My Stealth TDI - Scott's TDI Page

My ‘98 Jetta TDI

Why Is My TDI Special?

It Doesn’t LOOK Special… 

• Externally, the car 

appears nearly stock.

Less Is More… 

• Externally, the car 

appears nearly stock. 

• All modifications and 

“goodies” are 

beneath the skin.

It Blends In… 

• This allows me to 

blend in while in 

traffic or parked 

downtown… 

• It is also less likely 

to attract thieves, 

vandals, or police.

But What About INSIDE?

Melt the Hours Away… 

• I made it a point to 

make the car 

enjoyable to drive.

For My Listening Pleasure… 

• I installed a Pioneer 

CD/MP3 player (w/16- 

GB flash drive) and I 

can stream music from 

the Internet through 

my smartphone. I have 

seemingly endless music 

available during long 

road trips.

Communications Suite… 

• I also installed my 

two-way radio suite, 

which includes a VHF 

ham radio, a VHF/UHF 

ham radio, and an “allmode” 

HF/VHF/UHF 

ham radio.


• The VHF/UHF ham 

radio is a tiny 

discontinued Yaesu 

FT-90R mobile radio. 

• I operate at 10-watts 

to avoid heat-related 

issues. Ten watts is 

sufficient since I use 

this radio for local 

contacts.


• The remote mounted 

display fits perfectly 

in the “ashtray.”


• The crown jewel of my 

setup is the Yaesu FT- 

857D. It operates on 

HF, VHF, and UHF 

Amateur Radio bands at 

up to 100-watts. It also 

operates in all modes, 

including AM, FM, CW, 

SSB, and digital modes.


• Like the FT-90R, the 

FT-857D has a remotemountable 

control panel. 

I made a mounting tab 

that allowed me to put 

the quick release 

bracket on the front of 

the ashtray. The 

position of both radios is 

nearly perfect.


• The rest of the FT- 

857D is mounted in the 

trunk. A bonding strap 

along with the antenna 

wire conduit runs 

between the trunk lid 

and trunk. The factory 

trim piece covers the 

underside of the trunk 

lid.


• My “antenna farm” 

includes VHF/UHF 

antennas for the FT- 

90R (APRS) and FT- 

857D; plus the ATAS- 

120A Active Tuning 

Antenna System for 

7-54 MHz (not 

pictured).

Quickly Removed… 

• Knowing how easily 

this stuff can be 

stolen, my design 

includes the ability for 

all equipment to 

disappear in about 10 

seconds.

Almost… 

• One thing I cannot 

“stow” is my gauge 

panel. Wanting a 

“better” gauge panel, I 

fabricated this plate 

to hold my EGT and 

Boost gauges along 

with my Scan Gauge II 

and water-injection 

status lights.

ScanGauge II 

• The Scan Gauge II plugs into 

the OBD port and displays: 

MPGs, Fuel Rate, Battery 

Voltage, Coolant Temp, 

Intake Air Temp, Engine RPM, 

Speed, Manifold Pressure, 

Engine Load, and Throttle 

Position. It also performs 

the following trip functions: 

Max Speed, Avg Speed, Max 

Coolant Temp, Max RPM, 

Driving Time, Driving 

Distance, Fuel Used, Trip 

MPG, Tank MPG, Distance to 

Empty, Time to Empty, and 

Fuel to Empty.

Navigation… 

• I was never a fan of 

navigation aids until I 

started driving in 

Washington DC. Now I’m 

convinced they’re a great 

part of driving; if not to 

get you where you’re 

going, then to find things 

when away from a 

computer or the Yellow 

Pages. This is a Garmin 

nuvi 1300LMT.

Hidden Stuff… 

This is the equipment that’s hidden from sight: APRS position 

encoder, 300W voltage inverter, FT-90R “brain,” 200W subwoofer 

amp, ground block, fuse block, relay panel, and remote fuse box.

Where Did You Have the 

Electronics Work Done? 

• I installed all aftermarket electronics 

equipment myself at home. 

