Here's a little Christmas gift from the Motor1.com team to all our faithful readers from all around the world. It's a really brutal second generation Volkswagen Golf, designed and built exclusively for hillclimb racing. You'll like it, a lot.
Thankfully, outside the World Rally Championship and Formula 1 galaxies, there are a number of unrestricted forms of motorsport – and the hillclimb category is arguably the most competitive zone for professional and unprofessional drivers. Don't believe us? Just take a look at this crazy Golf 2, powered by a Golf 5-sourced 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine from the TSI family.
It's a project, which started back in 2000 when Karl Schagerl from Austria decided that he needs a fun and cheap four-wheel-drive vehicle for a daily driver in the snowy winters. Over the next 15 years, the humble hatchback slowly evolved into a real beast, with Schagerl replacing the turbocharger a number of times and putting a modern 4Motion AWD system and Golf 4 transmission.
In its final stage of tuning, the rally Golf now has 600 horsepower (447 kilowatts) and 479 pound-feet (650 Newton-meters) of torque. The 2.0 turbo, also heavily reworked with race-spec piston and uprated conrods over the years, is now mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox from KAPS Transmissions. And the bodywork is equally amazing – a massive rear fixed wing is combined with DTM-style winglets, multi-spoke wheels, and a pinch of Group B magic. The livery is inspired by Volkswagen's current WRC program with the Polo WRC.
The overall result is really impressive. It's one of the fastest VW Golfs on the planet and watching it go around sharp corners at full speed is a pleasure.
Now, pour yourself a glass of fine cognac and enjoy three minutes with the Golf 2 TFSI-R 2.0.
