Volkswagen Golf (Mk1) 16S 1981

[Nurburgthing.]

By 1981 the Golf GTi became increasingly under threat as the hot hatch leader from competitors such as the Renault 5 Alpine, the Ford Escort XR3 and Vauxhall Chevette HS. VAG France requested more power from the GTi to stay in front and met the engineers in Wolfsburg to find a solution. The 1.8 engine was still a year away, the 16V even earlier in development and turbo conversions had proved unreliable. VW informed the only solution was from a company called Oettinger who had a 16V engine ready. Official authorisation was given and on 1st October 1981 the newly born GTi 16S (“S” for soupape the French for valve) became available in the VW range, but only in France and Switzerland at a price of 75,000 Francs (around £7,500). Only between 1200 and 2000 were built during just over a year. The standard GTi was shipped from Wolfsburg to Oettinger who carried out the conversion which consisted of hundreds of specialist parts. The 16S was only available in 2 colours Alpine White and Black Metallic. Black Metallic was unique to this model (not to be confused with Anthracite Metallic found on the standard GTi).

Performance: Top Speed 195km/h (121mph), 0-100km/h: 7.6s

OET 103R retains all of those original specialist parts, unique to the 16S:

Oettinger Engine
- Max Power: 136bhp at 6500rpm, Max Torque: 160Nm at 5500rpm
- Max Engine Speed: 7500rpm, Capacity: 1588cc
- Compression Ratio: 10.5:1
- Description: Double over head cams, 4 valves per cylinder in 240 V, 30mm inlet and 27mm exhaust valves, specific inlet manifold (with equal length runners) and exhaust manifold, 79.5 mm bore x 80mm stroke, Mahle pistons, balanced crankshaft and flywheel, 2-piece oil sump with windage tray, Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection (note different location of components), specific distributor, alternator pulley, brackets, etc
- Each engine is individually marked on the cylinder head cover, cylinder head and cylinder block which is a modified EG one.

Clutch and Gearbox
- Reinforced clutch to cope with additional power
- Type FP gearbox with reinforced syncros on 2nd, 3rd and 5th gears and 4,17 final drive (for increased performance)

Chassis and Brakes
- ATS 6”x14” alloy wheels with Uniroyal 185/60 R14 tyres
- Oettinger lower strut brace
- Valeo F562 brake pads, Bendix 2000 DOT 5 brake fluid

Body
- Exterior colour Black Metallic (LP9V)
- VIN plate with Type 17 (not 17EG2, etc)
- Production sticker showing option code 733 for 16S model and FP gearbox code
- BBS bodykit (front spoiler, sill and arch extensions) in body colour
- Unique front grille (without red grille trim) to house Cibie spot lamps containing yellow filter
- Additional sound insulation under boot mat

Instruments
- Oettinger instrument cluster containing 240km/h speedometer and 8000rpm rev counter
- Oil pressure gauge in centre console

Badging
- “GTI 16S” grille badge with white script
- “Golf GTI 16S” rear badge with white script
- “16 SOUPAPES” front wing transfers
- “GTI 16S” badge on steering wheel