Two hotter Golf GTIs firming for Australia

VOLKSWAGEN Australia is getting closer to announcing that a higher-performance version of the Golf GTI hot hatch will return to Australia, echoing a two-tiered GTI strategy last witnessed in 2020 when a TCR-inspired special edition was sold locally above the standard car.

The sole Golf GTI currently offered to Australian buyers is the series production version that, in recently-launched Mk 8.5 format, produces 195kW of power and 370Nm of torque with a retail price of $58,990 plus on-road costs.

In Europe, a hotter grade called the Golf GTI Clubsport uses a more frenetic implementation of the Evo 4 iteration of Volkswagen’s EA888 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder engine tuned for 221kW/400Nm.

“We are looking at (the GTI Clubsport) very closely,” Arjun Nidigallu, head of product for Volkswagen Australia Passenger Vehicles (VWPV), told media. “I have a personal stake in trying to get it to Australia because I love the car.’

However, an even more exclusive Golf GTI 50 Years Edition is set to be revealed at the Nurburgring 24 Hours touring car race in June 2025. It is likely that the 50 Years Edition will be the most focused Golf GTI to date—and it might even pack the 235kW or 245kW tunes used on the all-wheel drive Golf R.

While specific details of the Golf GTI 50 Years will not be revealed for another month, the GTI Clubsport grade has been on sale in Europe for nearly a year, and has been evaluated in Germany by VWPV executives.

“It could be very interesting for the Australian market,” said VWPV brand director Piergiorgio Minto. “There is a big difference between the GTI and the Clubsport (which is) really brutal now. I think there is the possibility of a niche, so let’s see what we manage to do there.”

The Clubsport’s additional power, as well as subtly enhanced aerodynamics by way of a larger rear spoiler and revised front apron, is sufficient to decrease the GTI’s acceleration time to 5.6 sec (from 5.9 sec) in Clubsport form.

It shares the standard-fit seven-speed wet-clutch DSG automatic, front-wheel drive and VAQ mechanical front limited-slip differential of the standard GTI, but the calibration of the diff’ is more aggressive in the Clubsport—while larger brakes are fitted.

A ‘Nurburgring’ drive mode is lifted from the Golf R, placing the Clubsport into an optimal adaptively-damped suspension mode for the famous German racetrack.

Optional extras in European specification include a ‘Race’ package lifting top speed from 250km/h to 267km/h, a louder Akrapovic exhaust system, and forged 19-inch alloy wheels.

In its home market of Germany, the Golf GTI Clubsport (without options) attracts about an eight per cent price premium over the standard car. If reflected in Australia, the Clubsport could be priced at around $64,000+ORCs.

It is possible that Volkswagen Australia would opt to fully equip the Clubsport as a local special edition with a price in the $70,000+ORC range.

Separately, the Golf GTI 50 Years could come to Australia as a limited-run, special-edition model. Local buyers did score the well-received Golf GTI 40 Years in 2016, with the Covid pandemic chiefly to blame for why VWPV passed on the GTI 45 Years in 2021.

“There are some special editions (of Golf that) we are also looking at,” Mr Nidigallu told GoAuto.

While Volkswagen’s local distribution company has not offered a dual GTI range in the Golf’s current Mk 8 generation, it did so for part of the span of the model’s seventh-generation iteration.

In 2020, a TCR special edition was sold locally for $51,490+ORCs ($4300 more than the standard GTI), while between 2014-2016, Australian buyers could opt for a GTI Performance that—over the regular GTI—offered a 7kW bump, Pirelli tyres and fitment of the front differential.