Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50: the king remains Japanese

The new Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50 has just added another golden chapter to the German brand’s history: it is now the fastest production Volkswagen ever around the Nürburgring. Not bad for a model celebrating its 50th anniversary - we have seen far less exciting mid-life crises.

Yet, impressive as it is - taking six seconds off the Golf R 20 Years Edition’s time - the throne remains securely occupied. And its current holder appears to have no intention of giving it up.

That, of course, is the Honda Civic Type R, which remains the fastest front-wheel-drive car ever around the legendary “Green Hell”: 7min44,881s versus 7min46,13s.

We would like to think this Golf GTI Edition 50 is about more than track efficiency alone. Its extra power and chassis revisions suggest it could become - we hope - one of the finest GTIs ever made. Still, at the end of the day, someone will always point out that it finished just over a second behind the segment’s most ferocious Japanese contender, which achieved the better result with a manual gearbox.

The last of its kind

Just over a second is virtually nothing on a circuit stretching beyond 20 kilometres. Even so, it once again demonstrates that the Civic Type R is no ordinary rival.

From the first time we drove it at the Estoril Circuit, we were convinced that this samurai seemed to meet every requirement in the perfect hot hatch handbook.

More than a simple race against the clock, the Civic Type R’s record is a symbol of defiance. It is a battle cry and a banner for every internal-combustion purist.

Honda Civic Type R and the end of an era

Everything indicates that this will be the final Civic Type R powered solely by a combustion engine. If that proves true, we may be looking at the last great combustion-powered hot hatch. A genuine swansong before the full arrival of electrons.

The future is heavy

The future of the hot hatch is already taking shape. It will be electric, with monstrous torque figures, four-wheel drive and drift modes that seem lifted from a video game. But will it have a soul?

Cars such as the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N suggest that it can, although it is excessive: huge power - twice that of this Golf GTI Edition 50 or the Civic Type R - immense weight - nearly 2.3 t - and substantial dimensions.

Further down the market, and with two driven wheels, there is also cause for optimism in models such as the Alpine A290 and even the Abarth 600e. When it comes to outright performance, however, there is still a long way to go.

The reality is that, today, no comparable electric model can match this Honda Civic Type R for effectiveness and speed. The answer is almost always weight, one of the greatest enemies of electric cars, particularly those aiming to deliver a more engaging driving experience.

So, while Volkswagen deserves congratulations for producing its fastest GTI ever, the king is still Japanese. But do not regard it as the villain that spoiled the Volkswagen Golf GTI’s 50th-birthday celebrations. The GTI’s greatest strength was never pure pace, ultimate dynamic effectiveness or lap times.

More than lap times

Its appeal was that all of this arrived in the form of a “normal” car, one capable of handling the most mundane duties with the same versatility as a Golf TDI.

And that is something nobody will ever be able to take away from it. Which is why there is only one possible sign-off: Long live the GTI!