Arctic Air

Let me just clear the air (no pun intended) by saying I'm a sucker for white cars, especially big bodied white cars. I'm an even bigger sucker when they carry a VAG badge, as a matter of fact, any big bodied white car does it for me, albeit BMW, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Lexus etc., whether its estates, hatches or sedans, I lust after it. It's like a weakness, my automotive Kryptonite. It will stop me dead in my tracks, take me on a quick automotive fantasy of what I'll do to it then leave me with this lingering gleam in the back of my mind with a little side note; ''One Day''.

When pictures of Mahesh Hooka's bagged Audi S3 started doing the rounds on social media it just further confirmed my love for white cars and we all agreed that it needed to get in front of our lenses, so we got in touch and a date was set.

When we arrived at the shop they were busy closing for the day and as we waited admiring all the pretty wheelware that was on display in the shop window, the man himself came up and introduced himself...oh before I forget; for the out-of-towners, he's the owner of an accessory shop that goes by the name of Autostyling down in P.E, or as we’ve dubbed it: ''SLAM CITY''.

Pleasantries were shared after which we were guided down a flight of stairs to the shop's workshop. While chit-chatting with some of the employees one thing was amiss, ''where was the car?''. Unbeknown to us, the workshop had a cordoned off section separated by a roller gate and as we hung outside talking smack the unmistakable sound of pressurized air muted our conversation. A few seconds later the same sound swept through the workshop. That sneaky gate started to open up to reveal what we came for.

I was in an automotive trance for a good few minutes. If I stood there any longer I would've melted. The florescent lights had the most amazing cooling effect on the car as it stood there all aired out. This car just oozed appeal when staring it head on. I circled the car few times and all my little side notes I made of owning a white big bodied car went out the window. All I kept telling myself is ''you really don’t need much, just a good wheel with a nice tyre combo and bags". Sure Mahesh could've gone to town on it, but he didn’t, maybe he's still planning on it, but damn, I for one would just leave it as, I mean; it's just so beautiful.

We proceeded fitting the shop's number plates and smacked on the decal for the finishing touch and off we went. Seeing this car in motion on Fifteen52 Tarmacs was pure bliss, the white on white looked oh so heavenly coupled with a dark tint which made the white pop even more. Spending 3 to 4 hours photographing a car really allows you to appreciate all the small details that manufacturers add to their range topping models to make them feel more special and it’s no secret that Audi is one of the best at doing so. 

The interior of an A3 is class leading to begin with but the S3’s interior even more so, with solid plastics, brushed aluminum, and chunky sport seats that radiate premium quality and class. Subtle S3 and Quattro badges in and around the car as well as front and rear diffusers serve as further reminders that the car was made to get you from point A to B quickly, and incase the badges aren’t convincing enough the stage 1 software and downpipe Mahesh added will cast all doubt from your mind that this S3 can still do what it was made to do.

After we had our way with it in front of the camera's, and it rolled off into the distance, I could feel my weakness disappear, my Kryptonite has been removed, I started to function properly...yet it left me again with that faint lingering gleam. Will my love for white cars continue to linger? Was this the epitome of my white addiction or will another piece of white Kryptonite stop me in tracks? I'm yet to find out...

Poloaded

''Everything in moderation, including moderation'' - a quote by Oscar Wilde that rings so true when it comes to car modification. Too often have I seen guys purchasing goods left, right and centre and doing mods all at once. While this is all good if you have put some thought into it and did your homework, but (yeah there is a but) at time's I feel going about it this way loses all the excitement of modifying your pride and joy. I for one would've been bored if I did all the changes at once, so from one car guy to another, I say to you...''Always leave room for improvement so you don’t grow stagnant with your car''

Now that the sermon is out the way, let’s get back to our latest feature. As mentioned earlier, this is exactly how Romeo Barends approached his ’99 Volkswagen Polo 6N, gradually doing things over the last 7 years but at the same time keeping his goal in sight. As you can tell from the exterior, lot of inspiration was drawn from our European counter parts; clean and arrow straight looking body lines with small tweaks that will go unnoticed at first glance. Take the front bumper for instance; I didn’t notice it at first, but it underwent some plastic surgery. It’s been shaved and flushed to rid it of its fog vents, a very nice “face-lift” I might add. A pair of angel eyes replaced the stock headlights and got the ever popular HID treatment as well. The obligatory tilt and slide sunroof is in play too and a dash of red laminex on the tail lights to finish off the exterior. Like I said, clean and simple.

