Just how far can you stretch the Golf V’s abilities without reverting to jet engines and a giant slingshot? German tuners, HPG, might just have produced the ultimate Golf
Recently, CARtoday reported on a LPG-powered BMW, that clocked 318 km/h at the high-speed Nardo circuit in Italy. We were unaware however, of a certain hot-hatch that also made it to the Nardo high-speed event – the HPG Golf R36.
Although Volkswagen has decided (to the disappointment of some) not to shoehorn its 3,6-litre V6 engine into the Golf V chassis, there is some solace to be had in that the same unit can be found in the R36 Touareg and Passat (which aren’t available in South Africa, unfortunately). There was the Golf W12 650 concept car, but that will never make it to production … so just what can die-hard horsepower junkies with R32s use to embarrass the likes of Enzos, SLRs and LP640s?
The answer arrives in a haze of tyre smoke in the form of a very special Golf V tuned by HPG (if you have R1 100 000 to spare, that is). Unperturbed by the goings on of the production car world, the crew at HPG re-worked the 3,6-litre V6 engine and slapped on two turbochargers running on high boost for good measure. Before you go thinking that this bi-turbo Golf is all about what’s under the bonnet, think again. The HPG also comes with larger 19-inch wheels wrapped in 235/35 V-max Continental rubber and 390 mm ventilated front discs with 340 mm units at the rear. Also expect improvements on the suspension, 6-speed DSG transmission and subtle aerodynamic enhancements – subtle because there appears to be no form of extra kit on the R36’body. As with the R32, the power gets sent to all four wheels via VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drive.
When HPG took its R36 took their car to the tuner battle at Nardo the bi-turbo V6 was producing 441 kW at 7 000 r/min and 700 N.m of torque at 4 500 r/min. Although it was faced with stiff competition from the likes of AC Schnitzer, Lorinser, Sportec, TechArt, Edo and Brabus, the HPG R36 impressed the organisers of the event as it sprinted from zero to 100 km/h in 3,8 seconds, and went on to record a top speed of 327 km/h (even more impressive if you consider that the heavily-modified Benz, Porche, BMW and Lamborghini models present cost up to three times as much with their conversions and struggle to match this Wolfsburg rocket).
Like most of the models at the top-end of the tuner market, the HPG R36 should even boast a decent luxury interior – if a little race oriented. If that still doesn’t tickle your fancy, HPG has reportedly fettled with the engine a bit more to bump the power up to 477 kW…gulp!