Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport Edition 40 celebrates a genuine automotive icon

GTI is a genuine automotive icon

The words icon and iconic are of the most abused in the world of motoring journalism and advertising, with even the most mundane forgettable car pumped up by calling it an icon, or adding “the iconic” in front of its name.  This is fake.  For a car to be called an icon, it had to actually have become an icon.  The Golf GTI is an icon (it can be used to describe the GTI as such, with genuine justification).

Golf GTI Clubsport Edition 40 celebrates 40 years of Golf GTI

Volkswagen announced last year that it would build the Clubsport in 2016 – the 40th celebration year of the Golf GTI.  4 decades of a true automotive icon.

The VW Golf GTI Clubsport news was reported in October 2015, in our “VW Golf GTI celebrates its 40th birthday early in 2016 with the GTI Clubsport” article.  In the UK, the Clubsport Edition 40 name is used – although it is officially named Clubsport, Edition 40 is exactly what this is, just as there was a Golf GTI Edition 35.

A GTI with 213kW

Clubsport is the most powerful GTI production spec ever created by VW, increasing its 2-litre turbo-4 power from the GTI 162kW (or the Golf GTI Performance Pack’s 169kW experienced in our review) to 195kW… and when you accelerate hard in 3rd gear and higher, the GTI Clubsport power overboost will give 213kW for 10 seconds, which is more than the SA-spec Golf R’s 206kW. 

GTI Clubsport remains front-wheel-drive, and torque maximum stays at 350Nm (front-wheel-drive won’t cope well with more) whereas the Golf R has 4Motion.

Accelerative performance is 6.0 with a manual and 5.9 with the quicker-shifter DSG auto.  The manual gear knob (pictured) harks back to the golf-ball dimpled grip of the original – iconic – Golf GTI.

Availability choices – collectable limited edition

In European countries / UK, the GTI Clubsport will be available in a choice of both 3-door and 5-door hatch body styles (as are Golf hatch and GTI models) and both bodies with a 6-speed manual or 6-speed DSG choice.

Let us hope the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport will arrive in the same choices when VW AG allocates it to the GTI-loving VWSA market.  Availability will be very restricted, so better nag your Volkswagen dealer now, and get that order securing deposit down.

The Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport Edition 40 is sure to become a collectable limited edition.