The Two-Seater VW Golf GTI Clubsport S Is Here And It's Clocked An Astonishing 7min 49sec 'Ring Time

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to your new front-wheel drive Nurburgring king: the hardcore Golf GTI Clubsport S
The Two-Seater VW Golf GTI Clubsport S Is Here And It's Clocked An Astonishing 7min 49sec 'Ring Time

You have to feel for the Golf GTI. With everyone raving about - and buying - the four-wheel drive R that sits above it in the range, it feels like the poor girl has been all but forgotten. But VW sure as hell hasn’t forgotten about it; last year we had the GTI Clubsport, and now the ante has been upped further with this, the GTI Clubsport S.

Before we go any further, you should know this: it’s now the fastest front-wheel drive production car to ever lap the Nurburgring. It clocked an astonishing time of 07:49:21, and unlike the previous ‘record holder’ - the Honda Civic Type R which lapped 1.4sec slower - there’s no ‘production ready prototype’ or similar caveat; the car that did the work is the real deal.

The Two-Seater VW Golf GTI Clubsport S Is Here And It's Clocked An Astonishing 7min 49sec 'Ring Time

That said, the Clubsport S is a rather uncompromising proposition. It’s only a two-seater - the rear bench has been removed to save weight - and a lot of the sound deadening has been removed. The front subframe is now aluminium too, all of which comes together to save about 30kg in total.

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In addition to the drop in weight, the S has also gained more power. There’s no overboost figure here as with the standard Clubsport, so the S makes a healthy 306bhp all the time. This gets it from 0-62mph in 5.8 seconds if you can row through the six-speed manual gearbox fast enough.

The Two-Seater VW Golf GTI Clubsport S Is Here And It's Clocked An Astonishing 7min 49sec 'Ring Time

Chassis-wise, there’s still the tried and tested VAQ electronic differential lock at the front, but the S also gets revised suspension with increased negative camber. The car sits on 19-inch wheels, wrapped in super sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 semi-slick tyres.

Want one? You’ll have to get in line: just 400 are being made. No price has been revealed yet, but expect a hefty premium over the regular Clubsport, which costs £30,875.

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Comments

Anonymous

How did they cheat this time?

05/04/2016 - 09:42 |
192 | 12
Tushar Bhatia

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Guess they did sone trickry on the clock 😂

05/04/2016 - 09:46 |
34 | 4
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

The all new cheatbox 3000.

05/04/2016 - 10:14 |
6 | 6
Kyle G

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Although I wouldn’t class it as cheating surely taking the rear seats out and using semi-slick tyres is giving yourself a advantage. An even with those it’s only 1 second faster than the Type R

05/04/2016 - 10:57 |
36 | 8
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Aluminum subframe and no seats? and still only 2 secs. C’mon VW, This is lame.

06/15/2016 - 01:13 |
0 | 0
Anonymous
05/04/2016 - 09:44 |
48 | 4
JenstheGTIfreak (pizza)

Yeeeees

05/04/2016 - 09:45 |
0 | 0
Tushar Bhatia

Manual=<3

05/04/2016 - 09:46 |
16 | 4
Anonymous

Noooooooooooo bye bye record, Megane RS :-(

05/04/2016 - 10:05 |
0 | 2
therenaultguy

I will accept my defeat . But still, the trophy R was 4 secs slower 2 YEARS ago.

05/04/2016 - 10:13 |
6 | 0

Take nurburgring laps with a pinch of salt. Nearly every car that’s set a record there has been accused of cheating in some sort of way. Plus they use different drivers with extremely varied levels of skill and experience on the track. Honestly it’s mostly just PR work.

05/04/2016 - 15:18 |
4 | 0
Jack I'Anson

Your move Honda…

05/04/2016 - 10:18 |
10 | 0

It’s time to convert FWD to Twin Turbo

05/04/2016 - 15:26 |
18 | 0
Can Elmen

I think they could remove the air conditioner (whatever it is called for cars) and put 18-inch wheels (19-inch too big for me) for better lap time, because track/race car.

05/04/2016 - 10:23 |
10 | 0
The Two-Seater VW Golf GTI Clubsport S Is Here And It's Clocked An Astonishing 7min 49sec 'Ring Time
Jahhaj

I want one quite badly

05/04/2016 - 10:24 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

I wonder if the check engine light came on throughout the lap…

05/04/2016 - 10:24 |
4 | 14