Sommaire pour May 2021 de Performance VW

Performance VW|May 2021

BADLY DUBBED

What did you want to do for a career when you were at school? I think my biggest problem was that I really didn’t have a clue. I wish I had done, it would certainly have made my life a bit easier on leaving school. I get asked a lot what does it take to contribute to a magazine like Performance VW. Well, funny enough, I’ve never once checked a freelancer’s qualifications when I’ve accepted a set of photos from them or commissioned a story to be written. Usually, I’ll just take a look at somebody’s previous work and go from there. And who am I to judge? I certainly don’t have anything on paper in terms of qualifications, other than perhaps the 20 year’s-worth of dribble I’ve plastered over…

1 min

Performance VW|May 2021

IT’S ONLY A BORA, MATE!

As the Precision turbo really comes on song and the 7800rpm two step limiter kicks in there’s a series of almighty explosions inside the central London tunnel that absolutely scares the crap out of Thursday night revellers who happen to be wandering around Shoreditch. It’s relaxed Covid lockdown times (tier 2) towards the tail end of 2020, but this Bora is definitely sick. It doesn’t even need to go for a test centre - a drunken passer-by has just confirmed it. Not everyone understands why we’re taking photos of what on the surface, to many at least, appears to be a fairly humdrum looking VW family wagen. “Give it a rev mister,” and “What’s so special about that,” We hear on more than a few occasions. Little do they know…

9 min

Performance VW|May 2021

LAYER CAKE

Building a Mk2 Golf project is much like baking a cake. You shouldn’t take this literally, obviously – don’t smear your car with chocolate frosting and try to take a bite, you’ll really mess up your teeth. No, the point is that there’s an established set of ingredients that make up the basic formula, and yet a subtle tweak to each of the individual elements can lead to markedly different results. Stir in a few unexpected ingredients and you end up with something truly noteworthy, like dropping a few chilli flakes or a grating of ginger into your Victoria sponge. Experimentation and finesse result in unique concoctions. The two Golfs we have here make the point rather well. Both are three-doors built in the same year, both left the factory…

9 min

Performance VW|May 2021

READERS’RIDES

JULIA ROMBERGER @g0ddess0fdawn AGE: 26 LOCATION: Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania USA MODEL: 2009 VW Eos (also previously a 2015 Tiggy R-Line daily recently swapped for a Porsche Macan GTS (both pictured to the right) PURCHASED: 2012 FIRST MOD: Full body paint in Rising Blue metallic FAVOURITE MOD: The interior swap (last part completed with my boo) SPENT: Stopped counting after $20k (started to feel bad) FUTURE PLANS: Engine/trans swap. Undecided on what but leaning towards either a V6 or something similar to a TT-RS engine DUB DETAILS Just want to start off by saying you’re the first magazine I’ve ever subscribed to.. Love you guys! What I really wanted a chance to tell you about is my beloved 2009 EOS which was my daily for many years before it became my ‘sentimental…

4 min

Performance VW|May 2021

SHAFTED

If there’s one particular area of this Honda K20 swap malarkey that I’ve been asked about a lot it’s the driveshafts, oh.. and the engine mounts. Now, not being able to weld to a high enough standard to carry out any kind of useful structural fabrication myself the engine mounts were knocked up by Harv over the course of a weekend at his old unit at HR Engineering. The driveshafts, on the other hand, are set to take on a whole other level of complication to guarantee that they withstand the test of time. First things first, I had the original VW Mk1 Cabrio 100mm driveshafts that were connected to the 02a ‘box that came out of the car when the valver was onboard, and also the OE Honda shafts…

4 min

Performance VW|May 2021

SPECIA LIST

AMD TUNING Unit 6, Cliffside Trade Park, Motherwell Way, West Thurrock, Essex, RM20 3LE Tel: 01708 861827 Web: www.amdessex.com VAG tuner, performance parts, styling, fitting, servicing, rolling road, software specialist APR MOTORSPORT Awesome GTI, Unit 1 Siemens Road, Manchester, M44 5AH Tel: 0333 240 6823 Web: www.goapr.co.uk VW Group OE supplier and motorsport company that develops and distributes VAG and Porsche ECU upgrades for petrol and diesel engines. Turbo, exhaust, intercooler, brake and fuel pump upgrades through its UK European HQ AT AUTOMOTIVE Northcott Road, Netherton, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 9PR Tel: 01384 243004 Web: www.atautomotive.co.uk Servicing and repairs. Audi specialist AUTOGLYM Letchworth, Herts Tel: 0845 130 4536 Web: www.autoglym.com Car cleaning products, car care products, car valeting, car detailing AUTOLOGIC Autologic House, London Road, Wheatley, Oxon, OX33 1JH Tel:…