You might have noticed the WheelWhores sticker located on the rear bumper, it’s there for a reason. Romeo is somewhat of a wheel junky, having quite a few sets he scoots around on. Just the past couple of months he went through 4 or 5 different wheels ranging from Schmidt’s, BBS's and Helios just to mention a few. I was surprised to see him at VW Campfest this year where he mentioned a new set in the works; those would be his current offering. A pair of HRE 454's Vintage Series coming in at 17x7 et 30, which are tightly wrapped in a set of 185/35 Nankang rubber, sort of reminds me of the ones the Lamborghini Countach sported a while back. As far as the suspension goes, he had a pair of JOM Blueline coilovers ordered and fitted by Amish Raga from Euroworx, and that brought the entire package together to give the car an almost floating effect as it screams pass you on the streets of P.E...and by scream, I literally mean just that...SCREAM!!!

The sound this car emanates is all thanks to what's hidden under the hood. As I mentioned previously, Romeo owns the car for roughly 7 years, strategically improving on it as he went along, nothing out of the ordinary just something to keep him smiling along the way. Thanks to the work of Abdul Davids, it started out as a 1.6i, but then went a step further and had a 2.0 short block chucked in. That step was short lived as the bottom end saw some mods in the form of 82.5mm 2.6 Caravelle pistons along with a forged steel crank borrowed from a 16v. An upgraded oil pump and a sport Windage tray was added for peace of mind and at the time it still ran the stock U-flow head together with the stock mp9 setup, but when boredom struck not long afterwards, a plan was hatched to ditch the U-flow in favour of its crossflow equivalent borrowed from an Mk4. It got flowed and ported for the 288 Estas cam and Vernier pulley that was about to be dropped in. A Rowland intake was sourced and also got some love in the flowing department. Being a crossflow head, I don’t think there's anything better suited for it than a pair of ITB's, the sound they make always put the most evil smile on my face whenever I hear them. Romeo’s choice was spot on with a pair of Toyota 20v ITB's with 100mm trumpets that's ready to suck in ample amounts of fresh air when his foot stomps the pedal, and spent gasses make their way out into the atmosphere via a 57mm TNT branch and exhaust system. The last piece of the puzzle ties everything together in the form of a dictator management.

His mods sound very minimal, something you'll often hear at a drag meet, but it's when you pop the hood that it dawns on you how much thought was put into it. You see, Romeo is part of Xtreme Vdubs down in the Bay and from my personal experience with them in the past one thing is clear, these chaps like neat and tidy engine bays, with more chromed and polished parts to blind Stevie Wonder. It was only fair on Romeo’s part to follow in his crews’ footsteps and get a few (a lot) parts polished and chromed from a fellow member called Lennie. With all these sparkly bits in place, it makes for a real treat on show days when the hood gets popped and you get stared down by those trumpets looking as if they might have been pulled off an old battleship. The engine bay received its fair share of presentation points on the day of the shoot, as everything was neatly tidied up by doing a semi wire tuck. What amazed me the most was how much the crossflow conversion opened up the engine bay, giving you the freedom to have a good look at what’s crackin’. Battery covers, oil catch cans, tappet cover and all other ancillaries beautifully polished or chromed. With the new rage of having smoothed out engine bays and wire tucks, I find it refreshing as to how this engine bay looks, it still keeps its identity to some extent, in that you can clearly identify parts and can clearly see the work that went into it...semi hardcore...semi posh, with still room left for improvement if the need arises.

For a car I’ve seen at numerous shows and events, I never really took note of his interior, maybe it was a case of always being overwhelmed by his exterior or motor or even his wheel choice at any particular time. Whatever the case, that changed on the night of the shoot when he asked me to start up the motor. Usually I’ll just stick my hand through the window and turn the key, but not this time around. As I turned the key I was greeted with a little cool blue gauge and audio equipment that lit up the interior. Being the curious person I am, I immediately popped the door open to get a better look inside. Yip...I was sitting in neatly upholstered tan leather seats, while the engine was dancing to its off-beat rhythm produced by the cam. In front of me was a sporty little racing steering wheel with a Momo emblem on it, ''nice piloting tool for this little monster'' I thought. To my left, a stock shifter for grabbing those gears when your foot is planted on the OEM VW accelerator. ‘‘Function over form''...spot on. Just above the shifter is the auto gauge I mentioned that monitors the oil pressure. The longer I sat the more I liked being in the driver seat, everything was so simplistic, yet performed its duties perfectly. As for the audio, this car was loaded up good and proper; upfront is a Pioneer in-dash DVD head unit with matching pioneer splits in the front doors. To get the bass notes going in the back are 2x12'' pioneer subwoofers with 2x8'' limpids just above them, all the gear gets amplified via 2 Star Sound amplifiers...again nothing fancy, just enough to keep the man smiling.

