In Recent times we've demonstrated how the American VW scene has adopted the Euro-look with great enthusiasm. Its influence is greatest on the East Coast, which is where we obtain most of our feature cars. The West Coast, however is dominated by Japanese imports. Consequently, VWs in the area tend to draw inspiration from them and many of the California Golfs have a very different look.
One disciple of this movement is Ali Farzad. Confusingly, he lives on the East Coast, in Virginia, near Washington DC and works at electronic tuner, Autothority. In his position as sales associate, Ali has been able to create something rather special which serves as an advertisement for the company.
Regular readers may remember the car from PVW 2/99. We singled it out then for wearing 18" rims, which was unusual at the time.
During the interim, 24 year-old Ali claims he never stopped working on the two litre GTI. This included repainting it after he became bored with the black coachwork, Initially, he chose gunmetal grey (crazy guy) but his sprayer found the Venetian blue pearl you see here.
Since the new colour was so radical, Ali decided to move the project up a gear. Consequently, he instructed the painter to fit a Wings West body kit, including rear spoiler. He also specified European arch trims from 1552 Design, because the American cars never had them. Other additions included Projektzwo headlamps and a Bonrath grille.
In a creative frenzy, Ali decided to have the tailgate smoothed and an air scoop grafted into the right hand front wing. Interestingly, the latter was from a '76 Pontiac Trans Am, which is probably the best thing that could've happened to it. He then removed the side repeaters from the wings and side markers from the front bumper.
All the bodywork preparation was carried out by Ali and his girlfriend, Rochelle Christmas. This included taking the car apart and all the rubbing down. According to Ali it "took two weeks and was a tough job", so let that be a lesson to us all.
The stickers came later. We're definitely not fans of this kind of 'vinyl paintwork' (I am! - ER) but the man has to appease his sponsors. Nuff said.
With such a positive visual statement being made, Ali knew the powerplant would have to be all that, Initially, he handicapped himself vetoing a VR6 transplant in favour of the two litre 8v. Fortunately, EIP Tuning waded in with one of its turbo kits and gave the project a new direction.
The package is built around a Garrett T3 hybrid with a Turbonetics wastegate. It also incorporates a Bell Engineering intercooler that required modifications to the front bumper to give it clearance. Subsequently, you can see the alloy radiator exposed behind the spoiler, just waiting to be pierced by a flying stone.
Working for a chip tuner has its perks, one of which is a custom computer program to run the car. The driver said: "It runs really well and the quarter mile is about the same as a VR6 turbo as we don't get as much wheelspin."
So how quick is it? The fastest pass to date is 14.2sec at 99mph. That's with the turbo boosting at 7psi, which translates to 186bhp at the wheels or 217 bhp -at the flywheel and 230 Ib/ft torque.
Helping it reach these figures, the motor has a bored throttle body and intake runners on the inlet manifold to aid air flow. Oh, and a ZEX Innovation nitrous system. The latter isn't yet hooked up as Ali plans to fit EIP rods, low compression pistons, a big valve head and Tech 2 management: "I don't want to spray the nitrous into this motor because I don't think it'll take it." However, he's aiming for around 350bhp once the engine's been strengthened and the gas is squirting.
The chassis features several key components, including a Quaife diff "which works really well"; a B&G dual spring coilover kit which has "lowered it about three inches"; while the brakes are standard but "I can't go bigger because I use 7xl3s for drag racing," Ali explained.
Armed with his slick tyres, Ali felt the interior could handle a motorsport theme, so embarked on a program of weight reduction: 'I never really carry any passengers in the back and losing the rear seat saved 40 lb," we were told. "I made cardboard templates for the rear and had brushed aluminum sheeting cut to shape." He then had to trim each piece himself, to fit around the custom Autothority roll-cage which dominates the interior.
With his hands dirty from that job, Ali moved on to the dash and set about painting it silver. He chose this route as "I don't like any of the dash kits that are available as none of them wrap around and, if they do, they peel in the heat".
