hoonbug's 07 Black Rabbit

[hoonbug]

I'm not sure what we will call it yet.



















Future mods:

• VW iPod adapter (currently out of stock)
• Tinting - anyone know any good tinters in MD, and what the rules are for MD?
• Alloys in the future - maybe. Depends on how soon we end up pregnant.

[from Margaritaville...]

I am SOOOOOO jealous!...Congratulations!!!

[from Margaritaville...]

Originally Posted by hoonbug

I'm not sure what we will call it yet.

"Herr hare!"

[SilverVw3]

Lovely! Great choice in cars!!! I can't wait for our Rabbit's to meet

MD tint law is 35% for all windows. I can ask around for good tint shops for you.

[dnyed]

WooHoo! You're Dubbin'....!

[JenBug]

I can't see the pictures, but congrats on the Rabbit!

[dnyed]

Whoa! I saw the pictures, when I posted!

What happened to them?

[hoonbug]

Fixed images - copied them from Google Picasa to my personal website. Should be good now.

Andrew

[Shay]

I the rabbits

[from Margaritaville...]

Wascally wabbits...

(It's wabbit season!)

[Deserion]

Ravin' Rabbit.

Nice choice, man. How is it thus far? My man is looking at one...

-Des

[PhoenixRising]

Love that car! Very nice!

[hoonbug]

Originally Posted by Deserion

Ravin' Rabbit.

Nice choice, man. How is it thus far? My man is looking at one...

-Des

Well, we only have 380 miles on it so far. We picked it up about a week or so ago, but due to finance, I wasn't 100% certain it would be ours. In that week, we put on 370 or so miles, mainly driving to Washington DC to return the hire car and doing chores.

The drive down on the Beltway was fine - cruising along at 65 mph, much to the annoyance of pretty much everyone else breaking the speed limit with us (it's almost all 55 mph, and nearly all folks were doing 70-75 mph).

I have noticed that US drivers don't obey speed limits much, and their indicators seem to be broken. Maybe because the indicators are red instead of yellow like the rest of the world, it hardly seems worth it to indicate your intentions when they will not be seen! I might make one more mod - change the back lights to the tri-color LED clusters they have in Australia on the Golf. I'm not happy with red-only clusters - it can't be safer than a bright happy color to say "hey, I'm coming into your lane!"

The car has a great exhaust note (5 cylinders!), and boogies along nicely even during break in (I'm keeping it under 3000 rpm), and is very quiet as long as you're not pressing along briskly. The head unit and umpteen speakers are really sweet - I can't wait until I get the iPod adapter so I can hear my own music with it.

The seats are very comfortable and warm on the occasionally chilly morning, and the winter pack finally makes sense! The mirrors defrosted in no time, and the windscreen was clear after a few squirts. Probably not a huge concern for you down in Florida, but with the occasional hoar frost here, it's really handy not to have to scrape the window - so far.

It has plenty of room and the seats are very flexible. There is definitely adequate room for a pram, which is a primary concern of my wife's. The ISOFIX latches seem to be gone in this model, which is a shame, but the US system should be fine. However, I've heard that most rear facing baby seats do not work in side swipes, so I will have to do some research on that. Hopefully, it just affects the capsule sort (illegal in Australia - back injuries and fatal baby accidents due to the capsule coming out in an accident). We will not buying that sort if they are still on sale here, anyway.

Apparently, there's a guitar special on at the moment (buy a Rabbit, get a guitar), but the dealer made no mention of it, so I assume we're not getting one. I don't play, so no biggie. The main reason to buy one is that it is excellent value - you guys are getting a bargain of a car. In AUD terms, you're getting it at about 75% of the going rate in Australia, even after everything's said and done.

thanks,
Andrew

[Lnzbug]

OOooo Nice ride.
I would name him Jack. You know, jackrabbit

[hoonbug]

Originally Posted by Lnzbug

OOooo Nice ride.
I would name him Jack. You know, jackrabbit

I'm actually thinking of a rabbit's name from Watership Down:

Blackberry - the smart rabbit who solves things
Black Rabbit of Inlé - the rabbit version of Death

I'm really leaning towards Blackberry as I'm not a goth.

Andrew

[Shay]

Originally Posted by hoonbug

I'm actually thinking of a rabbit's name from Watership Down:

Blackberry - the smart rabbit who solves things
Black Rabbit of Inlé - the rabbit version of Death

I'm really leaning towards Blackberry as I'm not a goth.

Andrew

I Watership Down

[GINA]

Originally Posted by hoonbug

Well, we only have 380 miles on it so far. We picked it up about a week or so ago, but due to finance, I wasn't 100% certain it would be ours. In that week, we put on 370 or so miles, mainly driving to Washington DC to return the hire car and doing chores.

The drive down on the Beltway was fine - cruising along at 65 mph, much to the annoyance of pretty much everyone else breaking the speed limit with us (it's almost all 55 mph, and nearly all folks were doing 70-75 mph).

I have noticed that US drivers don't obey speed limits much, and their indicators seem to be broken. Maybe because the indicators are red instead of yellow like the rest of the world, it hardly seems worth it to indicate your intentions when they will not be seen! I might make one more mod - change the back lights to the tri-color LED clusters they have in Australia on the Golf. I'm not happy with red-only clusters - it can't be safer than a bright happy color to say "hey, I'm coming into your lane!"

haha yup, welcome to MD. Check me off as one of those angry Beltway drivers

I got my windows tinted at National Glass Tinting in Kensington, MD. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the area yet, but it's near Silver Spring right outside of DC. They do a fantastic job, and the price is pretty reasonable.

[iScott]

Very nice!

[Beetlescott]

Great looking Rabbit!!!!

[VW2.0Driver]

Originally Posted by hoonbug

I have noticed that US drivers don't obey speed limits much, and their indicators seem to be broken. Maybe because the indicators are red instead of yellow like the rest of the world, it hardly seems worth it to indicate your intentions when they will not be seen! I might make one more mod - change the back lights to the tri-color LED clusters they have in Australia on the Golf. I'm not happy with red-only clusters - it can't be safer than a bright happy color to say "hey, I'm coming into your lane!"

May as well get use to the speed limit thing, 98% of the people in the US don't follow speed limits on the highways, and to be quite honest, it's best to go with the flow otherwise it makes for merging difficulties to get off at exits because people are all going different speeds.

Also, the indicator issue is just a matter of people being too lazy, and aggressive to use the damn thing. They expect you to know what they are doing via osmosis, and then get pissed if they can't get over. I think the red indicators are fine, a lot of cars do have amber lights, but irregardless, it's just a lazy person issue. Also, if you put your indicator on, a lot of people will speed up and prevent you from getting over even though you have a mile of space, and signaled your intent to get over.

I always use my signals, even when I am in a turn only lane and don't have to use them.