1995 VW Jetta GL & 1996 Golf CL - North Of The Border

Cheyne Iclef and Bob Viglione at Blitzkrieg began by decking and resurfacing the block to 0.0001". The crank was polished and balanced, as were the rods. Autotech 262 cams went in at the same time as a ported throttle body, custom headers and a short-runner intake manifold matched to the head. The exhaust was also ported to the head, and used equal- length piping, venting into twin side-exit exhausts in front of the rear tires. "It's 2" diameter from the head all the way back on either side. Essentially it works as one, similar to a 2.5" exhaust."

Peter has yet to dyno the car and still has some bugs to fix but he plans to go for either a turbo or individual throttle bodies. Full engine management will also be installed to help tune the higher displacement 3.0 liter.

The VR6 suspension, drivetrain and brakes were also switched over, with an updated Sachs clutch and H&R Ultra-low coilovers added to the mix.

The exterior and interior followed the philosophy of, "cleaner is better," according to Peter. Unlike Mark and his extrovert Jetta, Peter stayed OEM+ with Euro parts such as the textured bumpers, moldings and skirts. He cleaned the rear by shaving the emblem, wiper and hatch spoiler, while the antenna was removed from the fender.

Square Mk2 mirrors gave the car a classic look, while a badgeless grille and smoked lights finished the conservative styling.

We should note at the time of the shoot, a Rieger GTX chin spoiler was fitted but Peter has since changed to a Jetta front-end.

But the real magic on this Golf was its shoes: 16" Porsche Gotti J55A wheels, to be exact. Peter jumped through hoops to get them to work after he bought two separate sets in different widths to build a working set.

This entailed drilling all four wheels to match the correct centers and lips, using BBS hardware for assembly, as well as polishing the lips, color-matching the centers and machining the faces.

The center caps were once chrome, but were stripped and polished. And to mount the wheels on the 5x100 hubs (swapped from the VR6), custom adapters were made 22mm in the front and 50mm driver-side rear, 46mm passenger-side rear. This compensated for the uneven balance often found on the Mk3's rear beam.

With all four wheels flush in the fenders, Peter had Green's Automotive to thank for the work.

Peter didn't spare the interior and even continued the OEM+ theme with leather seats from an '02 Porsche Carrera. Clever cutting and welding meant the Porsche seats could use the CL seat sliders.

The remainder of the interior was then upgraded with either OE or Driver's Edition accessories. Essentially, everything became black and silver, with a suede headliner to ice the cake.

We have to admit to some confusion when we first saw Peter's car because it was set up for boost with the built 3.0L motor. But after hearing his story, it'll be exciting to see whether he follows the road less traveled by going all-motor, or whether he surrenders to boost.

18x9.5" Rial Daytona rear wheels with stretched 225/40 Falken tires

Tech Spec
1996 VW Golf CL
Owner: Peter Szigeti
Location: Coquitlam, BC
Occupation: Refrigeration Technician student

Engine: 3.0 liter VR6 with 2mm overbored and decked block, 83mm JE forged pistons, 11.5:1 compression, polished and balanced crankshaft and connecting rods, bored throttle body, port-matched and venturied short-runner intake manifold, Autotech software and 262 cams, K&N filter, equal-length custom exhaust with X-pipe and 3-into-1 304-stainless headers, Magnaflow high-flow cats and mufflers, custom VW oil cap, engine cover, blow-by catch-can, battery relocated to trunk

Drivetrain: five-speed manual with Sachs power clutch

Brakes: VR6 brake conversion

Suspension: H&R Ultra-low coilovers, VR6 front sway bar, front and rear strut bars