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Written by James Sapienza
LS1-swapped VW R32 really does prove the old adage: “LS swap all the things.”<br />Ah, the Volkswagen GTI. The quintessential hot hatch. The most fun you can have with front-wheel drive, well, maybe. Cheap, flingable, and easy to tune; as comfortable on a commute as it is on the track. Yeah, well, it’s still a front-drive hatchback. And dynamic or not, tiny four-bangers can’t hold a candle to a high-horsepower V8. That’s why we love this build. It combines everything that’s great about the GTI, but it’s powered by an LS1.This GTI started out as a 2004 R32, the all-wheel drive giant-slaying GTI variant. In Volkswagen circles, this is a rapidly appreciating future classic; the best variant of arguably the best-looking GTI generation. But owner Steven Berchtold wasn’t so precious. He bought an impressively clean R32 in his native California, and turned it into a stripped, caged, and fully custom track rocket.He uses this Facebook thread to document the “R59” transformation into a track day warrior. Needless to say, it’s impressive. He strips the car bare, doing an impressive amount of fabrication work in his garage. Here’s he describes the work done:One of the biggest issues I foresaw in this project was the question of how to transfer the load from the rear axle into the chassis/body. Although the R32 had the provisions to take some force (original AWD) it was never meant to take twice the horsepower on just the rear axle. The trailing arms meet the body in a recessed pocket through some rubber bushings. I cut open the pocket and massively reinforced from the inside out. Fortunately I was able to get a hold of one of the last sets of spherical trailing and control arm bushings made buy an awesome guy years ago.Looking over the quality of the work, it’s definitely professional grade. The car is described as mid-engined. But if you’re expecting a Group B-style powerplant just behind the driver, you’d be wrong. In the R59, the engine is riding shotgun inside a custom shroud. The driver is now sitting approximately where the rear left-side passenger would in a stock GTI. #gallery-3 { margin: auto; } #gallery-3 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-3 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-3 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ <br style="clear: both" />
Date written: September 18, 2018
More of this article on the LS1 Tech website
ID: 13376
LS1-swapped VW R32 really does prove the old adage: “LS swap all the things.”<br />Ah, the Volkswagen GTI. The quintessential hot hatch. The most fun you can have with front-wheel drive, well, maybe. Cheap, flingable, and easy to tune; as comfortable on a commute as it is on the track. Yeah, well, it’s still a front-drive hatchback. And dynamic or not, tiny four-bangers can’t hold a candle to a high-horsepower V8. That’s why we love this build. It combines everything that’s great about the GTI, but it’s powered by an LS1.This GTI started out as a 2004 R32, the all-wheel drive giant-slaying GTI variant. In Volkswagen circles, this is a rapidly appreciating future classic; the best variant of arguably the best-looking GTI generation. But owner Steven Berchtold wasn’t so precious. He bought an impressively clean R32 in his native California, and turned it into a stripped, caged, and fully custom track rocket.He uses this Facebook thread to document the “R59” transformation into a track day warrior. Needless to say, it’s impressive. He strips the car bare, doing an impressive amount of fabrication work in his garage. Here’s he describes the work done:One of the biggest issues I foresaw in this project was the question of how to transfer the load from the rear axle into the chassis/body. Although the R32 had the provisions to take some force (original AWD) it was never meant to take twice the horsepower on just the rear axle. The trailing arms meet the body in a recessed pocket through some rubber bushings. I cut open the pocket and massively reinforced from the inside out. Fortunately I was able to get a hold of one of the last sets of spherical trailing and control arm bushings made buy an awesome guy years ago.Looking over the quality of the work, it’s definitely professional grade. The car is described as mid-engined. But if you’re expecting a Group B-style powerplant just behind the driver, you’d be wrong. In the R59, the engine is riding shotgun inside a custom shroud. The driver is now sitting approximately where the rear left-side passenger would in a stock GTI. #gallery-3 { margin: auto; } #gallery-3 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-3 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-3 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ <br style="clear: both" />
Date written: September 18, 2018
More of this article on the LS1 Tech website
ID: 13376
