Little did Desmarais know his car would come apart at least ten times and visit the dyno a dozen different times during the kit's development. And once the development was finished and the car finally running at 100%, it came apart one last time in order to give the prototype pieces to a production fabricator. Reassembled once again to check the production pieces' fit, the Jetta is-temporarily-ready to go. A final dyno run showed 331 whp at 5700 rpm and 311 lb-ft of torque at 5400 rpm. (Depending on where the timing was set and what gear used, runs varied from 302 to 331 whp on 93-octane pump gas.)
Desmarais is now in the middle of developing a flow-through front-mount intercooler to match a 225 TT or Dahlback intake manifold and replace his current bottom-in/top-out setup. The much shorter piping and better flow should result in a significant, though hardly needed, power increase. "It's been fun so far. We tried to build this kit so anyone can buy it and bolt it right up. I have to beat the crap out of it, give it as much punishment as I can, so I know no one else will break it," he said. "I just wanted to build a sleeper. It pisses people off getting smoked by a station wagon!"
And speaking of smoke, after running flawlessly all afternoon as we searched for photo locations, the Jetta went into limp mode halfway through a final thrashing. Strange things happen during the short dark days of a long New Hampshire winter, and TJM deals with cabin fever like no other group of guys I've ever met. Seems there is a long-standing tradition of inside-the-shop smoky burnouts and Desmarais offered convincing proof the limp mode was just a fluke as soon as we returned from our ride and he cleared the computer. A week later he reported the MAF had been contaminated with tire goo from earlier photo burnouts, hence the code. And the shop still reeked.
2003 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T
DrivetrainTransverse front engine, front-wheel drive
Engine1.8-liter inline four, dual overhead cams, five valves per cylinder, turbocharged and intercooledDahlback KKK turbo upgrade, K&N filter, carbon-fiber intake, Evolution front-mount intercooler and evoheatshield, TJM downpipe and custom 3-inch exhaust
TransmissionAutotech lightweight flywheel, Clutchmasters stage 3 clutch, Peloquin differential
SuspensionNeuspeed sport springs, polyurethane bushings, Autotech anti-roll bar (r)
ExteriorFK grille, Votex front bumper, Caractre roof wing
PerformancePeak Power: 331 whp @ 5700 rpmPeak Torque: 311 lb-ft @ 5400 rpm