We have featured plenty of good engine swaps here on our website. The Golvo Golf GTI is yet another that makes use of an engine that was not fitted to the car as it left the factory. A good example is this Audi RS4 with a famous Toyota engine. As you may have guessed, this Golf has a Volvo engine slotted in where a Volksie motor should be.

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Homemade

The Golvo Golf GTI is the brainchild of Joe Bristow. The Brit petrolhead started, with what looks like, a pretty neat Golf. He yanked out the stock engine and replaced it with a Volvo 850 T5R unit, which is a 2,3-litre five-cylinder turbo. It is the same engine that was fitted in those uber-cool boxy sedans and ‘wagons from the 1990s. Joe seems to have an affinity for this engine as he has also fitted one into a Toyota MR2.

Click here to check out an old Volvo with a really unlikely engine swap.

But Bristow didn’t leave the Swedish engine standard in his Golf. He sleeved the engine block. Furthermore he fitted Pauter conrods and Wiseco pistons. In addition, the ported head features high-lift cams. The engine is fed by a Xona Rotor XR10569 turbocharger. The blower sends 3,2 bars of compressed air through the multivalve head. As as result of all the changes the engine revs to over 9 000 r/min and produces 750 kW (1 000 bhp).

AWD Dragster

The Golvo is no longer front-wheel drive. A VW all-wheel-drive system from an Audi S3 has been adapted to fit. It is mated with a Volvo gearbox. Additionally, the shifter has been converted to a sequential pattern. The final link is a set of soft compound rubber. When it all hooked up the Golvo stopped the quarter-mile clock at 8,82 seconds with a trap speed of 261 km/h. Catch the car, and listen to that signature engine note, in the video below.

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