Rare hare: VW Motorsport Mk3 16v G60...Say what?

It's not all that often that I come across a Volkswagen model that I've never heard of, but this my friends is one of those models. My German is more that a little bit rusty I'm afraid, but from what I can tell this car was never intended to be a stand alone model like the Golf Limited or even the stillborn Golf A59. (which is for sale again by the way - $18,000 - A steal!)

Click to see the full-size dealio

From what my high school Deutsch is allowing me to understand, this was to be a possible upgrade option for the GTI 16v Mk3. Probably the work of some fertile minds in Hannover who realized 'hey, we only built 71 Golf Limited models and we have a truck load of these 16v G60 conversion parts laying around, let's try to sell them.'

The conversion included the engine work, which featured lowered compression to 9:1, resulting in a G-Lader assisted power output of 208ps and 287Nm torque. Tires are bumped up to 225/40 R16, and ultimately resulted in a 0-100kph (62mph) of 7.3, which seems high to me, and a terminal velocity of 240kph (149mph, which seems 100% possible.) Oh and it had some trick VW Motorsport gauges too, just as icing on the cake.

The cost was 13,870DM (Deutsch Marks), which back then would have been around $6,900. Not cheap, but man would it have been cool. It sure would be nice if VW Motorsport offered up conversions like this these days...

_WRS

On the move

Big thanks to Robert at Lufteknic. Perfect timing on a northbound run with an empty trailer means that Carmen is now safely snuggled inside a warm and dry garage awaiting further work. A list has been made and updates will be forthcoming, starting next week. Belts will be replaced, oil lines will be double checked, the charger maybe, just maybe, will be taken apart and checked, and timing, CO and fueling spec will all be rest before the car hits the dyno.

I have to admit, I am well aware of the fragility of the G-Lader itself and I'm a little apprehensive about the one residing under Carmen's hood. In fact I had an aborted G60 project many years ago due to a shot supercharger, which ate up all my budget being replaced, resulting in my having to sell the entire conversion to make at least some of my money back. Still it's my favorite VW engine. It sounds great, it can make good power for what it is (a diminutive 8v) and well, it's just cool.

The unit on Carmen was rebuilt by Bahn Brenner just 4,000 miles ago, so it should be good to go, but I really won't be happy until I know for sure that the displacer and housings are in good repair. The previous owner made a rather ominous remark about being down on boost before the car was parked, but that could be explained by quite a few things. (slipping belt, bad bit of vacuum line, and so forth) Anyways, here's to hoping the gods of the G-Lader are smiling on me and Carmen.

_WRS

In honor of the occasion, more G60 content. (Video Post)

In honor of the recently resurrected-from-dormancy G60 Corrado now proudly residing in the Wolfsburg Rennsport stable, I dug up some pretty cool videos of the VW Motorsport works Rallye Golfs in action. I suppose I actually just stumbled upon these videos more than dug them up. There's a UK forum called dubforce.net which is all about forced induction VWs, and I've gone there on occasion to dig up info on VW Motorsport parts for G60 engines and what not, and someone there posted links to all of these videos. (after all the Brits do love their G60s, and they actually got the Rallye over there) So I can't so much take the credit, but here they are. Description by poster slateford from dubforce...

"Erwin Weber driving WOB AW 482 in the 1990 Sachs Winter Rallye as a safety car. PVW magazine said the car unofficially recorded 15 fastest special stage times out of 22."

LINK HERE (embedding disabled)

"Charly Beck driving WOB AW 482 in the 1990 3 Städte Rallye where he finished 3rd."



Darko Peljhan in the 1995 Monte Carlo rally. It was the last car to come from Volkswagen Motorsport so may have been WOB CL 757 or WOB CL 770 which were used by Raimund Baumschlager in 1991-92. It was then sold to Hans Weijs in 1995.

LINK HERE (embedding disabled)

WOB VX 44 testing from the VW promotional video "Der Rallye Golf".



