Watch an old Volkswagen Golf school a 1,300-hp Nissan GT-R on the strip

It hardly seems like a fair fight: A Mk1 Volkswagen Golf taking on a mighty 1,300-hp Nissan GT-R. For the driver of the VeeDub, this drag strip showdown should be one doused in humiliation. But he isn't driving just any old Golf.

The one in question is called "16vampir." That sobriquet is presumably German code for "zee speedy one," and with it posting a quarter-mile time of 8.29 seconds, a world record for an all-wheel drive Golf, this particular car tuned by Boba Motoring took the fight to Godzilla and beat it.

Modifying old Golfs is not uncommon, and Boba Motoring has consistently proven that it remains the king of maximizing the boxy hot hatches. All in, 16vampir produces 1,100 horses while weighing about the same as Bethany Frankel. The custom turbocharger is supplied by Extreme Tuners and boasts 58 psi of boost; a sequential 4-speed transmission, optimized for quarter-mile use, arrives via Don Octane.

After much tinkering, the crew eked out 738 lb-ft of torque, not bad for a 2-liter, four-cylinder engine. It hits 62 mph in just 1.9 seconds, and on its record run up the quarter, topped out at 175 mph. Yes, it thoroughly demolished the GT-R, despite the driver of Godzilla showing superior reaction times as the light turned green.

Of course, by GT-R standards, 1,300 hp is rather puny (here's a 2,000 hp version crushing the same distance in 7.7 seconds). Still, the world's fastest Golf remains a sweet title for Boba Motoring, and while I'm sure the next push will be to break into the 7s, looking at the car wander around the lane so precariously, improving the car's drive-ability might be as key as adding more geschwindigkeit.