Thankfully, uniformity is a quality that's lacking in our sport, and the reasons we have for creating our projects are as diverse as the cars and their owners. Some stem from well-planned, long-standing goals, while others find their inspiration more spontaneously.
Meet Rafael Melo. He falls into the latter group when it comes to the reason he built this stellar '01 Jetta 1.8T. "I had a dream of building a turbo VW after I heard one with a BOV for the first time. I told my family that no matter what, one day I would have one," Melo said.
Fast forward almost a decade, lots of hard work and many headaches later, and Rafael saw his force-fed dreams through nicely. "Once you've owned and driven a turbo car there's nothing like it. I can't explain, but it's addictive," Melo said.
Admiring the subtle lines of Rafael's car, it's easy to underestimate the magnitude of this silky sedan. You might not believe this Jetta is capable of low 12sec quarter miles at over 120mph. And you'd probably roll your eyes if we told you the car spent months in the bodyshop in pursuit of perfection.
Like all fairy tale stories, Rafael's started with ambition and was quickly trounced by angst but eventually ended in accolades.
A longtime fan of VWs, Rafael scrimped and saved his way to a '02 GTI VR6. As we said, he wanted a VW long before he could drive and he wasted little time doing the typical intake, chip, exhaust and suspension upgrades. Sadly though, Rafael enjoyed his GTI for less than a year when financial hardship forced its early sale.
Undeterred, Rafael again began saving for another Dub. And although the VR6 was his favorite motor, it was during this period that Rafael fell in love with the 1.8T. "I heard a 1.8T with a blow-off valve and it sounded amazing. From that day forward it was all I cared about and all I wanted," Melo said.
Shortly after getting the bug for boost, Rafael found himself behind the wheel of a stock '01 Jetta 1.8T. Now a boosted aficionado, Rafael jokes about his unorthodox path to the finished product. "Looking back at how some things were done, I was lucky I never destroyed anything," he laughed. While most begin with bolt-ons, software and eventually a big turbo, Rafael went in reverse. Within a month of owning the car it wore a T3/T4 turbo and ATP manifold, but no more. The car ran horribly and dangerously lean.
Hoping to remedy the problems, Rafael took the Jetta to a nearby shop where it sat for several months. When he got it back, the car had a Neuspeed FMIC, APR software, 440cc injectors and a BOV. Once put together, even the new round of mods didn't stop the car from running badly.
Slapped by bad luck and a bill for over $5000, Rafael called on friend Peter Almeida for help. After mapping out a plan, the two tore into the 1.8T in hopes of setting it straight.
The car was down for another long stint and this time they ditched everything except the big turbo. Round three started with an ATP low-compression head spacer and 3" downpipe. The car then received fueling via a Unitronic chip, ATP 255 lph fuel pump and 630cc Siemens injectors. Rafael then added a Kinetic Motorsport front-mount intercooler, 2.5" Borla exhaust, Turbosmart BOV and two-stage boost controller, along with a Nitrous Express 50-shot and intercooler sprayer.
Before buttoning the car back together, Rafael made sure the Jetta could handle the power by fitting a Clutch Masters stage 5 clutch and lightweight flywheel. Though it cost him a pretty penny, Rafael added a Peloquin differential as well so "one-tire fire" would be a thing of the past.
Finally content with the mods to the motor and drivetrain, Rafael hit the dyno to see what his hard work was worth. After the smoke cleared, his Jetta made 346whp and 310 lb-ft at 25psi on 112-octane gas.
Since the car would mostly see street duties, Rafael made some pulls on pump swill, which netted him roughly 310whp and 295 lb-ft at the wheels.