Table of contents for February 2024 in Performance VW

They say variety is the spice of life and you know what, I think that’s perhaps the key to PVW’s success. Don’t worry, I’m not going to sit here blowing our own trumpet, but for a print mag to survive in this day and age isn’t purely a fluke. Scanning through this issue it dawned on me just how ‘eclectic’ the vehicles inside are and that’s not just a one off - it’s the same every month. Where do we start… This month’s main cover car is none other than VW Sport’s legendary all-wheel-drive, turbocharged Zonker - a concept built on VW’s own production line, that saw the car also wind up at VW Motorsport’s own facility for a number of upgrades, before it was shipped to the States where…

The iconic Mk2 ‘Zonker’ is something of a cult creation on the water-cooled VW scene. An official prototype built by VW Sport, back in 1987 the car featured all-wheel drive and ABS way before its time. The three-door GTI was actually built on the assembly line at VW AG’s advanced Halle 54 production line in Wolfsburg. With its allwheel drive, ABS and forced-induction (which we’ll get to soon) the car was effectively the forerunner to VWs Rallye Golf. After being built, the Zonker was sent to VW Motorsports’s fact in Hanover for a high performance 16v engine, along with close-ratio five-speed ’box and even a catalytic converter for the car was soon to be destined to US shores. When it landed Stateside, the real fun was just about to begin.…

Most of us have somebody we can point the finger at to blame for our obsession with Volkswagens and the subsequent vacuum of money in the bank. For Jordan Emery, owner of this super clean 2015 T5.1, it’s his Uncle Bretty. “Yeah, it’s totally his fault,” laughs Jordan. “He got me into the scene as he’s always been into air-cooled owning Splits, Bays and Beetles, even though he’s a T5 man now. Growing up we were forever going to Cornwall on holiday. The number of vans you see around there is crazy! He took me to quite a few VW shows and when I was 17, I just knew I had to get a van.” Jordan’s first foray was a diesel T3 (Type 25) from 1985. “Most of my mates…

No sponsors, no awards, no trade stands, no stage and no worries. The Water Days event, held in Nagana Prefecture in the centre of Japan, reminds us of the UK’s modified water-cooled scene from 30 years ago, before things got way out of hand over here. Anybody old enough to remember ‘the good old days’? The first Water Days event was originally planned for the end of 2020, but that was sadly cancelled due to the dreaded corona virus. Thankfully, things had calmed down the following year and the event got off to a great start, with water-cooled Dubs travelling from miles around to attend the event that was launched by a group of friends on Instagram. Minoru Matsunaga is the main mastermind behind the gathering and is quick to…

Picture the scene, there’s a hopped-up ’32 Ford, a Square Body Chevy truck with perfect patina, a couple of Corvettes, some Mustangs and a Trans-Am that looks fresh off the set of Smokey and the Bandit. Rock and roll plays on the PA as a teddy boy runs a comb through his quiff and his varsity jacketed girlfriend adjusts her Wayfarers. I lose myself in the moment for a while and think that this could be a Californian cars and coffee event. I grab a glimpse of the Hungry Horse pub in the background and come back to Earth. I’m at the Solent Renegades Start of Season Show in Portsmouth on the UK’s South Coast. It’s always a friendly little meet and, being 10 minutes from my front door, it’s…

For many of us, our Volkswagen origin stories start sometime during our formative years. A buddy in high school had a MK1, or a relative rocked a ratty Beetle. In the case of Wayne Collier, it was a little bit of both, plus a brief encounter on a used car lot that paved for the path for his Mk4 you see before you. “When I was younger (read: high school days), I was a sucker for the VR6. I actually went to a used car lot just to test drive at the time a newish used MK3 GTI VR6.” The 37-year-young diesel mechanic by day/mobile mechanic by night tucked the VR6 dreams in his proverbial shirt pocket as he dabbled with Honda CRXs for a while. After a tree prematurely…

I’ll be honest, I’ve never really understood the Audi R8. Supercars in general have always slightly perplexed me, but I can understand the appeal of a Ferrari or McLaren for the way they drive. And, if you’re a certain type of person, I’m sure there’s something enticing about the bravado of a Lamborghini. But the R8 just never seemed special enough to me. I can appreciate when people tell me it’s great to drive, and it’s undoubtedly a sleek looking thing. But why would you have one over the other supercars on the market? For me, it’s never done the one thing that I find most important in a car – spark emotion. The Audi R8 has always seemed a bit too clinical from afar, and dare I say it,…

