Ian Kuah drives MTM's supertuned new GTI

Modified cars: 300 bhp MTM GTI
THE BLACK Audi A6 was coming up fast
in the right-hand lane as we joined the
autobahn from the on-ramp. At the point
where we floored the throttle in fourth,
with around 120 kph on the clock, he must
have been doing at least 50 kph more.
However, seconds later, the gap
between us which had been narrowing
at an alarming rate slowed significantly
and then - like a movie in fast rewind -
the Audi appeared to be going backwards.
Ian Kuah drives
MTM's supertuned
new GTI
Our silver MTM Golf was still accelerating
hard as we flicked the steering
wheel paddle to select fifth gear. With
the speedometer needle describing an
arc around the dial almost as fast as the
rev counter, the Audi was now a rapidly
receding speck in the rear-view mirror.
Even with nearly 200 bhp on tap,
a standard Golf GTI would have had
problems achieving such a feat of
acceleration, but with 300 bhp under the
bonnet of our DSG gearbox equipped car,
Porsche-like performance is a given.
In one sense, the 300 bhp output from
the uprated 2.0-litre turbocharged FSI
motor is a number which impresses
people when you tell them. On the other
hand, it is a number which raises the
spectre of disbelief as well, since most
enthusiasts view 200 bhp as the practical
power limit for a front-wheel-drive car.
Given that you are making the front wheels
do the work of steering as well as driving
the car, this is usually the point at which
power simply overwhelms the handling.
Luckily the new GTI is made of sterner
stuff than the average hot hatch. After
years of rather languid chassis development
with the old torsion beam rear
axle, the new independent rear end has
brought with it a level of sophistication
and reserves of ability which are still only
in the very early stages of being tapped.
We quickly realised this when we began
to push the MTM Golf, first on the cross
country roads between MTM's Wettstetten
headquarters and then down the
unrestricted autobahn to Munich airport.
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Over the years, it has become clear
to us that one of MTM's tenets of tuning
is that unless a manufacturer has got it
seriously wrong, they prefer to simply
build on the power and torque curves
of the original. In other words, adding
more power and torque without changing
the delivery characteristics unless it is
absolutely necessary.
Because of this, the modified GTI simply
feels faster and more powerful everywhere
in the power and torque bands
without any real change to its character
or delivery. To cope with the bigger
numbers, MTM uprates the suspension
and brakes, and the result is a car whose
chassis and brakes are in perfect tune
with the extra power. 'Although the engine
is identical, the mapping of the GTl's
Bosch Motronic ECU is different from the
Audi A3 version,' MTM boss, Roland Mayer
told us. 'In either case, we change the
exhaust manifold for better flow, as well
as the downpipes, 200 cell free-flow metal
catalytic converters and the remainder of
the 70 mm diameter twin-pipe stainless
steel system all the way to the back.'
'WITH 300 BHP UNDER THE BONNET,
PORSCHE-LIKE PERFORMANCE
IS A GIVEN...'
'The turbocharger itself is also swapped
for one of our own,' he continued, 'The
factory turbo has an integrated wastegate,
but our stainless steel ball-bearing
turbocharger has a separate wastegate.
This new larger KKK turbo is good for
320 bhp, but we set the final output at
300 bhp as we felt this was the absolute
limit which can be sensibly put through ugh
the front wheels as there is no limitedslip
differential available for this car as
yet,' Roland continued. 'In dyno testing,
we were getting as much as 450 Nm of
torque, but we had to dial this back to
400 Nm at 3,100 rpm to protect the
gearbox and drivetrain.'
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All the modifications are external and
the engine stays sealed. It took a while to
get to grips with the new FSI technology,
but MTM has mastered this now. The
fuel delivery is right at the limit with our
car,' Roland explained, 'and we have
had to modify the fuel system to deliver
more juice. The final part is remapping
the ECU for the new fuelling and ignition
parameters.'
