VW Golf 2 Diesel Goes Drag Racing, Should Come With a Health Warning Label

You see, each individual has a different opinion of what the ideal ride is. Body styles aside, some favor the good old gasoline-powered units, whereas others would gladly go for a low-revving oil burner instead, like the owner of this second generation Volkswagen Golf.

The old German compact hatchback supposedly packs a 1.9-liter TDI engine. The more modern unit isn’t exactly the cleanest of them all, and has become even dirtier in the never-ending horsepower chase. We cannot tell you how much it pumps out, but we can highlight the obvious thick black haze (*insert health/Dieselgate joke here*).

If there was ever a moment that bystanders wanted to breathe through their facemasks, it was at this drag racing event. Apparently held somewhere in Slovakia, judging by the license plate of the Golf’s ad-hoc rival, an old gasoline-powered Peugeot 106, it saw the two battle it out down the quarter-mile. As you can suspect, the results weren’t exactly something to write home about, but as far as the Volkswagen is concerned, it wasn’t neglectable either.

Having literally smoked the strip, it eventually managed to cross the finish line first. The clock indicated almost 12.2 seconds, with a 190 kph (118 mph) exit speed. That’s a few tenths of a second quicker than the Dodge Durango SRT, which shouldn’t be confused with the crazy Durango SRT Hellcat that can do it in 11.2 seconds. The Peugeot 106, with its tiny 1.4 liter gasoline engine, completed the run in 17.4 seconds, at almost 125 kph (78 mph).