Just like that the fun came to an end. A very straight and simple polo, loaded with a ton of attitude. As said in the opening paragraph, everything in moderation, and I think we all can take a chapter from Romeo’s build. I for one took in a lot from this feature; it constantly evolves, growing from strength to strength. What’s next for the polo we surely don't know, but whatever gets done to it, will definitely be a step up from its current state. So I’ll end off with another quote ''Rome wasn’t built in a day''...or should I say ''Romeo's polo wasn’t built in a day''?  

Photos: Sherwin Hambridge

Words: Cheslyn Bellairs

Video: Duane Baatjes

CampFest 2014: The Good, The Bad, and The Muddy...

With most blogs and websites having done their features on the VW Campfest 2014, we thought we’d provide a different approach, instead of the general overview that many will give.

This was our first year attending the much anticipated and talked-about Vdub Campfest, the show that every car enthusiast in SA knows about, even if they’re not into VW per se. With weather forecasts predicting rain during the weekend of the show, we still decided to take the +-1000KM drive up to Vereeniging for the biggest car show on the African continent. Being one of the first to arrive, we were lucky enough to get a good spot on the corner just as you enter the camping grounds. This provided us with a perfect view to see all the cars coming to the show, and come they did! The constant stream of modified VW’s started with the convoy of FR&R Tuning coming into the resort, I remember; we were still busy lowering my car when we heard turbos spool and looked up to see the most uniform and bad-ass array of golf 5s and 6s, siroccos and polo GTIs, the best of which was a static Mk6 tucking 20inch BBS CH’s. Right then, we knew that this would be a great weekend.

After setting up camp we decided to walk around and mingle with some of our fellow VW enthusiasts, and I don’t know if it was just us but everyone was so friendly, asking if we wanted to join their party for the evening, praising our work (those who have seen it) and offering their help when they saw us lowering the car, even Vic Pardal stopped at our camp and told us “go lower boys, take it to the ground”. It made us feel at home and not like we were in a different city never mind province. 

The atmosphere got even better the following morning when most of the crews and day visitors showed up, I’m talking about an endless buzz of cars driving up and down, music playing all around and the smell of braai meat filling the air. Needless to say, the festival was now in full swing. The various stalls selling and promoting their products added a sense of legitimacy to the event, giving the campers a full spectrum of automotive this and thats, not forgetting the food and beverage stalls conveniently located so you don’t go hungry or thirsty. The Pitbull stand really attracted our attention with their Audi R8 on Vossen CV3’s and not to mention beautiful models perusing around and posing with cars.

Saturday night meant after party and this was as on par as the rest of the festival, with the DJ’s killing it on a deck built into a the front section of an Mk1 body, the ground became so soft and muddy because of the rain but this did not stop the dubbers from stomping their feet, and having Harrison Crump perform was the icing on the cake. Although the after party ended at about 12am, it did not stop everyone from continuing the festivity at the camp site until about 3am, some going straight through until sunrise.

As the sun rose on Sunday morning while copious amounts of energy drinks were being consumed, so the car washing began, everyone getting ready for the show and shine, making their way slowly but surely to the show grounds. All makes and models of Volkswagen came out from the bushes into the light, and when I say all makes, I mean all makes; like Mk2 Polos and Type 3 variants. The sense of “Vdub Family” was felt.

The show and shine was underway with cars struggling to enter the grounds as a result of the thick mud caused by the on and off showers since the Saturday morning. The rain then continued to be a hindrance during the course of the day, having participants continuously drying off their cars for judges’ inspection. The judges then, armed with their umbrellas and tablets/smartphones, went on to inspect the cars and rated them using the E-judging app, and after some time and tense debating, the winners were announced.

That pretty much sums up most of the good of the Campfest, we now unfortunately have to look at the bad, and we apologize if this sounds like a gripe list but we feel it needs to be said in order to move forward harmoniously. First of all, and this was a general consensus based on the amount of people posting it on Facebook; the toilet facilities were horrid after the first night and were never cleaned. This wasn’t really a problem for the guys but for the ladies it’s a huge “no-no”.

Secondly, when you decide to host an event that attracts lowered cars, a venue with decent roads should come to mind. We say this because there were speed bumps all over the resort (those thin high ones that catch you in the middle). This is not an issue for bagged or high cars, but for many of us rolling staticly low, it’s a nightmare, even though it was fun to see the creative ways cars go over these bumps.

This brings us to the final issue; as it goes with show and shine competitions, there are always problems with regard to the judging and sadly even a show of this magnitude is not immune. Issues which range from judges not being independent enough, to cars winning simply because of amount of money spent, or even lack of competitors in its class. But it goes without saying, that no matter the obstacles, it shouldn’t deter anyone, and in fact should only cause one to go harder the following year.

Overall it was an excellent weekend with lots of friendly people and remarkable cars, irrespective of certain issues, and we hope to attend next year when it’s even bigger and better.