New Kit Car for jetta w/ TDI

[mcrews]

My thoughts exactly!!!!

I had my sights on a 'regal' t-bird. It is a 100% duplicate fiberglass body on a new frame.
comes with everything lined up on the body and a rack&pinion steering.
I was going to run a straight 6 200 w/ 3 one bll carbs and an auto/w overdrive.
Finally sat in one.....at 6'3" I didnt fit!

[marksmith]

Hello guys,

Just found the thread after being away from ecomodder for a while. In the kit car world we often see "irrational" projects like cobras or factory five gtm cars that cost over 50 grand...and you still have to build them...such it is with projects of passion.

The reason I have sold so many early kits of the Smyth performance Jetta is that the kit costs the same as a transmission for some of the hot rod kit cars that we make at my other company factory five...the key being that this little mid engine car simply flies ANDgets 60 MPG.

For the car enthusiast(not nec the ecomodder) this is a ball and the best of both worlds. While some tweak their rides to get the most out of every gallon of fuel, there are others that love the thrill of the auto as a toy as well as a tool for going to work. The mid engine car was meant to be built from a Jetta at the end of its service life...not from a perfectly good used car. By making the car special enough to justify the rebuild cost we are replacing a new car on the road with an end of life car that is reborn...and fast.

It works for many so far and I hope you can see the fun quotient for those of us that get to say "I built it".

Mark smith

Smythperformance.com
Factory five.com

[mcrews]

Mark
thanks for posting!
I have to say what your doing is really inspiring. So many companies just keep doing what they do until the are passed by due to technology changes or dying consumer demand.
You have certainly seen the future and realize that eventually, EVERBODY....the new car buyer, the used car buyer and even the kit car buyer.....are going to be concerned about some level of economy.

[SwamiSalami]

Originally Posted by mcrews

Smyth Performance is a spin-off from the highly successfull FACTORY 5 Racing. Creator of the MK4 (AC Cobra) using a donor 95-04 Mustang.
Mark Smith, co-founder of FF is doing the "GREENER" thing with the Jetta TDI.

Here is a link from auto blog.com. Watch the Video.........

Recycling Gone Wild: Turn your VW Jetta TDI into a Smyth Performance G3F [w/video] — Autoblog

Neat.

What years of jetta tdis is this limited to?

[TedV]

If you goto the smythperformance.com web page, you get to the Facebook page with basic info. Mk4 Jetta years 1999.5 to2003ish/2004ish. VW made a change from the rotary pump TDi to the PD motor around 04. I haven't seen if the PD motor is a problem with the kit. PD motors are a problem if you don't use the correct oil = not as robust as the rotary pump motors.

[SwamiSalami]

thanks for clarifying, because i don't have facebook.

wonder what they could do for my beetle?

[NachtRitter]

I don't have facebook either, but it's still possible to read all the content there.

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by dieselbeetle

wonder what they could do for my beetle?

This kit only fits a Jetta donor. Many parts of the original Jetta are retained.

Here is a link to a blog of an early kit build with photos.

http://g3f-jlphil.blogspot.com/