The center console is home to a Turbo Timer and electronic boost controller. These were mounted by the owner in a black Perspex panel and look very neat. The next step was to position gauges for exhaust temperature, water temp and fuel pressure in the glovebox lid. Not just any glovebox, though. Apparently, American cars either have no glovebox or one mounted lower down to make space for the passenger airbag. However, Ali had made this bag inoperable by removing the original steering wheel bag when he swapped to a Momo wheel. He was therefore able to ditch both bags and fit the higher Euro glovebox lid and mount his dials. Brilliant. Additional boost and oil pressure gauges are fixed to the A-pillar in close view as both must be regularly monitored.
However, its not all a stripped out racer. Some home comforts have been introduced with the addition of a sound system. This is headed by a factory Clarion head unit and CD changer. These are backed up by JL Audio components, front and rear, as well as a 10" sub in the boot. The latter is mounted in a moulded box that fits into the left-hand cavity, while a Soundstream amp sits opposite in a similar enclosure.
With such a high standard of interior finish and plenty of polished Weapon-R products under the bonnet, it's no surprise to learn Ali has won some 30 trophies from various shows. This includes 'best VW` from Englishtown Raceway, 'best paint' at Bug-Out as well as second place in the modified Mk3 category. Then there was another 'best VW' award from the Tuners' Expo and second in the bizarre two-door VW class at the NOPI Nationals. So he's obviously doing something right.
In fact, Ali won our 'loyal reader' award for driving about 2500 miles from his home to our photo location in Florida. We could probably have visited him, but they don't grow palm trees in Virginia and the ocean isn't as warm.
DUB DETAILS
ENGINE
Two litre, four cylinder with EIP Tuning turbo kit comprising Turbonetics T3 stage three Super 60 turbo, Turbonetics Delta Gate wastegate, Bell Engineering custom intercooler, custom piping, EIP exhaust manifold with 2.5" downpipe and high flow catalytic converter, Fox stainless 2.5" rear silencer, EIP front engine mount, Autothority custom chip, Bored throttle body and intake runners, GReddy Turbo Timer, Profec boost controller, boost gauge and auxiliary dials, GReddy blow-off valve, ZEX Innovation nitrous system, Techtonics adjustable cam sprocket, ABD 8mm HT leads, Weapon-R polished aluminum battery cover, rad support cover, brake resevoir cover, breather cover and fuel pressure regulator, Polished intake regulator, Polished intake manifold, chromed valve cover and front mount bracket.
Chassis
7.5x18" Axis Se7en wheels with 215/35 R18 Toyo Proxes FZ4 tyres. B&G adjustable coilover kit with assister springs, ABD Racing bars and front/rear anti-roll bars and front strut brace, AutoTech polished rear brace. ABD Racing cross-drilled discs, stainless brake lines, Porterfield brake pads, Quaife limited slip diff from G-Force International in Holland.
OUTSIDE
Painted Venetian blue pearlescent, Wings West front and rear spoilers, side skirts and rear wings. Trans Am air scoop in front wing, smoothed tailgate, European arch trim, deleted side repeaters and side markers, Bonrath grille, Projektzwo twin headlights, clear front indicators, foglights and tail lights, carbon door mirror and door handle covers, stainless exhaust heat shield
INSIDE
Monaco Rally seats with grey suede inserts, MOMO steering wheel, gear knob and gaiter, ABD Racing quick shift and ally footrest, OBX pedals, custom silver / white dials, RPI European glovebox, Autothority custom eight-point roll-cage, parts of dash painted silver, aluminum floor panels, Weapon-R four-point harnesses and belt pads
ICE
VW factory Clarion head unit and CD changer, 6.5" JL Audio XR650CS component speakers front and rear, JL 10W6 sub-woofer in moulded Mk3 enclosure, two-channel Soundstream amp bridged to mono, Phoenix gold cables and connectors
SHOUT
Autothority Performance Engineering, Greg at Toyo, Derek at B&G, Tavis at Axis Wheels, Dave at ABD Racing, Kenji at Greddy, Jay at ZEX Innovation, Leo at Weapon-R, Scott at Wings West, Dave at GPR, EIP Tuning, Don at JL Audio, Z-Team Yossi, Rolf at G-Force International, girlfriend Rochelle and everybody who helped.
