Still, there's a sizable market of customizers out there looking to park something different in their driveway. Rather than returning to the world of Cobra and GT40 replicas, Smyth Performance keeps with its owner's ethos of doing things differently than everyone else. In this case, that means taking Volkswagen Golfs and Jettas, Audi A4s and S4s, Dodge Chargers, Subaru Imprezas and WRXs, and even the VW New Beetle (later in 2019), and turning them into daily-drivable utes. If that seems like an unusual grouping of vehicles to qualify for ute kit status, well, you're right. Smith started with the Jetta because contractually, it was the only vehicle he was allowed to modify during the five-year non-compete clause in his sale agreement for Factory Five. Aside from the fact that you get to live your mullet-headed ute dreams with either Hemi, turbo flat-four, or 1.8T power, what else makes the Smyth Performance kits special?
3,500 or so for the Jetta setup, it's nowhere near as expensive as, say, a completed Factory Five Cobra or Rally Fighter. Then there's the design ethos behind it. Smith and Gallant claim it takes a maximum of 40 hours for the average mechanic to assemble the kit, including cutting away the parts of the car (read: the rear passenger area) that are no longer needed. As an added bonus, no welding is required to complete the Smyth installation, which opens it up to a much wider ranger of shade-tree mechanics. Paint, however, will be an added cost for anyone who doesn't dig a two-tone black look on the rear half of their vehicle. As an added bonus, no safety features need to be disabled while installing the kit, which means that airbags, ABS, and everything else a modern car comes with remain part of the package. It's clear that Smyth Performance kits add a more-than-unusual sense of style to the average Volkswagen or Subaru sedan.
Aside from being different, and of course being able to haul as much plywood as you want, are there any other benefits to the ute conversion? There's fuel mileage, of course. Any small-displacement, turbocharged four-cylinder engine motivating a sedan-based platform rather than a full-size or mid-size pickup is going to consume much less fuel, especially in city driving, than a traditional truck. Then there's the Smyth claim that their kits significantly improve the torsional stiffness of a given vehicle, a fact that owners have readily cited after driving their completed cars. Add to this a weight reduction, which can slice as much as 200 lbs of mass from the equation once those doors, roof, and all that glass have been removed. The kits themselves replace the rear metal with fiberglass quarter panels, although the tailgate remains steel, and the small integrated quarter windows are made from lightweight Plexiglas. The bed maintains the lighter-is-better motif with its aluminum construction. If you don't feel like building a ute yourself, Smyth Performance also offers several completed cars for sale.
The Jetta GLI undeniably handles fine with its lowered suspension and higher performance tires, but the Civic Si has quicker steering, nice pedal placement for heel and toe, and that glorious gear shifter. The Honda is the more noticeable car, yet the VW is the more understated, slightly more powerful, and more expensive alternative. If it鈥檚 all about the interior for you, then you can just ignore the Civic Si altogether and just go straight for the Jetta GLI with its premium-level interior ambiance and the more serious, grown up look. If interior quality isn鈥檛 your prime concern, then you may actually like the Honda more thanks to its more alive handling and generally sharper, sportier feel. It also boils down to price when looking at direct rivals from different manufacturers. 24,300, so the difference is quite significant and, if you look at both cars with this in mind, the Honda probably starts to make more and more sense. But we鈥檒l obviously have to wait for the Jetta GLI to officially debut and have it tested head to head against its rivals. Maybe it will be an unexpected revelation to drive or have some other tricks hidden up its sleeve that will make the higher asking price seem more palatable.
