09-18-2009, 05:31 PM
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Administrator
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Maryland
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Go, Diesel, Go: VW Jetta TDI Cup
 Young racers go for the green – and we’re not just talking about cash. By now you’ve probably caught word of Volkswagen’s Jetta TDI Cup. The company with the cutest anthropomorphic spokesbeetle has been slinging diesel-powered race cars around tracks all over the country for almost two years, and the series doesn’t show any signs of letting up soon. The concept is simple – take 30 or so 16-26 year old SCCA members, give them identically prepped Jetta TDIs that are owned and maintained by the good people at VW and let them go at it. There’s an agenda, of coruse: Germany’s hoping the racers and their oil-burning steeds will help change American opinion of the fuel that Uncle Sam forgot. But who cares – and who wouldn’t want to get their mitts on one of these things for a lap or two? Volkswagen is doing its best to convince the world that the graphics-clad sedans you see zooming around your local track are nearly indistinguishable from their road-going counterparts, and to some degree, it’s right. The TDI Cup Jettas are the closest thing America has to a genuine stock-car racing league. Under the hood, the 2.0 turbo four-cylinder is mechanically identical to the lump powering your mom’s TDI wagon. That means the block, pistons and head are identical to the oil-burning beating hearts churning out an incredible 44 mpg all over America’s highways. What isn’t identical is the engine’s tune. While the stocker churns out a respectable 140 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque, VW has managed to squeeze 170 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque from the engine in race-spec. The company is keeping its lips sealed as to exactly what electro-voodoo is going on there, but it’s exciting to know exactly what the mill is capable of with just a light rework. Fact is, if you were going to buy a Jetta TDI in Europe, you’d be getting 170 horsepower too. Bolted to that brawny engine is the same six-speed dual-clutch transmission available on the street-legal version. That means shifts happen in the F1-quick range and come courtesy of steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. If VW was looking for a great way to prove their cutting-edge gearbox could take a beating, they could hardly do better than handing the thing over to a pack of hormone-drunk teens and twenty-somethings. Under the car, a set of sway bars from the European-spec GLI and adjustable coilovers join otherwise-stock hardware to give the cars a fighting stance. Supposedly all of the performance additions are plucked straight from VW parts bins, though no-one’s saying exactly where those trick springs and dampers come from. What’s most surprising to us is the car’s brake system, which retains the stock single-piston caliper and rotor in the rear. Up front is a slightly different story, as massive four-piston clamps and 14-inch drilled rotors from Audi’s R8 4.2 FSI supercar bring the action to a stop in a hurry. The stock brake lines and master cylinder are still responsible for pushing fluid. Don’t expect to be able to order up the alloy rims and racing slicks of the cup cars, either. Those custom bits are special one-offs designed specifically for the race series, and help give the Jetta TDI a little extra speed through the apexes. As with most race-spec rides, the interior of the cup cars is a bit… different from show room models. A full roll-cage, six-point harness and a specially designed Recaro racing seat are all part of the décor. The stock airbag does stay along for the ride, though, as do the Jetta’s fire-proof doors. That’s got to build a little confidence on a field littered with about 30 drivers who may not even have their competition license yet. Outside, the Jettas get a mean-looking “Thunder Bunny” body kit just like the one you can order up from your local dealer. The kit includes a gaping front fascia with smart-looking mesh here and there as well as more aggressive side skirts. A smallish rear spoiler adds more style than downforce, but we can forgive VW for trying to make diesel look as sexy as possible. Of course, all of that’s exactly what you’d expect to find on a factory-backed race car. What might come as a surprise is what’s in the fuel tank. While the 2008 season made use of standard low-sulfur pump diesel, the 2009 series has been drinking down SynDiesel B5 biodiesel produced by Hyperfuels. The Houston-based company says their fuel is 100 percent synthetic, can be stored for up to 10 years and boasts 20 percent more BTU’s than dino-sourced fuels. The down-home swill carries a 63 Cetane rating, and the company is hoping the race exposure will do much to prove the viability of biodiesel. If the fuel economy numbers alone are to be believed, all that hoping isn’t in vain. VW says its oil-burning racers return 24 mpg even in the height of fender-to-fender action. What’s more, each racer only goes through two tanks of fuel over the entire season. Talk about low-buck racing. Thanks to the Jetta’s common-rail injection system, the 2.0-liter TDI also spits out considerably less ozone-eating nastiness than traditional racers and oil-burners alike. So is this guilt-free racing? Maybe not completely, but it’s damn close. Of course, something tells us guilt is the last thing on the pilots’ minds as they trail-brake their way to victory. Each win nets the driver an extra grand to play with, and since VW’s footing the bill on the whole project, there’s no worry about keeping a crew fed or tires on the car. At the end of each season, the championship leader takes home a check with $100,000 on the important line, and there’s another $150,000 available if the driver lands a spot on a professional race team within six months of the end of the competition. If you’re thinking VW’s trying awfully hard to promote diesel in the U.S. of A. with the Jetta TDI Cup, you’re right, but the company has a lot riding on this race series, and more importantly, on diesel in general. Without so much as a whisper in the hybrid market, diesel is VW’s green golden goose. But as the company learned in the past, it’s going to take more than a few clever commercials to spin America’s view of the fuel on its head. What better way than to show a gaggle of smart young racers door-to-door with each other all over America’s road courses? Video URL To Article: http://www.green-racer.com/motorsports/go-diesel-go-vw-jetta-tdi-cup/ |
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