The fully-adjustable suspension kit is
made by KW to MTM's specification and
is used in conjunction with the standard
anti-roll bars. KW were once associated
with budget suspension kits for older and
cheaper cars, but in the last three years
or so, they have re-invented themselves,
shrugged off that budget image and are
now producing some very well regarded
suspension kits for well-known upmarket
tuners.
Manthey Motors and MTM are among
their customers and both seem very
happy with the development and
production quality of the KW components.
Incidentally, the German SEAT Leon
Supercup championship winner, Florian
Gruber is part of the MTM workshop
team and personally does the final
suspension set-up for customers.
On this car, the ride height was set
35 mm lower than stock, and with the
8.5Jx 19-inch MTM Bimoto alloy wheels
shod with 225/35 ZR19 ContiSportContact
24 VOLKSWAGEN DRIVER DECEMBER 2005
2 tyres helping to fill out the wheel arches
perfectly, the result is a GTI with a very
purposeful stance.
The big brake kit is made by Brembo
and consists of 330 x 32 mm crossdrilled,
vented discs in front, clamped
by big four-pot callipers. Since most of
the braking is done on the front, the rear
brakes are standard. These are not the
biggest brakes which will fit behind the
19-inch wheels however. On request,
MTM will fit their monster 380 mm front
discs, but then the cost spirals as you
then have to fit Audi RS4 rear brakes,
using adaptors, to balance out the
braking effort.
The only interior modifications to this
DSG-equipped GTI are the substitution of
the factory sports seats for two race-style
Recaro seats with four-point harnesses.
The first thing you notice when you get
the chance to extend the MTM GTI is just
how well it puts down its power. However,
we are of the opinion that the DSG gearbox
is a good match for this enhanced car
simply because its electronic brain is able
to smoothen things out, side-stepping
some of the problems that a driver in
charge of a clutch and manual gearbox
might provoke!
Fed with 300 bhp and 400 Nm, the
swift and seamless DSG gearbox makes
the GTI an even more devastating
cross-country weapon. With the ability
WWW.AUTOMETRIX.CO.UK

to seemingly compress space between
bends and then brake fairly late, this car
requires huge concentration to master
because of its sheer pace.
On the autobahn, things are a bit calmer
because you have much more space to
play with. That said, we wound the car up
to its gearing limited 240 kph (150 mph]
maximum speed and stayed there for
half an hour, passing everything on the
autobahn all the way to Munich Airport
and shaving 10 minutes off the time
MTM's driver usually takes for this run
when he picks us up in the company A8!
The fact that the MTM boosted motor
behaved perfectly despite such a sustained
flat-out thrash in summer temperatures
means that the chances of anyone
monstering this engine in countries
which have speed limits is very slim.
We were mightily impressed by the MTM
Golf GTI. It does everything the factory
car does but at a higher level. The fact
that MTM has also managed to maintain
the impressive all-round balance of the
standard car while moving its game a
couple of notches upwards is a testament
to the expertise of this well-established
Audi/VW tuner whose founder was himself
a leading light in the Audi development
department. M
CONTACTS
MTM (Motoren Technik Mayer GmbH)
Dr. Kurt-Schumacher-Ring 48-50
Germany - 85139 Wettstetten
Tel: 0049 (0) 841 -981880
e-mail: infoOmtm-online.de
www.mtm-oniine.de
QST (UK agent for MTM)
4 Bridge Road, Haywards Heath,
West Sussex RH16 1UA
Tel: 01444 451 542
www.qstuning.com
MTM's 300 bhp conversion is, as yet,
still only a prototype, under evaluation
before release to the public, but
MTM already offers several software
upgrades for the new Golf. For the
140 PS 2.0 TDI the MTM conversion
raises the power output to 177 bhp
and increases torque to 390 Nm while
there are three upgrades for the 2.0 T
FSI, increasing power output to 245,
250 or 260 bhp.
MTM also offers 8.5x19-inch
diameter alloy wheels from Antera,
BBS, OZ and Speedline (with 235/35-
19 Continentals), 330 x 32 mm
Brembo big-brake kits and Eibach
or KW suspension upgrades (45 or
35 mm lowered).
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