Golf A59 Prototype - Everything You Need To Know About How Volkswagen Designed Their Rarest Golf

[@fontheking5]

As a huge fan of 90:s racing and rallying, it would have been awesome to see this take on the WRC in the 90:s, another one of those what if moments in motorsports 👍 The Group A rules which wrc run under at the time, said that bodywork and basic tech layout of the rally car had to look the same as the road car, hence homolagation specials, like the Mitsubishi Lancer EVOs, Lancia Delta HF Integrale Ford Sierra RS Cosworth & and Escort Cosworth. The MK3 Golf would see rally success in the 2 liter, naturally aspirated, 2 wheel drive F2 ( Formula 2 ) rally class in the late 1990:s, and it was quite fast and succesfull there. The F2 rally cars were awesome, making 270-280 hp from high revving 2 liter n\a engines and weighing around a 1000kgs, some F2 cars like the legendary Peugeot 306 Maxi and the Citroen Xsara Kit car often the 4wd turbo charged wrc cars on tarmac rallys, and the Citroen Xsara kit car won 2 rallys outright in 1999 👍

[@maximumattackrallying]

Interesting video and great to see under the skin of this car. A couple of points - the turbo on the rally car wouldn't have been bigger, as the Group A regulations dictated that the rally car and the road car used the same turbo (albeit rally versions usually had upgraded internals). All/some of the additional coolers may have been dropped from the road car too, as oil coolers were pretty free under the Group A regulations, so it wouldn't be necessary to include them on the road car unless they were essential. The suspension is interesting. On the rally car, the uprights control arms, anti-roll bars etc would have all been replaced, so this all looks like it was prototype road car stuff. Such a shame the project was cancelled. We might have all been looking at VW very differently if it had gone into production and competed in the WRC.

[@RestoDesignsnando]

Elephant in the room guys, love the a59 and haven't seen images of it for ages, seeing it again today, that looks like a MK4, the arches are mk4, especially the rear ones, that rear with a badge in the centre mk4, the wider trace again sounds like they are mk4 dimensions. VW wound have been starting work on the mk4 platform program by 93/94' to have it ready for 97/98'

[@grahamthomas5246]

That was pretty much my first take as well. I'm always fascinated with design cues that appear years before they show up on production models.

[@fcpeuro]

That's a really good call out - you can see a lot of inspiration for the Mk4 In the overall look and design of the A59. Maybe we got a little more of the A59, at least in looks, than we really ever considered.

[@km6832]

Vw really know how to stay connected to their community, more makes should take cues, parade around the prototypes let people see and touch them and get inspired again

[@p1_visuals769]

Yessssss this is the content us people want!

[@CodewortSchinken]

According to the labels I don't think the red swich inside the glove box is a main power switch. "Kennfeld" means mapping, so I guess it's for switching between different ignition or ecu maps.

[@madelineblanchard9497]

I hope you have some nice high res stills you can share. Love seeing all the content of this car and hope to see it in person in the future

[@fcpeuro]

We do have quite a few, there is a magazine feature being worked on as well, and once that is out the high res will likely be released at some point.

[@matthewguerra5410]

The project number is interesting. The Golf A59 is a kindred spirit of the Porsche 959. Both of these cars showed what the future of models would be (MK6/7/8 Golf R & 911 Turbo 996 and up). Would have loved to see the A59 in production

[@Surestick88]

I like the use of the hood stiffening structure as an air duct.

[@quicknickdriver8510]

Beautiful unique car. All that adjustability!

[@dubCanuck1]

Now I really miss my MK3 GTI.

[@fcpeuro]

We started searching FB marketplace while still at the shoot 🙃

[@danbrown4517]

The yellow sticker on the front strut is called Dymo tape - showing my age! Great video, thanks!

[@fcpeuro]

That is awesome; thanks for that, Dan!

[@manuelmena8170]

Love the video, thanks for sharing it with us, is there a wide body kit like the A59 being sold anywhere?

[@stanislavzhelev8477]

Thank you for these videos with the A59

[@Kegels_gti_16V]

Awesome video🔥

[@victorkrivor2174]

I'm very interested in the camo wrapped prototype in the background 👀

[@fcpeuro]

Mk8 TCR content coming soon Victor Krivor!

[@landerseynaeve4264]

Looking forward :)

[@jamilahmed979]

Why don't we have cars like this today? I'd by this car in a heartbeat if available.

[@flexxx222]

That's because the Companies gete run by Controllers and Business People instead of Engineers. Innovation and R&D is expensive.

[@B1Gboz]

Not quite as unique as the a59 but the GR Yaris is available today

[@mobaj1147]

Golf R?

[@fcpeuro]

A lot of it has to do with change in motorsport regulations. Back then, a lot of rules said that companies had to make and sell a number of cars to be eligible for competition. These days, mainly due to cost and a changing landscape of buyers, those kinds of homologation rules don't really exist anymore.

[@S54VR6]

great little series

[@joshimitsu96]

Super interesting, subbed.

[@999Lucas]

It looks a bit dated, but I love that layout of the tach, s2k/racepack style. Beautiful Machine.

[@fcpeuro]

Nothing quite like period-correct motorsport vibes :)

[@mrRoll400]

Great job

[@hansmaulwurf3831]

AGM battery? Wow it was really ahead of its time 😳😉

[@meshachmclean9837]

Shame the body wasn't 3d scanned....I'd definitely buy a a59 wide body kit.

[@fcpeuro]

If you can track down the German Rallycross racer that has one of the other shells he'll likely make and sell some, but they will definitely be a premium price.

[@nikomartinko4110]

Does somebody know the name of model of the black wheels on a59

[@fcpeuro]

It took a little bit of searching, but we believe the gray wheels (which is the same as the white spare wheel in the back of the A59) is the Speedline SL 927.

[@isaacpettit5594]

GET is probably short for getriebe and does something with the trans?

[@fcpeuro]

After looking into it, we believe it has to do with the differential - unsure whether it's a lock, disables something, or otherwise, but what you say makes sense - it is gearbox related for sure. Thanks!

[@ritter_cracker]

Someone needs to 3d scan this thing and make glass fiber body parts for us mortals who want to make replicas.

[@btbd2785]

Dont remeber why they never put this into production.

[@jamesk3565]

Shame it never went into full production

[@fcpeuro]

Truly is James...

[@ΣακηςΨαρρας]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@igorsgarage2346]

Like👍

[@kenblock5033]

Marketing ruins all cars

[@famirin]

This is evolution, you stay.

[@neamanja]

I am confused how is 86mm by 86 mm on 4 cylinders 2l engine and my tfsi that has 88mm by 92.8 also 2l engine what math are these people use to get same results

[@fcpeuro]

All modern 2.0 VW engines, from ABA on up to the latest EA888 EVO 4 all use a 92.8mm crank and 82.5mm pistons. The main reason for the bespoke 86x86 engine used in the A59 is due to limited piston size with the standard VW/Audi 4-cyl layout. The biggest pistons you can fit tends to be around 85mm, as used in some of the Audi touring cars, but that results in very thin cylinder walls, and very short engine life.

[@neamanja]

@@fcpeuro thanks for the reply i did some more search that info is correct and yeah i know about square 86x86 becouse of 2jz engines have square and its the reason for all that capabylity

[@rival3825]

Even though it's turboed it's still slow and it's kinda ugly I will spank this car with my CRX

[@fcpeuro]

Perhaps the CRX woulda been this cars Rival.

[@curlygerhard]

You can spank my MK4 R32 with your CRX but you cant take our VW History with the A59 legendary Rally Car Prototype^^