online and see what people were doing to them. I quickly realized the possibilities, and after driving one I discovered it was so much nicer than the Eclipse I had!"
Christina drove a new 1.8T sedan off the dealer lot with parts already waiting at home. She did plenty of the labor herself. "This Jetta has been a joint project with my husband," she mentioned. "I selected all the parts, installed the bolt-ons and did some of the bodywork, while my husband helped with the electrical work."
Show-stopping engine bay with...
Show-stopping engine bay with smooth and color-matched covers along with polished caps, intake manifold and intercooler piping
The project began with plenty of go-fast bits, such as a Techtonics Tuning exhaust, cold-air intake and APR software. A Eurojet front-mount intercooler ensured cool air was fed into the combustion chamber, while a Forge Motorsport diverter valve released excess pressure.
Christina eventually stopped adding engine upgrades when the five-speed Tiptronic became an issue. "I wanted a fast car," she admitted, "but realized I needed that third pedal for speed. So I decided to forget speed and build a show car."
Shifting her attention to visual upgrades, the project gained momentum the night before a car show. "The garage was a mess, so I parked the car outside, not thinking anything would happen to it," Christina recalled. "The next morning, I found the Jetta had been broken into. When everything was calculated, the thieves inflicted damage estimated at $13k to fix and replace."
Christina turned her misfortune around. She contracted a local bodyshop to shave the door handles, moldings and emblems. With the car at home, she dipped her hands in fiberglass and bondo to fill the hood notch, mold the Oettinger valances and shave the bumper moldings
The car was originally white but Christina wanted a color that would scream for attention. So a custom tri-coat blue paint was applied, emitting a purple glow from certain angles.
With an eye-popping exterior, Christina wanted her car to sit on the ground so she also experimented with air ride.
The suspension consists of AirRide Technologies' rear bags with Mason-Tech coilover strut bags in the front. Two Viair 400c air compressors fill the five-gallon tank at the touch of a button.
The right set of wheels was critical, so Christina looked to iForged. "I started with Konig wheels but wanted something more tuner-style," she revealed. "The iForged Aeros are better because if something goes wrong it's easy to replace parts." The polished forged rims measure 19x7.5" front and 19x8.5" rear, wrapped in Falken Azenis tires.
The open spokes of the wheels left some embarrassing gaps for the tiny stock brakes, so Christina sourced a pair of 13.1" big brakes from ECS Tuning that use Porsche Boxster four-piston calipers.