You Wouldn't Guess This Clean, Euro-Styled GTI Has 500hp Under The Hood And Is Capable Of A 10sec Quarter-Mile.
There are only a handful of cars, or supercars for that matter, that can compete on the freeway or on the quarter-mile with this '95 GTI VR6 owned by Milos Cadikovski. Ferrari F430? No way! Lamborghini Murcielago? Close, but no cigar. Bugatti Veyron? Maybe, but who the hell owns one?
Milos is a body shop technician by trade, but his real passion is driving fast VWs. He's undoubtedly addicted to speed, but being on the scene for many years has helped him develop a sixth sense for form and function.
At Waterfest 13, Milos will be remembered for unleashing his monstrous GTI on the drag strip. After transporting his car from Toronto, Canada, he was eager to make use of new drag radials, widened front fenders and a 484whp turbocharged VR6 24v motor.
On his first run he recorded 11.30sec; conservative in his mind, but track officials immediately warned him to slow down because his car didn't meet safety requirements for such high speed. After hearing this, he politely nodded and cued up his second pass with the intention of a faster time - 11.04sec at 130.2mph!
Having thrown down the hammer and wooed thousands of Waterfest fans, he yearned for another pass to try and break into the 10s. However, the officials promptly kicked him off the track.
We found him the next day in the show area displaying this GTI's other characteristic: a smoothly styled and street-driven show car.
Sitting down to talk with Milos, we learned his motivation stemmed from being an avid Mk2 fanatic. In fact, his current 24v engine was originally intended for a Mk2. "When I decided to buy the motor, I didn't have my Mk3 at the time," he explained. "All the stuff was going into an Mk2, but it was showing its age and I felt it was time for a new car."
Milos purchased his GTI VR6 12v shortly after buying the motor. He transplanted the 24v with the help of SEM Motorsports. "To install the 24v isn't hard," he told us. "The only real difficulty is the immobilizer. So I went with the stand-alone to avoid any problems."
Milos kept the original drivetrain and drove the car for a year. "After a summer of driving it I broke my leg in an accident and that's when I decided to turbocharge the 24v," he said.
The bottom-end also seized when his oil pan was damaged on the highway, which left him with with the task of rebuilding the motor.
He chose to upgrade the bottom-end and used Ross pistons, Pauter rods, a head spacer and a new, stock crank to strengthen the motor and drop the compression to 9.0:1. At the same time, the bore was slightly punched to clean the block. ARP hardware ensured the rebuilt motor would withstand 8000rpm shifts.
When planning the forced induction, Milos swung for the fences and selected a dual ball-bearing GT40R turbo. The turbo was then bolted to a custom exhaust manifold with stainless steel plumbing and a 4" downpipe from SEM. Milos and SEM also mounted an enormous front mount intercooler, which uses a 3" core to minimize heat soak.
For ECU tuning, the Eletromotive Tec3 stand-alone engine management was programmed by Marco Passante a Magnus Motorsports. With this setup, the car is easily tunable to over 500hp, running 40psi boost for racing. Different preset programs allow Milos to detune it for the street.
Work under the hood didn't stop there, as Milos continued with an 02M six-speed transmission swap. A Bully clutch, lightened flywheel and Peloquin LSD ensure power is shifted to the wheels.