Formula GTi

For the 2010 Racing season, Formula GTi has taken the bold step of moving away from the carburettor based 2lt VW engines that has been the mainstay of the formula for the past 15 years, to the newer 2E engine, with Fuel Injection.

After carefull consideration it was decided to partner with Sarel Eloff - 8 Valve Performance - to supply and maintain the new generation engines. The aim being to have equality in performance, reliability, an upgrade path for future performence increases, and ultimately one "go to guy" for engine related issues.

Below is the story of Sarel, and how he made his passion a reality.

At the age of 10, my dad built me a go cart. This was the best thing since sliced bread. I was in real trouble when the old man got home one day, and the motor swop between my kart’s 3hp motor and his 10hp lawnmower motor, was already half way through. After convincing him this was the way to go, he helped me finish the job. That was speed, and I loved it! Since then, it was the only thing that really mattered. My first motorbike was an AR50. Weighing in at a 100kg’s at the age of 16, the bmx was almost a quicker option. It was not long after, and the measly 50cc motor was replaced with a 125cc. From 6hp to 16hp. That’s when the engine modifications started. After porting, boring and modifying more than riding the bike, I ended up with over 35hp. Before long I was the performance tuner of my school. When I turned 17, I got the best gift a boy could ever want. A MK2 GTI, which I was not allowed to drive. The motor was turbo charged before I got my licence.

After school I signed up for my apprentership at Delta. I completed my trade test in 2002. I left soon after, due to a lack of interest in changing oil and plugs for a living, and started my one man show from home. The GTI managed to make quite a name in the VW club, winning it's class in the 2002 VW vs Opel club Challenge. This got the ball rolling. Bread and butter at the time came from selling horsepower to street and drag racers. My best friend Craig, introduced me to Oscar de Olivera (who is now CEO of Forza racing), who at the time needed a motor for his Super hatch project car. It turned out Ozzy could actually drive, and collected a lot of trophy’s. This got us into the world of circuit racing.

Craig and I built his MK1 into a nice race car, on a non existent budget. Craig won all the hill climbs and gymkhana events with the car, and needed more, leading us to VW Challenge. This 8 Valve Performance Golf won its class in 2007. Business grew nicely. I had a lot more work coming my way than I ever expected, and trusted no one else than my perfectionist brother Gerhard for help. Before he opened his eyes he was on board. Gerhard is the cleanest engine builder in the world. He can tell what power a engine will make before it goes to the dyno. He is by far the best cylinder head porter in the country. He now goes by the name Gerrie Porter.

Grant Orbel, from Legend cars gave me the opportunity to build an all-out 8 valve motor for his Nardini. The motor ended up making 120 wheel KW. The motor did 3 years of endurance racing, before needing a refresh. We build the exact same motor for the 8Valve Performance street and strip Golf, and managed a 400m record time of 13.5sec in full 940kg street trim.

We now build motors for more than half the competitors in VW Challenge, and have several cars in Superhatch, Modified production cars, Silver cup and several other series. Jason Finney won the 2008 VW Challenge season overall with our motor. We do a couple of rally engines as well. We also got the Tuner of the year award for 2008.

We made our hobby our job, and unfortunately too much of one thing is bad they say…..we got addicted to performance engines!

At 8V performance we strive to be lean and mean (in business, not physique). We strive to do high quality, not high quantity. Our sales are made on reputation of power and reliability. Every customer is a happy customer.

Sarel Eloff