2000 Volkswagen GTI VR6

Thanks to an uncle who owns a new car dealership, Dean Alhassen got his first taste of serious performance in the company of Vettes and Vipers. But these big cubic-inch machines didn't hold his interest for long. In fact, the mystique behind American muscle faded rather quickly for Alhassen after Volkwagen announced the introduction of its 2000-model year GTI VR6.

"I spent part of my childhood in Europe," said California resident Alhassen, "and spent most of my time there in a first generation Rabbit that my Mother drove. I guess I have a special fondness for everything VW.

"The sound I get out of the exhaust is amazing..." Alhassen let the words ring into the air, then continued. "Plus, I am planning to turbocharge it myself and, with the VR6, I think my power gains would be much better than the 1.8T."

Raw performance aside, a lot has been done to this car to make it look like something that belongs on the mean streets of Europe. When it comes to altering the aesthetic qualities of a water-cooled Volkswagen, there are a number of places to turn and Alhassen researched them all. After all, Volkswagen owners enjoy the benefit of one of the largest aftermarket support networks in the world. Of course, there's always something to be said for a little creative interpretation, as is the case with Alhassen's GTI.

Rather than go with one body kit, this car's owner wanted to create his own custom look, and to this end, has added an amalgam of various parts and styling products to his flaming red GTI.

Beginning in front, the GTI sports a molded Fiberglas Zender bumper with an integral grille. This piece required a bit of modification to make it fit correctly, and for this reason, Autotech Sport Tuning came to the rescue. As the official Zender North American distributor, Autotech recommended the piece be installed by an experienced body shop. On either side of the car, ABT side skirts extend the factory side-panel lines earthward and blend well with the Zender front end. As side skirts go, these pieces are relatively sedate and neatly parallel to the door bottoms and side trim without adding any strange angles to the overall appearance. The only suggestion that these are aftermarket is the slight downward flare at either end of the skirts as they approach the wheel wells. Completing the lower portion of this GTI's kit, and by far the most aggressive piece on the car, is a Rieger rear apron skirt.

And, if you look closer, you'll discover more Zender components; a Zender rear hatch blend and a custom gas filler door. The rear hatch blend fits on the lower edge of the rear cargo hatch and matches its contour to the shape of the rear bumper. The gas filler door replaces the factory unit in its entirety and features CNC-machined aluminum construction and a faux carbon fiber insert for a high-tech appearance. Other exterior additions include Hella Colour Magic taillights and an ABT rear wing that mounts to the top of the car's hatch.

Poke your head inside the cockpit and you'll find that several styling additions have been placed there as well. Of particular interest are the forward footwells, which have been bolstered using some extremely beefy diamond plate inserts, eliminating the need for carpeted floormats. These are one-off parts that were custom fabricated by one of Dean's gearhead friends. The pattern was cut using the factory GTI floormats as templates, but according to Dean, they required sanding the rough metal edges and bending the diamond plate to match the GTI's floor contours. For this work, he slyly recruited the help of younger family members; for the latter process he wedged each panel between himself and his apartment stairs and bent them using good, old-fashioned elbow grease. Keen observers will note the custom GTI logo, which was laser-engraved in the diamond plate by brother-in-law, Glen Giffin of Bloss Ink in Arcadia, Calif. The engraved portion was then coated with red and black epoxy paint.

Other interior additions are limited to a Zender aluminum pedal set, ABT aluminum dead pedal and aluminum Zender shift knob. The rest of the GTI's interior remains factory spec.

Alhassen then directed his attention to a few performance-enhancing modifications; the results are there within the car's engine bay and down beneath its shiny red kit panels. The VR6 powerplant has been enhanced with a K&N filter on the intake end and a custom bent stainless-steel exhaust opposite that to relieve backpressure and usher spent gasses out under the rear valence. Engine management is now overseen by an Autotech Q-Chip incorporated into the VR6 factory ECU. According to Autotech, the Q-Chip delivers a more aggressive ignition map and corresponding fuel curves for an increase in overall engine performance without sacrificing vehicle drivability. For the A4 Golf application, Autotech claims its Q-Chip is good for about an extra 12 bhp, although we haven't tested it to date. If indeed, the numbers prove true, this VR6 is now pumping out close to 200 hp. The latest additions to Alhassen's powerplant are a lightened flywheel to allow lightning-quick throttle response and a Quaife torque biasing differential to assist him in applying power to the pavement.

Beneath the red body panels, the highly criticized factory GTI suspension has been stiffened using coil-over springs and matched rate dampers from H&R Special Springs. This is an application-specific kit developed by H&R for the sporting street driver; you'd be hard pressed to find better for the GTI. To further bolster the A4 chassis against excessive roll, Autotech installed its 25 mm tubular anti-roll bar and upper strut brace in front and a 28 mm tubular anti-roll bar in the rear. The stock GTI brake rotors have been cross-drilled for greater fade resistance and are now gripped with Mintex performance pads in the stock GTI calipers. Autotech stainless-steel braided brake lines provide pressure from a stock master cylinder. To complete the car's overall stance, Alhassen went with some big 18x8.5 Zender Monza wheels and wrapped them with Pirelli P7000 rubber sized 225/40/18 all around. One cool feature about the Zender wheels is that they're numbered and registered from the Zender factory, so if they are stolen within one year of the original purchase, Zender will replace them for free. Talk about insurance!

For those that crave more performance in their street driven vehicles, you'll have to wait. As I mentioned, Alhassen is playing with the idea of tubocharging the VR6, but he's waiting for some sort of good word first. "I haven't really heard good things about the kits that are out there," he explained. "I hear some people have got stuff in the works, but I'll wait and see."

It's refreshing to see a guy who isn't about to jump on some boat just because it bears the promise of more performance. Alhassen seems like the patient type, and that'll definitely benefit him as his continues his project build-up. In the meantime, we'll be waiting for some news.