When our web designer, Olivier Duong came to paint his four-door '01 GTI at DTM Autobody, he rejected just about every color on the Skittles color spectrum. He wasn't interested in candy red, purple, orange, yellow, etc, and in the end, gave the green light to green paint. But not Skittles candy green; we're talking about a smooth Urban green straight from the BMW Z4 color book.
Looking back, Oli credits his VW addiction to Ronny Ng, who used to dominate the show scene with his red GTI. One look at Ronny's ride and Oli was hooked. He went out and satisfied his hunger with a set of 18" Oettinger REs. But like all fashionable men, Oli couldn't wear just one set of shoes. So when Ronny retired his car, Oli jumped on his set of 18" JLine wheels wrapped with Toyo rubber.
Returning to the exterior, the snot green paint spilled beyond the stock body and over a full Rieger body kit, including European spec front and rear bumpers.
The boys at DTM Karbon were anxious to add some carbon fiber to Olivier's ride, kicking over a rear spoiler, custom splitter and a unique carbon/kevlar hood - all of which have been color-matched to the green machine.
Thanks to the folks at Eibach, the GTI's wheel gap was eliminated with a set of Prokit coilovers. To further enhance the handling, Eibach also supplied sway bars, leaving one mean green machine ready for the twisties.
But wait, it wouldn't be complete without serious boost. And this is where the story takes another unexpected turn; it has a GReddy turbo upgrade where the stock turbo is replaced with a TD04-19T and all the associated paraphernalia. We'll have a full install feature shortly, so we can give you all the details then. However, the target is 245hp to the wheels and we'll let you know if that was achieved.
While our senses are occupied with the sight of the green paint and feel of the GReddy boost, our ears are crying for some tunes. So Hifonics, Scosche and Icon joined forces to provide the ultimate entertainment experience. Lorenzo Dimichieli from Quality Mobile spent months integrating two 12" Hifonic subwoofers, three amps and two 8" Icon TVs into the trunk. Removing the rear seat meant Lorenzo could construct a beautiful fiberglass structure to house the subs and amps, leaving everybody green with envy.
Stay tuned for our full feature on Project Envy, along with the turbo install. And don't forget to look out for it at all the SoCal shows this season.