Turbo R32

Modified cars: Andrew Barnett’s turbocharged R32
Turbo’d Tornado
Main photos: Steve Crewes
Track photos: Jim Gaisford
Andrew Barnett tells the tale of his Tornado red R32. One of
a very few, it has become even more special along the way...
WHEN THE Mk 4 R32 first came out
I really wanted one, but it had to be
just the right car for me. I’d previously
owned a blue and a black car, so these
were off the list, along with silver cars
not being for me as they lack the depth
and reflection in the paint.
That meant it had to be Tornado red,
but then I found out that, of the 2,391
Mk 4 R32s made for the UK, only 44 were
in red. It also had to be a 5-door car, so
that narrowed it down even further, and
meant that there were only about eight
R32s in the UK which would be perfect
for me!
The search was on, but luckily I came
across exactly what I wanted, at Listers
Volkswagen in Coventry. I drove all the
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way up from my home in Truro, Cornwall
to test-drive the car, only to find out that
it’d already had some modifications made.
It had been fitted with a set of 19-inch
Mille Miglia alloys, an AmD Stage 2 re-map,
Milltek Sport exhaust, rear drop-down
screen and 6-disc DVD changer. As you
can probably guess, I shook the dealer’s
hand pretty quickly and drove away with
my new car.
Although I loved the burble that the
straight-through section of the Milltek
exhaust system gave, I had to put the centre
section back in because it was just too
loud on long drives. I also tinkered with
several sets of wheels, but in 2006 I finally
settled on a set of genuine 8.5 x 19-inch
BBS LMs, for a while, anyway…
I also had a pretty sedate boot build,
but up to this point I had really kept things
rather sensible. But that soon changed
after I met the boys from RK Engineering,
at GTI International in 2006. We soon got
talking about further engine upgrades;
initially, I’d wanted to install a supercharger
kit but I was convinced by Simon at RK to
go down the turbo route, and I am glad
that he talked me into it. Best of all was
that RK is based in St. Agnes in Cornwall,
right on my doorstep, and they’ve since
carried out much of the mechanical
work on the car.
After many hours researching the
products offered by various turbo companies,
I ended up thinking that the EIP kit was the
one for me. As luck would have it, an EIP
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kit came up for sale on the American
website VWVortex and a deal was done
for a Stage 2 kit. The seller’s car was
taken to EIP where his kit was taken
off and then sent to me, along with the
mapping which would accommodate
the changes for the UK.
The kit arrived and was installed by
RK Engineering, and what amazed me
was that they managed to convert the
downpipe to suit right-hand drive, without
losing the air-conditioning, which is an
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unfortunate compromise that other cars
have had to suffer. The kit was installed
perfectly, but the mapping seemed
suspect all along, with an unprogressive
throttle and irregular idle, but when the
car went it truly went!
Unfortunately, a spark plug tip blew
off and scored the bore, which meant
that a new engine was needed. While I
was searching for a replacement, I heard
from a good friend about a company in
Holland called VR6 Specialist, who could
re-map the car for me. So the engine was
rebuilt and Ronald at VR6 Specialist sent
over a temporary map to make the car
driveable until I could go to Holland and
have the car custom-mapped. Even with
the temporary map, I was amazed at the
difference, it was like night and day as
soon as I turned the key.
For the custom mapping session, I
planned a trip out to Holland for the day
before GTI International 2008, where on
the Friday I drove over to the far side of
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Holland, had the re-mapping done, and
then drove all the back again for the trip
up to Inters 2008 on the Saturday. It was
quite a journey, and quite a weekend!
The main problem I’ve had with the
car is that it now produces over 500 bhp
and 531 lb.ft. and, as you can imagine,
it eats clutches. I think, at the last count,
I’ve had six different units in the car!
The latest one is made by DM Motorsport
and is a three-puck racing clutch which
handles the power, but it’s very fierce
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and does take a bit of getting used to.
Since then, the car has gone through
more wheels, as well as some body
modifications and a new ICE install.
One of the biggest improvements I have
made, though, is to change from the
conventional KW V2 height-adjustable
coilover struts I had, to the Rayvern airride system, which – rather like the
Touareg or Audi allroad – uses compressed
air bags which can be pumped up and
down to vary the ride height.
The air ride installation comprises
two Firestone air bags on the rear and
airbags in place of the springs on the
front struts. I also upgraded to Bilstein
rear dampers.
Many people make the assumption that
air-ride is just for show and produces
sloppy handling, but all I can say to them
is to try it first! I love it, the ease of being
able to drop the ride height down really
low, for shows, but also being able to
drive on any road surface just by instantly
selecting the appropriate ride height.
