Skip to main content

Watch Matt Farah Giggle Like a Child in a 740 HP Golf R

For all the advances in automotive design that we’ve achieved, we’ve done little to improve the coefficient of joy. Reviewers of high performance cars always adopt a serious face of concentration, like a toddler filling its diaper. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see someone giggle happily behind the wheel of a car.

But I’m burying the lead. Here, /Tuned’s Matt Farah takes you on a tour of a canyon in HPA’s FT740, a Golf R with 740 hp that was designed to go fast and embarrass GTRs.

The FT740 was built by Highwater Perofrmance Auto, out of British Columbia, which is in Canada, at the request of a customer. The result is, according to Farah, a car that can be daily driven, but which also feasts on the carcasses of freshly killed super cars.

HPA swapped in a 3.6L V6 with two hybrid turbos and the gearbox out of a TTRS. Oh, and they gave it 740 hp and 700 lb/ft of torque. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating.

“If you told me this was built in Wolfsburg by Volkswagen’s skunk works, and not by an aftermarket tuner in Canada, I would totally believe you,” says Farah.

ft741

Despite being totally enamored of the car, Farah does point out two flaws: the first is the brakes, which struggle to cope with the power, and the second is the lack of paddles, so manual shifting of the dual-clutch trans is done through a lever that’s reversed. “Downside number three,” adds Farah, “there is no number three. Those are the only two. This thing rocks.”

No performance figures, apart from the headline-catching power figures, are discussed so it’s hard to know if the car achieves its lofty ambitions. The way that Farah talks about it, though, it’s pretty clear that the car is a success.

The post Watch Matt Farah Giggle Like a Child in a 740 HP Golf R appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1SABd3E
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan

Filed under: Government/Legal , Green , Mitsubishi , Fuel Efficiency , Japan Mitsubishi says its shady fuel-economy test practices may have been used on all vehicles it sells and has sold in Japan. Continue reading Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2016 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments from Autoblog Volkswagen http://ift.tt/21X3bHv
Post a Comment
Read more

More 3.0-Liter TDI Settlement Details Expected by January 31

Volkswagen and the TDI Plaintiff’s Steering Committee were in court today for another status conference following the agreement in principal reached earlier this week. Little new information was given at the conference held before Judge Charles Breyer today, but the court ordered the parties to develop a formal settlement agreement, class action notices, and a class notice plan by January 31, 2017. For now, though, owners still don’t know how much to expect in compensation. Elizabeth Cabraser, lead Counsel for the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee reaffirmed in a statement today that the compensation would be “substantial.” The potential cost to Volkswagen is widely reported to exceed $1 billion, though, with an additional $225 million going into an environmental trust to help offset excess emissions. Buy back offers are still only expected for the oldest 20,000 of the roughly 80,000 VW Group vehicles sold in America with the 3.0-liter TDI engine. Those vehicles are mostly SUVs, like ...
Post a Comment
Read more