Golf GTI Clubsport: The Hype Hatch

Volkswagen has dropped the 2025 Golf GTI Clubsport, and it’s a great tribute to the GTI’s 50th birthday.

We’re talking 296 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque here—not quite the Clubsport S of yesteryear, but still enough to leave a smile on your face and a whiff of burnt rubber in the air.

The Clubsport sports some sneaky styling tweaks, borrowing a few tricks from the Golf R’s playbook. Up front, the fascia's been tweaked, ditching the fog lights for aggressive, arrow-shaped "wings" that scream speed. The rear’s got an open-design spoiler, and if you squint, you’ll spot decals lifted straight from the 2020 40th-anniversary model. It’s all very subtle, very under-the-radar—exactly the kind of changes you’d bore your friends explaining.

Underneath the hood, the EA888 LK3 evo4 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine roars to life, getting you from 0 to 62 mph in 5.6 seconds. The top speed is capped at 155 mph unless you spring for the Race package, which bumps it up to 166 mph and adds an Akrapovič exhaust to make sure everyone within a five-mile radius knows you’ve arrived.

The adaptive suspension and steering have been fine-tuned, thanks to Sven Bohnhorst, the guy who had a hand in the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport. If anyone knows how to make a car handle, it’s this guy. Inside, you’re wrapped in ArtVelours fabric, a fancy way of saying synthetic suede, but there’s leather if you’re feeling posh.

Sadly, the GTI Clubsport isn’t making its way to the U.S., and it’s stuck with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. No stick shift for you, my friends.

This article was co-written using AI and was then heavily edited and optimized by our editorial team.

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