Not sure about you, but that last video sounded like the car was pretty down on power...

And finally, my favorite: (careful this one is loud, and yes, I've posted it before)

Jozef Studenič competing in the Turckheim Hillclimb 05.09.93



Anyways, I haven't decided just how overboard I want to go on the engine in Carmen, after all it is more of a GT than race car, but a lot of work is already done to her. I may go back to the OEM boost re-route set up for less noise while driving, but otherwise I plan on trying for pretty high power figures for an 8v PG block car, with a goal of at least 200whp. Ideally I'd like more, but I'm also a realist and most G60 motors, even increased displacement examples, don't ever make it that high. (in fact I can't say I've ever dyno'd a G60 that broke the 200whp mark. Some have gotten very close, as much as 198whp, but that's about it) A larger intercooler is most definitely on the list, but until we get the car on the dyno I'm not sure exactly how we will proceed. The car is scheduled for the dyno next week, provided the final tune up / service work has been completed by then.

_WRS

Underbody inspections, doc says 'A-OK'

So I don't have any more videos today, but I do have a more in-depth look under the skin of Carmen, aka Ultimate 8v, aka, our newest project. Driving a car around a parking lot and having it feel 'solid' is one thing, but putting her up in the air and getting a good look at the condition of the unibody and floorboards is the only real way to know whether its rotten or golden.

Any car which has lived its life in the general Mid-Atlantic area has probably seen its fair share of poor weather and as such, probably is hiding some deep dark secrets. Rust. Every car I've owned has had some, and I figured this Corrado would be no different.

...and how nice it is to be wrong! Sure, there is some wear and tear. It's nearly 20 years old and it's not all that surprising for the undercarriage to show signs of being put on and off of lifts, and the banged up rocker panels so often seen when an emergency tire change is needed. But otherwise? Nothing much! I can honestly say this is the nicest car I have ever owned in terms of the actual condition of the car. This one my friends, is a keeper.

One thing I'm not sure about keeping, on this car anyways, are the MSW Type 55C wheels. MSW wheels were made by O.Z. Racing, and much like the old Fittipaldi wheels, were marketed as O.Z. wheels in Europe. Why they felt the need to re-name certain designs for the USA market I'll never understand. Don't get me wrong, I love the 55C and won't sell them, but I'm not 100% sold on the Corrado. I really want to get this car 'period correct' in terms of aesthetics, and I don't know if the big 17" 6-spokers suit the car.

They also rub the hell out of the inner fender area at full lock. Any thoughts? I'm partial to a Zender turbo or something similar if anyone has any they'd like to get rid of.

Another throw-back item are the DTM tips. I love em, and since not every single car is sporting them these days they are unique these days. The eagle-eyed among you may notice the 2.25" Techtonics stainless steel exhaust to which they are attached. Quality parts all over this car, and I haven't even detailed what's done to the engine yet. I keep pinching myself to make sure I didn't dream this thing up!

By the way, we did a little freshing up while we had Carmen in the air. Oil was swapped out for some of finest 5-40 synth that Total (Elf) has to offer with a MANN oil filter, and a MANN fuel filter replaced the Fram which was on the car. MANN filter, made in China. Indeed.

Oddly enough the side skirts and rear diffuser are starting to grow on me from the back angle here, from the front however, I just can't get down with the RS4 styled bumper. But like I said, looks will come second, getting the mechanicals finished up and reliable remains the priority.


_WRS

Got to crawl before you walk, Carmen is moving

In the beautiful afternoon light of mid Fall, it's pretty clear to see that Carmen, our 1990 G60 Corrado is in need of some love in terms of the paint and bodywork. Still, with the warm glow outlining the well-defined arches, the rare MSW Type 55C wheels and general good nick of the panels, the potential is clearly there. Looks come second, getting things rolling, or rather, driving, comes first.

