- Autocar clocked front-drive GTI Edition 50 at 4.9 seconds to 60 mph.
- Civic Type R trails Volkswagen badly as speeds climb into triple digits.
- Edition 50 toppled Type R to become FWD Nurburgring champ in May.
Putting big power through two front tires is possible. Getting those tires to hook up fast enough to break 5 seconds to 60 mph usually ads an “im-” prefix to that word. Almost no production front-wheel drive car can break into the fours, but VW’s 50th anniversary GTI is one of them.
Autocar just published its full road test of the GTI Edition 50, whose turbocharged 2.0-liter four makes 321 hp (325 PS) and 310 lb-ft, versus 262 hp (265 PS) for the regular European GTI and 297 hp (300 PS) for the Clubsport.
More: The GTI Turns 50, And VW Is Teasing The Wild Cars It Never Built
It’s even within eight horsepower of the 329 hp (333 PS) Golf R. But while the R can deploy its muscle through all four wheels for low 4-second getaways, the GTI has to persuade two front Bridgestones to handle everything. And it works, enabling the Edition 50 to reach 60 mph (97 kmh) in 4.9-seconds against an official VW 0-62 mph (100 kmh) time of 5.5 seconds, and to gobble a standing quarter mile in 13.3 seconds, humiliating Honda’s Civic Type R in the process.
The manual Honda needed 5.4 seconds to reach 60 mph in the magazine’s testing, its gearbox inevitably putting it at a disadvantage to the DSG-only Golf from rest. But that explanation gets weaker once both cars are moving. The GTI reaches the quarter mile mark 0.8 seconds sooner and by 140 mph (225 kmh) its a huge 5.2 seconds ahead. That’s not a difference that can be explained away by the need to wave your arm across the center console a few times. You can check out the publication’s full numbers breakdown here.
Performance Pack Option Required
This GTI isn’t merely a Clubsport with extra boost, either. With the optional Performance Pack as fitted to Autocar’s test car, the Edition 50 gets forged 19-inch wheels, Potenza Race semi-slicks, an Akrapovič titanium exhaust, stiffer springs, extra negative camber and bespoke chassis tuning.
Has Any FWD Car Gone Faster?
You might recall another FWD hot hatch with an even more startling headline number. Car and Driver clocked the 301 hp (306 PS) Mini John Cooper Works GP at 4.7 seconds to 60 mph in 2021. But its testing subtracts one foot (305 mm) of rollout, which the magazine says improves the result by around 0.3 seconds. Autocar doesn’t use rollout, so the Golf’s 4.9 is arguably the more impressive launch.
The Civic – no longer available in Europe, but still on sale in the US – has desirable feature the VW doesn’t: manual gearbox. And Autocar also concludes the Type R is more fun to drive. But after stealing its Nürburgring record and comprehensively outrunning it in a straight line, the GTI Edition 50 is doing its best to turn its own birthday party into Honda’s headache.
