Ronnie Amis and his team were out testing the Ronnie Amis Racing VW Golf at Brands Hatch today.
Unfortunately, he’s only got a few laps in so far as he’s too noisy! Ronnie explains: “I went out and did few laps to get myself settled-in, as it’s the first time I’ve driven the car. Because of that, I was short-shifting but I’m already very pleased with the speed of the car. Then we got called in and we’re bang-on the 108dB static noise limit. We’ve got a few variations of Milltek Sport silencers, so we’ve had to change things around to keep the noise police happy!”
Ronnie’s VW Golf is new to both him and Time Attack, as last year it was AmD Tuning’s entry in the British Touring Car Championship! and driven by James Kaye.
This year new BTCC regulations mean that while the Golf’s 2.0-litre turbocharged ‘NGTC’ engine is eligible to compete, the rest of the car is in the older ‘S2000’ spec – and now unable to enter. Now the car has found a new home and that means more tuning is possible if Ronnie feels the need?
The TFSI 2.0-litre turbocharged engine currently produces around 350bhp. The biggest restriction being the GT28 turbo specified last year. So far Ronnie is impressed with the power delivery of the Golf (that weighs only 1130kg) but as Research & Development Engineer for Airtec Cooling Solutions, we’ll be surprised if the engine power and chassis aren’t constantly developed throughout the year.
Ronnie will compete in Club Pro 2WD so he is biggest challenge now (other than keeping the engine quiet!) is getting a car that was developed on slick tyres to work on treaded ones. Will he manage it? There’s only one way to find out..
Join us for Round 1 of the exciting new 2014 Time Attack Championship at Silverstone on Sunday 6th April.
