The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup was a single-make racing series sanctioned by the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

. The series was started in 2008 and was a

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

series that ran only in

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, the series quietly folded in 2011.

Rules & prizes

The series was open to only drivers between the ages of 16 and 26 who held a passport from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, or

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. The entry fee for drivers is $45,000. In addition to more than $50,000 in prize money at stake during the season, the series champion received Volkswagen factory career advancement support with a value up to $100,000.

Vehicles

The cars were 2009 Volkswagen Jettas that were modified by the factory for the series. Once completed, the cars were still about 70% stock with the other 30% made up of parts from the VW parts bin, one-off brackets and mounts, and race prepping from outside parties. The cars feature VW's DSG twin shaft, dual clutch automatic transmission and have height adjustable

Sachs Sachs is a German surname, meaning "man from Saxony". Sachs is a common surname among Ashkenazi Jews from Saxony, in the United States sometimes adopted in the variant Zaks, supposedly in reference to the Hebrew phrase ''Zera Kodesh Shemo'' (ZaKS), ...

race suspension. Brakes were controlled by an

ATE Ate or ATE may refer to: Organizations * Active Training and Education Trust, a not-for-profit organization providing "Superweeks", holidays for children in the United Kingdom * Association of Technical Employees, a trade union, now called the Nat ...

Racing ABS system and utilize

Brembo Brembo S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. Its head office is in Curno, Bergamo, Italy. History Brembo was established in Paladina, Italy on January 11, 1961 ...

4 piston fixed calipers in front and Lucas 1 piston floating caliper

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...

s in the rear. The tires are racing slicks provided by

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...

. The minimum race weight for the car with driver and equipment is . The safety equipment on each car included but was not limited to

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. Th ...

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...

roll cage A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in (or sometimes around, in which case it is known as an exo cage) the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, pa ...

fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...

s, and an

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

rated racing seat.

Engine

; Configuration : inline 4-cylinder TDI ; Head : 4 valves per cylinder, DOHC, compression ratio 18:1 ; Fuel system : Common-Rail Injection with 8 nozzle output, piezo elements, pressure up to 1850 bar ; Aspiration : turbocharged, intercooled, water-cooled

exhaust gas recirculation In internal combustion engines, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a nitrogen oxide () emissions reduction technique used in petrol/gasoline, diesel engines and some hydrogen engines. EGR works by recirculating a portion of an engine's exhaust ...

; Engine management: Bosch ; exhaust : VW Catalyst and particulate filter ; Output: @ 4200 rpm, 368 ft-lbs @ 1900 to 2500 rpm ; Data Acquisition
memotec Messtechnik

Points system

The point system used was similar to other race series in that the most points are awarded to the first place finisher and points are reduced for subsequent finishing places. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup is unique in that the points are halved for the first two races compared to the points for the rest of the season.

Champions

2008 season results

†

Shane Williams Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record t ...

was a guest driver from the

ADAC ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mobi ...

Polo Cup race series in Germany.
‡ David Jurca was awarded the points for a first place finish since

did not accrue points in USA race. For points purposes 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers were awarded the points for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. †† Liam Kenney was penalized 20 points for passing the leader, Josh Hurley under double yellow.

References

External links

Official Website
(redirects to main VW website) {{Volkswagen Group Recurring sporting events established in 2008 Recurring events disestablished in 2011 Defunct auto racing series