Table of contents for October 2020 in Performance VW

Performance VW|October 2020

BADLY DUBBED

COVER IMAGE: Sam Dobbins ISSUE: October 2020 EDITOR Elliott Roberts elliott.roberts@kelsey.co.uk CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Tony Saggu pvw.ed@kelsey.co.uk HEAD OF PERFORMANCE AD VERTISING Sarah ‘Churchy’ Halls sarah.halls@talkmediasales.co.uk PerformanceVWMagazine @pvw_mag pvw_mag What I’ve always loved about the modified VW scene is that, as serious as most of the cars are, the people behind the builds generally don’t take themselves or what they’re doing too seriously. Recently, though, a few people have moaned that the scene has become a bit serious, with a lot of the younger generation more interested in their Internet celebrity status or winning trophies, rather than having fun with their builds and making lifelong friendships. As a rule, we’ve always tried to follow the not-taking-yourself-too-seriously motto with the magazine. Who remembers some of the classic, themed, photo shoots we printed…

2 min

Performance VW|October 2020

SPARES OR REPAIR

For all except the most life-laundered among us, the biggest certainty of adulthood is a steadily-growing collection of the things we hang onto ‘just in case’. You know the stuff - that box under the stairs with the tangled Walkman headphones, a couple of old remote controls and a spare kettle plug, all patiently awaiting their second life. Factor in a few project cars along the way and ‘just in case’ can become a space-hungry habit, but occasionally it can also turn out to be a lifesaver. At 38, Chris Laing has the sort of back catalogue that justifies a box or two of spares in the garage. In the 20 years or so since he ditched the learner plates, he’s been through a respectable collection of engine-swapped Mk1 and…

10 min

Performance VW|October 2020

ORANGE BOOM!

The Volkswagen (well, VAG) scene can be a fickle thing. What’s seriously cool one month can become the next big thing in a matter of weeks. And that’s a good thing, it keeps people on their toes, and grafting to stay ahead of the curve. One thing that’s seen a surge in popularity over the last couple of years, and sees no sign of abating, is the abundance of track cars appearing at shows all over the world. We’re not talking stripped out £500 Mk3 GTIs with budget coilovers and a half-roll cage that Dave down the pub built in his shed. Oh no. We’re talking properly built, big budget, hardcore tarmac weapons. Race cars basically. Jake Edginton is someone that definitely doesn’t fall under the “building a track car…

10 min

Performance VW|October 2020

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1 min

Performance VW|October 2020

RELOADED

YEAR: 2009 ISSUE: JANUARY OWNER: ROB KEIGHTLEY WORDS: ELLIOTT ROBERTS PHOTOS: MATT BARNES Back in 2009 bagged MK1 Golfs were still a pretty rare thing, but that wasn’t the only stand-out part of this particular car. Rob Keightley, its owner and half of new tuning duo, TUK Customs, had basically taken a late, run-out 1983 Mk1 Campaign model and, heaven forbid, turned it visually into an early, small bumper model. Upsetting the Mk1 purists further, he even grafted in a Swallowtail rear panel to make the car look really old-skool. I guess it probably wasn’t quite as bad as the time our editor removed all the paint from his Campaign GTI, effectively letting the body turn to rust and writing the car off in the process. Anyway, being a master…

3 min

Performance VW|October 2020

SPECIALIST

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: 0845 338 1992 Email:…

9 min

Performance VW|October 2020

RACY LITTLE NUMBER

Anyone who has been riding the VW bus for any length of time wont need any convincing that when it come to a little mad marketing, the Wolfsburg boys are at the head of the line. While most motoring manufacturers throw out the occasional out of the box rendering, or perhaps craft up some crazy clay model creation to tease the Internet with, on the whole when it comes to the showroom stock its the same old yarnworthy offerings. A couple of spoilers and some signature floor mats, maybe even a sticker or three… it’s hardly pushing the boat out. Volkswagen though can always be relied on to shake up the status quo a touch, taking unexpected ideas from drawing board to driveway and taking bizarre to the bank. Dont…

10 min

Performance VW|October 2020

RACE FACE

When most people think of our feature cars, they picture heavily modified Golfs, or perhaps the odd Scirocco. Maybe a Passat thrown in for a bit of variety. Most of them have a good chunk of performance extras, some dustbin-lid sized turbos here, an intercooler the size of the Titanic there. We are called Performance Volkswagen, after all. But even if they’re not silly fast, they’ll usually have a spec list to embarrass that of any Saudi Rolls Royce owner or car collector. It’s rare that they’ll have a relatively short spec at the end of the feature, but the Beetle of Stafford-based Ollie Shelley laughs in the face of adding bits for the sake of it. Mainly because a fair chunk of the parts that he’s fitted are standard.…

8 min

Performance VW|October 2020

THE LONG GAME

Anybody can, within reason, buy themselves a Mk4 Golf R32. The only real obstacle here is money – you’ve either got enough or you haven’t. But setting aside that (admittedly quite pivotal) element of the equation for a moment, Mk4 R32s are not some ultra-rare natural resource or semimythical creature which must be tracked down or cannily ensnared. It’s simply a case of wandering into a dealership, whacking a fat wad of notes on the counter and saying ‘Afternoon, chief. I’ll have the blue one please’. But where’s the fun in that? As stellar a machine as it may be in stock form, something of the cachet is lost if you’re driving something that anybody can get hold of. Where’s the uniqueness, the specialness? Some people, quite simply, crave a…

