Press-release from Prodrive says; ‘It has been developed to run in the Chinese Rally Championship (CRC) for a new client the FAW-VW Rally team (FAW-VW make over a million VWs a year in China) It will make its debut this weekend at the Long…you rally with Chris Atkinson driving.

We have designed this car from scratch in less than six months having only obtained two Golf Mk VII’s in June this year – so quite an achievement. While it looks almost exactly like a WRC, it is not built to FIA regulations, although many of the major components are the same as those found in current World Rally Cars, while the roll cage and safety features encompass the latest FIA standards.

It has a two litre trubo engine fitted with a 35 mm restrictor for the CRC, a WRC drivetrain (gearbox/diffs/prop & drive shafts). While you may see many similarities in the overall design approach to the MINI WRC, less than a quarter of the car is carried over and that is because they are either common WRC components like the Xtrac gearbox/diff, AP Racing brakes etc, which you’ll find in the Polo, Fiesta, Hyundai etc or because we already had the best engineered part possible!

The car can readily be adapted to meet the regulations of various open class type series of which there are many in Asia, Europe and North America and, like the MINI, we could also produce a rallycross derivative.

Full spec is:

CHASSIS

VW Golf VII five door bodyshell
Prodrive roll cage encompassing the latest FIA standards
Standard VW steel panels plus flexible composite front and rear bumper and wings
Carbon composite rear wing

ENGINE

VW 2 litre, four cylinder, port fuel injection, double overhead cam
Garrett turbo with 35 mm restrictor (CRC regulations) 2 bar maximum boost
Cosworth engine management system
Lead acid battery (Li-ion optional)
Power >300 bhp

TRANSMISSION

Permanent four wheel drive
Gearbox: Xtrac 6 speed sequential (WRC spec) with steering column mounted manual gear shift
Clutch: AP Racing sintered twin plate
Front differential: Xtrac plated limited slip (WRC spec)
Rear differential: Xtrac plated limited slip (WRC spec)
Hand brake rear differential release

INTERIOR

FIA 8862 seats with head protection and six point Sparco harness
Prodrive designed AP Racing pedal box
Lifeline fire extinguisher system
Prodrive wiring harness
Prodrive driver display
Cosworth co-driver display
ATL fuel tank and system

SUSPENSION & STEERING

Front:Prodrive/Ohlins Macpherson strut, 3 way adjustable damper
Rear:Prodrive/Ohlins Macpherson strut, 3 way adjustable damper

Prodrive designed hydraulic power assisted steering rack

WHEELS, TYRES, BRAKES

Gravel:

15” x 7.5” ATS wheels with DMACK tyres

Front: AP Racing 4 pot calipers and 300 mm discs
Rear: AP Racing 4 pot calipers and 300 mm discs

Tarmac:

18” x 8” ATS wheels with DMACK tyres

Front: AP Racing 4 pot calipers and 355 mm discs
Rear: AP Racing 4 pot calipers and 355 mm discs

DIMENSIONS

Length: 4268 mm
Width: 1820 mm
Weight: 1150kg (CRC minimum dry weight excluding driver/co-driver) See More