I did a quick spray down this morning...just to rid the main bits of funk and dirt that three years of storage will bring, and although the paint wasn't hot, the reaction of the heat from the sun and cool water from the hose created an impromptu steam bath. Looked cool, so I took a pic.

But we're not here for that are we. We're here to say that yes, indeed, we have not only a G60 motor which now fires reliably and seems quite fit, Carmen now has the ability to move under her own power. There was no clutch pedal to speak of previously, it just sat on the floor, so the problem was obviously something hydraulic, but exactly what component had failed was hard to guess. When in doubt and time is short, throw parts at it! The slave cylinder was most likely the culprit... They aren't supposed to come out in two pieces are they?

The master cylinder was replaced just for good measure, and after all was said and done (and bled) we have a real live functioning clutch. This slightly better quality video (I think I'm getting the hang of this file conversion thing for Youtube), is only slightly more interesting than yesterdays, but it really was the first drive. I had checked gear changes while running and moved it backwards and forwards by about 2 feet, but otherwise this is 100% the maiden voyage of Carmen. (or as I like to think of her, Project Ultimate 8v. Save the 8v™ and all that)




I'm pleased to say that with 10-15 minutes of driving around the industrial complex we were greeted with absolutely no additional problems, and dare I say it, the G60 engine and G-Lader both sound and feel quite stout! Power builds significantly as revs climb, and I have very high hopes for things once we get on the dyno. More to come...

_WRS

....and we have ignition: Project G60 has fire

So far, so good. Although the clutch problems have yet to be taken care of, Carmen is officially up and running on all cylinders. I admit it wasn't running on all four to begin with. First up the car's tank was empty...I mean absolutely BONE DRY. A couple gallons of premium, some judicious priming of the pump, cranking....more cranking...and then even more cranking and va-room, we had lift off.

A slightly off kilter, lumpy, three-cylinder sort of lift off, but hey, it's better than nothing. After a minute or so I shut her down and poked around under the hood and, oh hey, isn't THAT a rather large fuel leak. Turns out some slightly over-sized hose clamps were used on the fuel line, plus they were over-tightened, resulting in one leaky and crushed bit of hose. Luckily there was plenty of extra line, so I went through the set up and replaced all the bad connections and made sure we were good to go. And we were, no leaks...but still three cylinders.

Next up was the spark plugs, which appear to be new, but the plug wires were of unknown condition. Luckily Josh at the NGP Virgina store came to the rescure with some old Bahn Brenner plug wires from his G60 Corrado. (now a 1.8t) Big thanks to Josh, the plug wires are great...but the car was still not running quite right. Knowing the car had been sitting for quite a while before I got my mitts on her, I decided to try the old "tap the injector with a socket extension" trick, and low and behold. Eureka! Smooth idle, no vibration, and surprisingly little noise from the lifters.

Here is a super crappy, super boring video of the car starting and idling. Riveting stuff I know...



Anyways, that's what I got so far. Come this time tomorrow I hope to have had Carmen at least around the block, and I hope to have another crappy video of that. See you then!

_WRS

Preview for what's to come.

Bahnbrenner wide G-Lader belt conversion, meet G60 engine, in which you will soon be residing. Although pricey at $39.99, I know better than to leave belts of an unknown condition in place on any motor, especially one which keeps the ever-fragile magnesium displacer and counter balance shaft in time inside the G-Lader. Other tune up parts are en route to where the car is currently residing, and we should have some more updates as the week progresses. The end goal is to have Carmen running and driving, if not 100% roadworthy by the end of the week. As long as no unforeseen problems pop up (haha, on a Corrado? when would that happen?) we should be well on track. I'll let you know what else I find out tomorrow. Stay tuned.

