CAR MAKE & CAR MODEL:
Modified Cars VW Golf MK4 Supercharged 2000
EXTERIOR MODS:
Repainted in Dupont Scarlet Fever tri-coat `Pearl`, custom wide body front bumper, Seidl Tuning wide body front arches, Seidl Tuning wide body side skirts extended into the rear, custom rear arches by R&B Auto Body, Seidl Tuning wide body rear bumper extended on each side, Vorsteiner double-sided carbon Boser bonnet, Vorsteiner carbon upper hatch spoiler, custom one-piece DTM cup mirrors, smoothed door handles, side moulding and rear hatch, Hella smoked Ecode headlamps and tail lights
INTERIOR MODS:
Recaro Speed seats with grey suede inserts (front), GTi 24V leather seats (rear), R32 dash kit, GTi 337 pedal set and hand brake, Sparco Flash 5 steering wheel, Lupo GTi gearknob, Conrero shift bezel, Europrojektz floor mats, R32 door handles and pins, Stewart Warner boost and fuel/air gauges, Weichers six point roll-cage, c-pillar bar
ICE (In Car Entertainment, Audio & Security):
RAVDVD2 in-dash DVD player with 7-inch screen, 2 x Punch series 12-inch subs, 2 x 1000 watt Punch series amp, 4 x 400 watt Punch series amp, 2 x Power series component and 2 x co-axial speakers, Power series 1 farad capacitor, Power series cabling (all by Rockford Fosgate), Optima yellow-top battery, custom fibreglass enclosure by Vibrationz Audio covered in black suede
ENGINE MODS:
Neuspeed supercharger, High Altitude boost pulley, 260-degree cam, adjustable cam gear and spark plug cables, Densum Iridium spark plugs, custom intake, Remus cat back with dual DTM oval tips
TRANSMISSION UPGRADE:
Spec stage 3 VR6 clutch and aluminium lightweight flywheel
SUSPENSION MODS:
Patec fully adjustable coilovers, Neuspeed upper strut bar
WHEELS:
8x19" IForged 3-piece Aero alloy wheels with zero offset (front) and 10x19" with negative 18 offset (rear), VR6 spindle conversion (front)
TIRES / TYRES:
225/35 Nitto 555R series tyres (front) and 265/30 (rear)
BRAKE CONVERSION:
Rotora big brake kit (front) with 13.1" discs, four-pot callipers and stainless steel lines
OTHER INFO:
EURO VISION
American’s have got all the squares of the Monopoly board covered, right? Plush hotels, cheap gasoline, an million dollar film and music industry, heck, they’ve even got Baywatch. But many enthusiasts still look to the Euro scene when it comes to cars…
Josh Edmonds is one such man; he belongs to the East Coast chapter of Europrojecktz, which is a web based group with a fanaticism for tuned European motors. His VW Golf Mark IV you see before you is a first time project for 20-year-old Josh, who is also a business management student from Pennsylvania. The car first started life as a black, year 2000 Golf GL 2.0litre and as is often the case, it saw a few little experiments like a very aggressive body kit before Josh discovered the look he really wanted.
During this period of bold experimentation, Josh also tried his hand at mechanics which proved to be a rather successful conquest. First he went out and bought a Neuspeed Supercharger and taking his time to read the instructions on the back, managed to bolt it in place of the former inlet manifold.
Feeling somewhat pleased with himself, our man accustomed himself with other curious moving parts under the hood and found that they weren’t half as perplexing as they first seemed. Now on a roll, Josh replaced the smaller pulley and the camshaft with a Neuspeed version as well as carrying out some handiwork on the adjustable cam gear.
Time was the deciding factor and in two and a half years, the engine was still pulling like a greyhound on heat and just as nimble in endurance. Thanks to the supercharger, it’s expected to produce the same power as a VR6 but because it’s so light, it feels even swifter. According to Josh; the thing just flys in mid-range, especially in third gear.
Although he hasn’t got around to testing it out on a rolling road yet, the estimated figures are a top whack of 200bhp at around 6200rpm. But he’s still eager for more brute force so the engine may well be ditched in favour of a VR6 unit. He’s also planning to slap on a VF Engineering supercharger which should give him about 300bhp.
Putting this idea on hold for a while, Josh decided to re-style his motor for a second time. His inspiration was further fuelled by some of the Wide body machines belonging to enthusiasts from the Florida chapter of Europrojektz cars. Essentially, he was looking to create a more rounded appearance which is demonstrated by the wider panels and stunning 19” I-forged Aero deep dish wheels.
Seidl Tuning in Germany had the task of kitting out the Golf in a wider body frame and agreed to tackle the project all in one go. For a short time all seemed well with the new structure until one day the back arches cracked away from their mouldings. It was soon apparent that the wheels were too wide for the body and they would continue to rub. There was nothing for it but to start again from scratch, revising the back arches, bumper and side skirts to accommodate for the rims.
Company, Universal Flare soon set to work forging the original Seidl kit to another suitable match to provide the extra width. The shell was taken right down to the rear bumper to make it more rigid. This was a wise move as when living in a place like Pennsylvania, the winters are harsh and pot holes are plentiful. The new custom kit also provided better symmetry with the lines of the side skirt so it got the thumbs up all round.
With the shell now in awesome shape, the next consideration was the paintwork. Not taking this decision lightly, Josh spent a whole two weeks mulling over which of the ten pearl Dupont Colours shades would best compliment the MK IV’s body. To his delight, the paint’s name Scarlet fever certainly proved to look as it good as it sounded. The result; a striking red glow that reflects all the passion and expression that this car’s all about. Well you don’t get to see much more devotion and attachment than a modder to their car, do you? The families of such enthusiasts will know this only too well and in Josh’s case he was lucky to have people around him that were so patient and supportive.
But not forgetting that it’s important to be nice on the inside too, Josh set to work on the Golf’s interior. Again there was a bit of trial and error going on and the whole stripped out look all turned out a bit pear-shaped. So Josh scratched his head a little and re-thought the whole thing. For the time being, he’s settled on having some replacement back seats which thankfully don’t seem to be obstructed by the presence of a roll cage. In the day to day scheme of things however, these rear seats are rarely used, perhaps due to the compromise of performance.
But friends do have their place and one guy that certainly earned himself a seat in the front was the one that helped him with his ICE install. Having recently just opened a company called Vibrationz Sound, his mate was just as keen to embark on a new challenge that would showcase his work. The quality of the audio system in Josh’s MKIV is mainly attributed to Rockford Fosgate. However the hours of labour were all down to Josh and his mate who created a fibreglass housing for the equipment and dressed it in black suede.
This MKIV Euro project is now more or less complete aside from a dash of colour coding. Josh’s options include either painting the roof to match the bonnet or coating the bonnet with the same scarlet fever shade as the rest of the car. Either way his motor is sure to be picking up a few more trophies along the way. He can be proud then that all his hard grafting and imaginative determination has really paid off.
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