But, most importantly, it also handles
superbly at high speed and I was amazed
at how stable the car was, out on the race
circuit at the Volkswagen Driver track day
at Castle Combe in July 2010.
I have recently added one of my favourite
modifications to the car, an R32 DSG
paddle-type steering wheel which is now
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used to control the air-ride system. The
car has several little subtle modifications
like this, like black headlining and A-pillar
trim, the rear screens, boost controller,
B7 RS4 brakes, H&R anti-roll bars, Joeymodded Xenon headlights, and more
additional gauges than the Starship
Enterprise, to name just a few.
Another very worthwhile modification
is the use of the much taller final drive
ratio from the 02M diesel gearbox, which
enables the car to hit 70 mph in second
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gear and 105 in third. Before, with the
standard, shorter, final drive ratio, the
car was just too quick for the length of
the gears, especially when having to
press that heavy clutch pedal so often,
to keep shifting gears!
This year I have had another new
set of wheels, which are some rather
special BBS E28s, which were originally
produced for a racing Jaguar. These are
currently going through a bit of a change
for the coming show season, where
I hope to do better than last year’s two
wins in the Show and Shine event at
Bristol Volksfest.
Bring on the 2011 show season, where
I will have a few surprises, such as some
pieces of carbon-fibre already made by
my friends at SWG Motorsport, another
company here in Cornwall. And look out
for the R32 out on the race circuit at track
days; even if I say so myself, it’s not just
for show – this is a car that goes as well
as it looks! III
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Specification
Engine – Power output: 500 bhp / 532 lb.ft torque
3.2-litre VR6 engine, with VR6 Specialist Stage 3 turbo
conversion, JE pistons and Wossner rods, Tial external
wastegate, RK Engineering custom downpipe and
pipework, Forge Motorsport recirculating diverter
valve, Labonte Motorsport water methanol injection
kit, EIP 3-inch catback exhaust system with modified
rear silencer to accommodate the R32 valve. SWG
Motorsport custom carbon-fibre engine covers.
Mason Tech skid plate, for sump protection when
running at low ride height.
Transmission
DM Motorsport 3-puck racing clutch, R32 6-speed
manual gearbox with taller final drive ratio and
Peloquin torque-biasing front differential.
Suspension
Rayvern Air-ride suspension kit, with Dakota Digital
controller operated by R32 DSG steering wheel
paddles. H&R front and rear anti-roll bars, KW
adjustable rear tie bars, Bilstein rear dampers.
Neuspeed front strut brace.
Brakes
Audi B7 RS4 8-piston front brake upgrade,
with ECS Tuning rear brake upgrade.
Contacts
Wheels & tyres
BBS Racing E28 alloys, 7.5 x 18 with 205/35-18 (front)
and 9 x 18 with 225/35-18 (rear) tyres (Toyo T1-R)
Exterior
SEAT Cupra R front lip, custom front grille, roof and
mirrors painted black, R-Line rear bumper, Mk 5 rear
hatch handle and hatch blend.
Interior
Stewart Warner gauges, Blitz SBC iColor boost
controller, black rear view mirror, headlining and
A-pillars re-trimmed black, Necvox screens in back
seats and flip down monitor
Sound system
Alpine head unit running a H701 processor, JL Audio
ZR 3-way components and two 8W7s sub, JL Audio
1000/1, 450/4, 300/2 amplifiers, boot build with
amplifiers and air suspension tank.
Proof of his ability in show preparation, Andrew runs
a mobile detailing company called Uberwax, which
specialises in high-quality paintwork preparation,
using top-quality products like Dodo Juice, Meguiar’s,
Menzerna and Clearkote. You can contact him on
07595 325 210 or log on at www.uberwax.com
RK Engineering
St. Agnes, Cornwall
Tel: 01872 553 839
www.rk-engineering.co.uk
Rayvern Hydraulics
Guyhirn, Cambs
Tel: 01945 450 150
www.rayvernhydraulics.com
SWG Motorsport
Camborne, Cornwall
Tel: 01209 613 033
www.swgmotorsport.com
Uberwax
Truro, Cornwall
Tel: 07595 325 210
www.uberwax.com
VR6 Specialist
Aalten, Holland
www.vr6specialist.nl
‘EVEN IF I SAY SO MYSELF, IT’S
NOT JUST FOR SHOW – THIS
IS A CAR THAT GOES AS WELL
AS IT LOOKS!’
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