Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50 is quicker than ever but loses sight of its roots

These days I need little reminding that I am no longer in the first flush, but bombarded by reminders I am on a daily basis. And this one really did bring me up short. The Golf GTI is 50. Fifty. It came out in the same year Harold Wilson resigned as prime minister and Jimmy Carter replaced Gerald Ford as president of the US. It wasn’t the first hot hatchback by any stretch – there’s an entire column to be had fighting that one out – but it was the car that established the category, the car that proved it was possible to drive something fun, practical and affordable in a way no car had ever shown before. It was, and will always remain, a landmark in the history of the car.

There have been eight generations, some (Mks 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7) far better than others (3, 4 and 8). The celebratory 50th anniversary edition is however based on the updated and much-improved eighth-generation car and is the most powerful and expensive Golf GTI to go on sale over the last half century.

It’s derived from the extant GTI Clubsport, itself a faster, more powerful and sporting version of the standard GTI. It boosts engine power from 296bhp to 321bhp, controlled by new dampers and some smart alloy wheels, and there are some decals too for the £3805 charged over the price of the Clubsport which itself is £2410 more expensive than a standard 262bhp GTI. All so not very interesting.

Where ears should prick up is when mention of the optional Performance Pack is made. VW has previous here: quite recently I drove an old seventh-generation GTI with a Performance Pack and found a car transformed over the standard offering. And this one appears to have even more potential. At £3750 this Pack almost doubles the cost of upgrading from a Clubsport, but comes with lower, stiffer springs, a 50% hike in negative camber at the front, better wheel location at the back, stiffer top mounts, specially tuned bushes and a titanium Akrapovic back box for your exhausts.

The only problem with all of this is that you now have a Golf GTI costing considerably in excess of £50,000, which is a lot, to put it mildly. It may also interest you to know that even without the Pack, the Edition 50 is more expensive than the more powerful, faster and all-wheel drive Golf R. Which might be well and good if you were buying a limited edition special, where there is also some scarcity value to consider, but it’s not. VW will sell as many as customers want to buy.

The car I drove was Performance Pack-equipped and I’ve never driven a more effective means of getting from place to place in a car driven only by its front wheels. A Civic Type R is probably as good, but no better.

“It feels like this car’s natural home is more race track than B-road”

There is more grip than you can use on dry roads and the way it puts its power to the ground with only the rarest hint of any form of torque steer is a marvel to behold, especially if you date from an era when literally half that amount of power could cause all manner of strife for a front-wheel drive car.

But there is a price to be paid, and I’m not just talking about the one in the window, because my subjective impressions are just a little less favourable. In short it’s better at putting on a show than putting you in that show. While capable of a formidable demonstration of dynamic ability, a demonstration it remains, leaving you more an admiring observer than eager participant. It’s just not that involving.

And there’s an everyday price to pay too: those new pipes make quite a lot of not-quite-the-right-kind-of sound while the ride quality is decidedly firm, enough indeed to make me wonder just how good it would be as a daily driver, sat in commuter traffic or droning up the M4. No question a standard car would be streets better.

It feels, then, like this car’s natural home is more race track than B-road and it comes with a freshly minted Nürburgring lap record for a front-wheel-drive road car, its 7min 44sec being 5sec faster than the car produced for the 40th anniversary, the genuinely limited edition, lightweight Clubsport S. Though there’s that amount of time in 10 years’ advances in tyre tech alone.

If I were thinking of chucking £50k at a track-day car, even one with four seats, I’d want more than four cylinders and rear-wheel drive for a start. Were I instead looking for what the Golf GTI has always been – quick, dependable but never the most fun car in its class – I’d not buy a Golf GTI at all, but a standard Golf R.

That essentially is this car’s problem. Neither extreme nor rare enough to court cult status, nor sufficiently blessed with the day-to-day usability that has been one the foundation stones of all great Golf GTIs, it is a car that finds itself caught betwixt and between while, at the same time, being the most expensive of them all. I liked it, but not as much as I’d hoped I might.

Volkswagen Golf Gti Edition 50

• Price £48,075
• Engine 2 Litres, Four Cylinders, Petrol
• Power 321bhp at 5500rpm
• Torque 310lb Ft at 2000rpm
• Weight 1470kg (din) Power to Weight 218bhp per Tonne
• Transmission Seven-Speed Double Clutch, Front- Wheel Drive
• 0-62mph 5.3sec
• Top Speed 168mph
• Economy 36.5mpg
• Co2 176g/km
• Verdict It Should Be More Enjoyable.

Review

Chinese Burn

On test: Denza Z electric sports car, £142,900

If you’ve not heard of it, Denza is a new brand by BYD. On the slender evidence of just three laps of Goodwood in the Racing version it’s a capable, credible car which, despite vast power (1582bhp), manages its deployment well. However potent, it’s still no substitute for an engine and gearbox.

Verdict: No emotional attachment to this EV.

Coming Soon

Torcal set for September

Motor Sport has seen Bentley’s new EV SUV

We now know a lot more about the Torcal, Bentley’s new EV, which will be unveiled in September. Although just one teaser photo has been released, above, I’ve seen it. It’s a handsome and relatively traditional SUV, slightly smaller than the Bentayga. There’s no news on pricing yet.

Insider News

Gt: all new Range Rover

It’s not a replacement for an existing model

There’s a new concept for Range Rover coming. The GT, as the name suggests, will be long, low and aimed at those looking for maximum comfort over long distances. I have seen the outside of a heavily camouflaged car but it seems to have a sleek, almost raffish quality to it hitherto not seen among its brethren.