00:00Hi, I'm Benny Leuchter, a Volkswagen Brand Ambassador, Race Test and Development Driver,
00:09and also a huge GTI Fan. And behind this gate, there's a very special GTI waiting for you.
00:15With this car, I was able to set a lap record in the world's toughest car race and also win
00:20the class. And now, let's take a closer look at it together. Come with me.
00:30This is where the heart beats. The 2-liter Erk 88 engine in the fourth generation delivers more
00:38than 390 horsepower in this racing car and has real power. By the way, this engine is absolutely
00:45close to series production. Around 60% of the components in the entire vehicle are from series
00:50production. This means that we're moving from the road to the racetrack, such as the steering,
00:55the engine, and other components. Up front, we can see the wonderfully large intercooler,
01:01which of course ensures that the turbo engine delivers ideal power output from the engine,
01:06even in warm conditions. This GTI has a sequential 6-speed racing transmission,
01:11which was developed by Volkswagen Motorsport. It is hydraulically operated via the pedals on the
01:16steering wheel. The advantage here is that we have super fast gear changes. We only need the clutch to
01:22start off and then the whole thing works like with the DSG. Brake on the left, downshift on the left
01:28pedal, upshift on the right pedal. This GTI is front-wheel drive like the production vehicle.
01:34We have a mechanical differential lock here, similar to the one in the production vehicle,
01:38which is attached to the DSG transmission and is actuated electromechanically.
01:43The whole thing is mechanical here. We can only adjust the force of the lock from the outside.
01:47In the production vehicle, we have a very comfortable one. We can do this from the interior.
01:51Unfortunately, that is not possible here, because otherwise we would have even greater advantages
01:55in the rain and the GT3s can really get their money's worth. I'm really looking forward to the
02:0024-hour race when it rains at night. The car has also been improved aerodynamically quite a bit.
02:06In order to get the 270mm wide tires under the bodywork, the car is significantly wider than the
02:11production vehicle. We have increased wind resistance and have of course tried to minimize
02:16drag with aerodynamic aids. As a result, we have an opening here at the front of the fender to release
02:23the pressure from the city hall. We have a rear wing at the back, which of course gives us downforce.
02:29We have the huge front splitter at the front, which gives us downforce on the front axle so that we can
02:34also drive quickly in fast corners. And if you look at the car from above, it looks like a teardrop. It is
02:40wide at the front and narrows nicely at the back. That gives us a reasonable top speed on the long
02:45dotinger hoe. In order to keep up with the series, we will also be launching in 2025 with the facelift
02:54headlights, the facelift taillights and a black illuminated logo at the front and a black logo on
02:59the boot lid, which of course looks really good. In order to achieve the minimum weight of 1200 kilograms
03:07based on the regulations, the vehicle also has a number of components that optimize the weight, such as
03:13macro lenses at the front, sides and rear. We also have various carbon parts such as the large front
03:21splitter, the wing reinforcement and even the doors are made of carbon. Welcome to the cockpit, now things
03:30are getting serious. I have a steering wheel with various buttons. Sometimes it feels like I'm on a
03:36PlayStation. However, these buttons are extremely important because as a driver, I can adjust quite
03:41a lot. For example, I can talk to my engineer on the top left, give him fuel values, tell him what
03:47the temperatures are like in the car or whether rain is coming, etc. Below that I have the mood control
03:52button, which I obviously don't need here at the 24 hour race. However, in the WTCR, for which the car
03:58was originally developed, I could have really used it because we have standing starts there. The button
04:03below that is a very important one for me. It's the drink button. We have a hydration system in the car
04:09so that we can also provide ourselves with drinks during these long stints, where we are sometimes in
04:13the car for up to two hours. We always filled it with water to make sure we were hydrated. The button
04:20below is a code 60 or pool course yellow button. This means that I can set how fast the vehicle should
04:26drive 120 or 60 kilometers per hour. There are some zones on the Norshalife where we are not allowed
04:33to drive faster during the race. For example, if there has been an accident or if there is oil on
04:37the track, or I press this button in order not to exceed these speeds. Here at the top right we have
04:43the so-called flash button. This allows me to link the GT3, for example, if they want to make some space
04:49in the rain, because that's when we drive particularly fast with the car. The mark button, for example,
04:54I can always set a marker in the vehicle data. If the car has a problem, I press it,
05:00then it is saved and the engineer can then see in the data after my stint at which point,
05:04at what speed, in which gear, etc. the problem occurred. Below that I have the button for the
05:11windshield wipers. I can set it to three levels. Fast, medium and slow. I'll do that over here.
05:18Of course, I have the start button here at the bottom right and the pit stopper marked in red.
