ECS Tuning - RallyWagen Slammed Through South America

Words & Photos: ECS Tuning
RallyWagen 2 is equipped with an HPA OEM+ IS38, and HPA MQB Performance Series Intercooler

Last year, we sent VW Brand Ambassador Jamie Orr on a trip all across the country in a pre-production MK5 Sportwagen we affectionately called the Rallywagen where it ended in the Arctic Circle. This year, we decided to do it again with a car that wouldn’t be crushed after their trip. We picked up a VW MK7 GTI and decided to build it here at ECS for the express purpose of showing off some of our fantastic products, along with our vendors’ epic mods, to debut at SEMA and then head South to drive all the way to the tip of South America on some of the most demanding roads anywhere for a Rallywagen 2.0 adventure.

As you read this, Jamie and one of our team members are heading farther south by the minute as they attempt to make it to the southernmost tip of the continent in only three weeks. They’re making great progress, but there have been no shortage of setbacks, beginning all the way back here in Ohio just days before the car’s SEMA 2019 appearance.

The little 5-door GTI underwent a full transformation here at ECS. While the last Rallywagen was primarily bolt-ons fitted at various vendors’ shops across the country, Rallywagen 2.0 was fully constructed in-house by our team of engineers. While not everything went exactly to plan, we hustled and made it just in time to the show.

Right now, you can see the first video of the drive from Ohio to Nevada on our YouTube as well as Jamie Orr’s channels. Once you’ve caught up on the trip so far, follow along on our Instagram Feed (@ECStuning) as well as @xjamiexoe for full, real-time updates as they take this slammed, custom, 400hp GTI all the way to the tip of South America to show off just how reliable some of the best modifications the industry has to offer hold up to some honest to goodness abuse on the roughest roads we could find.