Volkswagen is taking part at this year Worthersee Festival with two special concepts, created by its apprentices. First and the most important is the Volkswagen Golf GTI First Decade.
The name indicates that this show car is the 10th apprentices’ GTI to be presented by young people from Wolfsburg at the traditional GTI fans’ meeting in Austria. The Golf GTI First Decade was created in less than nine months on the basis of ideas provided by apprentices in six vocations. In the interior and exterior design, the five women and eight men were inspired by the many and varied blue tones of water and sky on the Wörthersee.
The Golf GTI First Decade combines a 410 PS petrol engine driving the front wheels with a 48-volt electric motor that drives the rear wheels with a maximum output of 12 kW. The two drive systems can be used separately but also work together.
The car can be operated conventionally (front-wheel drive), in purely electric mode (rear-wheel drive) and in combined mode (all-wheel drive). The mild electric propulsion system offers the benefits of zero-emission, silent driving during parking manoeuvres and for short distances in residential areas or in stop-and-go traffic (electric mode).
Through the recovery of braking energy (regenerative braking), two batteries in the rear of the vehicle are charged. This energy allows further carbon-neutral driving in electric mode. On more demanding surfaces, the combination of front and rear-wheel drive for starting assistance (electric all-wheel mode) comes into its own. The modes can be selected and controlled from a tablet PC using an app or from the infotainment display via Mirror Link.
GTI drivers in the two-seater benefit from top sports seats. The driver’s seat can be adjusted electrically using an app on a smart phone or tablet. The seat offers several back massage profiles with a memory function. The sports seats are handmade: titanium black nappa leather/Alcantara combination with decorative blue stitching.
