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VW Golf GTI Clubsport - A masterpiece or a missed opportunity?

JonSpriggs

By JonSpriggs

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It's been a big news week for Volkswagen, big birthdays don't come along every day, and certainly none bigger than the 40th birthday of the original hot hatch, the Golf GTI.

 

We've known for a long time that the anniversary was to be marked with a special anniversary edition, which we've known also for a long time to be the Clubsport.

 

So, now the specifications are out, and the headline figures certainly meet all expectations!

  • 265 PS power output
  • Peak power over 290 PS on overboost
  • 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds (6.0s in the manual)
  • Improved aero package
  • Front wheel drive with the familiar e-diff
  • Deep bucket seats and an Alcantara steering wheel

It really looks the part, and in the featured Oryx White, it is I think the best looking Golf you can currently buy.

 

But whilst drooling over that steering wheel, and those seats, I'm also left disappointed. Volkswagen had the opportunity to make the Clubsport a limited run track special - the spy shots of the red car on the Nürburgring featured a roll cage, where has that gone?

 

I know it'd be rare for a manufacturer to go down this route, but deep down I was hoping for a rear seat delete option, weight savings, half cage, 3-door only, and 17" wheels with track focused tyres. I was hoping VW would do similar to what MINI did with the GP, and that's why I'm disappointed.

 

But VW are very clever, they didn't become the second-largest car manufacturer in the world by luck. MINI struggled to sell all of the GP2's they produced, and that was a limited run of 2000 cars.

 

The new Golf GTI Clubsport isn't a track focused car, it has mass market appeal. It's not on a limited production run either, so they'll be on the lease channels before long. It looks good, will sell like proverbial hot cakes and I'm sure it will drive superbly - speaking of which, I might be disappointed, but I'd still like a go in one.

 

So what does everyone else think? Is the Clubsport special enough to tempt you away from an R?

 

VW-Golf-GTI-Clubsport-6_zpsck65dai8.jpg

 

Golf_GTI_Clubsport_5_web_2_zpsel0mox4k.jpg

 

Golf_GTI_Clubsport_4_web_2_zpsyxdirsv8.jpg

 

Golf_GTI_Clubsport_2_web_2_zpsnvgi8hmz.jpg

 

Golf_GTI_Clubsport_7_web_2_zpsmwvlgott.jpg

 

Golf_GTI_Clubsport_3_web_2_zpsjliev9t2.jpg

 

Golf_GTI_Clubsport_1_web_2_zpsecj5wnrz.jpg

 

But what happened to?

 

20150707-IMG_1981-1920x1280_zpsqxu5wkgc.jpg

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TP27

Good first drive review of the Clubsport GTI on Pistonheads tested at the Portimao circuit in Portugal.

OMG the seats in it are simply amazing!!!!!

 

Polite reply - there is already a Thread running on this on the Board................. :afro:

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keano

Tut tut, RIERM. Did you not check through the 252,875 current threads on here to make sure you weren't creating a duplicate thread???

 

To be fair, it is a recent topic, so it has been on the first page of new posts since it was posted yesterday... this thread is 4 topics above the other one at the moment :lol:

 

That being said, the seats are lovely... :)  

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BrokenEggs

Doesn't have AWD. Big limitation for many of us.

 

From October to April the roads in most of the U.K. are wet and slippery. From April to the end of June they're merely wet. All the roads around my part of the world have mud liberally sprayed across them.

 

In the real world there are few cars that could live with an R cross country because the AWD grip is amazing. But if you simply look at track times in the dry, the GTI CS, even the GTI, and certainly the Cupra, can keep up with an R.

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