By: IOL Motoring Staff
Nurburgring, Germany - Hatches don't come much hotter than this one.
Volkswagens’s new, limited-edition Golf GTI Clubsport S has just smashed the Nurburgring lap record for front-wheel drive cars with a time of 7m49.21s.
Built to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original GTI, this is the most gonzo Golf ever, a lean, mean, stripped-out version of the existing 195kW Clubsport with an uprated, third-generation EA888 turbopetrol four that’s good for a claimed 228kW and 380Nm from 1700-5300rpm, thanks to rewritten ECU software, a special, high-output fuel pump and a sonorous full-flow exhaust system with an internal diameter of 65mm compared to the standard 55mm (and which also produces some mean pops and bangs on the overrun!).
Also read: VW unleashes 195kW GTI Clubsport
It has no rear seats, no rear parcel shelf, no underfloor or underbonnet sound-deadening material, a smaller-than-standard battery and a fixed boot floor, which reduces kerb weight by 30kg to just 1285kg.
The result, according Volkswagen, is a 0-100 blast-off in 5.8 seconds and an unlimited top speed of 265km/h. But power is nothing without control, so Volkswagen’s GTI squad have tightened up the rear suspension to handle appreciably more lateral acceleration.
Normally that would be recipe for terminal understeer, as anybody who’s ever raced a front-wheel drive car will tell you, so they fitted special hub carriers on the front MacPherson struts to provide additional negative camber on the front wheels and fitted a race-spec strut brace for a more balanced chassis and quicker, more accurate turn-in.
And for improved response under hard acceleration, the engine mounts are stiffer, the transmission has been reinforced and the there’s a new pendulum support – a coupling rod between the transmission and the front axle.
The Clubsport S runs 19” alloys shod with 235/35 Michelin Sport Cup 2 semi-slicks, over uprated brakes with 430mm cast-steel rotors on aluminium carriers. It also comes standard with an electronic front differential lock and adaptive dynamic chassis control, controlled by an ESC Sport button on the dashboard.
Press it briefly and the traction control software cuts in later, allowing you to push the car closer to its limits in hard cornering; hold it for three seconds and the system de-activates completely, for seriously naughty driving in appropriate surroudings – such as the Nordschleife.
Dialled in to the 'Ring
In addition to the normal driving profiles – Comfort, Sport and Race – the dynamic chassis control menu has a specific Nurburgring setting setting, accessible via the Individual paramaters, that dials the car in exactly as per the ‘Ring record set-up.
A racetrack set-up is usually very hard, with minimum suspension travel to limit body roll, but the Nurburgring is not only bumpier than most curcuits, it also goes up and down like a roller-coaster, so the perfect set-up for the Nordschleife is one that will keep the car stable and the wheels in firm contact with the road under less-than-ideal conditions, and the settings are more compliant than you’d expect.
The Clubsport S will only be available in two-door format with six-speed manual ‘box, and only in red, white or black, in each case with a black roof. It shares with the 195kW Clubsport its special front bumper and two-part rear spoiler, as well as its racing bucket seats, the iconic ‘golf ball’ gearshift, and alcantara-trimmed sports steering wheel – but each S also has a numbered plaque on the centre console.
That’s because only 400 will be made, of which the first 100 are reserved for Germany. VWSA has confirmed that most of the rest will be sold in Europe and not one, sadly, will be coming to South Africa.