Ellis Gerstein is the owner of a 2015 dark blue Volkswagen TDI GTD purchased from Roy’s Auto in Eureka. The reason this car has been chosen is because there is a lot more than the naked eye can see, GTD, meaning Grand Turismo Diesel is a higher trim that gives you upgraded suspension, more torque, more horsepower and better brakes.
To the average person, it is just your run of the mill, little Volkswagen family car. But to an enthusiast’s eye, it is a unique, well engineered piece of art. This 3,100 lb machine is fitted with a 2.0 liter inline four turbo diesel engine, the EA288.
These specific TDI’s are usually only sold in Europe, so to see it roaming the streets of Arcata sure is a sight. A stock GTD puts down a whopping 181 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels, but Gerstein quickly got bored of that. Recently, he took his car to German Motors in Eureka and had them install an APR stage 1 ECU tune, essentially all the mechanic has to do is plug in a laptop to the car’s ECU and re-map the computer in the car. With a few button clicks it adds about 30hp and 54 lb-ft of torque.
When asked if he’s the fastest in the parking lot he confidently responded with “Yeah, i’m smoking anyone here”. Who wants to line it up?
He also believes he gets the best gas mileage at the school, with an average of 38 miles per gallon, while making about 210 hp.
Though Gerstein doesn’t just drive himself around, he likes to have his passenger princess with him at almost all times. “Griffin Roden’’. Gerstein said, “Great Guy”
Roden is grateful to always have a reliable ride to get him from point A to point B. “Maybe not the safest ride, but a reliable one,” said Roden. He rates Gerstein a 7.8/10 on the driver scale.