_WRS

Pic post: I wish I had some Nothelle wheels

Nothelle is no longer with us, so the chances of me ever snagging a set of the classic Nothelle 'N' wheels is pretty much slim to none. I certainly wouldn't mind a set. For some reason I've always been taken with the lower-case n's, sort of like a directional three spoke without looking too tacky. I can't say I'm the world's biggest fan of the contrasting blue paint...the style of the car is less motorsport than that, but hey, it's not my car so what does my opinion matter? A classic set of wheels on a classic VW, wouldn't kick it out of my driveway.

_WRS

Hot off the press!

Or perhaps more accurately, "hot off the vinyl die cutting machine!" but that just doesn't gave the same ring to it. I will soon have these babies in my hands, ready for application to every vehicle I own. I supposes it's not entirely accurate to apply one of these to a car which doesn't have any engine it at all, but wishful thinking never really hurt anybody. I don't have my final price in hand as to what these are going to set me back (I counted more than I asked for in the below pic) but I'll probably be giving these away, or charging a dollar or two at most.

Speaking of wishful thinking, I'm a bit torn as to what to concentrate my efforts on next week. I'll be down in VA with plenty of time to work on a car and access to tools and supplies, but which car to work on? Carmen (de Corrado) is going to need at the very least belts, fluids, filters, fresh fuel, plus either a brake master / clutch master and / or slave cylinder (or all three), and even then it's not about to get me home at night. Still, it would be nice to hear that G-lader roar to life after a many months of dormancy.

On the flip side of that, the interstate transport machine, the Golf Sport, could probably use a little love before this winter. I've been eyeballing up a Samco coolant hose kit to replace the old OEM bits, plus the Black Forest crankcase vent kit to hook up a catch can. The engine has all strong vitals, but seems to have quite a bit of blow-by, which I blame for the bit of part-throttle detonation which it has been plagued with ever since it was put back on the road. Decisions decisions. Anybody smarter than me have any ideas? I know what I should do, but sometimes that's not always what you want to do...

_WRS

Video Post: Laguna Seca ALMS, Last lap battle

It was quite a race at Laguna Seca this weekend, and the last lap pretty much sums up the whole deal. I'm not in a position to really pass judgment or call out either the Corvette or the 911 as being more at fault, but it was pretty clear that Jan Magnussen was the one to lose out the most, but perhaps could have avoided the whole thing by not running directly into Jörg Bergmeister on the last corner. Take a look at what I'm talking about:



Exciting stuff to be sure, but I'd rather see the close racing without people writing off race cars. That sort of thing would easily put one of the less well-heeled teams out for a good while, if not permanently. Quite a few people at the pub, where I had persuaded the owner to switch over to the race after one of the football games was over, were beyond excited with the intense battle going between the front runners, and these are not motorsport heads in the slightest. At any rate, it would appear that 2010 is going to be a season worth watching. Sebring here I come!

(Kevin, clear off space on the couch)

_WRS

Final ALMS event of the season: Monterey Sports Car Championships

Today is the final event of this season's American Le Mans series. Taking place at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway, it should prove to be quite am exciting race. Four classes, including P1, P2, GT2 and Porsche Cup, will be racing in the four hour enduro which starts in just a few hours.

I happened to catch the live qualifying on SpeedTV.com yesterday and it was very close amongst the top runners in each of the classes. Very exciting stuff! Risi Competizione put it all on the line, and even over the line a few times, but it wasn't enough to top the Gt2 Corvette which rumbled its way into pole position in class. The Corvettes are relatively new machines to GT2, and I have a feeling they will be a real force to be reckoned with next season. (as if they aren't already!) Radio Le Mans mentioned that Chevy just issued a press release stating this was the "end of the development period for the GT2 Corvette." I take that to mean there may be a two-car black and yellow steamroller in GT next year... I'm no fan of Chevrolet in general, but I love the fact they have stuck with sports car racing as a venue to prove their #1 product, the Corvette, is a real deal performer, and not some sort of silhouette racer.

