Earlier this week, Mario shared the story of Rywire’s accomplished EV-powered Honda Civic project, which is currently making its public debut at SEMA 2024 in Las Vegas, on the CSF booth. In that post, Mario talked in regards to the sheer variety of Civics featured on Speedhunters since 2008 – over 200 in total – and highlighted the incredible diversity of those builds. Rywire’s twin-electric-engine, all-wheel-drive EK is an ideal example of the innovation we’ve seen.
This got us fascinated by other platforms which have shaped our feature automobile content over time – just like the Nissan Skyline GT-R, the Toyota Corolla AE86, and, after all, the Volkswagen Golf in all its forms. Unsurprisingly, the variety of Golf-related stories on Speedhunters is comparable to that of the Civics, with the identical diversity being a key think about many of the builds. For this week’s throwback post, we’re revisiting one in all those Golf builds – a wild Gatebil-spec creation from 2014 that also stands out in our memory – for all the appropriate reasons.
2014 Feature
Evolution is a funny thing. I’m referring to the method meaning we’re all consistently evolving and modifying ourselves and our environments to higher suit us. The unswerving need for every thing to be higher is what makes us human. It’s what made us walk upright and work out find out how to harness electricity. But when that spirit is satisfied, comfortable even, it will possibly mutate and run a bit wild with some pretty spectacular and unpredictable results at that. Like a 4WD Mk3 Golf with over 550hp on the wheels, Advan wheels, and roof-mounted air intakes… And yes, I did just use the invention of electricity in relation to a modified ’92 Volkswagen.
The best way we discover feature cars has evolved over time, and there at the moment are so many various methods – at shows, on social media, people email us, or we simply stumble across them on the street (yes, really!). On very rare occasions, it happens prefer it did after we found Stefan Behrendtz’s Golf. As you will likely know by now, we love Gatebil events for the sheer variety and the ‘what the hell is that?’ creations we come across.
It could have been easy to miss this Mk3 Golf amongst the pits and wild builds. But after a couple of days at Mantorp Park in Sweden earlier within the yr, Larry, Rod, and I had all asked one another too again and again if we’d seen that Golf. On target, it was fast, really fast, and all of the signs were there – from the impressive amount of traction to what gave the impression to be rear-mounted radiators.
Then, there have been the purposeful arches and 17-inch Advan RG wheels. The eclectic feel of the VW meant there was more below the surface that we wanted to seek out out about, too. These mutant builds, put together by creators with little look after the ‘right’ wheels on the ‘right’ automobile, are those I really like probably the most. They’re indulgent and built for reasons of pure purpose.
You’ve got to be pretty committed to the cause, too, because although VW did construct an AWD Mk3 Golf (called a Syncro), it was never designed or intended for this form of abuse. So already you may be pondering, why start here?
I can see a load of reasons. For a start, the Golf platform is massively popular, which suggests everyone has a memory or an attachment of some sort. Plus, there are a great deal of them on the market, so picking up a base isn’t going to be an issue. Who knows? Not Stefan, because he bought it looking loads like this in late 2013. Actually, Mantorp Park was its first proper outing after he’d undergone it and made his own modifications.
What led Stefan to own this Golf sounds funny when he explains it. He says that after constructing a fairly kick-ass, five-cylinder turbo Volvo 740 – complete with a complete bunch of race parts fitted – he decided to stop twiddling with cars in the summertime of 2013 and sell up. That’s not the funny bit, obviously, no, the amusing thing is having ‘given all of it up,’ he then bought a BMW E46 M3. Giving it up… Really? That’s never going to last!
But he didn’t get on with the BMW, so he sold that after only 4 weeks. So we’ve gone boosted, heavily modified RWD four-door saloon, legendary naturally aspirated sports coupe, after which in December 2013, he spotted this Golf on the market. All-wheel drive, turbo hot hatch – it’s like he was completing the set. Stefan remembered that it was all he could speak about when anybody would listen. A viewing was arranged – he needed to make it his.
Pocket Explosives
I can’t imagine what it will need to have been wish to take a test drive in Sweden in December in a Golf with a dyno-proven 568whp. Sure, it’s 4WD, but in my book, that just means all 4 wheels are going to be spinning once you leave the road/track as an alternative of two. Stefan was completely convinced and knew after a 10-minute passenger ride he was sold on it.
So what had he bought? A mixture of bastardised and specialised hardware brought together to create a whole weapon of a Golf. There was some work to be done under the skin, with a brand new fuel system, cooling system, ECU, and other changes made.
