CompleteCar

All RHD Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S models sold

All RHD Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S models sold All RHD Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S models sold All RHD Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S models sold
Allocation of 150 Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S cars for UK snapped up – might any come to Ireland?

What's the news?

Want an example of the fastest front-wheel drive production-spec hatchback around the Nürburgring? Well, tough: the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S isn't coming to Ireland.

Mind you, only 400 of these super-light, ultra-focused Golf GTIs are being made in total and the lion's share of them are going to a market not a million miles away from ours, the UK. That means it's likely some of the right-hand drive examples will filter onto our shores.

And all 150 of the UK-bound cars have already sold out, showing how appealing this souped-up Golf really is. Deliveries of the 'ultimate expression of the legendary GTI' begin in October and the lucky owners get a 310hp, 2.0-litre engine in a package that weighs just 1,285kg.

Volkswagen stripped out the weight by fitting items such as an aluminium front subframe and brake callipers, and a smaller battery, and removing other bits, like the sound deadening, the variable boot compartment floor, the parcel shelf, the floor mats, the bonnet dampers and - perhaps most obviously of all - the rear seats. Even air-conditioning doesn't make it onto the list, although it can be specified back in as a no-cost option but with the addition of 10 precious kilogrammes of weight.

All this, plus tweaks to the engine/mapping (including a revised fuel pump), gives the Clubsport S a 0-100km/h time of 5.8 seconds and a top speed of 264km/h. With 380Nm from 1,850- to 5,700rpm, and that 310hp from 5,800- to 6,500rpm, this allowed the Clubsport S to lap the 'Ring in 7m 49.21s in May 2016, nicking the record from Honda's brutal Civic Type R.

More goodies fitted to the car are 235/35 ZR19 Michelin tyres wrapped around Pretoria alloys, Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) to alter the car's responses (with a special Nürburgring mode included), race-derived heated bucket seats and a 10mm-wider 65mm exhaust system, which improves both breathing and the soundtrack. The Golf GTI Clubsport S additionally comes in just three colours, which are Tornado Red, Pure White and Deep Black.

Anything else?

If the lack of official Clubsport S models making it to Ireland bothers you, there is a Clubsport Edition 40 in the line-up, which has a regular 265hp but which can kick out 290hp on a time-limited overboost function. Both Clubsport versions of the Golf GTI are based on the TCR racing car which was launched at the start of this year.

USEFUL LINKS

Written by
Published on August 3, 2016