05:23That's this button. This button has two functions. In the middle, I have four more buttons. The setting
05:29for my racing abs. I can set it in 12 levels. I have an anti-lax system, similar to the one used
05:35in rally racing. The turbocharger always remains preloaded. We have that in the series too. Of
05:39course, we always kept the turbocharger at the rev limit to minimize turbo lag. Of course, that's also
05:44the case in the racing car. But I can activate or deactivate it here. Map is there to set different engine
05:50mappings. Especially when I need to save fuel. For example, when the long phases are short at 60 or
05:57the race is extremely slow. Then I drive with a fuel optimized mapping in order to be on the road for
06:02for as long as possible. I also have two buttons on the back. Here I have the right turn signal,
06:10the left turn signal and of course, let's not forget my two shift paddles. The right shifts up,
06:16the left shifts down. In contrast to the three-point belt in the series, we have a six-point belt from
06:22sub-belt racing so that the belt can be quickly adjusted to the respective driver's height and
06:27of course, to ensure that we, the drivers, are extremely safe on the road. Other important
06:33buttons and levers for operating the vehicle are located here in the center console. Here I have
06:38the large center console panel where I can switch on the vehicle. I can't switch it on. I can switch on
06:43the ventilation in the vehicle. We have a driver's ventilation here. I can adjust the fuel quantity.
06:49After refueling, I have to reset the car, i.e. set the fuel level back to maximum. This doesn't
06:54happen automatically here, we do that manually. Then I have the yellow button down here. This is
07:00the button for adjusting the brake balance for the front axle and rear axle. Unlike in the production
07:04vehicle, I have to do this manually here, because we are driving with a balance beam system with two
07:09brake cylinders, with two master brake cylinders, one for the front axle and one for the rear axle.
07:14This beautiful little box here is how I, as the driver, set my driver ID. I have different driver
07:21IDs here. Each driver has their own ID. So that the race management and the timekeeping know which
07:27driver is in the vehicle at which time, there is a so-called driver ID, and I can set it here.
07:32One, two, three, four, I do this using these black buttons. This gold button here in the middle is
07:38there to divide the braking force again, namely the brake pressure that goes to the rear axle, which I can
07:43use here to limit. This is extremely important, especially for front wheel drive vehicles, because
07:50if I now drive into a curve and my vehicle lifts the inner leg, as we call it, the inner wheel lifts
07:55and no longer has contact with the ground, then it is incredibly bad for the abs. And I can adjust
08:01this while driving. Incidentally, this also changes depending on the tire wear. That means that at the
08:06beginning of my drive, I have a different brake setting than at the end of my drive. I have to order
08:11this while driving. This large lever here in the middle is the handbrake. You wouldn't believe it,
08:17but this vehicle doesn't have a handbrake for parking, but rather to pre-tension the vehicle
08:21when starting from a standing start. I pull the handbrake here, apply full throttle, and let the
08:27clutch slip slightly. This gives the vehicle a slight torque, and when the starting light turns green,
08:32I release the handbrake here and I have an optimal time from 0 to 100, which also allows me to
08:37overtake my opponents at the start. This is the future. Our GTI runs on a biofuel developed by
08:44Volkswagen and Skel, called E20 gasoline. This is an E20 fuel with 60% renewable components in the fuel.
08:54We have 103 octane, 20% ethanol. That works fantastically even in hot conditions and is also
09:01sustainable. The chassis in this car is also a McFennan suspension, just like the production vehicle.
09:09We have a multi-link rear suspension on the rear axle. We also have a stabilizer that is
09:14adjustable in three ways on the front axle and the guys can also change the rear axle from type,
09:19medium to soft during a pit stop, for example. A Beelstein shock absorber is also installed in
09:25conjunction with an Eibach spring. We developed the chassis for this vehicle with these two partners.
09:31The chassis is adjustable via compression and rebound on the shock absorber,
09:34which of course gives us enormous potential for the Norshalif. We can also run camber values of up
09:40to 5 degrees here, both on the front axle and the rear axle, so there is plenty of scope for technical
09:46nerds. I am very happy because the car is extremely fun, but it is also not easy to set up. 270mm wide
09:55Falken tires are fitted all around on this vehicle. All of this on a ProTrak rim that was produced
10:01especially for this car. Both front and rear, we have the same offset. We have a very large hub
10:09centering to give the vehicle camber stiffness when cornering, because with a lot of camber and we can
10:13adjust up to 5 degrees here the rims have extreme camber shifts, right? So the rim starts to wobble
10:21when cornering. Uh, we try to cover all of this with this wide hub centering so that this doesn't
10:26happen, so that we always have the same camber, both on straights and in corners. The whole thing works
10:32very, very well. We have, uh, hub racing specially produced camber discs with pots for this vehicle.
10:42All of this on a really good brake pad, which of course gives us a very, very high coefficient of
10:47friction on the one hand to demonstrate the performance, but also lasts a long time with
10:51regard to the 24-hour race, because the more often we have to change the brakes, the more time we lose
10:56in the pits, and of course we don't want that. This is the Golf GTI Club Sport 24 hours, built to the
11:04limit, made for racing, for the 24-hour race at the NĂŒrburgring. If you enjoyed this video, please leave
11:10a like. If you have any questions, write them in the comments. Otherwise, subscribe to the channel,
11:15follow us and we'll see you at the NĂŒrburgring. For more videos like this, simply subscribe.
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