Porsche was no-where inside the top three, but the #87 from Farnbacher-Loles did slot into the fourth position. I still think they look, sound, and are generally the best GT cars made, but I am a bit biased towards that end.

I don't really have a team I'm pulling for, but I'd like to see the Falken Tire RSR place well. Smaller, independent efforts will always be my favorites when the other options are the factory-backed Flying Lizard and Farnbacher.

In P1 Gil de Ferran managed pole in his very last race before retiring, which I think is especially fitting with his Acura now dressed in fantastic looking white paint and running the number 66 in honor of Jim Hall and his Chaparral racers. I'm personally routing for one of the Dyson cars to come in and snatch the victory from the more powerful P1 cars...with its 2.0 4-cyl turbo Mazda engine it's just like one of the old GTP cars of old! (well maybe not exactly, but it seems to be in the spirit of it, with smaller displacement turbo motors battling the big naturally aspirated V8s)

Radio Le Mans goes live.....NOW! Warm up starts in just a few minutes, and listen live tonight at 5:15 EST.

_WRS

Pic post: Late 90's flash back

J's post from the other day had me digging through the archives from the late 90's. At the time I had my pride and joy, 1984 Mk1 GTI, and my newly acquired 1995 Bright Surf Green Golf Sport.

I drove the hell out of that car. I purchased it exactly as it looked in these pics, minus the VR6 chin and the wheels. Lots of good times were had with this Golf Sport (not a GTI), and although I was sad to find out it had been written off a few years back, it seemed a fitting end. It had been owned by an old friend of mine Charles Fields, aka DJ Feelgood, and had seen more than its share of late night parties before I even got my hands on her. The very first night that Charles had the 1995 Golf home from the dealership, the back window and hatch were shot out in a gunfight. (this was downtown Baltimore in the 1990s, which was a hairy time to live in the heart of the city)

Another side note, I'm pretty sure this is the same Golf Sport that I went to check out in a dealership when J and I went to see these new-fanged Mk3 2-doors they came out with. There were not / are not many Bright Surf Green cars out there, and this was the only one I recall seeing in Baltimore. Then I went on to own it just 4 years later. Who knew? Not the best pics, but I figured they were worth the story.

_WRS

Old school feature car of the day: Danny Gomes Mk2

I shot this car in (I'm pretty sure) early 2000 for PVW. It makes sense because the first thing I shot for a proper feature was Waterfest of 1999, and I didn't get that many cars to shoot right away. This Mk2 was a bit of a star at the shows back then because it was so crazy, so it was a pretty early "car to get" for me. I have literally BOXES of slides from my early car shooting years, and very few of them are scanned. I guess I'm saving that job for retirement or something, because I can barely bring myself to edit current shoots.

This car is really wild looking to 2009 eyes, it was pretty over the top back then, but now (with the euro/subdued/refined OEM exterior/shaved bay/slammed/small wheels look) it looks almost impossible.

VR6 swap, chromed, with chromed core support. Not many people were doing this back then. I'm pretty sure this car had a turbo the following year, and after that? Whereabouts unknown.

"Flip paint" seemed amazing back then... it became quickly passé, but for a hot minute it was the thing to have on the crazy show cars. I can't imagine painting this full 16v trim kit with all the spoilers, plastic parts, diffusers, eyebrows, etc. that it is wearing. Since you can't touch up this paint, you would have to be extremely careful to not flex any of this plastic too much. This is another huge difference in a lot of today's cars, since everything is so low (and if you aren't rubbin' you ain't dubbin'), a lot more cars have the odd scraped front lips, and paint losses. The 18" Racing Hart wheels were also pretty much unheard of on Mk2's at the time in this size... I think there was only one tire that was low enough profile to squeeze these on.

Completely red interior: check.

I think it's pretty interesting to look back at some of these old feature cars, and I will try to do this every so often. As with music, clothes, and pretty much everything considered cool, tastes change quite a bit, but it's fun to look back, get some ideas, and say WTF?!? (and maybe that Project Scirocco would look kinda cool in purple flip with full euro treatment? hmmmmmmmmm)

-J blaksquirrel

Update: Scirocco Madness, and introducing....

