H For Handling - Tuner Tech

By now, you'll have seen the H-Sport GTI on the cover of this issue and possibly read the full feature. But don't get the wrong idea about this car. It's not all about show. It's a workhorse that must earn its keep by assisting with product development for the company.

Lon Mok's stock GTI gave us benchmark lap times and handled the track very well.

Fitted with a host of new suspension parts, H-Sport took its Golf to the Streets of Willow Springs racetrack (www.willowspringsraceway.com) in California during late December and invited us to participate. H-Sport was going to verify whether newly developed parts actually worked on the car and try to show us the sort of difference they can make to the handling.

The point of the exercise was to highlight just how adjustable good suspension can be and how, with a little guidance, Golf owners can truly tailor their ride to suit their driving style and requirements.

H-Sport is the third division of the Hotchkis Automotive Group, which includes Hotchkis Performance (domestic) and Hotchkis Tuning (sport compacts). The parent company was established by John Hotchkis almost 13 years ago, and brother Mark started H-Sport for European applications some 10 years later.

When developing any new suspension, the company buys a car of its own, and that's when Mark decided to paint this one orange to attract a bit of attention (see Testing Times!, p24). Despite its appearance, the car's development follows the same course as any other, with extensive road and track testing in both stock and modified form. The initial tests are to establish a baseline from which the new equipment can be judged.

H-Sport's new GTI components include strut brace, sway bars, camber plates, end links and spring hats.

Having driven the stock car, H-Sport identifies areas that need help. New parts are then designed and manufactured to rectify the shortcomings. These parts are subsequently tested for suitability and durability.

The company's primary output includes springs, sway bars, strut braces and alignment pieces such as camber plates. All of these are made in-house, with the exception of the springs. Dampers are brought in from specialist suppliers, and this particular car uses Ohlins units developed by Stasis Engineering (see p24).

On the Mk4, areas for specific development included the reduction of body roll using sway bars, the introduction of front camber adjustment to improve turn-in grip and tire wear and a front strut brace to triangulate the front end and reduce body flex.

By the time we met at Streets of Willow, all the necessary parts had been manufactured for the Golf but had yet to receive final track testing. So we bluffed our way into the test and got to drive somebody else's car very fast around the track. Result!

Since we hadn't been present at the start of proceedings, we persuaded Lon Mok to bring along his standard '02 GTI to establish a baseline. The car had a GIAC chip and is miles off the engine development of the H-Sport car, but it's where most of you will be starting when you embark on such a project.

To be honest, Lon's car handled the sinuous circuit admirably. It felt controllable but would tend to understeer when pushed and would lift a wheel in tight corners, causing the tire to spin. After three timed laps, it recorded a best time of 81.83sec around the track, and this would be our starting point.

The H-Sport team that made it all possible - the Men in Black!