Never heard of them before, but I just installed a Gates Racing (blue) timing belt on my 2.8L Passat.
Well to clarify. I just bought a belt from the dealer and it is a gates. So if your belt looks pretty beat up then its stock. I would change it asap as others sugested. Its cheaper in the long run.
They haven't been out long enough to give concrete evidence. I will say that RAI's clearly reselling a belt made elsewhere so who knows what you're getting and Gates has a long track record for selling pretty tough belts.
All done! Timing belt, TB tensioner, idler, water pump and expansion tank are changed and coolant flushed. I forgot to do thermostat, but it was not necessity but rather preventive.
Just changed mine on saturday.. Car has 65k , although the tensioner and rollers seemed prefectly fine i could tell the belt was stretched.. Car runs smoother/ quieter after install and i have peace of mind that it will last another 65k.
I'm using a 16V crank sprocket, 9A 16V intermediate shaft and sprocket, oil pump drive and oil pump, Gates T226 timing belt (155 teeth) and a tensioner pulley from a 2.4 Mitsu Galant.
I installed a VW oem belt made by Gates in Germany without having to pry the belt on. The Gates belt seemed to have a little more "give" than the Contitech belt.
The timing belt is a Gates unit.........came in a kit with the tensioner, cam seal, and an intermediate shaft seal. I really like the answer that my belt is fine, and fuzzy is ok......I mean, it'll bug me still, but it's nice to know I didn't screw something up while doing a little maintenance.
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