2008 Volkswagen Rabbit 2 door

[potownrob]

damn this brings back memories of riding in and driving the vw in wv. that thing hauls in all senses and is nice and comfy. was not at all expecting the pep, fun and handling the rabbit serves up. tony, don't forget about that mercedes we blew away in the twisties .

[theholycow]

Additional info about this car: It is just awful at making heat and clearing windows in very cold weather. Also the documentation is blatantly wrong about the fusebox. Sorry VW, but thumbs down for these things. All that engineering effort that went into automation and features, but they forgot to figure for New England weather (bad but not the worst around).

We had a little snow over the weekend and it was 7 degrees F (-14 degrees C) this morning. Once the car was fully up to temperature (which still takes forever even though I've completely blocked the grilles -- but I accept that) it still could not provide warm air until I set it on recirculation instead of fresh air. I've never had a vehicle that couldn't make fresh air blistering hot, even if it started at 7 degrees. Ok, that's not so bad, just have to use recirc, then it makes reasonably warm air.

However...In ~50 minutes while driving to work it failed miserably at clearing the windows. The electric rear window defogger == fail. The blown-air defogger for the windshield/front windows == fail, even with the A/C on to blow dry air. When I arrived I was still looking out of small visibility holes in the windows' interior-side fog. Of course, any manual removal I tried merely made a mess and exacerbated it within a few minutes.

Also, the fusebox layout doesn't even remotely resemble the layout picture in the manual, and the fuse numbers are different. I made a thread about it on golfmkv.com so others could find the correct fuse number for the fron wipers:
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48249
F19 is the front wipers but the manual says it's the radio. The radio fuse is F8. Troubleshooting and finding which fuse is for the wipers was very difficult because the manual doesn't mention that the wipers don't work when the hood is up, so I couldn't get them to work even after putting in a fuse until I realized that I have to put in the fuse and close the hood before testing.

AHTOXA, can you tell me the value of your F18 in the underhood fusebox? That was back in April when I had my wiper fuse problem and lost track of what was originally there, and I put in the smallest one that wouldn't blow under normal use...then this morning it blew while trying to move the wipers across the frozen windshield.

[AHTOXA]

Believe it or not, I actually walked 1/4 block from my apartment to open the hood and look.

Anyhow, I actually do not have an F18 fuse. In the manual it's labeled as "sound system". I do have F19, which is labeled "radio". The one for the radio is 30 amp, so I suspect it could be the same for the F18. But then why would they have different slots? Anyhow, I suspect this is because I have a regular 8-speaker headunit, while you have the upgraded 10-speaker one.

Regarding the ability to defrost windows - never had an issue, even during -4*F that was here every night for a week last year. No issues what so ever. Also, when it was that cold I had no problem with heat. I am always able to have blistering hot air from the heater without having to use recirc. My friend's 07 Jetta is like mine. No problems as you describe. These cars do take a bit long to warm up, but it's not that big of a deal.

P.S. The fusebox layout in the manual is exactly what I see under the hood.

[theholycow]

Believe it or not, I actually walked 1/4 block from my apartment to open the hood and look.

Thank you!

Anyhow, I actually do not have an F18 fuse. In the manual it's labeled as "sound system". I do have F19, which is labeled "radio". The one for the radio is 30 amp

Oops, typo, F19 was what I wanted. I'm glad you gave me that info. F19 is labeled "radio" in my manual but is actually hooked up to the front wipers. If you're really bored, try pulling F19 and see if the radio and wipers work.

I am always able to have blistering hot air from the heater without having to use recirc.

I wonder if mine is broken.

P.S. The fusebox layout in the manual is exactly what I see under the hood.

...wait, WTF? Ok, on re-examination, the layout DOES match, it's just the labels that are wrong. I don't know why I thought the layout didn't match. Stenographer, strike that from the record.

Have you ever had your turn signals malfunction? This morning I turned mine on, clicked it all the way into place, and it only blinked a few times (as if I had just tapped it). I turned it off and back on; it signaled right, then left, then right, then nothing, so I turned it off. I tried again a few minutes later and it did the same, then retried immediately and it worked properly again. Gah, I'm so confused! Maybe it doesn't like me. Oh well. It's only a lease.

[AHTOXA]

Nope. Never had the blinker issue. In fact, the one and only issue that I have had was the passenger outside mirror stop moving up and down.

[watkins]

Dude, you need more blinker fluid

[theholycow]

D'oh! You're right.



When I did the google image search, I got an unexpected pair of headlights in a wet white tank top as the second result...

[watkins]

I love how they use a Saabaru on the bottle

[Tinton]

I've done more research.

Rabbit - 170hp '99 Saab 93 vert - 200
177tq 209

0-60 8.2 7.0


1/4 mile 16.4 16.0


Snail's a big advantage. All numbers above are random. Some people have posted faster number for the Saab, some people have posted faster numbers for the Rabbit as well.

Hmmm, dude if we ever meet up we'll have to race . Those numbers for 0-60 and 1/4 mile are pretty similar to those for my '86 Fiero.

[permabanned]

I've done more research.

Rabbit - 170hp '99 Saab 93 vert - 200
177tq 209

0-60 8.2 7.0


1/4 mile 16.4 16.0


Snail's a big advantage. All numbers above are random. Some people have posted faster number for the Saab, some people have posted faster numbers for the Rabbit as well.

damn, i hope watkins doesnt claim his car to be fast if hes making 200 horse yet still running a 16 flat. he got 30 horse on me and im still 1 full second faster.

[watkins]

We went over this. Those arent the correct figures for any American market Saab

I have 184 hp/194 tq
My car also weighs more than your car. Probably by quite a bit.

[AHTOXA]

Back on topic.

This is the second winter that I have had this car and I don't think I have mentioned how easy it is to modulate the brakes. They may not be as big as GTI brakes but plenty enough for me. Modulation is awesome, as experienced driving on snow and ice. I've also never experienced brake fade, even after spirited runs down the twisty muntainside.