Audi Tuning | VW Tuning

Arin@APR continues to update us with details of their 2010 model Volkswagen GTI they rolled out for this year’s race season.  Here are more close-up pictures of the fine details APR put into this track-winning VW!

Quick wheel change? No problem!

Quick front jack point.

Sexy rear wiper delete. Did you expect anything less?

Rear hatch quick safety latches.

Rear Tow Hook.

Rear end with quick jack point and tow hook.

Communication antenna.

Arin also provides us some media coverage from the last few races he attended and it’s great to see their car in action, such a stunner!

APR Motorsport Signs Australian Tom Drewer and Announces the Return of Stephen Hooks to Grand Am to Drive New MK6 VW GTi in its International Racing Debut at Barber Motorsports Park

APR Motorsport presents Australian racing star Tom Drewer and the return of Stephen Hooks to Grand Am to drive in the historic international racing debut of the VW DriverGear MK6 Volkswagen GTi.

Drewer and Hooks will drive in Round 3 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, a 2 hour 30 minute endurance race, at Barber Motorsports Park, Alabama (April 8-10).

APR Motorsport returns to Barber, the team’s home track, after last year’s win in the #171 MK5 GTi driven by Ian Baas and MESCO Rookie of the Year Josh Hurley. Ian has moved up in class to pilot APR Motorsport’s Audi S4 in Grand Sport for the 2010 season. Josh Hurley returns with new co-driver Kevin Stadtlander, now in the VW DriverGear #181 MK5 GTi, to fight for the win alongside teammates Tom Drewer and Stephen Hooks in the new MK6 GTi and Mike Sweeney and Mike Halpin who return in last year’s winning #171 GTi.

After a nearly 10 year hiatus from professional racing, Stephen Hooks, President and CEO of APR, LLC, returns to Grand Am for the unveiling of the new GTi. Stephen last appeared in 2001 in a now 3 generations old Audi S4 which he drove in the Grand Am Cup, the predecessor to the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. When asked about why he has been missing in action for so long, Stephen replied, “The last 10 years have been a time in my life where I have focused heavily on the restructuring and further development of APR, LLC. We have seen our staff grow tremendously, we’ve built a brand new purpose built engineering facility, rapidly expanded our road going car product line, increased our distribution to over 40 countries and 250 retailers and most recently, began 2 new race teams. I’ve never lost my passion for driving and I am thankful for the opportunity to return with more resources, more talent and more support.” Stephen has participated in several tests the last couple of years with APR Motorsport and is a primary provider of feedback to the technical staff regarding the cars’ performance. Stephen’s typical race day activities include team strategy however, the upcoming event at Barber finds him behind the wheel with a perfect opportunity to for a good showing with co-driver Tom Drewer. The entire APR Motorsport Team is excited for Stephen as it’s obvious from his testing laps he’s never lost his edge.

“I feel very honored to be given the responsibility of the world racing debut of the new MK6 Volkswagen GTi along with Stephen,” Tom Drewer said.

The race will also be Drewer’s first in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and his first for the Alabama based APR Motorsport, the competition arm of the highly regarded aftermarket performance product company APR. “You could say I’ve been thrown into the deep end- there are many firsts this weekend. It will be the first race for the new VW MK6 GTi, my first time with APR, my first race at Barber, and my first weekend in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Hopefully we can add another first to the list by the end of the weekend.”

But while a rookie to the series, Tom has no shortage of experience behind the wheel, or that of a Volkswagen. Prior to heading to North America Drewer sampled the high horsepower of the Australian Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series while also competing in light-weight high down-force prototypes as the factory driver for West Race Cars Australia.

We’ve been following along with Arin@APR as he updates us on the build of the APR VW Mk6 GTI that will debut in this year’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.  Barber is APR’s home track and the race scheduled the weekend of April 9th through 11th should bring plenty of excitement and we look forward to seeing how the Mk6 will perform as it runs along with last year’s winning Mk5 line-up.

Here is more of the updated progress.  Chas sawing away at the OEM dash!

OEM dash will need to fit here around the roll cage.

And here it is installed (should we keep the cup holders? )

Next up is the suspension! First thing’s first, APR Motorsport tested and approved APR Front Swaybar:

Front swaybar adjustable end links

Front camber plates.

Front race coil-over setup. You don’t wanna run these puppies on the street! You’ll chatter your teeth out.

APR Motorsport bushings.

Rear coil-over mock-up with APR Motorsport Mounting Brackets. This will be a true coil-over in the rear. The spring will be directly on the strut.

Here’s another couple shots of the mounting brackets APR Motorsport created:

Adjustable sway bar end links for the rear APR sway bar once it’s installed.

We’ll need to stop this thing so we’ve created custom APR Motorsport rotor hats with custom rotors and modified calipers.

APR Motorsport has had great success with DXD clutches. We now run them on all our race and street cars. We even lay out on our site exactly what setup you need for your driving style and level of mods. We’ll let you know exactly what to expect.

After checking over the motor, installing all new sensors and removing and components we don’t need, it’s dropped back into the car.

No number! The MK6 will arrive at the new race with a brand new number.

The engine is in and ready to start tearing it up on the track!

Safety Net Installed:

New shot of the interior. Belts are ready to go in. Shifter knob and boot installed. Communication controls starting to go in.

Roll cage padding installed.

Passenger side weight plate installed.

OEM Shifter!

Rear Jack mount installed. Makes jacking the car while on pit lane very quick and easy!

Full race rear coil-over! Notice the spring location and APR Motorsport mounting hardware.

Attention to detail adds a nice touch for the area between the dash and the roll cage.

Hood pins are pretty good for two reasons. 1. Safety and 2. Quick access to the engine as it comes in for a pit stop.Chad first drilled holes for the hood pins and installed the pins under the hood.

Next he marked the location of the latches:

Then the cutting began!

Finally when he was all finished he installed the latches.

The latches slide a pin though the hole holding the hood down.

And they lock into place for a nice clean and flat look:

Up next, Chas starts working on the fueling!