Things have been busy yet not busy at all on the project car scene here lately. Sad to say, Project Madness has moved, but is not yet mobile. Every single time I make the time to get a suspension under the car and start ripping into her, well, a bunch of other stuff comes up. What came up this time? No putting it off, and there's no other way to say it, introducing the latest and greatest here at Wolfsburg RS: Carmen, our newly acquired 1990 G60 Corrado.

Now I can hear you saying it now. NO! STOP! RUNNNNNNNN! Not a G60, are you insane?? Well friends, I guess I must be, because here I am, the proud owner of two non-running cars, both coupes, and one of which is powered the most notoriously temperamental and quirky engines ever sold with a VW badge on the grill. What can I say, it was a deal I couldn't say no to.

There will be more to say about Carmen shortly, when I hope to have her up and running, since a G60 just needing a few parts is infinitely closer to running than a Scirocco with no engine at all. (I hope anyway) Getting things roadworthy is job one, and then I will tackle the body, namely going back to an OEM G60 front bumper, hood, remove the skirts, and remove the rear valance and touch up whatever painting needs to be done.

So here is the final shot of Madness, as I once again left her sitting sadly on the ground. I promise I will actually get this car roadworthy once again. I have the entire thing all mapped out in my brain, and with a second project to sort of distract me from making Madness even remotely compromised, it can really become what it needs to be. Simple, pure, raw and fast. And naturally, powered by an 8v.

I keep a picture of Jason's 16v around to kinda keep me inspired. I like the European lights and red-trimmed grill, which I may decide to emulate when the time comes. Anyway, here we stand on WRS projects, more to come on these in two weeks or so.

_WRS

Video Post: Mk1 16v takes on the 'Ring

After all that show business with H2O, I felt the need to get some proper motorsport action going on for the end of the week. Not that I hate shows or show cars, but to be totally honest I just don't care about a super clean car that rarely gets driven. Give me a moderately clean, well used Volkswagen over a pristine trailer queen any day of the week. As I spend a reasonable part of my day on the forums over at VW Vortex, I occasionally see a car or thread that really gets my blood pumping this thread, is one of those threads.







The car is, in my opinion, a proper Mk1. It's clean enough to be nice, and it makes a few nods towards looks over absolute function, but at the end of the day it's a performer. If and when Scirocco Madness ever gets off the ground (no pun intended! Updates coming soon) I want it to be a lot like this. Clean, stripped, painted inside and out, and perfect to throw around the track.



Need proof? Check out these videos, both posted by the owner.





Makes me sort of jealous about the hill climb and track events available over in Germany. Anyone know of any hill climbs in the USA? Northeast area preferred.

_WRS

H2O International 2009, the full report

It was not without some trepidation that I approached H2o for 2009. The event has been getting bigger and bigger every year, and with little sign of slowing down. I was sort of feeling that 2008 was a bit of a downer from years past, with increased police presence and a general vibe that it was the beginning of the end for what was once my favorite show of the year. All things which go up must come down as they say, and I figured this was H2O's time to go.

The hype and general legendary status as the best show in the USA meant more people, which means more crowds, more police, and a general chance for more douchebaggery. I've been going to Ocean City at least once a year since I was 14, so douchebaggery is nothing new, but when every other car is packing a VR6 turbo under the hood, something's bound to happen.

Thankfully, this was not the case for this year's show, and all my worry was for naught. The vibe was fun, and everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Make no mistake, there were crowds beyond what anyone who has been going to the show as ever seen. I can recall Saturdays which maybe 50 to 100 people would show up for the "BBQ" and the vendors would generally stand around and talk shop, knowing Sunday was going to be the day with the crowds. This year's Saturday attendance must have topped Sunday's from the year prior, or at least it certainly looked it from the swarms of people crisscrossing Ocean Downs.

