I'm sold on the Gates Racing kevlar belts, seems like cheap insurance for $30-40 extra.
Part of the reason I run a Gates racing belt with the manual tensioner (dynamics of the belt). I'm a good 30K miles deep with this set up and the belt hasn't needed a single adjustment. I trust it just fine.
It's a great belt. Do it. As to noise, it's no more noiser than stock (aka not much noise at all)
So, a bit more longevity that actually holds up to the OE change interval with the conti belts is a plus.
Well guys.... Heres a little update. It was a bad water pump. Real bad. The car just rolled over on 145k. The original owner never had the original timing belt and water pump replaced. After taking everything apart, I realized how lucky I was that the pump was the only thing to go. The belt was severely cracking.
It is still a really great product that will last longer than an ordinary belt.
Never heard of them before, but I just installed a Gates Racing (blue) timing belt on my 2.8L Passat.
Mine goes naked, too. I got the fancy replacement kit from a vendor that supplied a pretty blue Gates belt. After I got it all together and running for a while I read of the horrors of Gates belts and the carnage that comes with failure. So, it goes naked and gets a look over each time the hood is open. That my reasoning.
I've had some problems with Gates for timing belts. I've had 2 instances when the timing belt was making noise after installing it, hard noise to describe, basically the belt being very hard. Threw on an OEM belt and it was fine.
Bumping this necro-thread to add my review for anyone searching the archives. Bought the ultimate plus with Gates belt kit. Car started rattling like a diesel last night. Quick inspection shows a loose timing belt, hydraulic fluid everywhere and a dead tensioner. Total mileage since install 28,225 and less than two years (21 months). I was lucky to have caught it before it jumped teeth and pistons met valve train. Just wanted to caution people to pay attention to the warning signs. If your car sounds like a diesel or a spray bomb being shaken, take a quick look under the timing belt cover and replace what you need to before driving any further...
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