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The hottest Volkswagen Golf GTI ever is under consideration for Australia, with more power, sharper handling and tweaked looks to celebrate a half-century of the iconic badge.
Volkswagen has revealed its fastest road-legal car to lap Germany's gruelling Nurburgring race track, the Golf GTI Edition 50.
And it is "under study" for Australia "pending technical milestones and a business case for the vehicle" as the most extreme Volkswagen hot hatch ever offered to local customers, though it may be some time away.
The Golf GTI Edition 50 is due in European showrooms early next year to celebrate half a century of Volkswagen's hot hatch, adding more power (now 239kW), sharper handling and track-day tyres to the current GTI Clubsport.
The regular GTI Clubsport is not sold in Australia, but earlier iterations of the flagship GTI – the 2020 GTI TCR 'Mk7.5', and 2016 GTI 45 Years 'Mk7' – have been sold locally.
The Edition 50 boosts power from the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine to 239kW and 420Nm thanks to "internal engine measures", matched with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and front-wheel drive.
It is up from the GTI Clubsport's 221kW/400Nm, and the regular GTI's 195kW/370Nm, but down slightly on a Golf R's 245kW/420Nm.
Volkswagen claims a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.5 seconds, a tenth quicker than the regular Clubsport, and 0.4sec faster than the standard 195kW GTI.
The special edition rides 15mm lower than a regular Golf in its standard form, on 19-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Goodyear sports tyres.
Buyers need to option the GTI Performance package to unlock the Edition 50's best, lowering the car by a further 5mm, stiffening the springs, and modifying the suspension mounts.
It also includes 19-inch forged 'Warmenau' wheels, each of which is 3kg lighter than the base wheel (to only 8kg), plus sticky 235mm Bridgestone Potenza Race semi-slick track-day tyres which weigh 1.1kg less per corner than the regular Goodyear rubber.
Also added is an Akrapovic titanium exhaust system with a titanium rear silencer, shaving a further 11kg.
Changes under the skin include a "finely adjusted" front differential lock, retuned steering, and unique tuning for the 15-stage adaptive dampers.
The result is the fastest road-legal Volkswagen to lap Germany's Nurburgring race track, completing the 20.832km-long Nordschleife loop in seven minutes and 46.13 seconds.
It's quicker than the 7min 47.31sec lap set by the 2023 Golf R 20 Years – a heavier, but more powerful car with all-wheel drive – around the 20.832km loop, but slower than Honda Civic Type R's 7min 44.881sec front-wheel-drive record.
Visual changes include GTI 50 branding on the spoiler and side mirrors, unique door sill trim, red-accented pedals, a black roof, black mirror caps, black exhaust tips, a black colour-gradient side stripe, and red/black 19-inch wheels on the standard, un-optioned car.
Two specific colours will be offered with the special edition: Tornado Red, worn by earlier high-performance Golfs such as the Mk7.5 GTI TCR and Mk3 VR6, as well as Dark Moss Green Metallic.
Inside, the front seats are trimmed in tartan-patterned fabric and suede-like velour – with GTI embossing – while the seatbelts are now red, there is a Racing Green accent stripe, and a GTI 50 badge has been added to the steering wheel.
Production of the 2026 Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50 is due to commence at the end of 2025, ahead of a European showroom arrival in early 2026.
If it receives the green light for Australia, it may not reach showrooms until the back end of next year.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
