When building a racing car, starting with the lightest possible platform is always a good way to go. A first-generation Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit for us Yanks) is a great platform: it weighs as much as a Coke can and is about as powerful in stock form. This particular Golf has a touch more than that. Here’s it’s official numbers: 1,151 horsepower and nearly 740 ft/lbs of torque out of a 2.0L 16V that is turbocharged to the tune of 55 PSI. Confession: I’m not a fan of pretty much anything with a Volkswagen badge on it, and I’ve been like that pretty much all of my life. But with that being said, the simple fact that you could pull next to a Lamborghini Gallardo in one of these, knowing full well you could make the Italian supercar your bitch for the next mile, just makes my inner child smile.
But there is a downside to the light car/high power equation: you have to be able to put the power down. This Golf, an all-wheel-drive monster known as “16Vampir”, is well known via YouTube videos…when it wants to, deep 8-second quarter miles are par for the course. But in this race, the VW just wasn’t up to the challenge and instead of laying waste to the Audi Coupe Quattro in the other lane, the driver of the Golf was instead treated to the automotive equivalent of a bull ride. We do know that a drive shaft was broken, but as of press time, we aren’t sure if the driver’s spine was.
Holy Farfrompoopin !