Over the past few weeks, the local hot hatch spotlight has been firmly trained on the Volkswagen Golf 7 GTI.
Indeed, the iconic GTI badge this year celebrated its 40th birthday, with the Wolfsburg automaker releasing the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport to mark the occasion.
But now a local tuner wants in on the GTI action. Yes, the folks over at RGMotorsport – who are apparently quite busy, having just detailed a light tuning upgrade to the BMW M2 and earlier supercharged the V6 in the Toyota Hilux – say their “untamed” package for the seventh-generation Golf GTI will turn the hatchback into a “purposeful street-eater”.
While we’re not quite sure what that means, we do understand that the upgrade frees a little more oomph from the familiar EA888 2,0-litre turbocharged engine powering the front wheels. How much, exactly? Well, the Randburg-based tuner says maximum power increases from the stock 162 kW to 195 kW, the latter matching the output of the Clubsport. Strangely, the firm makes no mention of the new torque peak (for the record, the stock figure sits at 350 N.m).
So, what does the upgrade involve (besides, it must be noted, the voiding of your warranty with Volkswagen SA)? Well, RGM installs what it calls its “Goliath” carbon-fibre cold air induction system, which includes a pleated cotton gauze cone filter.
Next, it adds an 85 mm downpipe, which runs from the turbo back to a conical junction, from where the system is gradually reduced to 63 mm in diameter. Lastly, the tuner drops in a plug-and-play engine management piggyback module, before setting the vehicle up on its dynamometer.
RGM claims that the result is a Golf capable of completing the quarter-mile in less than 14 seconds and running through the standing kilometre in a little more than 25 seconds at a terminal speed of 215 km/h.
The tuner says the zero to 100 km/h sprint time falls to 5,92 seconds, claiming that in-gear acceleration improves markedly, too. We’re guessing this applies to a model fitted with a DSG transmission, since these make up the bulk of local sales.
The price? RGMotorsport says the package costs R19 400, which includes a six-month/20 000 km warranty on the work, but points out that it has discounted the price to R17 900 until the end of July.
We must point out, of course, that CAR magazine generally does not encourage readers to tinker with their cars’ engines in order to improve performance. Read more about our stance on tuning here.
Still, it’s interesting to see what local tuners are up to. Check out RGM’s video below, which pits the tuned Golf GTI against a stock model.
RGM VW GOLF 7 GTI VS STOCK VW GOLF 7 GTI AT GEROTEK from RGMotorsport on Vimeo.
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