To be brutally honest with you, we are a little bored with the Golf and all the different variants it keeps spawning. They all look the same, and no matter how hot they are under the bonnet, at the end of the day they are still family hatchbacks. So we’re not awfully excited about this new Golf GTI Clubsport S, even though it has already set a remarkable record.
That record is going round the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife race track in 07:49:21. That makes Golf GTI Clubsport S the fastest front-wheel-drive car in the world, even though it is pretty modest in terms of power with a 310 PS engine and a 0 to 100 km/h time of 5.8 seconds. The key to this car’s excellent performance is lightness and a fine chassis.
Built for this year’s Wörthersee event and limited to only 400 units, Golf GTI Clubsport S is a two-seater, two-door hatchback boasting what Volkswagen calls “Nürburgring setting.” So it’s not practical or comfy, as it’s built mainly for going fast. The car weighs 1,285 kg and features adaptive chassis control DCC as well as fine-tuned engine, steering and suspension, 19-inch alloy wheels with semi-slick tires, and a new exhaust system.
So to sum up, this version of the Golf is a brilliant track car that looks like a grocery getter. That might sound a bit counterintuitive, but that is what GTI lovers have liked for over 40 years.