Modified VW Golf Mk4 GTI 1.8T Pictures 
COMMON DONOMINATOR
Hmm…how to make a car that’s sold a zillion models in a zillion countries look and drive like something way more exotic?
gallery (37 photos)
Owning a VW Golf these days is like owning a leather sofa; the difference is we’re not all Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen and we don’t all have the networking and negotiation skills of Swedish born Fredrik Andersson. The 24-year old is a car painter by trade but it appears that his artistic talents span beyond the sparkling sheen of a motor. From the smooth bodywork to the jutting out wheel arches, smoked headlights, hypnotic alloys and the grille which looks like a torture implement, Fredrik’s really dug deep to come up with this combination and it looks awesome.
As with most transformations however there is always a team behind the scenes, be that the suppliers and also in Fredrik’s case his brother whom the Golf originally belonged to. Before Fredrik acquired the 1.8-litre model his brother had already talked his way in to the workshop of BSR (ww.bsr-tuning.eu) a company he knew could really overhaul his engine. BSR incidentally have had their handprints all over Koenigsegg’s CC8S and CCR which are yet to be outpowered by any other road vehicle.
With a much smaller powerplant to play with, BSR still achieved massive power gains. Relative to the engine size and its modest mechanical make-up 285bhp is pretty ludicrous really. The drive shaft is also tough enough to withstand the 300Nm that is now twisting at it. The careful re-mapping of the Golf’s ECU as well as BSR’s home brand turbo, some new fuel injectors and a Forge dump valve all made this possible. However their were a few hiccups when the Golf was pushed to its limits and five sets of race cats later, it was decided that a custom Feritta system would do the job a lot better – which it has proved to so far.
Fredrik’s brother had also lowered the car with a KW Variant 2 coilover system and an H&R anti-roll bar. Sitting 80mm above the tarmac at the front and a potentially spark inducing 60mm at the rear gives it presence despite taking away some of the ride quality. Fredrik decided that this was a small compromise when taking in to account the over all picture. After the car changed hands the only addition Fredrik made to the engine was an ATP intercooler kit to ease its breathing.
Next came some style upgrades and because the car was already pretty fun to drive day to day, Fredrik was prepared to wait to get exactly what he wanted. It was just as well really because his custom EVOX wheels (www.evox.be) took Six months to get to him from Belgium. Their ominous black tone creates all the right shadows on the RM4 split-rim alloys; this colour was added afterwards to make the rims all the more ‘bespoke.’ Fredrik also had his eye on Pirelli P-Zero Nero tyres which look like they were made for the rims. They measure 215/35R19 at the front and an even fatter 255/30R19 sitting to the rear.
The intentional view through the spokes shows off some Golf R32 stopping power at the rear and mighty Brembo brakes at the front, these would usually be found on a Porsche GT3 but judging by this Golf’s performance stats it certainly needs a bit of extra back-up. Of course before Fredrik could even contemplate fitting the rims he needed to get the arches pulled out. He didn’t fancy attempting this by hand himself but he knew a man who could; his mate Magnus had already carried out a fine job on an M3 and felt fairly confident he could stretch the Golf’s arches to size as well.
Fredrik was intent on using VW’s own factory offshoots to make the bodywork look seamless rather than it having a patched up look. The idea behind this was that it would appear as professional as if it had just rolled off the production line. To this affect Golf R32 panels were used for the arches; the front bumper and side skirts are also upgraded with Golf’s premium brand. To accommodate the new intercooler, Fredrik then had to change the aperture for it. All lines were ironed out of the bonnet and even its shape was re-modeled to give the 3M smoke filmed Xenon headlamps a fiercer angle.
Smoothing has continued to the rear of the Golf with the pull handle also being removed. To indicate that this Golf isn’t just a show car, the ordinary lettering has been swapped for a Turbo badge from Porsche. Carbon fibre door handles and mirrors sourced from OEMPL.US (http://oempl.us) then tell us that no expense has been spared.
More decadence takes place beyond its beefed-up frame with its sporty Recaro front seats which were originally intended for the Porsche 911 GT3. These items are upholstered in black nappa leather at the front while the backs are carbon fibre. The roof is also purely carbon which meant that the whole lining and insulation needed to be stripped out. It has then been doused in piano black paint as have the A, B and C pillars as well as the dashboard. Blending in some speakers at the top of the dash and replacing the central air vents with a DVD player is also a good look. The novelty continues with auxiliary speakers and tweeters taking the spot of the sun visors. These match up to Alpine’s latest electronics which are good enough to treat any passers by to Fredrik’s fine selection of tunes.
Look to the rear and there are also Recaro sport seats but these were picked from Golf’s options list when Fredrik’s brother bought the car. The exterior Reflex Silver hue is again VW’s own although it didn’t come with the car, Fredrik had to scour their colour charts to find it.
Now complete, the Golf is just as he would have wanted it. However let’s just say that this 24-year old car painter likes to keep life a bit colourful and with this in mind a change is fairly imminent. It looks like an M3 is next on the cards and with a long cold winter ahead of him; we’re guessing the results are going to be anything but common!
CAR MAKE & MODEL
Modified VW Golf Mk4 GTI 1.8T Pictures
CAR REF NUMBER
21649
CAR COLOUR
Silver
ENGINE MODIFICATIONS
bsr stage 3 turbocharger,
atp intercooler kit,
forge dump valve,
ferrita custom exhaust, stainless steel with race cats
SUSPENSION MODIFICATIONS
kw variant 2 coilovers, h&r anti-roll bar
ALLOY WHEELS
evox rm4 wheels 8.5x19 front, 9.5x19 rear
TYRES
pirelli p-zero nero tyres, 215/35/19 (front), 255/30/19 (rear)
BRAKES
porsche gt3 brake kit (front), golf r32 (rear)
EXTERIOR MODIFICATIONS
respray in reflex silver,
widened arches pulled by hand,
r32 front bumper modified,
r32 sideskirts,
smoothed bonnet,
oempl carbon fibre door handles,
oempl carbon fibre door mirrors,
oempl roof spoiler,
rear hatch smoothed,
porsche turbo badge,
3m tint to lamps (front and rear)
INTERIOR MODIFICATIONS
porsche gt3 bucket seats,
one piece fiberglass roof section painted gloss piano black,
a, b & c-pillars in fiberglass painted gloss piano black,
modified instrument panel and windscreen surround,
oempl carbon fibre trim
IN CAR ENTERTAINMENT
alpine cda9835r head unit,
alpine spx177r component speaker system,
alpine mrd-m301 amplifiers (x2),
alpine mrv-f340 amplifier,
alpine tme-m740 lcd monitor,
macrom 1f capacitors,
alpine type r subs (2 x 12”)
VIEWS: 980
TOTAL VIEWS: 51,617
View this page on our mobile site
Links:
