One spring evening at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The mission: to write history. With the fastest front-wheel drive production car to ever take on the most legendary of the world's race tracks – the new Golf GTI Clubsport S. This exclusive new sports car is based on the Golf GTI Clubsport that was developed to celebrate the GTI's 40th anniversary. Even that model blurs the boundaries between production and racing cars, with its 195 kW/265 PS (which can temporarily peak at 213 kW/290 PS using the boost function) and aerodynamics that have been completely redesigned in many areas, resulting in improved downforces. With the Golf GTI Clubsport S Volkswagen is topping off the legendary model line with a new crown: the hard performance data of the Golf GTI flagship are permanently available power of 228 kW/310 PS; acceleration of 0-100 km/h in 5.8 seconds; a top speed of 265 km/h (not limited) and an EU unladen weight (incl. the driver and luggage) that has been reduced to 1,360 kg. However, it is the lap time around the Nordschleife that really demonstrates how exceptionally fast this car actually is. The chronology of the record-breaking drive:
Start. Benjamin Leuchter (28), race car driver and Volkswagen Driving Experience instructor performs a final check of the air pressure of the standard 19-inch semi-slicks. 1.9 bar in front, 2.15 at the rear. The size 235/35 Michelin tyres have been "warmed up" to temperature, as has the engine. Leuchter puts on his helmet and gives Karsten Schebsdat a hand signal: "I'm ready." Schebsdat is the Head of Volkswagen Chassis Tuning and is part of the team that developed the fast Golf GTI Clubsport S that can reach a speed of 265 km/h. Passionate Volkswagen people from Development, Marketing and Communications worked on it. GTI fans. They spent many months on this car. Refining the "normal" GTI Clubsport and the Golf GTI TCR of the touring car championship into a sporty jewel. Now they want to see what their baby can do – just how fast this GTI can go on the world's most demanding race track. Schebsdat taps Leuchter's helmet. He starts the car, selects the "Individual" driving profile mode and thereby activates the setting for the Nordschleife (North Loop) of the Nürburgring. Special characteristics for the engine, steering and adaptive chassis control system (DCC). The Nordschleife has a unique combination of bends and road bumps. "To break the record here, the GTI must be fast in the bends while simultaneously handling the bumps and leaps", explains Leuchter as he closes the driver's door. The Clubsport S specialises in this. The time will be measured by breaking a light beam. Leuchter drives out of the pit lane. One lap. 20.832 kilometres. A flying start. The clock is running.
Smoothing out the kerbs. The Clubsport S thunders into the Hatzenbach Wiggler. 4th gear. "The car has to absorb the kerbs cleanly", Leuchter says via radio. "We have put a high priority on the GTI being stable on the kerbs too", explains Schebsdat in the pit lane, taking a glance at the clock. The Clubsport S flies through the Hocheichen section. 4th gear, at speeds up to just over 190 km/h. Full speed ahead, a longer stretch of straight-away down to Quiddelbach Höhe then the airfield. Double right bends, very fast. 5th gear is alright up to 216 km/h. On-board radio: "I'm making sure that I am back on the accelerator early, because I am heading towards Schwedenkreuz now", and Leuchter stays on the ideal line.
Crossing Schwedenkreuz at 240 km/h. "Change up to 6th gear." The Clubsport S flies over the jump crest at Schwedenkreuz at nearly 240 km/h. "The car is super at absorbing everything; it rebounds and recovers immediately. Back into 5th gear. Backfire from the exhaust. Now left into Schwedenkreuz. Apply the brakes. 3rd gear. Aremberg and then into the Fuchsröhre. Leuchter: "It all works at full throttle. Going very fast. But the car has to be perfectly aligned when it enters the Fuchsröhre." The GTI reaches Adenauer Forest. Towards Metzgesfeld now. Fast left bend. He stays on course to break the record, because the GTI has significant downforce. The Kallenhard section. "There it is possible to brake hard at the last instant, but it still remains fully steerable", Leuchter reports later. He continues: "I can trust the car, even on bumps in the road, which is important to be really fast on the Nordschleife."
Wehrseifen. Nearly half-time after 9 kilometres. 3rd gear. Breitscheid. Ex-Mühle. A fast uphill right. Leuchter gains the tenth that he needs to be faster than all of the others: "Normally, a front-wheel drive car shows understeer here. The GTI Clubsport S only exhibits it slightly at the entrance to the bend; it is compensated by a minor load alternation. Ex-Mühle is also bumpy. The Golf handles it superbly, just like in the mines." Out of this bend and towards Kesselchen. Kilometre 12. The GTI flattens out the bumps and kerbs, and doesn't jump a single millimetre. Kilometre 13. Steep stretch. 3rd gear. 27 per cent ascent. The Karussell. Leuchter: "Concrete slabs, very bumpy, but the GTI doesn't jump here either." Now the Eifel hills become more alpine, and the Nordschleife gets more and more challenging. Leuchter's favourite passage: "Every metre of the Hohe Acht down to the Brünnchen section is demanding on both car and driver. Wippermann, for example: you enter very fast. Just touch the kerb on the left slightly, then full over to the right. And even here this GTI remains true to its line. That is the key to a really fast lap."
Final sprint. Pflanzgarten, the second crest jump. The GTI lifts off briefly, comes back down and can be driven through the double right that follows very fast. Leuchter: "Even when it rebounds to the strut limits, the GTI follows steering inputs." Kilometre 17, the Stefan-Bellof S bend, which Bellof drove on the Nordschleife, setting a record for eternity in a Porsche 956.007. 650 PS. Leuchter is following Bellof with 340 PS less, but in the same spirit. Schwalbenschwanz, Galgenkopf: "The Galgenkopf is also crucial for a fast lap. If I can drive out of it at high speed, I can reach the Döttinger Höhe at a speed of more than 250 km/h." Seconds later, the Golf GTI Clubsport S shoots through the light beam at the finish. A time of 7 minutes, 49.21 seconds. Never before has a front-wheel drive production vehicle completed a lap of the Nordschleife so fast.