VW Golf Clubsport 45 is faster, louder

Is a 45^th anniversary a thing? It’s hardly a silver or gold occasion (apparently it’s sapphire) and in people, a 45^th birthday would be an unwelcome reminder of middle age. But in a car, it’s a marketing opportunity, though whether it is one that adds up to a “ready-made collector’s item” as Volkswagen claims is a moot point.

At least they have based it on the Clubsport version: so 300PS (221kW), which is 55PS (40kW) up on the standard GTI, 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds, and complete with a clever locking front diff and track mode – plus all the other bits that make the standard Clubsport stand out. 

The birthday upgrades to 45 spec and a price around £40,000 are cosmetic, with plenty of GTI and 45 trim flourishes inside and out. You also get a black roof and black roof spoiler which VW hopes will put you in mind of the 1976 GTI original with its black-framed rear window. 

The 45 edition comes as standard with the “Race” package: special wheels (19-inch Scottsdale alloys in a high-gloss black finish, with red accents), a sports exhaust and a software tweak that lets it off the 155mph leash, though VW doesn’t say how fast it will now go. Also standard are LED matrix headlights.

VW says it all amounts to more individual customisation than ever before. Wow. We hope they have left something in the locker for the Golf GTI 50^th edition in five years’ time. Now that deserves to be a collectors’ edition. After all, who among us can say what the Golf GTI after this will be like?