Volkswagen sold more than 35 million Golfs in the past 45 years and now the 8th version of the very successful model has just been released Europe to continue the success story.
At its sales peak a few years ago, it was recorded that there was a Volkswagen Golf sold every 40 seconds. Shocking and true and this is why the brand has always strived to improve the Golf to ensure customers keep coming back model after model. Even us, we have had a series of Volkswagen Golf’s in our ownership from the Mk1 Golf version in 1977 right up to the Mk5 version. We will have to wait to test drive this Mk8 version to see if it is a worthy to be an upgrade to our VW Golf Mk5 GTi.
Meanwhile, long time Volkswagen tuner Oettinger who happens to be “the oldest tuner of the Volkswagen brand” has just released exterior phase one parts and accessories for the 8th generation Golf.
The company was founded by Gerhard Oettinger, an engineer who started modifying Volkswagen products in 1951. Sadly, Oettinger died in 1997 but his tuning company continues.
He helped found a Volkswagen based motorsports club in 1947 and began producing high-performance camshafts in 1948 and soon was doing performance upgrades for the road as well as the track going Golfs.
PRESS RELEASE: Oettinger Sportsystems GmbH is now also involved. They have presented a small body kit for the Volkswagen Golf Mk8 Gti to get more optical boom on the Wolfsburg. The components are a complete aerodynamic kit for the compact bestseller that consists of a front spoiler, a set of side skirts, a roof spoiler and a multi-part rear diffuser. The latter can even be changed by removing the middle section. This means that a trailer hitch can still be used. And typically Oettinger, the components have all been successfully tested in the wind tunnel.
The new aero parts should therefore provide more contact pressure and thus improved driving behavior. And the snow-white photo vehicle was also lowered a few millimeters. Although there is currently no information on how the lowering was achieved, it always looks good. And that, although “only” an 18-inch wheel set from the OEM VW accessories is installed. By the way: The new Oettinger add-on parts can in future be found in the official VW price list. They can therefore be ordered from the Volkswagen dealer “from summer” as normal. If we receive timely information about further changes, there is of course an update for this report.
Sadly, Oettinger engineers have not yet released and engine tuning program for this new Mk8 Gti like they did for the previous ‘R’ version of the Mk7 Gti. In May 2014, Oettinger engineers developed a tuning program that provided the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with the most remarkable modifications of the tuning program. It comes equipped with a larger turbocharger and an optimized ECU. As result, the engine now produces 400PS and 500Nm of torque which is an increase of 100PS and 120Nm of torque over the stock version. These updated performance figures enable the car to accelerate from 0-100km/h in less than 4.0 seconds before hitting a top speed of around 280km/h.
