Hot Tuner
Gallery 1
“ABOUT THE only things that haven’t changed are the chassis numbers,” observes Guy Harding, gazing at his Harding Performance Golf R.
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Given this thing cleaned up last year as a box-fresh, lightly tweaked daily drive, that’s a throwaway remark simply dripping with intent.
From inside, there’s little sign of the mechanical mayhem that resides beneath the vinyl-wrapped skin – the stock seats, steering wheel and dash all remain just as Volkswagen intended when the car rolled off the production line.
But under the bonnet, well, let’s just say that’s where you find a whole new kettle of fish. The R’s EA888 engine – already with more muscle than stock out of the factory, thanks to a stronger cylinder head, hollow exhaust valves, larger turbo and bigger radiator – has scored a full basket of additional goodies from Racingline (think ‘Volkswagen Racing’ stuff and you’re all of the way there).
“The car has one of the first Stage 3 turbochargers from Racingline which has all new internals,” says Harding, who boasts that it’s capable of exceeding 500bhp (373kW), huge power from a 2.0-litre.
“Unfortunately, thanks to this,” says Harding, pointing to the crutches that he hobbled around on for the duration of the event, “we didn’t get time to finish the engine calibration, so we had to wind the power output right down to safely make the event.”
He reckons he lost a month or more of development time in the lead-up, thanks to his dicky knee. Chassis-wise, Racingline supplied the coilover kit, along with adjustable front and rear anti-roll bars, all of which is all bolted on with Harding Performance-designed SuperPro urethane bushings.
“We’ve bolted in a fully ‘dry’ set-up which we obviously can’t change now,” says Harding, as we shelter from the driving rain. “We’ll see how that goes.” A set of six-piston front calipers are mated to 360mm front-hatted rotors, with 18 x 8.0-inch Racingline rims dressed in Yokohama AD08R 235/40 ZR18 tyres.
“The biggest secret of the Golf R in general is that it’s so neutral and so usable,” says Harding. “It’s like the old Subaru WRX STI.”
SPECIFICATIONS Drive: all-wheel Engine: 1984cc inline-4, DOHC,16v, turbo Gearbox: 6-speed dual-clutch Suspension: A-arms, coil-overs, anti-roll bar (f); multi-links, coil-overs, anti-roll bar (r) Brakes: 360mm ventilated/slotted discs, 6-piston calipers (f); 310mm ventilated discs, single-piston calipers (r) Wheels: 18 x 8.0-inch (f/r) Tyres: 235/40 ZR18 (f/r); Yokohama Advan AD08R
PARTS AND PRICES Stage 3 kit: $5500 Intercooler: $1995 Transmission tune: $1495 Exhaust: $4450 Intake: $795 Suspension: $5595 Swaybars: $850 Control arms: $1150 Bushes: $450 Brakes: $4895 Wheels/Tyres: $3595 Total mods cost: $30,770 Vehicle cost(mSrp): $55,240 Total cost: $86,010