9 min

Performance VW|May 2021

CARBON FOOTPRINT

Jay McCluskey is no stranger to a modified car. The 34 year-old Blackpool-based Rope Access Inspector (your guess is as good as mine – Ed) has owned a string of impressive motors over the years. Whilst many made do with a family hand-me-down to start their automotive career, Jay was sharp out the blocks with a fast Ford: “I had my Mk5 Escort RS2000 when I was 19. It had 19” TSW multi-spokes, full interior re-trim with custom stitching and Morette twin headlights”. Munich was next on centre court including a Performance BMW featured E36 318is and an E46 M3 on Work split rims. Wolfsburg metal came from a mixture of circumstance and sibling influence: “It was my brother, Nick that got me into VWs. I purchased this 1983 Mk1…

9 min

Performance VW|May 2021

LOCKDOWN LOADED

Perspective is a tricky thing, isn’t it? We spend our whole lives honing and refining our view of the world, perfecting our cognitive powers in order to uniquely analyse and interpret the goings-on around us, but it only takes one shift in reality to totally throw off all of our reference points. Take a look at the Mk2 Golf you see spread across these pages: if this car had been appearing here back in, say, 2019, we’d have been all set to regale you with tales of how the 16v GTI has always been a strong base for extreme mods, but this example proves that it was so good to start with that it only requires some well-chosen chassis tweaks to turn it into the archetypal modern classic. But we…

10 min

Performance VW|May 2021

FAMILY FIRST

For better or worse, most of us will look back on the last 12 months for its unexpected overdose of family time. In a world of shuttered normality, home working and restricted social circles, mutual sanity has relied on finding common ground; discovering new distractions in baking, building and boxsets. Or, for Clive and Glenn Cutajar, furthering a common love of extreme engine builds and record-breaking drag cars. “Our father, Stephen, owned a small workshop next to our house and we practically grew up there,” Clive tells us. “My obsession with tuning Volkswagen cars started with me helping him with a turbocharger conversion on an AAA [2.8-litre] VR6. In 2012 I became a full-time mechanic, and we set up our own shop – Stephen’s Motorsport. My brother Glenn joined the…

13 min

Performance VW|May 2021

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1 min

Performance VW|May 2021

RELOADED

It takes something (or someone) really special to do something unique to a Mk2 these days, something that hasn’t been seen or done before. Thankfully, Grant Fearby of Unit 21 fame, has built a bit of a reputation for doing just that over the years, not that he really likes to talk about it. Veteran’s will no doubt remember Grant’s ‘Brown Cow’ Mk2 from the early 2000s, which was way ahead of its time, with widened metal arches, a totally smooth bay and chromed 8v on twin carbs. Unit 21 had gained inspiration from some of the top European cars and then taken them on at their own game… and in our minds, won! But we’re not here to talk about the brown car (we’re hoping to feature the car…

4 min

Performance VW|May 2021

INTRO DUCING

WAGNER TUNING CARBON GEN3 AIR INTAKE Wagner Tuning has just released its carbon fibre air intake for the Gen3 2.0TSI engine found in the 8V Audi A3 and S3, plus the Mk7 Golf GTI and R models, the Octavia RS (13-18) and SEAT Leon Cupra (14-19). The WagnerTuning Air-Intake-System is a direct replacement for the factory system (small adjustment needed on SEAT application) removing all the OEM bottlenecks. With complex 3D flow simulations, the carbon air inlet system has been optimised for the best possible flow properties in order to generate maximum performance in combination with a unique intake noise. This kit also includes a specially developed sports air filter for maximum filtering effect and is said to offer mass air flow improvements of 50% over OEM. Need we say…

