What is it?
Volkswagen has a long and generally well-regarded history of celebratory Golf GTI anniversary editions. In the previous few iterations, the car has served as a run-out model and adheres to an established formula: more power, better looks. The principle has served Wolfsburg well: the Edition 30 and 35 were desirable cars, and improvements on the Mk5 and Mk6 respectively.
The latest version marks the GTI’s 40th birthday, but because it also signifies a slightly broader offering (there’s a five-door version, and also a lighter, loopier Volkswagen S model), the name Clubsport has been added to its moniker. Otherwise, the same recipe stands: the front-drive car getting 34bhp more than the standard model from the same EA888 engine, and a host of styling upgrades – including a rear diffuser and extended roof spoiler which the manufacturer says produces real downforce above 75mph.
At 261bhp, the Clubsport is the most powerful Golf GTI Volkswagen has yet offered – however, it’s clearly not ignorant of the fact that several direct rivals already exceed that output, because flooring the car’s accelerator accesses the ECU’s overboost function, which, for up to 10 seconds, provides an additional 25bhp – handily equaling the output of the top-spec Seat Leon Cupra 290.
Correspondingly, the interior is treated to a 10% upgrade too. Most notable are our car's optional brace of extremely good-looking racing bucket seats, partially finished in Alacantara (as are the gear lever and steering wheel). This, Volkswagen’s description of them, is slightly misleading; they’re actually supremely comfortable and conform perfectly to the usual upmarket GTI ambience - as overtly superior to its competitors as an Airbus A380 is to the 380 bus from Belmarsh prison.
What's it like?
Buying the regular Golf GTI is rather like buying blue chip stock. It’s a solid, sensible investment; good for years of dependable return on your money. But exciting? No. Put bluntly, it doesn’t produce enough poke, the differential is too timid and the handling seemingly too plain. Run-of-the-mill we called it in the 2013 road test, and we were right. Part of the reason everyone buys a Golf R is that it’s impossible to rate the standard car that highly once you’ve driven its all-wheel-drive sibling.
The Clubsport, driven here with the optional six-speed DSG, goes a good way toward correcting that imbalance. It’s most obvious attribute (surprise, surprise) is the additional power: where the standard GTI feels no more than prudently brisk, the Edition 40 is next-level fast. The EA888 engine’s usual linear usability comes with real get-me-there punch – not unlike the Golf R, in fact. When you want it, there’s a rather lovely mechanical trill, too.
Overboost sounds like a slightly muddled concept, but in actual fact, it works more elegantly than hiding the extra poke under a button (as, for example, the Renault Mégane Cup-S does). By preserving it for the moments when the accelerator pedal comes into contact with the bulkhead, the car’s front axle generally only has to manage peak power when the wheels are going straight(ish) – something it does admirably well.
The real upshot though is the invigorating effect is has on the chassis. The GTI is best-known for its comfort, refinement and crisp handling; none of these is reduced a single notch in the Clubsport Edition 40. Instead, like adding chili powder to shop-bought tikka masala, the whole concoction merely emerges spicier and that bit more fulfilling. Aided in no small measure by the addition of Bridgestone Potenza RE050 tyres in our test car’s case, the Clubsport responds sweetly to being introduced to a corner 15mph faster than before. It combines first-rate lateral grip with a meticulousness in the steering surpassed only by the outgoing Mégane.
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I have one of those Focus
Reasons to buy one
It's obviously a very competent car, considering how fast the S version lapped the 'ring.
I'm sure you get one quicker than the 12 month wait for an RS.
I wouldn't be surprised to find its residuals better than the Golf R's, with the number of R's around. Especially once all these on cheap lease deals are done with.
TYou probably won't...
TS7
Boring
ClassAxe wrote: It's a square
... which is also a much more coherent design than any Bentley, Bugatti or Lamborghini (just to name 3 other brands within the VW group)
Enduring
Funny, though, how Golf square boxes with 4 wheels have remained so popular through 4 decades, with recognisable link between body style of original and what is available today. Not many others about with a name retained for so long, or styling lineage.