Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S (2016, Mk7): an ultra-exclusive hot hatch great

Park the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S next to any other typical track-honed performance car and it’ll be completely upstaged. For one, it’s a hatchback rather than a specialised sports car, and hot Golfs have never been particularly hardcore or visually arresting. But this only makes it more satisfying when Porsche Caymans and BMW M2s struggle to keep up with you at a trackday…

The Clubsport S is anything but an ordinary Golf. Underneath you’ll find bespoke dampers, new front suspension knuckles, revised geometry and a lightweight front aluminium subframe. Inside, you’ll notice that there’s a crossbar and netting where the rear seats used to be, saving 30kg and crushing any doubts that the Clubsport S is anything but a serious driver’s car. 

> The new Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport costs £8k less than Honda's Civic Type R

Volkswagen’s familiar EA888 2-litre turbocharged engine lies under the bonnet, generating 306bhp and driving through a delightfully slick six-speed manual gearbox. Weight is the enemy for the Clubsport S, so there’s no DSG automatic option, nor as much sound deadening as in a standard GTI. Buyers could even choose to go without air conditioning to save another 15kg. 

The cumulative effect is a Golf with such poise and finesse that you’d swear it’d been developed by Porsche’s GT division (that’s no coincidence, as the Clubsport S was set up by Karsten Schebsdat – the man responsible for the 997 GT3). With subtle aero modifications improving high-speed stability, VW could engineer a sharper, pointer balance into the car without making it nervous, and the effect is profound. The Clubsport S finds immense bite courtesy of standard-fit Michelin Cup 2 tyres, and when punching out of corners the mechanical limited-slip diff apportions drive between the front wheels to make use of every last scrap of power. 

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The genius, though, is that the Clubsport S doesn’t punish you on the road. This is an eminently useable car, with beautifully compliant, well-supported suspension and a flexible turbocharged motor to take the sting out of everyday driving. The same can’t be said of most other extreme hot hatches with this level of ability, or many sports cars for that matter. 

With the same fundamentals as the regular Golf GTI, the Clubsport S’s mechanicals are well proven. One potential failure point is the thermostat housing, which can start to leak coolant with age; a replacement costs around £800 from a main dealer, including fitting. Some owners have also reported faults with the heater matrix, so it’s worth checking that the vents blow warm air with the heater cranked up (swapping out the unit can cost between £800 and £1000). The Mk7’s bodyshell is treated to prevent corrosion but there are some areas susceptible to minor surface rust, notably the edge of the rear wheelarches and the lower front wings, so budget for localised repairs if necessary.

The Clubsport S was limited to just 400 units, with 150 coming to the UK. Its rarity and exceptional talent – it finished second at eCoty 2016, behind only the Porsche 911 R – have ensured it hasn’t lost a penny from its original asking price, with 20,000-mile examples costing around £33,000. This means you’re likely to get back close to what you originally paid when it’s time to sell, even after a few trackdays and thousands of joyful road miles.

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What’s it like to drive?

Given that it was developed specifically to break the Nurburgring lap record it should come as no surprise whatsoever to learn that the Clubsport S is extremely impressive on the Nordschleife. Its engine immediately feels stronger than the Clubsport’s, with the same sharp throttle response, immense torque curve and vibrant top end. Only in the final dash to the limiter does the engine begin to strain.

The manual gearshift is tight and direct and the car gets its power down to the road without any histrionics. It finds tremendous traction, even away from the tightest corners, and it never tugs itself across the road in the way that some high-powered front-wheel drive cars tend to. In fact, the steering and mechanical differential work so effectively together that you can feel precisely how wide you can open the throttle before the front wheels will spin up.  

The steering itself is direct and precise with a reasonable amount of feel, but what’s really extraordinary is the grip the front axle claws out of the road surface. The Cup 2s sink themselves hard into the tarmac and the very neutral chassis balance means there’s virtually no understeer to contend with. That resilient front end means you can really chase the Clubsport S as hard as you dare, rather than just having to manage understeer. Releasing a car into quick, unsighted corners when your brain insists you should be hard on the brake pedal is one of the timeless joys of track driving.

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The relatively pointy chassis balance means you only need to trail brake lightly to get the car turned in, although the stable rear end never feels as though it might try to overtake the front.

There is a fair amount of roll and the chassis doesn’t feel unbearably stiff – over the big kerbs it’s wonderfully pliant, in fact – but body control is good when the corners come thick and fast and the car isn’t unsettled by bumps. It’s well damped in compressions, too, all of which bodes well for the public road.  

The brakes were showing signs of wilting after two quick laps of the Nordschleife, but otherwise they’re strong and consistent. The seats, meanwhile, offer really good support without the compromise of a full bucket seat and harness arrangement.

Impressively, the Clubsport S never feels like a raw, unrefined or uncompromising beast. In fact, if you can live with two seats it doesn’t seem to be much less usable than a standard GTI. There is a strong argument to say a hot hatch with this level of performance should feel otherworldly, but it’s difficult to take issue with the car’s breadth of ability.

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We took the Clubsport S up to the Yorkshire Dales to test it on classic, bumpy British blacktop and it was simply superb. On the M1 during the journey up north it was surprisingly habitable. There is a bit more road noise because there are no rear seats to baffle the noise from the rear, but it’s of minimal inconvenience and you could certainly happily listen to the radio. The raw-to-refined ratio certainly hasn’t swung too far towards the former.

Once in the Dales, the Clubsport S was one of the most impressive cars we have ever pointed down a B-road. The way that it soaked up the bumps and yumps with pliant yet beautifully supported suspension was a joy. Even at low speeds there is a well-oiled precision to the just-weighty-enough steering that makes it feel deliciously tactile, and that’s before you add in the soft suede covering to the wheel. Several people drew comparisons with Porsche in the way that everything felt so deeply well engineered. 

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The engine is immensely strong and although you don’t have a singing top end that you can really enjoy, the way it rips through the revs is quite addictive. Matched to the mechanical limited-slip diff the S is a formidable companion across country, digging hard and finding immense traction from early in corners. It has an almost uncanny composure that seems to allow you to drive with greater clarity as a result.

All in all, it feels like a very complete package. There is always a worry with cars that seem to have a leaning towards lap times that they will forget their roots and be less enjoyable on the road. But the upgrades that Karsten Schebsdat and his team have made have allowed the Golf to shine even more brightly on exactly the sort of roads where a hot hatch should feel at home. – Dan Prosser

Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S (Mk7) specs

This story was first featured in evo issue 318.