The VW Golf GTI Clubsport S is your newest Nurburgring record-holder
Blazing through the Green Hell in 7 minutes, 49.21 seconds
When talking about Nurburgring times, it’s important to be specific -- there are a lot of records out there to beat, with individual categories for everything from street-legal series production vehicles to race cars to motorcycles.
So when VW claims its Golf GTI Clubsport S is the new King of the Ring, it’s talking about how it just broke the record for front-wheel-drive street-legal series production cars thanks to a 7 minute, 49.21-second rip through the Green Hell with German race car driver Benny Leuchter at the helm.
That’s enough to best the previous record of 7 minutes, 50.63 seconds, which was set last year by a Honda Civic Type R, and it’s also better than the 7 minute, 50-second time set by a BMW M4 coupe in 2014. Not too shabby.
The car’s name may seem familiar, but the GTI Clubsport S actually takes things a few steps further than the GTI Clubsport that debuted last year. Power comes from the familiar EA888 inline-turbo four; here, it’s been cranked up to 306 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque -- enough best and match, respectively, the all-wheel-drive Golf R. To help keep weight down to 2,998 pounds unladen, the only transmission is a six-speed manual (rear seats have been deleted as well).
With a 0-62 time of 5.8 seconds, the GTI Clubsport S isn’t exactly a cheetah by modern standards. Michelin Club Sport 2 semi-slick tires should help you carry much of its 162 mph top speed through corers, however. A modified chassis and increased negative wheel camber, plus a specially programmed electronic speed control and torque-sensing limited-slip differential, keep the car pointed straight under heavy acceleration.
Further, the Dynamic Chassis Control system, available for the GTI and Golf R, includes a special Nurburgring configuration.
At this point, it should come as no surprise that none of the 400 GTI Clubsport S models slated for production will be offered in the United States; apparently, when VW says that a particular car will be available worldwide, it isn’t including the world’s second-largest automobile market in its calculations. 100 are earmarked for Germany, though, so if any of you crazy Rhinelanders are keen on breaking Leuchter’s record, you’ll have your chance soon enough.
Blazing through the Green Hell in 7 minutes, 49.21 seconds
When talking about Nurburgring times, it’s important to be specific -- there are a lot of records out there to beat, with individual categories for everything from street-legal series production vehicles to race cars to motorcycles.
So when VW claims its Golf GTI Clubsport S is the new King of the Ring, it’s talking about how it just broke the record for front-wheel-drive street-legal series production cars thanks to a 7 minute, 49.21-second rip through the Green Hell with German race car driver Benny Leuchter at the helm.
That’s enough to best the previous record of 7 minutes, 50.63 seconds, which was set last year by a Honda Civic Type R, and it’s also better than the 7 minute, 50-second time set by a BMW M4 coupe in 2014. Not too shabby.
The car’s name may seem familiar, but the GTI Clubsport S actually takes things a few steps further than the GTI Clubsport that debuted last year. Power comes from the familiar EA888 inline-turbo four; here, it’s been cranked up to 306 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque -- enough best and match, respectively, the all-wheel-drive Golf R. To help keep weight down to 2,998 pounds unladen, the only transmission is a six-speed manual (rear seats have been deleted as well).
With a 0-62 time of 5.8 seconds, the GTI Clubsport S isn’t exactly a cheetah by modern standards. Michelin Club Sport 2 semi-slick tires should help you carry much of its 162 mph top speed through corers, however. A modified chassis and increased negative wheel camber, plus a specially programmed electronic speed control and torque-sensing limited-slip differential, keep the car pointed straight under heavy acceleration.
Further, the Dynamic Chassis Control system, available for the GTI and Golf R, includes a special Nurburgring configuration.
At this point, it should come as no surprise that none of the 400 GTI Clubsport S models slated for production will be offered in the United States; apparently, when VW says that a particular car will be available worldwide, it isn’t including the world’s second-largest automobile market in its calculations. 100 are earmarked for Germany, though, so if any of you crazy Rhinelanders are keen on breaking Leuchter’s record, you’ll have your chance soon enough.