I suppose part of my wish to keep H2O smaller is that it was always the fun event, even for those who had to work it, which is not typically the case for a big show. No partying anymore, no staying out late for me, but it ended up being a good time, regardless of my responsibilities. Kevin from FL and Robert from VA made the trek, and it was nice to catch up with old friends whom I don't see very often. In general 2009 was much better than 2008, and although the years of being able to run down the strip with only two or three cops on duty per night are long gone, I'm feeling positive that H2o will continue it's reign at the top of the heap here in the USA.

When I did get some time out on Friday I spent a good portion of it at the Convention center, watching the endless parade of cars arrive and depart, like commuter jets at JFK on a Monday morning. All lined up and ready for their turn down the runway. I did my best to capture the atmosphere, if not the most accurate (in focus, ha) images. The pan shots of cars entering the lot brings across some of that dizzying effect of constant sensory overload from all sides. Just one,

After another

After another

After another!

So just how good is H2Oi? Josh and I were hanging out with Cory and Matt from Euro Auto Source at Fish Tales, who were chatting up some attendees from the UK, from the infamous Edition 38 and Westside crews, longtime PVW legends, no doubt! I had a chance to ask just how H2O ranked on the worldwide scale, after all these guys have been to every show in Europe you can name. The general consensus was that only the legendary Worthersee GTI Treffen, the biggest, baddest VAG show in the world, could top H2O for sheer numbers, car quality, and general event insanity. Truth? Perhaps, but ultimately you have to attend and make up your own mind. See you in 2010...!

As a last note, the following is pretty much all I saw of the show. Such is life behind the booth, but there are worse ways to make a living! The full range of pics are over at the Wolfsburg RS Flickr page.

_WRS

Nate's (no relation) remote turbo VR6 Jetta was once again at the NGP booth. Looking and sounding as good as it now runs.

...As was David B's Mk2 GTI 16v turbo. This car has got to be one of the cleanest Mk2's I've seen in a long time. For some reason it doesn't get as much love as I think it deserves, but who knows, maybe people don't have taste these days?

Arno's TDi rounded out the cars at the NGP booth. His diesel here is no slouch either...over 200whp on a street driven TDI is no small matter, and the torque is even more impressive. Just watch out for the smoke screen when the throttle goes down!

Ali's Rallye Golf is running full R32 running gear. Very clean, very well done, and I'm sure pretty quick.

Matt's Jetta is looking pretty much the same as when Josh shot it for Eurotuner last year. Can't fault that...it sits right and still looks fresh amongst the current crop of cars.

The VW Vortex booth was directly opposite ours, giving me the chance to stare at David H's recently back-on-the-road Mk1 GTI all day long. He and I have a bit of a bet going on whether or not his will make more power than my CIS 2.0 8v did. I tend to think not, but I'm hard headed about stuff like that, hehe. It does make me miss my old GTI, which was at the show and I missed.. (!!!) Brad from 1552 threw some of his RML Snowflakes on David's car for the show, and I have to say they look awesome in person. I stood one next to my Mk3, and I almost think they suit the Mk3 better than the Mk1!

I'm not a fan of the A5 / S5 in general, but this one caught my eye as I did a quick lap down the row we were in, this was at the Induktion booth. Maybe if they do an RS5 my opinion will change...

Ethan from 8380 had his E30 out for the first time, and it didn't do anything at all to lessen my desire for an E30 of my own. They're just perfect, like a Mk2 GTI. Not too big, not too small, and relatively plentiful. The BBS split wheels with gold centers and black accents are classics, and fit the car perfectly.

Lastly, this very clean Ginster Yellow GTI was hard to miss. I can't remember the booth is was stationed in, but it's hard to argue with a car this clean. The Porsche wheels (Club Sports I think?) are perfect on the Mk3.