• I was once an electronics technician in the 

Coast Guard; so it was easy. 

• Besides, the best way to get exactly what you 

want is to do it yourself… 

• And save the money that could’ve been spent on 

a hack job for something else… like suspension 

and turbo upgrades! ;-)

Any Mechanical Mods?

Any Mechanical Mods? 

• Yes… But you 

wouldn’t know by 

looking… ;-)

Look, Ma… No Exhaust! 

• I performed a 

“mufflerectomy” by 

replacing the catback 

with a 2.5-inch 

straight pipe…

Look, Ma… No Exhaust! 

• I eventually went with 

a resonator so the car 

would pass visual 

inspections. It’s “just 

enough” to look like a 

muffler without 

inhibiting flow.

• I also added a set of 

PowerPlus 502 

Performance Injection 

Nozzles by Fratelli 

Bosio. 

New Injectors…

New Engine Programming… 

• Custom reprogramming 

transformed the TDI’s 

driving experience.


• My older TDI features a 

socketed ECU that makes 

switching programs a snap. 

• Testing various programs 

is easy, too.


• Chip tuning offers 

the most dramatic 

performance 

upgrade. With all 

mods combined, I 

last measured 136- 

hp and 263-lb/ft at 

the wheels. That’s 

50-whp and 105- 

lb/ft over stock.

• I installed a watermethanol 

injection 

system by Snow 

Performance. The 

purpose of injecting 

water into the intake 

is to reduce charged 

air intake 

temperatures to 

maintain power. 

Water Injection…

• In my case, I inject 

water-only since my 

SCCA class prohibits 

methanol injection. I 

also do not believe 

injecting methanol is 

healthy to a small 

diesel engine in the 

long run. 

Water Injection…

• Water injection is 

essentially “chemical 

intercooling.” This is 

attractive on my A3 

platform where 

installing a large 

FMIC requires cutting 

the front rebar 

(undesirable for 

handling and illegal 

for SCCA events). 

Water Injection…

• My final performance 

modification was the 

installation of an 

intake manifold from 

a European Passat PD- 

130. The gain/effect 

is small. But it’s good 

to know I have an 

improved part. ;-) 

European Intake…

Suspension Upgrade…

Suspension Upgrade… 

• I upgraded the 

suspension system 

with a Ground Control 

coilover system with 

adjustable height. 

• The kit features 

Bilstein HD struts and 

Eibach Spec springs 

(430#F/340#R).


• I maintained the oneinch 

drop given by my 

former Shine Racing 

Service (SRS) kit and 

kept the SRS rear 

swaybar. I like the 

way it hides in the 

torsion beam; and it 

works great!


• Handling is tight and 

precise; but not 

rough. The car is 

fairly neutral with a 

hint of oversteer at 

the limit (just the 

opposite of my SRS 

kit).

Smoking Tires = Lost Speed… 

• However, I put down 

more than enough 

torque to spin the 

inside wheel during 

aggressive cornering.

• So I installed a Peloquin 

torque-biasing 

differential during a 

Sachs VR6 clutch 

upgrade. 

Extra Traction!

• Now ALL torque goes 

to the ground! 

Extra Traction!

Miscellaneous Mods… 

• Since I travel a lot, I 

added a 1 1 / 4 ” hitch 

receiver.


• It’s very handy for 

carrying bulky items, 

excess cargo, 

bicycles…


• …and even towing an occasional load…


• Finally, I added a 

set of 15x7.5” 

ACT/Ronal LS alloy 

wheels. 

• I have two sets: one 

with 205/50R15 

(summer/street) and 

one with 225/45R15 

(autocross).

Anything Cosmetic? 

• My current plan is to leave the car’s external 

appearance basically stock. 

• This will make it an unlikely “sleeper” 

• and perhaps allow me to continue showing the 

car in mild show classes. 

• Besides, it’s what’s inside that counts.

Isn’t That What We’re 

Taught As Children?

VISIT 

at StealthTDI.com

My Stealth TDI - Scott's TDI Page

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