The Ultimate Hatchback? Driving The 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport
The Golf GTI has always been one of the most polarising cars in the hot hatch world. Some absolutely love it and won’t ever give up on it, others call it a “johhnybak” and wouldn’t be caught dead in one. For ages, its performance, practicality, and everyday usability have been like no other, but lately, the Golf 8 GTI was starting to feel… a bit soft. Volkswagen must’ve heard this criticism, because they’re back with the Golf 8 GTI Clubsport facelift, which is perhaps what the GTI should’ve been from the start?
Under the hood, a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder delivers 300 horsepower and 400 Nm of torque, sent to the front wheels through a 7-speed DSG gearbox. The Golf GTI Clubsport is basically the angry version of the normal GTI, the one that takes anabolic steroids instead of regular protein shakes. That diet gave an additional 35 horsepower compared to the pre-facelift.
Design & Styling
Visually, it looks a lot more aggressive than the pre-facelift. The facelift brings a redesigned front bumper with larger air intakes, a new light bar across the grille, and aggressive LED Matrix headlights. Not just that, but the front badge now lights up too!!! (weirdly fond of that part for some reason) At the rear, you’ll find new LED taillights, a slightly larger spoiler, and massive exhaust tips big enough to fit Kenny’s….. pre-workout shake.
Inside, not that much changes. The touch controls are illuminated again, and the infotainment system has been updated. The seats are sport buckets in alcantara with GTI written on them so the hoes can tell it isn’t a regular golf. The material quality is questionable, though, with a lot of squeaky parts, moving door handles, and mediocre finishing. No matter how hard you try to hide it, it remains a Volkswagen at the end of the day.
Practicality & Comfort
Despite being the track-ready version, the Golf GTI Clubsport is extremely suitable for daily use. You get a surprisingly big (like it’s actually massive) 380-liter boot, proper rear seats that fit someone over the age of 10, and a cabin that’s so solidly built that it's comfortable for long drives.
The ride is firm, but thanks to adaptive dampers, it’s actually very livable in Comfort/Eco mode. You can cruise to work in peace, then switch to Nurburgring mode and suddenly feel like you’re in a race car. Few cars manage to combine both these well, especially in the hot hatch segment.
Performance & Driving Experience
Compared to the standard GTI, the Clubsport gets a sharper steering setup, bigger brakes, a limited-slip differential, and a new calibration for the suspension and DSG. That increased power comes from the bigger turbo, which is a direct adaptation from the Golf R. Bigger sprint potential launches the Golf 8.5 Clubsport to a hundred in just 5.6 seconds.
It drives very directly, punchy, and properly fast. Front-end grip is impressive; the car feels balanced and predictable, although it does experience quite a lot of understeer and has ESC that blocks way too quickly if you keep it completely on. I found the GTI to drive the best with the ESC in sport mode (partly turned off), which gives it that extra freedom to give it a little slide and drive it like it’s meant to be driven. That said, I wouldn’t turn the ESC entirely off, though, it makes the car almost uncontrollable and unbelievably scary… (I like to be in control, so I didn’t like that.)
Is it perfect? Not quite. The DSG gearbox can still feel hesitant in automatic mode, especially at low speeds, and the fake engine noise piped into the cabin is… questionable. But it is honestly a lot of fun. And there’s still no drive mode button, which means you still have to switch via the infotainment. It kills the mood in a putting-a-condom-on kind of way.
Tech & Features
The new infotainment system is very fast and relatively easy to use. You get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital cockpit, and plenty of customizable drive modes that are pretty self-explanatory.
There’s also an optional head-up display, a Harman Kardon sound system, and the usual driver assistance tech that you’ll probably turn off immediately. Besides that, there is honestly not that much to say about it…. It’s just a Golf in a 2025-flavor at the end of the day, but it works!
Price & Verdict
Pricing for the Golf GTI Clubsport starts around €53,000 (BE), depending on options. It is not cheap, but you do get one of the most complete hot hatches out there. It’s still cheaper than an Audi S3, and arguably more fun than a Mercedes-AMG A35. Personally, I am actually very pleasantly surprised by it and think it is honestly one of the coolest hot hatches currently out there.
