Forge Motorsport unveils racetrack-ready VW Golf GTI Rabbit

A few days ago, tuner Forge Motorsport took the wraps off a unique Volkswagen Golf Mk1 GTi, nicknamed “Rabbit”. The car gained a new engine, a sporty body kit and the legendary John Player Special paintjob that used to adorn the racing vehicles of the F1 Lotus team.

The engine bay of the Rabbit holds an old-but-proven Volkswagen 1.8T 20V (AGU) engine that the company used to install on the Passat 3B, Golf MK4, and Bora. The tuner has also completely reworked the transmission, replacing numerous components with their performance-oriented counterparts in the process. Once complete, the power output of the Volkswagen Golf GTi Rabbit went up from 150 to 450 hp (112 to 336 kW).

On the outside, the car wears a Pikes Peak carbon-fiber body kit made by HR Engineering. It encompasses an enormous front spoiler, wheel arch extensions, side skirts, a diffusor and a rear wing. The mirror caps, the hood, the trunk lid and even the doors are also made of the same material, reducing the total weight of the car to 740 kg (1,630 lb).

The team removed the stock wheels and put a set of 15-inch designer-made wheels clad in Toyo Proxes R888 tires in their place. For the driver to be able to adjust the suspension, they installed the KW Competition 2A lift kit.

The interior of the unique VW Golf GTI Rabbit sports such typical racing-oriented features as a roll cage, two Cobra bucket seats, reinforced safety belts, and much more.

Photo: NWVT Photography