Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport officially revealed

The covers have been whipped off the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport at Worthersee, the largest annual VW and Audi meet in Europe.

Designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Golf GTI, the Clubsport boasts 195kW of power – up 26kW on the Golf GTI Performance production car – with an overboost function providing an extra 10 per cent of power for short bursts.

A more aggressive front bumper with honeycomb mesh and prominent side gills, rear diffuser and a roof-edge spoiler round out the major exterior changes. Volkswagen claims the latter two provide “significantly improved levels of downforce” that “move the Golf GTI Clubsport into the realms of motorsport driving dynamics”. Think of this as the Porsche Cayman GT4 of Golf GTI grades, then.

It should mean the production Golf GTI Clubsport (or Edition 40 as it may be known) would have a different focus to the range-topping Golf R.

The current 169kW Golf GTI Performance weighs 1364kg and claims a 6.4-second 0-100km/h, compared with the all-wheel drive 206kW Golf R’s 1435kg/5.0sec respectively. With 195kW, but retaining lighter front-wheel drive, the Golf GTI Clubsport should get closer to the flagship of the range’s time; though there is no word yet on torque or transmission choice.

Volkswagen is calling the Golf GTI Clubsport a “near-production concept car” indicating that it will be available to purchase in time for the 2016 40th anniversary. The previous Golf GTI anniversary model, the Mark VI Edition 35, received a similar power increase from 155kW to 173kW.

Volkswagen Australia says it’s too early to know what a production version may look like, or whether it would offer the car here, though the concept has been shown in three-door guise – a bodystyle not imported to this country. Pricing would likely need to sit between the $48K GTI Performance and $52K Golf R.

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