Every June VW enthusiasts all over Southern California flock to Dubwars, which was held at the California Motor Speedway this year. It's considered one of the best events in SoCal for the VW enthusiast. Where else can you see the hottest VWs duking it out in an autocross course, car show, burnout contest, SPL contest and sound-quality contest? Nowhere. And the crowd speaks for itself. Hundreds of people were waiting in line for the gates to open.
Our booth was placed next to the enormous APR Tuned rig that dwarfed the four cars we had on display. One of these was Chris Garcia's purple Audi TT from the 11/04 issue. Next to it was Jesse Padilla's 330hp Mk2 Golf turbo from the 01/05 issue. Our own web guy, Olivier Duong, brought his blue GTI 1.8T, and next to it was a Mk4 GTI VR6 belonging to Robert Wang. His sweet ride was equipped with lambo doors, EIP Stage 2 turbo kit, AP Racing brakes, Dietrich widebody and 19" Work VSSX wheels. We've been after this car for months and should have a full feature very soon.
Displayed in the APR booth was Street Werke's R32 with a GT35R turbo that puts out over 400hp. This was accomplished with an 8.15:1 compression, but can you believe this is only a stage 1?
ABD Racing brought the big gun, its Mk5 Jetta 2.5T. This bundle of joy boasts a prototype turbo, Votex body kit, huge FMIC, Tial BOV, Brembo brakes and 19x8.5" Antera wheels. It also has a custom trunk treatment that resolved the tail light issues.
We hung around HPA Motorsports drooling over its 650hp Audi TT 3.2. This beast packs serious heat with its twin GT28 turbos. It has a rollcage and a rear wing that suggests this car means business. Hopefully it'll attend our annual eurotunerGP to show what it's capable of.
Zigzagging through the maze of VWs and Audis, we came across many impressive cars, including Carlo Cabalquinto's white Mk4 GTI VR6. It sports an Abt lip kit that is molded to the Euro bumpers. The side moldings are also shaved. There was also a sweet Mk4 Jetta 1.8T with Rieger M3 skirts, E46 wing, shaved moldings and molded Caractere rear valance. The whole car is sprayed BMW Steel gray. Under the carbon hood is an FMIC and HKS blow-off valve. Another highlight was Paul Zengel's supercharged Mk3 Jetta VR6 that rolls on 18" Image wheels and even has a powered rear wing from a Corrado.
The old-skool cars were there in strength. We liked Anthony Salvador's black Mk2 Jetta coupe with a 2.0 transplant. Don't be fooled; this old-timer is equipped with Autotech 276 lift cams and chip, G60 flares and striking 13x8" Dynalite wheels in the front and 13x9" in the rear. Next to it was another Mk2 Jetta 16v with G60 flares and 13" wheels.
We also spotted some ex-feature cars like Gary Lutz's supercharged Mk3 Jetta (et 9/04), Frank Periccone's stunning Beetle (et 1/05) and Dave Snider's supercharged Mk4 Jetta (et 7/05).
The event saw the unveiling of the highly anticipated Mk5 Golf from Autotech Sport Tuning. It's outfitted with Zender and is about to embark on a full development program.
Later in the day, the autocross came to an end, and that's when the fun began with the Hooliganism contest. This was the first time it's been introduced and contestants had two minutes to clown around and impress the crowds. One of the participants was Bernie Chacon (et 7/05 JTI). His Mk2 Jetta coupe showed the crowds that front-wheel drive could drift - in reverse, that is. Blasting what sounded like ice-cream-truck tunes, this maniac had to be pushed off the course after the throttle cable snapped.
If you weren't at Dubwars, you missed out. For more information about next year's event, check out www.dubwars.com.