A hot hatchback for the ages

After the muscle car post I need to write about my favourite kind of of car. And as a normal citizen of Europe my favourite kind of car is small and understated but fast and fun. I'm obviously talking about the hot hatchback. I have covered this topic before (surprisingly) with the Fiesta ST and various GTI's.

Volkswagen Golf R32 in the correct deep blue pearl colour.

Imagine my excitement when I saw a magnificent VW Golf R32 mark IV roll up behind me. Basically the R32 is a harder and faster GTI that was released in 2003. Instead of a four cylinder turbo it has one of my all time favourite engines the 3.2 litre 24 valve VR6. In the mark IV Golf it produces 240 HP which drives all the four wheels. If the engine is all you want then I should inform you that it is also found in the Audi TT. As are the same suspension components and the DSG double-clutch gearbox. So basically the R32 is a more practical Audi sports car.

May I turn your attention to those magnificent wheels.

While we are comparing it to the first Audi TT it is more handsome as well. Even though it looks very much as the basic mark IV Golf there are some features that separates it from the common road dwelling Golf. A new front bumper, skirts and rear bumper have a classically discreet Volkswagen look. But perhaps the biggest giveaway are the two modest exhausts that release the magnificent VR6 growl. The R32 that I spotted didn't really represent the modesty of a Volkswagen. The blacked out lights, wide tires and low ride height gave it a really dominant presence. Completing the makeover is the black VW badge. Even though the transformation is quite substantial one can see it has been done with style and money. I cannot help but like it.

I'm glad that it still has the stock exhaust, classy tuning indeed.

As I've mentioned many times this is one of my favourite hot hatches. A sensible German hatchback that has ripped off its buttoned up white collar shirt and put on a pair of boxing gloves and said "Come on then, let's see what you've got".

A familiar shape but still more special than most realise.

PS: The more eagle eyed of you have probably noticed a small Oettinger badge on the grille. According to the Oettinger tuning company's website they don't tune the VR6 engine which means that the tuning must have been done to the underside of the car, maybe the suspension.

In house tuning

When we hear in house tuning we usually think of AMG, SRT or Nismo. But there's one manufacturer who has a nameless in house tuning business. It's all very sneaky and mysterious. 

The company in question is Ferrari. They've been doing this sneaky car tuning since the 512 Testarossa if I'm anywhere close. But it really started with the Ferrari 360 which then later got the Challenge Stradale treatment. And now the new mainstream Ferrari, the 458 Italia, has been tuned up by the ninja wing of Ferrari. It's called the 458 Speciale.

It has as near as makes no difference 600 horsepower and weighs 90 kg less than the standard model. It also has many other numbers that are supposed to impress me and you, but i don't care about those. What I care about is that the exotic three exhaust pipe design is now a more traditional two pipe set up. But at least those silly whiskers are gone. I think it looks great! Better than the F430 Scuderia. I like the stripe too. 

So Ferrari did it again with this one. They made the best handling sports car that every filthy rich bought. But four years later they release the same car with essentially an in house tuning package. So now everyone with a standard 458 are dreading the day when a Speciale shows up at their cocktail party. 

That stripe is really the nightmare of the owner of standard 458

And yes it's going around the famous hairpin in Monaco.

I do miss the three pipe arrangement, but it does look racier like that. 

  

Making it better

In the post titled "The hottest wasp" I wrote about my favourite new hot hatch the Ford Fiesta ST. And to spice the ST up further, a company called Mountune got their hands on the 1.6 ecoboost and gave it a little more... well... boost.

Where the standard ST has 180 hp the Mountune Performance pack buffs it up to a meaty 215 hp. Add to that a sound that's described as a "rally noise from the 60's". And even the torque figure is up from 290Nm to 320Nm. These are all great things! I can not see these making the brilliant Fiesta ST any worse.
And to top it all off this Performance pack called MP215 is only around 800€ and the fitting takes only an hour. So that in my books is the most value 800€ you're aver going to spend.

It's supposed to be lower than the normal ST but i don't see it.

To tell the knowing motorists that you've made the best decision of your life.  

And this is the normal ST. It looks better than many super cars. 

More is better (sometimes)

In the recent events or happenings - what ever you want to call them - I have spotted that even a "normal" super car isn't enough anymore for the filthy rich.

It has been a trend for a while now where tuning companies have taken an unbelievably expensive and powerful car and then fiddled around with it. Giving it even more power and a higher price tag. I don't understand this kind of tuning. I thought that just by buying a high performance car like an M-powered BMW or a Porsche was enough. But apparently I stand corrected. The filthy rich are actually buying these tuned super cars to make an impression on they're "average super car buying" friends. It seems a little tacky. I don't mean a little tacky do I, I mean a lot tacky.The cars are so vulgar, flashy and loud that I'd hate to be in the same room with the owner of the car. But the cars are also very impressive to look at. Even though I don't like what they represent. 

I'll give you an example. A Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has 570 horsepower goes well over and beyond

300 kph and from 0-100 kph in 3.8 seconds. When it was new in 2010 the price was around 170 000€ (200 000$) without taxes. So not exactly a normal car if you'd say so. But obviously a tuning company said; 'Yes, very good. But we need something more.' So FAB Design - a Swiss tuning company - took hold of the SLS and created a bigger, louder, more powerful and a more expensive version of a car that already is big, loud, powerful and expensive. 

Here is the normal Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
Guess what car the driver is taking  a photo of.

Yes, this. The Mercede-Benz SLS AMG FAB Design.
That's a lot of capital letters.

FAB Design designing them air vents.

So there. The FAB SLS just has and is more than the normal SLS. I guess there's no point in searching for another reason for these cars than that it just has more of everything. In good and bad ways.

This - I guess - Mansory tuned beast made its appearance at the Gumball 3000  

As well as this Porsche Panamera. I'm not sure from which tuning house.
Maybe you fine people could tell me.