Restoring Volkswagen’s Pikes Peak Twin-Engine Golf

The last time Volkswagen officially raced Pikes Peak was in 1987 when they entered their twin-engine Golf Mk2. Volkswagen recently restored the twin-engine Golf to celebrate the company’s return to Pikes Peak 2018.

A talented team led by design engineer Kurt Bergmann built the Golf in six months. The job of restoring the race car was left to head mechanic Jörg Rauchmaul who contacted Kurt in Vienna for important data on the project.

Two 1.8 L 16v inline-four engines based on GTI models power the Golf. In 1987 each engine made 321 horsepower (240 kW) thanks to 1.6 bar (23.2 psi) of boost from a 3K turbocharger. However Jörg will detune them to produce 237-256 horsepower (177-191 kW).

Each engine runs a Hewland racing transmission and mechanical throttle system that allows each engine to be run together or separate, giving the Golf FWD, RWD, or 4WD.

The 1,020 kg race car was very fast in 1987. Driver Jochi Kleint set the fourth fastest training run with only one engine. When both engines were running, he had the fastest time by the halfway point before a ball joint failed causing Jochi to stop close to the finish line.

Source: Volkswagen Media and Volkswagen Newsroom