8 min

Performance VW|May 2021

New for 2021 WHEELS ON FIRE

ROTIFORM Never a brand to stand still, California-based Rotiform continue to drop new cast, forged and multi-piece wheels at an alarming rate. So much so, that we struggle to keep up. Here are just a few of their latest offerings, but head over to their website for a full list… CONTACT: www.rotiform.com KB1 Motorsport-look multi-fit cast wheel with a simple six-spoke design and vented outer section PRICE: £332.40 SIZES: 8.5x19 PCD: 5x112/114.3 & 5x120/108 OFF-SET: ET35, 40, 42, 45 TUF-R This 14-spoke cast wheel has more than a hint of supercar about it. Hot damn! PRICE: TBC SIZES: 8.5x18”. 9.5x18”, 8.5x19”. 9.5x19”. 8.5x20”, 10x20” PCD: 5x112/114.3 & 5x120/108 OFF-SET: ET25, 35, 38, 45 SGN Twenty-spoke cast wheel with more than a hint of new-wave DTM racer to it PRICE: TBC…

5 min

Performance VW|May 2021

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

ALEX GRANT AGE: 38 LOCATION: Cardiff, Wales, UK OCCUPATION: Freelance Motoring Journalist FIRST CAR: ’91 Polo GT Coupe CURRENT CAR(S): ’91 Polo GT-G40 and ’19 Citroën C4 SpaceTourer WORST CAR OWNED: ’02 Passat 20v DREAM CAR: Audi Sport Quattro Performance VW: Is writing your full-time job, or just something you do for fun and a bit of extra cash on the side? Alex Grant: I’ve been a fulltime journalist since 2007 – mostly motoring, but with some aviation, maritime and HGVs thrown in. PVW: When and how did you get into writing in the first place? Did you study, or blag it? AG: I did a nine-month postgraduate course in magazine production at Cardiff University about 15 years ago. We launched our own modified car magazine, and it was a…

5 min

Performance VW|May 2021

RCARS

Elliott Roberts – Editor PROJECT: GREY PRIDE 90_Golf Rallye Started: Oct 10, 2007 Comments: Yep, he’s got the G-Lader, just needs to find the Golf Rallye to go with it… Mike Kippen – Photographer Project: ROXY 97_Mk3 Golf GLS Cabriolet Started: Aug, 2019 Coxxents: This month we introduce Mike and his wife, Sarah’s Mk3 Cabby. Full intro next month Jape Tiitinen – Contributor PROJECT: ALL OF THE AVANTS Started: Which one? Comments: Jape’s still up to his neck in snow. That hasn't stopped him being a wheeler dealer, though Elliott Roberts – Editor PROJECT: SOCCER MOM 09_Q5 3.0 TDI Started: Apr 10, 2017 Comments: Number-plate envy in full effect. Ell’s B16 PVW got royally trumped by 1 PVW! Tony Taylor – Sub Editor PROJECT: SIX PARTY 06_A6 3.0 V6 TDI…

1 min

Performance VW|May 2021

REWIND

1 YEAR AGO MAY 2020 It’s a whole year since JP Performance’s 1000bhp hightech Mk7 stole cover. It would later go on to win 2020’s Car of the Year! Also inside we tested M52’s 370bhp Mk7 Golf GTI, and featured a rear-drive BMW M3-powered Mk1 van, a 426bhp SEAT Leon and Jon Hanna’s R32 Mk2 from across the pond. We also managed to get to a show (Ultimate Dubs) just before the country went into lockdown! 5 YEARS AGO MAY 2016 This was an issue that we’re all particularly proud of. Not only did we pack the issue full of some of the greatest motorsport or race-themed cars around including Karl Schagerl’s Rally hillclimb car, Danny Appleton’s 600bhp Audi BTCC recreation and an 850bhp 1.8T DSG Mk1 drag racer. We…

2 min

Performance VW|May 2021

TALK THE TALK

ARIN AHNELL AGE: 38 OCCUPATION: Marketing JOB TITLE: APR Brand and Product Manager LOCATION: Auburn, Alabama, USA Straight-talking PR dude who is a genuine VW enthusiast! What got you into VWs in the first place? My dad had a Mk1 Rabbit when I was born, and I loved that little car. When I first got a VW of my own, the scene opened up to me. PVW Magazine, VWvortex, H2Oi, Waterfest, tons of local events in the north east USA - I became an enthusiast instantly. What’s your favourite issue of PVW? Easy: January 2019. Not only did my photos of the APR RLMS make it into this one, I got the cover! This was literally a dream come true. I’ve loved this mag since I first picked one up…

4 min