Wörthersee 2012: VW Golf GTI Black Dynamic

The annual “GTI” show is currently underway in Wörthersee, Austria, and nine young VW apprentices have been thrown the keys to a Mk6 Golf GTI and told to go crazy. They’ve come up with the Golf GTI Black Dynamic.

The kids haven’t messed about either, upping power by a whopping 110kW, to a new total of 265kW. Eight-pot brakes up help slow things down in what must be a damn fast GTI. They’ve also chucked in an ear splitting 1800W sound system. All that has been adorned by a custom paint-scheme and interior touches.

It’s a pretty nifty opportunity and trainee automotive mechatronics technician Martin Schmidt was pretty chuffed to be part of the action: “For our team, the GTI Black Dynamic is the high point of our training. The amount that we have learned is incredible, and we have developed our own ideas and implemented them in ‘our’ car. Where else do you get an opportunity like that?”

Black, dynamic, unique: The Golf GTI Black Dynamic

• Nine Volkswagen apprentices create a black-and-red powerhouse
• World premiere at 31st GTI Festival in Reifnitz on the Wörthersee in Austria

Wolfsburg / Reifnitz, 17 May 2012 – Black as the night, with a black-and-red interior, 360 PS (265 kW) TSI engine and a lowered sport suspension, the GTI Black Dynamic makes a lasting impression. Nine Volkswagen apprentices from four professions produced this custom Golf in only seven months. One of the special features: GTI lettering in the doors and hatch with handmade characters. Another highlight is the 1,800 watt sound system installed in the boot and visible beneath a specially manufactured plexiglas sheet, with nine loudspeakers. The team of four women and five men between the ages of 18 and 23 chose the motto “sporty driving” for the customisation of the production GTI.

One of the things that future automotive mechatronics technician Martin Schmidt (22) took care of was the stamping the GTI lettering in a deep-drawing process. “For our team, the GTI Black Dynamic is the high point of our training,” he said. “The amount that we have learned is incredible, and we have developed our own ideas and implemented them in ‘our’ car. Where else do you get an opportunity like that?” he added enthusiastically.

The custom features of the Black Dynamic were all produced by the apprentices: the sport seats upholstered in black-and-red Alcantara and leather, interior door trim with decorative red seams, the Deep Black Metallic exterior finish combined with flat anthracite film trim, the engine and gearbox management tuned to produce and transmit an extra 150 PS, the oversized exhaust system and the eight-piston brake system.

Under the guidance of their trainers, Detlef Weiner and Björn Schallhorn, the apprentices, who are among the best in their classes, planned the entire design and created the respective project plans. Furthermore, they selected the appropriate parts from the Volkswagen model range, negotiated with suppliers, and performed their own work on the car. Finally, the future paint technicians, vehicle mechatronics technicians, interior constructors and process mechanic gave “their GTI” its name: Golf GTI Black Dynamic.

“We are proud of the creativity and achievement of our apprentices,” declared Professor Heiko Gintz, who heads vocational training at Wolfsburg. Volkswagen gives its best apprentices an opportunity to extend their knowledge with projects such as the GTI Black Dynamic.

The Golf GTI Black Dynamic is celebrating its world premiere from 16 to 19 May before roughly 150,000 Volkswagen and custom-car fans at the 31st GTI Festival at Wörthersee in Austria.

Other special car projects conducted within the Volkswagen training programme have already premiered at previous GTI festivals at Wörthersee and at the Idea Expo in Hanover, Germany.

Names of apprentices on the GTI Black Dynamic team (by profession): Interior constructors: Charleen Pohle (19), Sarah Unverzagt (20); Paint technicians: Laura Krätz (18), Christian Wolter (23); Automotive mechatronics technicians: Lisa Batke (19), Roman Huck (24), Richard Neubert (18), Martin Schmidt (22); Process mechanic for plastic and rubber technology: Tim Köhler (19)