Pulling up to a field of 200 cars at last year's Texas Mile, hundreds of people laughed and shook their heads at Jeremy Freedman and his '97 VW GTI. Also in the queue were a Ford GT, Porsche 911, Toyota Supra and Lamborghini Gallardo.
To most spectators, all they saw was a shitty VW with black wheels; it didn't even have aerodynamics back then. But once it left the starting line and rushed into the distance, the skeptics fell silent. Then the crowd erupted into applause as they witnessed Jeremy in his beat-up GTI becoming the world's fastest GTI, setting a top speed of 208mph.
Dedicated To Dad
Competitive by nature, Jeremy has been an avid racer and fanatical golfer since he was a boy. The 30 year-old owns a golf accessory store in Dallas and is training to become a professional golfer. "I've been an athlete all my life, and my mom grew up drag racing," he started.
With cars in his blood, Jeremy received the keys to his first Dub when he got his brother's '92 GTI handed down. He fell in love with the hot hatch, regularly stomping on Mustangs at local street races. "I got hooked trying to go fast. I wanted to be the fastest guy out there," he told us.
After dabbling with the Mk2, he picked up a '97 GTI VR6 after his father passed away. "Our family doesn't come from money. So before my dad died, he wanted my brother, sister and I to each have our own car because my family shared one car for a long time when the economy was bad," he reminisced.
Jeremy's father left him with a small sum to buy a vehicle. So in '99, he found the perfect GTI and flew out to New Mexico to drive it home to Texas, loving every minute and grateful for his father's gift.
Speed Addict
Jeremy became a regular visitor to the drag strip. He'd push his GTI to the limit every weekend, shaving tenths with upgrades like cams, intake, chip and exhaust. As a speed addict, his hunger for more power was insatiable. He planned to install a supercharger but had a change of heart after understanding the potential of boost. So he traded his blower for a turbo kit. The components weren't made for each other, so he enlisted the help of good friend Philip Wight at Dubsquared.
Philip specialized in VW/Audi service and repair, but performance was in his DNA. Through the years, Philip helped Jeremy prepare the GTI for every drag and standing-mile race.
Ten years ago they built a 3.0 VR6 with forged pistons, rods and crank, which has served the Mk3 well. Dubsquared machined 288° cams and since then they've played with different turbochargers. Mounted on a Kinetic manifold, the VR6 initially had a Turbonetics 60-1 turbo, followed by a Borg Warner S366 before the current billet Precision 6768.
 |  Aaron Nelson, Jeremy Freedman,...  Aaron Nelson, Jeremy Freedman, Pat Hall, Philip Wight and Dale Gordon |  3.0 liter VR6 turbo rumored...  3.0 liter VR6 turbo rumored to be 800whp |
Developed in tandem was a Dubsquared fabricated 4'' downpipe that sits flush to the belly pan. T1 Race Development also designed a custom front-mount intercooler. To fuel the thirsty 3.0, 1000cc injectors were fitted plus dual fuel pumps. An M&W ignition system then ensured power was delivered throughout the rev range.
Not only does it have a ten year-old motor, but the GTI also retained its a five-speed manual transmission. "It's bone stock except for a Peloquin limited-slip diff and Clutch Masters disc," Jeremy told us.
This caught us off guard, since we imagined you'd need longer gears to exceed 200mph. "It's all in the tires and RPM. The stock rev limiter goes to 6800rpm, but I can take it to 8500rpm with my motor setup. And I increased the gear ratio with taller tires."
The tires were 215/60 Hoosier R6 slicks on 15'' Drag wheels. We're told that every 0.5'' in tire height should gain 8-10mph, according to the owner.
With the hardware fitted, Tony Palo at T1 added Motec M800 engine management. "The Motec is the shit!" Jeremy exclaimed. "My car used to be likean Atari, but now it's a Sony PS3 - Motec is the best at what it does."