For those who remember the Dutch watercooled Treffen’s of yesteryear the quarter-mile was always king, and one name sticks out a country mile – JD Engineering and its amazing supercharged G60 creations

Words & Pics: James Wallace

If you’ve been kicking around the VW scene for as long as many of the old timers you’ll no doubt remember heading over to many a Dutch VW Treffen in the early noughties to check out the quarter-mile antics and the crazy creations of a certain Jeroen Dik. Since the late nineties, alongside UK based firms like Jabbasport and G-Werks, JD Engineering has been considered ‘THE’ G60 pioneers. Thanks to his 300+bhp, 11-second quarter-mile Mk1 Golf G60 16v, Jeroen Dik was seen as a world leader when it came to extracting maximum go from VW’s cobbled together PG, 1H and 3G engines. Yet his reputation seems to have been somewhat forgotten over the interluding years as he’s kept his head down and beavered away with 1.8T, 2.0T FSI, V6 and even V8 engine development. Hell, if you didn’t spot the twin charged (turbo and super) Mk4 Golf GTI that came out of the JD premises a couple of years back you must have been living on
another planet.

As we know, the G60 16v Limited was a hand-built Mk2 Golf that very few people outside of the scene are even aware of due to the fact that only 71 rolled off of the VW Motorsport line in 1989. Each of these very special 210bhp engines was individually numbered in their understated Syncro, four-door homes, but the aftermarket soon latched onto the potential to build their own valver lumps with G-laders strapped on for good measure. Bahn Brenner in particular is well known for offering aftermarket parts to facilitate just such a build. Unfortunately, in some respects, the VR6 and 1.8T revolution has nigh on killed the G60 lump dead in the water, but there are still those who appreciate the howling tornado that whistles through a highly strung chipped and pulleyed G, they just need to be total addicts to bear the considerable expense of going down the 16v G60 route. It certainly isn’t a cheap option. 

So, when we spotted Bram Jansen’s immaculate Mk2 Golf 16v G60 running Dutch plates at Wörthersee two years ago, we knew that there had to be a link to the renowned specialists somewhere along the line. The rolling road plot and linear torque curve on display in the window soon had us making more enquiries.

OWNER PROFILE

Name:
Bram Jansen
Age:
31
Dream car:
Koenigsegg CCXR
Fave mod on car:
The engine
Top Choonz:
Rammstein

THE KNOWLEDGE

Engine:
1781cc, 16v, K&N induction kit, ported and flowed G-lader supercharger, 68mm pulley, Scirocco 16v upper and lower inlet manifold, throttle body adapter plate, G60 block, low compression custom pistons with valve cutaways, JD Engineering Digifant 1 remap, 16v distributor and oil pump, relocated alternator, various spacers, adapters and blanking plates, Supersprint 16v 4-2-1 exhaust manifold, 2.5 Supersprint exhaust system, completely smooth bay with cream colour coding 
Chassis:
Intrax Racing RSA coilovers, poly bushes throughout, OMP upper strut brace, EBC drilled and grooved discs front and rear with EBC Greenstuff pads, 8.5 x 17 (ET24) WRD Mesh (F), 8.5 x 17 Mesh(ET8), Dunlop SP Sport 195/40 x 17 tyres
Styling:
Full refinish in Bright Blue Metallic, Rallye front end conversion including slam panel, grille and lights, 6000k Xenon ballasts and bulbs for hi and low beam, Bonrath single wiper, crystal clear indicators, delocked and flushed doors, side repeaters flushed, deseamed and smoothed tailgate, M3 style crystal rear lenses
Interior:
Full cream leather retrim on factory Recaros including A,B, C pillars and headlining, Raid gearknob, handbrake and steering wheel, custom electric window switches, fuel flap release, TT pedals, VDO boost and oil pressure gauges, custom boot build, rebuilt centre console, cream piped mats  
Ice:
Pioneer DEH-P9400 headunit, DLS 13cm R5A components in front doors and dash locations, Genesis DA100 2 channel amp, Genesis miniblock Mono sub amp, 2 x 12in DLS W312D subs in custom enclosure, one farad power capacitor, lockable hidden compartment in boot

To read the rest of this feature see the November 2011 issue of Golf+.
Back issues available here.