TO SUBSCRIBE: GO TO SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/VWT OR USE THIS QR CODE TO GO DIRECTLY TO OUR WEBSITE TERMS & CONDITIONS: *UK DIRECT DEBIT OFFER ONLY. YOU WILL PAY £51.90 EVERY 12 MONTHS. SAVINGS ARE BASED ON THE YEARLY COVER PRICE (£4.99 PER ISSUE) PLUS POSTAGE. OFFER ENDS 31ST DECEMBER 2023. YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL START WITH THE NEXT AVAILABLE ISSUE, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE 13 ISSUES IN A YEAR. PRICES CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINT AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FOR FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS VISIT SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/TERMS. DATA PROTECTION: WE TAKE GREAT CARE IN HANDLING YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS AND THESE WILL ONLY EVER BE USED AS SET OUT IN OUR PRIVACY POLICY WHICH CAN BE VIEWED AT SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/PRIVACY-POLICY. YOU MAY UNSUBSCRIBE AT ANY TIME…

Good things come to those who wait and after years of producing the best turbo supporting go-faster upgrade parts, Turbosmart (established in 1997) recently launched its own range of Performance Turbochargers. In its own words: “The Turbosmart turbocharger range is smaller, lighter and faster. We’ve been watching. We’ve been listening.” Available in Air Cooled and Water Cooled application, the Turbosmart lineup is based around V-Band fitment and includes various T3 and T4 solutions. There are reverse rotation units for those after that mirror image look for your twin turbo setup, or if you need to take advantage of a unique single install. Turbosmart turbochargers have been intentionally designed to be as tightly packaged as possible while not impacting or compromising performance. Advanced and modernised materials and the bearing system contribute…

Of you ask Dave Henderson to talk you through his next project, you might be surprised to learn how it all came about. At his workshop in Falkirk is an RS3 saloon shell, still mid-build but only a few months away from attacking the upper echelons of the Europe’s professional drag racing scene. It’s an ongoing evolution of everything he’s learned from this car, and that’s a long list. The evolution of what’s now Europe’s fastest RS3 – a 1,300hp, 8.5-second, 165mph quarter-mile missile – began with Run What Ya Brung sessions just five years ago, and it’s fuelled by an irrepressible ambition to explore the limits of what’s possible. “I’ve always gone drag racing, but it was more of a fun thing – family days out at Santa Pod,…

The last update about my Audi A7 was written as a three-part piece split over a few mags. An intro story that would take care of some of those common mods and maintenance jobs that should always be ticked off the list before starting on the real mods that make a car truly your own creation. We published parts one and two with a promise to follow-up with part three that would focus on how I had turned a couple of minor bodywork concerns into something worse. This probably isn’t ringing many bells with most of you, and with good reason. You see, that was somewhere in the region of eighteen months ago. A year and a half has passed without a single word being written about it. I’d love…

JANUARY 12-14th AUTOSPORT INTERNATIONAL NEC, Birmingham autosportinternational.com FEBRUARY 2-3rd EUROTRIPPER 11 Fort Myers, Florida, USA eurotripper.com 2-4th SA CAMP FESTIVAL Warmbaths Forever Resort, SA sacampfest.com 25th EUROFEST RALEIGH NC Fairgrounds, USA southeasteuromotorsport.com MARCH 3rd RISE NATION - HALL OF FAME Mechhelen, Belgium risenation.be 10th ULTIMATE DUBS Telford International Centre ultimate-dubs.co.uk 16-17th VOLKSWORLD PLUS Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey volksworldshow.com 29-31st FESTIVAL OF POWER Santa Pod Raceway santapod.co.uk APRIL 6-7th DUBSHED Eikon Centre, Lisburn, NI GTINI.com 12-13th WOOKIES IN THE WOODS Fontana Dam, NC, USA wookiesinthewoods.com 13-14th APRIL GR8 CAR SHOW Kortrijk Xpo, Belgium gr8mag.be 14th AUTO CULTURE ’24 Doncaster Racecourse FB: Elsecar at the Races 21st GTI SPRING FEST 2024 Santa Pod Raceway santapod.co.uk 21st SUNDAY SCRAMBLE Bicester Heritage bicesterheritage.co.uk 21st DROPPED Heusden Zodler, Belgium dropped.be 28th DUSTOFF Thompson Speedway, CT,…

TO SUBSCRIBE: GO TO SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/PVW OR USE THIS QR CODE TO GO DIRECTLY TO OUR WEBSITE TERMS & CONDITIONS: *UK DIRECT DEBIT OFFER ONLY. YOU WILL PAY £59.80 EVERY 12 MONTHS. SAVINGS ARE BASED ON THE YEARLY COVER PRICE (£5.75 PER ISSUE) PLUS POSTAGE. OFFER ENDS 31ST DECEMBER 2023. YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL START WITH THE NEXT AVAILABLE ISSUE, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE 13 ISSUES IN A YEAR. PRICES CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINT AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FOR FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS VISIT SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/TERMS. DATA PROTECTION: WE TAKE GREAT CARE IN HANDLING YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS AND THESE WILL ONLY EVER BE USED AS SET OUT IN OUR PRIVACY POLICY WHICH CAN BE VIEWED AT SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/PRIVACY-POLICY. YOU MAY UNSUBSCRIBE AT ANY TIME…