VW Golf GTI Clubsport: A new realm of VW performance
This year, the Volkswagen Golf is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and to mark this significant milestone, the Wolfsburg-based marque has finally debuted its Golf GTI Clubsport at the 24-hour race of the Nürburgring.
The Clubsport, like other variations we have seen before, is based on the facelifted Golf 8.5 GTI and comes with an updated body kit in addition to more power.
On the outside, the Golf GTI Clubsport boasts a reworked front end that features standard LED Plus revamped headlights, a different front bumper, and, for the first time, an illuminated VW badge. The rear has a large roof spoiler, redesigned LED taillights, and exhaust tailpipes that appear to have larger bezels from the Akrapovič basket.
It also sits on a set of new 19-inch Queenstown alloy wheels that, if you look carefully, are reminiscent of the classic Detroit wheels of the Golf 5 GTI. Not your piece of cake? VW says the Golf GTI Clubsport can be specified with the new Warmenau forged wheels as an option.
Inside, the haptic buttons on the steering wheel are gone, and they have been replaced by physical buttons. The infotainment system has been upgraded and now incorporates the latest voice assistant, IDA, with ChatGPT integration.
The biggest news here is that the Gof GTI Clubsport is the most powerful model in the history books of the GTI nameplate, thanks to 221kW and 400Nm from the same 2.0-litre TSI engine. All that power is transmitted to the front wheels via an electronically controlled differential lock and a 7-speed DSG transmission.
It accelerates from 0-100km/h in 5.6 seconds before hitting the electronic limiter at 250km/h or 267km/h with the Race package. For context, the standard Golf GTI with 189kW and 370Nm completes the same task in 5.9 seconds, while the formidable i30 N from Hyundai does the sprint in 5.4 seconds.
The Golf R on the other hand with 235kW/400Nm plus the 4Motion all-wheel-drive system hurtles from 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds.
Even though it is still being researched for the local market, the Golf GTI Clubsport offers more performance and refinement while continuing to build on the hot hatch heritage that has long been associated with the GTI brand.
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