Volkswagen celebrates 50 years since the creation of the legendary Golf GTI

Volkswagen did not publish detailed technical specifications of the upcoming special version of the Golf GTI, keeping them for the official premiere. It is known only that the car will be equipped with lighter 19-inch unique alloy wheels and Bridgestone Potenza RACE semi-slick tires.

With the help of Benny Leuchter, Volkswagen's famous test driver with a number of records, the new GTI achieved an impressive time of 7 minutes and 46.1 seconds per lap on the Nürburgring, 7.1 seconds faster than the time Leuchter recorded in 2022 with the all-wheel-drive Golf R. "Three years ago, I didn't believe I could ever improve the R's time with a front-wheel-drive GTI. But here it is, and that too in quite poor atmospheric conditions. This speaks volumes about the potential of this GTI," commented Leuchter.

The lap time places the new GTI in third place in the category of front-wheel-drive family hatchbacks, 0.8 seconds slower than the Renault Megane RS Trophy R and 1.3 seconds slower than the Honda Civic Type R. The latter two models are no longer available in Europe due to emissions restrictions.

Analysis: The Golf GTI is almost always considered one of the best competitors in its class, not so much because of exceptional performance or dynamic capabilities, but because of the combination of these qualities with a high level of comfort for everyday use. It is somewhat disappointing that Volkswagen did not try to set a new record in the category. However, with the rapid adoption of electric vehicles, this might have been a record that would never be broken again.