VW’s VR6 six-cylinder engine has sort of been eclipsed in recent times by the smaller, four-cylinder turbo lumps from inside the Volkswagen Audi Group. However the 2.8L and later 2.9L engines love the boost.
One other change Stefan made was to upgrade to the Precision Turbo 6266, which is mounted in the back of the engine bay, just because there wouldn’t have been enough space to have it any lower. The intercooler sits on the front, but even with the remainder of the cooling system within the rear and the bulkhead having been persuaded to provide a bit more room, it’s still a good squeeze.
As I discussed, one in all the things that had caught our eye was the mesh lower half of the tailgate. Here, the license plate recess and surrounding metal have been completely removed to permit airflow to flee the 2 radiators.
The air is available in through these rooftop vents, that are cunningly hidden away under the roof line profile yet still provide enough air to maintain every thing cool.
It then travels down right into a sealed box through these large-diameter flexi tubes. Rearward vision is basically unnecessary in something as powerful because the Golf, so who needs an interior mirror anyway? The grey tube to the left is for the fuel filler, because the tank can also be buried in there. The box serves two purposes – one is to contain all that fresh air and be sure it gets to the appropriate place, and the second is for safety in case the radiator bursts.
There are more air intakes on either side of the body, again recessed with no intake scoops to spoil the slippery lines of the Golf. At first, I wondered how effective they’d be – my limited knowledge of aero questioning whether there could be some form of vortex in the doorway – however the airflow is clearly enough to maintain this thing cool.
Then, ultimately, the air could be sucked through the large radiator. I’m guessing having this extra weight over the backend helps with distribution across the platform, because the VR6 engine and turbo aren’t any lightweights up front. Nevertheless, there’s also the trick 4WD system helping to even things out as well.
Handled
While you look closer on the Golf shell it actually appears to be a fairly good place to begin a project like this, as the inside is basically one large box so that you can create a great working environment inside. Here you possibly can see how the seating positions have been pushed back to once more help with the burden distribution. You too can see how far the steering column has been prolonged.
With the entire dashboard and bulkhead area having been stripped back, a floor-mounted pedal box has been installed. This form of dedicated hardware means you possibly can depend on it to perform when thrashing around a track. Because in the warmth of the moment you don’t really need a pedal snapping as you stamp on it.
As you’d expect it’s strictly business in here, and unless you actually know your VWs you’d never actually guess this was a Golf. You may see the gear indicator display at the bottom of the screen, and the clip on the dash pod in front of the driving force is designed to carry a tablet, which has a virtual dash display and is fed by the MAXX engine management system. Although, since these pictures were taken Stefan has picked up SYVECS S6 ECU to interchange it, because the latter has some cool added functions he desires to try.
An original VW Syncro system wouldn’t be as much as handling the facility figures the VR6 is capable of manufacturing now. Originally Stefan was running an O2J gearbox modified with parts from SQS Racing within the Czech Replubic, and even though it was a 6-speed dogbox it’s got that trick sequential gear shift mounted to it. Unfortunately every week or two after this shoot – again at Mantorp Park – the ‘box went bang. Something in regards to the power being an excessive amount of for the 02J! So now there’s an 02M transmission being fitted through the winter months.
There at the moment are also Peloquin front and rear differentials all the best way from Athens, Georgia, within the US, with a Golf 4MOTION final drive and SQS Racing heavy-duty driveshafts. So it’s an actual international line-up which has come together to make all of it work. The Haldex ECU has been deleted and replaced with an SQS solenoid which is adjustable.
This implies Stefan can pick from anywhere between an ideal 50/50 power delivery split to 70/30 front-to-rear. Although he can’t go greater than 50 per cent on the back.
Brembo 4-piston calipers have been adapted to suit on the rear and K-Sport 8-piston calipers do the job on the front. I didn’t get an all-up weight from Stefan, but having seen him in motion they do the job of slowing him down just perfectly.
Stefan’s Golf is a direct representation of the components that went in to creating it. In case you take them one-by-one all of them do their job perfectly well – and we’ve all heard names like Advan, Precision Turbo, Sparco and Brembo before. But then mixed in with them there some not so easily recognised. Put the lot together though and you possibly can see how my theory of evolution works.
So it’s a Frankenstein mixture of parts, barely battle worn and a renegade within the pits. But there’s one element which sums this construct up higher than every other for me – the attitude it took to construct it. See that sticker that claims ‘FULL PUNG’? Pung is Swedish slang for ‘balls’. That’s a motto for all times right there!
The Speedhunters
Instagram: thespeedhunters
Bryn Musselwhite
Instagram: shoottheproducer
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