8 min

Performance VW|October 2020

RCARS

#TEAMPVW Elliott Roberts @elliottdukeroberts Nick Williams @nwvt Daniel Bevis @denialvibes Tony Taylor @teaceeltd Tony Saggu @tonys18t Jape Tiitinen @jap3 Jamie Orr @xjamiexoe Alex Grant Elliott Roberts – Editor PROJECT: GREY PRIDE 90_Golf Rallye Started: Oct 10, 2007 Comments: I'm not one to put pressure on, I just want to hear it's still safe and well. lolz Elliott Roberts – Editor PROJECT: SOCCER MOM 09_Q5 3.0 TDI Started: Apr 10, 2017 Comments: Nothing to report on this month. The beast is still ploughing on like a trooper… Alex Grant – Contributor PROJECT: NEVER READY 91_Polo GT-G40 Started: Mar 10, 2000 Comments: Hang on a minute. The Polo is not only out, but it's shining, too. Update soon? Nick Williams – Photographer PROJECT: ROXY 11_VW T5.1 Kombi DSG Started: Jul 31, 2015…

1 min

Performance VW|October 2020

REWIND

1 YEAR AGO OCTOBER 2019 Talk about an issue! One year ago we featured a pair of Mad Max-inspired Corrados in Paul Bird’s G60 and Ryan Hatcher’s TDI example. The awesomeness continued with Matt Perkins’s bagged Audi 80 running an S2 motor, Don Santora’s wide-arched Mk5 GTI and Lewis Mewse’s turbocharged 4Motion sleeper. Inside, we also had a show report from Gravity, covered Jamie Orr’s European road trip and looked at the tech behind fitting air ride! 5 YEARS AGO OCTOBER 2015 It’s not often a Polo gets the cover but when it’s as good as Ben Reader’s big turbo 20v, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. Inside, we bagged a 760bhp Mk5 GTI from Greece, as well as TJ Carrol’s splendid Mk2 Jetta, George Taylor’s classic Derby and…

2 min

Performance VW|October 2020

INTRODUCING WHAT'S NEW

KW VARIANT COILOVERS MK8 GOLF KW automotive has just finished developing its Variant 1, Variant 2, and Variant 3 coilover suspension kits for the new VW Golf 8. All three coilover kits are made in Germany using stainless steel bodies and offer up to 60 millimetres of height reduction. Where the three products, available through the company’s Street Performance product range, differ is in the damper technologies used. While the Variant 1 has no tuneable shocks and only features adjustable platforms, the Variant 2 also allows the rebound damping to be adjusted with 16 clicks, while the Variant 3 additionally features separate adjustment of the rebound with 16 clicks and compression forces with 12 clicks. The KW coilover suspension kits for the new VW Golf 8 are available now and…

7 min

Performance VW|October 2020

THE GLORY DAYS

In a show calendar which, until this year, was literally awash with various VW events, there’s one that stands head and shoulders above all others for its substantial effect on the performance VW and Audi scene here in the UK. It’s GTI International, of course, the event more commonly known as ‘Inters’, that became a lynchpin of the VW scene throughout its 30-year history, up until its sad demise in 2018. 1988 - KNEBWORTH Founded in 1988 it grew out of the VW Action event which had been the grand finale to the show season for a great many years, dating back to 1976. Based at Stoneleigh Park for much of its history, VW Action was the mainstay of the VW scene but, established mostly with the air-cooled VWs, it…

11 min

Performance VW|October 2020

READERS’RIDES

TIM VENABLE AGE: 44 LOCATION: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA MODEL: 2004 Mk4 VW R32 PURCHASED: I fell in love with the exhaust note of my sister-in-law’s Mk4 R32, so found one in Ohio. I flew to Ohio, bought the car, and drove back to Louisiana all in one day. That was in 2009 FIRST MOD: The exhaust mod where you pull the vacuum line off and it allows the exhaust to open up in loud mode constantly. Was a smile generator mod FAVOURITE MOD: The Radium Engineering fuel system. Hearing the fuel pumps running inside gives me a better race car type experience. I like the VW platform, especially the MK4 R32 because its different and unique. I can pull into a Cars and Coffee and get just as much…

5 min

Performance VW|October 2020

RCARS THREE'S COMPANY

Hey, Jape here. I live in eastern Finland in a town called Kuopio. I’ve been shooting for PVW for several years now and this is my fleet of Audis. I had looked for a B7 RS4 for years before I eventually bought one at the start of 2020. I found a nice example owned by a fellow enthusiast whose cars I had been shooting for magazines previously. It was an easy decision for me to buy a car from him as I knew he looked after his rides. Then the Covid-19 pandemic erupted shortly after, but I still managed to get some bits done to the car before lockdown. The very next day I collected the car I took it to Martelius Exhaust to have a full custom valved system…

5 min

Performance VW|October 2020

TALK THE TALK

JOHN 'BEE' BOER AGE: 40 OCCUPATION: Quality inspector in the Automotive sectors JOB TITLE: Inspector Designation & Surveillance LOCATION: Zoetermeer, Holland Fun-loving Dutchman with a life-long love and appreciation of VWs and the people that own them Favourite issue of PVW? Mk3 Madness (PVW 10/99). Favourite PVW feature car? Marco Haeger’s Golf Mk1 (PVW 2/99 and 2/04), I even bought 16” Ronal Turbos because of that car and yes, I know his were 15”! Can’t wait for the new owner to bring it out with it’s new look (It’s nearly ready – Ed). Worst modded VW you’ve ever seen? A Mk3 with fluffy carpet on the outside. However, each to their own. Favourite car you’ve been involved with? Difficult one that. It’s between my mate Martijn, with his Mk2 G60,…

2 min