"On most vehicles the oil filter usually is in a position where when it is
removed no oil will drain except from the filter itself depending on its
mounting position.  As most VW filters mount vertical there usually is very
little spillage if carefully removed."

On my '96 Passat VR6, you remove the hex bolt in the middle of the
vertically mounted oil filter to drain the oil, then remove the filter.
Otherwise, you get 5 quarts of oil in your face when removing the filter
first.

bob

I put Mobil 1 Syn 15/50 in my '91 Westy 2 w/d at 110K mi. and the
improvement was astounding. No leakage or other negative consequences. Also
put Redline 75/90 in the auto tranny at the same time and that made a huge
difference in smoothness/crispness, especially in cold winter.