VW's apprentices bring trunk holograms and a 400-hp wagon to Germany's Wörthersee
The wagon will end up as a safety vehicle on the Sachsenring circuit.
Volkswagen's apprentices sure do have a lot of fun. Earlier this month, we learned that a group of 'em came together to build a drivable cutaway of the electric e-Golf. Now, they've built two monster concept cars for a big GTI gathering in Wörthersee.
Volkswagen on Wednesday unveiled two concepts alongside their official debut at the Wörthersee festival in Germany. The cars occupy two very different segments, but the end result is the same -- a concept car putting out some decent power while packing some interesting secrets. Let's take a look at each.
Golf GTI Aurora
The VW Golf GTI Aurora concept is the brainchild of apprentices working at Volkswagen's Wolfsburg facility. This one is much techier than the second concept, but both are built for performance. Under the hood of the GTI Aurora is a 2.0-liter gasoline inline-4 putting out 380 horsepower. It's mated to a seven-speed transmission and borrows its Nardo Gray primary paint color from Audi .
The concept was designed digitally. From the outside, it's quite the monster, and that's saying nothing of its eye-catching vinyl design. There's a large front splitter with stanchions connecting to the grille, while out back there's a wing that's about as wide as the GTI Aurora itself.
The real clever bits are hidden in the cargo area, though. Flip up the tailgate, and in addition to a roll cage and a custom subwoofer mount, you'll find a hologram generator. VW claims that the hologram interface is what connects people to the car's sound system, and that it truly does "float" above the hologram module, but I will hold my breath on that claim, as I have yet to see a video of the system in action. Nevertheless, if VW really did pull this off, that's wild.
All the frou-frou stuff about the holograms aside, this concept looks pretty wicked.
Golf Estate R FighteR
Over in Europe, those lucky ducks get a Golf R version of the SportWagen, known over there as the Estate or Variant. This one is even wilder than that, with its 2.0-liter engine tuned to produce a proper 400 horsepower, which is routed to all four wheels through a seven-speed transmission. While the Aurora was made by apprentices in Wolfsburg, this one is the creation of three factories: Zwickau, Chemnitz and Gläserne.
Wider fenders give the FighteR a beefier stance, while lights mounted on the roof and in the grille offer a hint about the FighteR's future purpose -- it'll act as a safety car for the Sachsenring racing circuit. Just like the GTI Aurora, the FighteR uses Audi's Nardo Gray as its primary paint color. Inside, there's an interior decked in full leather and Alcantara suede.
Don't worry, there's a tech angle here, too. Tucked away on the roof is a 360-degree camera system that VW used to record a hot lap around the Sachsenring. Wörthersee attendees will be able to watch the lap inside the vehicle using VR glasses, giving them a better idea of what it's like when a 400-hp, AWD battle wagon takes to the track.
I love everything about this, and so should you.
