In our last issue we brought you an exclusive look at the Mk5 GTI ABD Racing's building for Speed TV's Street Tuner Challenge. To recap, Street Tuner Challenge is a television series that follows three tuners who challenge each other to build the best all-around street car. Competing in this year's series are a Ford Mustang, a Honda Fit and a VW GTI.
In the first weeks of the show, the GTI was stripped of its interior. ABD then fabricated a rollcage and mounted Momo racing seats. The car also received complete Caratere aerodynamics.
Since we left off, Eibach provided adjustable coilovers to lower the car and stiffen the suspension. Eibach also engineered sway bars to eliminate body roll. To finish off the suspension, an upper strut tower bar was constructed by ABD to reinforce the chassis and decorate the engine bay.
We arrived at ABD's Riverside, CA facility during filming for week six of the program. They'd already removed the factory side-mount intercooler. As a replacement, a large ABD Racing front-mount intercooler was fitted. A Nitrous Express Halo system was then matched with the intercooler to cool temperatures quicker.
We were surprised to see Randy Roth of Techtonics Tuning present during filming. He flew down from Oregon to install the new exhaust system for the Mk5 2.0T (as used on our project GLI). The stainless steel exhaust was a complete package and comprised of a Techtonics downpipe and dual exhaust tips with a Borla muffler. With the help of ABD's Adrian Saldivar, the team installed the system quickly. Thank goodness they were swift, because everybody in the studio was dying of heat exhaustion. The workshops used for filming aren't equipped with air conditioning, and electric fans can't be used because they'd create excessive noise during filming.
ABD's project is moving along, but they've run into some difficulties. The build schedule has been altered numerous times to accommodate delays in acquiring parts. For example, a big brake upgrade should have been installed by now but the suppliers didn't come through. The Speed TV crew isn't going to allow extra time for the tuners to catch up, so ABD will have to pick up the pace in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned to et and Speed TV for updates on the turbo, brakes and paint.