New Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport 2025 review: an incredibly capable hot hatch but there's a catch

Verdict

The new Golf GTI Clubsport offers an impressive list of upgrades that will appeal to driving enthusiasts, and for not that much more money than the regular GTI. This is undeniably a very capable hot hatch, and should be an easier car to live with day-to-day than a Honda Civic Type R. However it’s not nearly as engaging or exciting to drive as the Honda, and the interior doesn’t feel special in any way.

GTI – three simple letters that have been part of hot hatch lore for nearly 50 years, and worn by some truly beloved cars over the past five decades. But it wasn’t until 2016 that we were introduced to the first GTI Clubsport: a more focused and more powerful version of Volkswagen’s everyday hero.

The new Mk8.5 Golf GTI Clubsport sticks to the same principles. Starting from £43,215, it continues to serve as a bridge between the regular Volkswagen Golf GTI and the all-wheel-drive Golf R, which are currently priced from almost £41k and £46k, respectively. 

Given that it costs only £2,340 more than the standard GTI, you’d probably expect the Clubsport to just get some extra badging and maybe a couple of extra horsepower. But it actually features a larger set of brakes, more aggressive bumpers, a big two-part roof spoiler, a unique honeycomb grille, retuned steering and front-end geometry, plus a special Nürburgring mode, which I’ll come back to later. 

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Meanwhile the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine gets an extra 35bhp, and with 296bhp and 400Nm of torque on tap, 0-62mph takes 5.6 seconds. As is traditional in a GTI, all that power is sent to the front wheels only, via an electronically controlled limited-slip differential and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Before you ask, there’s no manual gearbox option – which is also true of the regular GTI.

But rather than the extra power, I think the most important and worthwhile upgrade in the Clubsport is Volkswagen’s Adaptive Chassis Control system, which on its own is a £735 option on the standard model. This allows the driver to adjust the firmness of the adaptive dampers using a sliding scale with up to 15 levels. 

With a lot of cars there’s hardly any difference when you switch from Comfort to Sport mode. But not in the GTI Clubsport, because the suspension immediately firms up. Too much in fact, because suddenly the ride becomes harsh and it feels unpleasant going along Britain’s imperfect B-roads. 

Thankfully Nürburgring mode, or ‘Special’ mode as it’s labelled oddly, solves that issue. This slackens the suspension to cope with bumps and undulations, yet keeps the drivetrain in its sharpest setting. There’s lots of grip to work with and the limited-slip differential will pull the car tight into a corner, before you’re fired out of the other side with little to no fuss.

I’d like more initial bite from the brake pedal, and similarly the steering feels light at first but quickly weights up as you start to turn the wheel. Meanwhile the turbocharged four-cylinder engine feels eager and doesn’t run out of steam quickly, but it’s far from the most evocative-sounding motor.  

If you can’t be bothered instructing the gearbox when to shift, I found it becomes rather unwilling to change up in S mode, even when I was lifting off the throttle. Also around town the gearbox can be a bit jerky when moving off, and a fair amount of road noise makes it into the cabin at higher speeds. 

For all the stuff the Clubsport offers over the normal GTI, it also takes away the hot hatch’s signature tartan seat upholstery. Without that, the interior looks and feels rather mundane. The small, cheap-feeling plastic shift paddles behind the steering wheel don’t help, nor does the piano-black plastic on the centre console or the hard scratchy plastic lower down. 

I’m grateful that VW did add physical buttons back to the Golf’s steering wheel during last year’s mid-life facelift, but I’m confused why it chose not to give the GTI a drive mode selector. Especially considering that its fiery Spanish cousin, the Cupra Leon, does have one. 

If you’re considering ordering a new Golf GTI, while it makes sense to just opt for the Clubsport because of all the goodies that are thrown in, I wouldn’t bother with the optional ‘GTI Performance Package’. Our test car was fitted with this and it costs an additional £3,360. For that you get a set of 19-inch rims, an Akrapovic exhaust system with a titanium muffler, and the electronic speed limiter raised from 155mph to 167mph. 

The higher top speed will only be appreciated by anyone whose daily commute involves an autobahn, and I could only hear the occasional pops or farts from the exhaust at low speeds around town, which will only attract rolls of the eye and looks of disappointment from passers-by.

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