Dustin’s Volkswagen GTI

We at the Lowered Elite, have always believed that “less is more” when it comes to a clean and tasteful build, and Dustin Wark’s mk5 Volkswagen GTI is no exception. Bagged Volkswagens play a huge part in the “fitment” scene today and you’re bound to see a handful of them at any meet or show you attend. But this one caught our attention with its clean and simple execution.

Dustin has always been into Volkswagens and has owned a handful of air-cooled vehicles before he began his five-year journey with the GTI you see here. In searching for a newer generation VW, he told us that out of all of them, the mk5 generation was the most appealing to him as a newer car. We couldn’t agree more.

Most enthusiasts when starting a build will find inspiration in other people’s projects and builds, but unlike most, Dustin found his inspiration within the car itself. “The clean and simple look euros are known for, inspired my direction with this car, but overall the look has formed from my own tastes.” From the BBS LM’s with white faces and polished lips, to the Euro GT front grille, this GTI screams cleanliness, simplicity, and class.

When building a car, we can all relate to thinking we know exactly what we want to do from the start. But as the years go on and circumstances change, so do our cars. Dustin’s car has gone from stock suspension, to drop springs, to coilovers and finally to Accuair E-level management on Airlift Slam-series front air struts and Airlift double bellow rear bags. Dustin’s advice to anyone wanting to lower a car, is to “skip the lowering springs or other nonsense, and make coilovers or air one of the first purchases you make”.

As for the interior of the car, it is mostly stock aside from the OE Euro light switch, OE Black Hazard switch, and NewSouth boost gauge. But in this car we don’t feel like it needs much more aside from the factory look and feel anyways. If it’s not broke, why fix it?

With this platform, Dustin was able to take advantage of being low, as well as being able to throw a couple of mods at the 2.0L turbo engine to make it even better and more enjoyable to drive. He upgraded to Stage I APR Tuning, a BSH true seal SRI, a BSH competition catch-can, and even tied the color of his wheels into his OE Audi 2.0 TFSI engine cover which he painted white, just to name a few. (The rest of his engine mods are listed below on the page.)

Without cluttering the car, he chose to keep an “OEM Plus” look and feel to the exterior of the car. It’s not always the things that jump out at you right at first that make a car cleaner and different from the rest. Sometimes it’s the small mods that only the trained eye can point out. For example, the OE Votex front lip, R32 rear bumper with custom tinted side markers, R32 tinted tail lights, and Inpro smoked mirror signals all add just a little something to the car to make it look just that much better. He also went where a lot of people forget to go when they’re building a car such as this. Behind the scenes and places that rarely get seen. Dustin upgraded his car for more stopping power with an R32 big brake caliper kit, Adam’s Rotors race double slotted rotors, Hawk HPS brake pads, and Neuspeed stainless steel brake lines.

A lot of times, people like to ask the question “Why?” while looking at someone’s lifestyle among the car scene. Dustin’s answer was one of a true car enthusiast. “I love the diversity of styles and cars that people modify. I can’t get enough when it comes to learning new things and seeing new styles emerging from all around the world, It has been an educational journey and I am better because of it. ” This is refreshing to hear when a lot of times all you see are big egos and attitudes coming from those with nicer cars in the scene.

Dustin seems to have had a lot of fun building this car, and would like to give this piece of advice to those looking to start a similar build: “Do it right; do it once. Don’t go with cheap parts and take your time doing any work”. As his car nears completion (if there is such a thing) Dustin only plans to add a few small details to his car before he decides to move on to another project where he feels his money and efforts are better spent. As disappointing as this is for us to hear, everyone has their time that they feel they need to move on, and we are excited to see what else he has in store for us.