Moving the sleeping space up top provides room for extra living area down below. There's a retractable wet room with a folding sink, shower and bathroom. Hot water is supplied with a gasoline heater. A pop-up window supplies ventilation. The living space has an extendable work surface with sink, fuel stove and a refrigerator. There's also an espresso machine in one of the cabinets. The burners sit flush when not in use. Along with the house up high, there's one other sleeping space in the California XXL's rear. A sliding door opens into the dwelling area. Near the door is a drawer for soiled shoes. There's compact lighting throughout the cabin, and nine 220V shops (this is European) and six USB ports all through the van. The cork ground and white cabinets assist keep the area light and open. Dark interiors can feel claustrophobic, especially in one thing as packed as a camper van.
The entrance seats swivel back. A bench seat provides area for 2 extra. An extendable desk has a number of dimension adjustments. A projector replaces a tv, projecting onto the back wall of the wet room. There's extra going on outdoors. Two camping chairs could be saved in the tailgate. The inside table could be eliminated and connected to the California XXL's exterior. Behind the tailgate is a big storage area that's additionally accessible from the van's interior. Hidden out again are a 140-liter freshwater tank and a 90-liter wastewater tank. The California XXL packs a Volkswagen turbodiesel and 4MOTION all-wheel drive. Power is shipped through a six-speed handbook transmission. The engine makes 175 horsepower and 302 pound-ft of torque. It might just be an idea, but we want all of it the same. Maybe we'll get an analogous version of the brand new I.D. Buzz when it hits showrooms in a couple of years.
Careful… if there’s one phrase to describe the manner during which we drove the laps which Volkswagen Australia provided us in its apprentice-built Arteon time assault automobile, it’s that. There’s a bit more pressure, as the Arteon, which VW Australia has rolled out for us, is considered one of a kind. The previous result of this was a stripped-out VW Amarok with customized suspension, smaller track tyres, however the usual diesel V6 engine. It lapped Easter Creek in 1:57.01, two seconds quicker than a Golf GTI. The Arteon time attack car, known to VW because the ‘ART3on’, was constructed with the goal of hitting 100km/h in less than 4 seconds, something which Volkswagen claims it has achieved uphill on Luddenham’s straight with a 3.9sec run. Other than its customized track-targeted build, it’s also sporting a harlequin-like livery designed by a street artist from Sydney named Simon Murray. Underneath that's a bunch of modifications made to the chassis, suspension, and the Arteon’s customary working gear. The large raise in energy and torque, up 154kW/250Nm from 206kW/350Nm to 360kW/600Nm, comes because of a number of RacingLine modifications together with a stage three turbo and intercooler setup, plus intake, oil management and fuel pump upgrades.
Upgraded DSG software program comes from Harding Performance and TVS Engineering, serving to the standard seven-velocity gearbox switch the new outputs to the Arteon’s four wheels. Bilstein Australia provided a customized racing suspension setup, and APR dished out the stopping power. Inside, the seats have all been turfed and a roll cage put instead of the rears, whereas Velo racing seats sit up front. Many of the carpet and lining has been removed, while the dash and centre console are the one main interior elements that stay. All up, the modifications to the Arteon allowed a 1:49:02 lap of Eastern Creek with racer and driving coach Renato Loberto on the wheel. Luckily, Loberto was also available to coach us at Luddenham. After just a few demonstration laps in the passenger seat, throughout which Loberto gave a taste of what could go improper and the place it’s likely to happen, it was time to drive.
