It's been only months since Volkswagen Headquarters moved from Michigan to Virginia, but that didn't stop et from persuading them to use its new facilities as the starting line for this year's Kreuzerfest to Waterfest 14.
Over 90 registered VW/Audi owners accompanied et on a caravan to Englishtown Raceway. Although construction is still underway throughout VW's new facility, enthusiasts were able to take a quick peek at the building and see some of VW's finest project cars on display. This included the much-anticipated GTI W12 650. Shipped just weeks before from Germany, the GTI W12 made its public debut at Kreuzerset and crowds of Dubbers photographed and video'd the sight of the roaring twin-turbo W12 GTI. Also on display was one of VW's latest Tiguan projects which had lowered suspension, big brakes and wheels. Who can also forget the SEMA '06 masterpiece R GTI. Now over 10k miles on the odometer, it’s amazing how reliable the car has lasted.
After a complimentary coffee and bagel breakfast, everyone lined up and headed out to Englishtown Raceway.
The drive was fairly smooth with no incidents however the blazing heat crested over 100F frequently and many cars were on the verge of overheating. Traffic on the freeways also worsened the problem and split up some participants of the group. But upon arrival at the raceway, several participants were rewarded with the opportunity to drive around Englishtown's short road course, a Kreuzerfest tradition. With drivers of all ages and skills, everyone drove to the best of their ability without any danger.
It was a delight to listen to the sound of several modified R32s and VR6s power out of tight corners while the 1.8T and 2.0T following didn't disappoint either with the spool of their turbos.
Perhaps the most memorable car on Kreuzerfest was fifteen52 and C2 Motorsport's VW Mk5 Rabbit. A prototype widebody allows 18x10” BBS RE wheels while 265/35-18 Sumitomo tires ensure unprecedented traction. C2 Motorsport's turbo kit supplies enough power to rival big turbo 1.8Ts and 2.0Ts.
Some other cool cars on Kreuzerfest included Kate and Jason Kress' Mk4 and Mk3 GTIs. Kate's Mk4 is a VR6 painted Audi Dolphin Grey, lowered with Bilstein coilovers and equipped with Audi A8 wheels, Jetta front-end and smoothed bodywork. Jason's Mk3 is painted Honda semi-flat green. It also has H&R coils, Kinetic stage 2 turbo kit, Jetta front-end and plenty of shaved bodywork.
There were a few old school cars which caught our eye including Bijan Tarashi's '81 Caddy. It looks amazing with Euro bumpers, chrome accents, Weitec coils, 15x8/9” BBS RM wheels and a 2.0 ABA motor swap.
For our full report on Kreuzerfest, pick up the October '08 issue of et.