- Volkswagen's Apprentice Challenge returns with a new group of future master technicians and mentors
- Apprentices challenged to build a race car capable of a 0-100km/h time under 4.0-seconds
- Arteon to be turned into a high-performance Art Car
- Build week now underway
Following on from the unprecedented success of last year's apprentice-built Amarok V6 race car, a new cohort of young technicians in the Volkswagen Modern Apprenticeship program have been selected for 2018's Apprentice Challenge.
Their goal for 2018's Challenge: build a car capable of hitting 100km/h in under four seconds. Naturally, beating the previous best lap time set by last year's car at the World Time Attack Challenge event in Sydney (1:57.01sec) will also be on the apprentice team's to-do list.
Luka Popovac, national customer experience and capability manager, was pleased to see a new team of apprentices taking on the build challenge.
"Last year's team built something remarkable with their Amarok build car, and the reaction from our fans and the wider public was incredible. It's vitally important that we recognize our top-tier apprentices with out-of-the-ordinary opportunities like this that showcase the talent we have in our dealer network," Mr. Popovac said.
Just as the burly dual-cab Amarok was an obscure choice for last year's inaugural Challenge, the chosen car for this build also offers apprentices a unique learning opportunity. Volkswagen's low-slung luxury saloon, the AWD Arteon, will be stripped and turned into a fire-breathing Art Car, with a dynamic, artist-designed exterior in keeping with other greats.
Project lead, Volkswagen PR and brand experience manager, Kurt McGuiness, explained the vehicle choice and the concept behind it.
"Our Arteon saloon is one of the more design-focused vehicles in our range, and what better way to bring out its true artistic nature than to have our apprentices build an Art Car. Mind you, this will be no basic sticker pack – the standard Arteon boasts a drivetrain derived from the Golf R, so the finished car will truly be both beauty and the beast", Mr. McGuiness said.
"Of course, the artistry doesn't stop with the Arteon's angles and lines – we are fortunate to have the who's who of the Australian performance car tuning industry mentoring our apprentices and overseeing the build," McGuiness continued.
That "who's who" includes Volkswagen's own technical experts Jose Diaz and Glenn Staples, workshop manager and master technician Ryan Mulholland, and a range of new and returning partners to the program.
A full list of technical partners is as follows:
Suspension tuning: Bilstein Suspension Australia / H&R Suspension
Stage Three Engine tuning: Harding Performance in collaboration with Racing Line UK
Brakes: Volksmuller in collaboration with APR
Diagnostics and Dyno Testing: Maha Australia
Roll bar and race seat fitment: Bond Roll Bars
Vehicle Wrap: Pivot Creative
The 'art' adorning the Art Car will be coming from well-known Sydney street artist, Simon Murray, AKA Kade, who will be creating a custom design for the vehicle in his signature style. That design will then be converted to a vinyl wrap and applied to the finished vehicle.
With the build week now officially underway, the public will be able to see the completed vehicle for the first time next month at the World Time Attack Challenge event at Sydney's Eastern Creek Motorsport Park on October 12th and 13th.
There, the Arteon Art Car will set its very first lap time, along with Volkswagen's new, more powerful 200kW/580Nm V6 Amarok ute, which will be running the same apprentice-fitted steering and suspension setup as last year's track-blazing Challenge car.