An important ingredient in building a complete project car was upgrading the engine's performance. ABD wasn't looking to build astronomical horsepower, but enough power to handle straight-aways on the track and canyon roads.
ABD started by designing certain performance products that could be easily reproduced and sold to future customers. A front-mount intercooler was fabricated and installed to cool intake temperatures. A larger turbo outlet hose was also created, enabling more air to pass through the turbo system. Finally, a ceramic-coated air intake system was mounted to the car. All these products are currently in production and should be on sale by the time this magazine hits newsstands.
ABD collaborated with Techtonics Tuning to liberate the restrictive OE exhaust system. Randy Roth flew down from Techtonics to install the new 2.5" downpipe and exhaust for ABD. The team went a step further and implemented dual exhaust tips that correspond to dual-cutouts in the rear valance.
GIAC and VF-Engineering also teamed up with ABD to develop a bigger turbo. Utilizing a GT28RS turbocharger, a prototype tubular manifold and custom GIAC software, the car boasted 282whp. This dyno was done with a conservative software program so Dave assured us that when the turbo kit is ready for public release, the power should be as high as 350whp after fine-tuning.
Utilizing several bolt-on and in-production pieces, ABD successfully tackled several elements of an all-round street car. In spite of the progress, this wouldn't be enough to win the competition. So Dave and his team returned to the drawing board to resolve their final plans. "We thought, let's do something that makes sense for our industry and something that really hasn't been done before," Dave explained. "I wanted to make sure we had a theme that was carried throughout the whole build and represented our industry. Project Industrial, as we call it, reflects everything metal. It's a little rough around the edges - not rough quality but in the actual look - a bare metal look. We didn't want it to be too pretty."
The new theme proved to be an excellent idea. ABD didn't need to have a widebody conversion or candy paint job to be different. Unluckily, the crew encountered problems with production. "The paint job was the biggest obstacle," Dave stated. "It was the single most stressful part of our build. For everything else, we knew what we were going to do or we researched it and came to a resolution. The paint job haunted us before we even had the car. We had three painters fall out during the season because they were unable to do the project. We were left with a two-week time period to paint the car with a new and experimental technique." West Coast Collision and Zeaks Design of Riverside, CA came to the rescue.
"The GTI was originally silver. The paint was then sanded down and lightly airbrushed black. The black surface was then scraped away leaving a scratched look on the silver surface. Once that was done, the paint was highlighted with gold and blue reflection accents. The next stage was airbrushing the rivets and clear coating the car. As a final touch, the headlamps and tail lights were matched to complement the industrial theme. After 48 hours, the exterior was complete. Its unique execution led to a first-place finish in the paint competition of Street Tuner Challenge.
In keeping with the theme, ABD received help from iForged Performance Wheels, which supplied a set of 19x8.5" Variant rims left in a raw machine finish. Pirelli PZero Nero tires provided the necessary rubber for daily driving.
Next, the industrial theme shifted to the interior. A pair of Momo seats were reupholstered and paint-matched to the car. For a race look, the rear seats and trunk were stripped for an aluminum floor and rollcage. The factory black paneling and upholstery were then swapped for silver carbon fiber accents and aluminum pieces.
ABD Racing isn't known for doing great audio work, but it was required for the television show. "The audio was another new concept," Dave said. "I'm not an audio guy and didn't want a whole bunch of crap in the car. So we kept it simple by first removing the factory head unit. In its place, a 9" monitor was fitted. A hidden receiver is completely run off a remote control. We installed a remote pod where the ashtray is that drives the DVD player and integrated iPod." To finish off the stereo, ABD swapped the factory speakers for Sony Xplod components. Two 8" subwoofers were secretly mounted within the rear quarter panels.
Overall, the audio system didn't add much weight to the car so ABD had the luxury of keeping the stereo installed on race days.
Dave concluded, "The entire project was a big hurdle. The television show makes it sound like we had twelve weeks to work on the car, but it's actually twelve episodes. They don't want us doing any major things off camera. Realistically, we built the car in 20 full days. A lot of all-nighters were done by the staff in order to finish the car by the drop-dead date. The project isn't impossible to do and a lot of us work great under pressure. Looking back at this season, it was fun to take the challenge."
ABD Racing has successfully catapulted the European car enthusiast market to new heights. It has taken numerous years and hard work from tuners and enthusiasts to achieve television exposure. We look forward to seeing more coverage on TV, or maybe on the big screen, for our scene and the likes of ABD Racing.
ENGINE: 2.0 liter turbo FSI, VF-Engineering GT28RS turbo conversion, tubular turbo manifold, GIAC software, air bypass valve, ABD Racing front-mount intercooler, stage 2 LAN pipe intake system, turbo outlet housing and carbon fiber engine covers, Techtonics Tuning 2.5" downpipe and exhaust, custom dual-exit exhaust modification
DRIVELINE: six-speed manual transmission