Ben Gee’s stanced VW Mk5 Golf GTi
The Worthersee show, held annually in Southern Austria, is the ultimate playground for all of Europe’s finer VAG metal. It’s here that the trends, designs and incoming fads unfold every year for VW owners across the globe to gawp at and inevitably steal, er… sorry, adapt to their own ends.
The buzz of pitching up and having ‘the car’ that everyone is shooting their load over is widely acknowledged as being the ultimate accolade, even if there are no trophies to back up the buzz.
Producing the car that makes everyone stop and stare is no mean feat, but Ben Gee, from Arbon, Switzerland has nailed it. When he pitched up with shed loads of sexuality challenging electric pink accents all over this radically modified Mk.5, it was like an FC babe had just got naked in the famous Shell petrol station.
The perfect mix of power, stance, custom arches and aggression was properly attention grabbing. It’s also on the deck, thanks to a static drop that’s measured in inches not millimetres, thanks to a set of custom made H&R ultra low coilovers. These high-end struts are the talk of the town right now with the ability to go stupidly low (-160mm), while maintaining some semblance of ride quality.
“I wanted to build the sort of Mk.5 Golf no one had ever seen before. I wanted it low without having to resort to air-ride and the results are spot on,” says Ben. “You can still throw the car about and the damping is perfectly judged, ” he adds.
Perched precisely over a whopping set of 10.5×20-inch Vossen CV1 wheels, the damping needs to be spot on because those drastically flared (60mm front, 70mm rear) arches are literally a gnat’s chuff away from making contact.
Carefully judged offsets of ET30 (f) and ET15 (r) make it so. “I ordered the wheels and then built the car around them. Shortening the front driveshafts was quite taxing but it was the only way to make the wheels fit,” Ben muses, continuing, “The car now fits the wheels perfectly.”
Ben wasn’t satisfied with a nailed stance though, oh no. He wanted to push things forward in the power stakes as well. The added complexity of the stratified fuel injection 2-litre turbo lump didn’t phase him either as a cheeky G-Performance ECU remap nets very impressive gains.
“The trick with these high-pressure engines is to ensure the fuel pump can keep pace with the incoming air, ” Ben told us, continuing, “These engines are well known to suffer from flat spots, drastic power loss and even camshaft follower failure which causes the high-pressure fuel supply to crap itself.”
To this end, both the hydraulic follower that drives it and the internals of the Hitachi high pressure pump were replaced altogether with Autotech items. When combined with a Carbonio air intake and a 3-inch turbo back exhaust system with a 200 cell sports cat, these simple Bolton steps unleash a mighty useful 272bhp and a very fruity 318lb/ft of torque for effortless pace.
It’s not all go though. “The trunk has been made flush with the modified rear bumper from an Edition 30 GTI. The bumper lost its exhaust cut out and the parking sensors for a really smooth and squeezable rump,” explains Ben. Votex Jetta side skirts have been used to good effect while the roof, front splitter, grille insert, mirrors and the B-pillars have all been treated to a touch of carbon.
If there’s a more menacing looking Mk.5 out there we’re yet to see it, especially as those evil painted headlights and bulbous arches loom large in your mirror. “There’s a lot more to come,” Ben reveals as we leave him. “It’s going to be lower, have Audi R8 brakes and more power when you see it next time.”
And you know what, we believe him. As he settles into those optional VW Recaro pews, cranks the volume on his JVC and Rockford Fosgate based audio system and shreds yet another set of 265/25x20s in a cloud of smoke and debris, we’ve got no doubt this car is only going to get better.
TECH SPEC Mk.5 Golf GTi
STYLING
Original Candy white paint; Edition 30 front splitter in carbon fibre; flushed front bumper; headlight inserts in black; pink GTI grille trim; carbon fibre mirrors; Votex Jetta sideskirts; flared and re-modelled arches; carbon fibre roof and b-pillars; rear bumper and tailgate smoothed and exhaust cut-out delete.
TUNING
G-Performance remap; Carbonio induction kit; Autotech high-pressure fuel pump internals; Forge Twintercooler; custom stainless steel 3-inch turbo-back exhaust; 200 cell sports cat; down turned TDi-style tailpipe; painted engine plastics.
CHASSIS
H&R ultra low coilovers; cut down driveshafts; neon pink Vossen CV1 10.5×20-inch wheels; Hankook S1 EVO 265/25×20 tyres.
INTERIOR
Optional VW Motorsport leather Recaro seats; plastics painted white.
AUDIO
Custom Rockford Fosgate T400 2 and T1000 amplifiers installed inside rear door panels; JVC KW-AVX800 double-DIN DVD headunit; 3x RF Punch P2-10 subwoofers in custom enclosure; 32-inch Sony Bravia LCD TV in boot.
Words by James Wallace
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