Last week, the fine folks at Volkswagen invited me to San Francisco to check out their cool, new ride—the 2010 VW GTI. So I did just that, and a whole lot more. Here is my account.



I arrived in my hotel room to a wondrous site. VW hooked me up with best gift ever—the key to the mini-bar! Oh, and also an iPod Touch loaded with their amazing Real Racing GTI iPhone/Touch app.

 

 


Later we went to dinner at a place where the chefs wore super-cool bandanas. TIP: If you go there, do not get drunk and tell them how much you enjoyed them in The Karate Kid.

 

 

 


The next morning I was greeted by a VW rep who hands me the keys to their new GTI, which looked something like this. And yes, it does kick ass.

 

 

Here I am taking a picture on the Golden Gate Bridge while driving the GTI. If you look carefully, you can hear the screams of my videographer in the passenger seat yelling, "Put your damn hands back on the wheel!"

 


On a winding road atop a hill, high above the city, I stopped to capture this beautiful shot.

 

 

 

On a winding road at the bottom of a hill, I stopped to capture this beautiful shot. My car-sick videographer. My bad.

 



At a former military base, VW set up a road course complete with racing instructors who displayed the car's amazing stability, incredible cornering and pushed the 2.0 liter, 200 horsepower, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine to its absolute limit. It was just like being in Fast & Furious. Well, if there was a scene where Paul Walker kept screaming, "Slow down, you're scaring the crap out of me!"

 


Then it was my turn behind the wheel. Here's my racing instructor. His voice said, "Oh yeah, that, uh, wasn't too bad," but his face said something else.





After racing, we went to lunch, where they served traditional Peruvian whipped potato...and daikon...and yucca...and 22 other items I've never heard of.

 




Following lunch, VW sent us to DJ School, where I dazzled the instructor with my under-the-leg/ripping-the-crotch-of-my-pants scratching technique. The secret? Lots of Red Bull.

 

 

Returning to the room I discovered THIS resting on a shelf just above the toilet. It's a personal oxygen mask and costs nearly $70. Apparently the VW reps did an extensive background check on me.

 

 


Later we went to a dance club to enjoy some San Francisco nightlife. Originally I took this picture because I was stunned to see that the girl seated was knitting at a dance club. But upon further inspection, that may not have been the weirdest thing in this shot.

 

 

 


Following a night of dancing with a really hot chick in purple pants and some kick-ass white boots, I chilled out with some classic bowling back at the hotel. Thanks VW.