Punching 173kW of power, 300Nm torque and reaching a top speed of 247km/h, the VW Golf GTi Edition 35 will be a collector’s item from day one – arriving right on the 35th anniversary of the GTI legend.
The engine in the Golf GTI Edition 35 is a turbocharged petrol direct-injection engine of the EA113 engine series, sharing the same engine base as the Golf R. The 2.0 litre four-cylinder engine builds up its propulsive power via a turbocharger with intercooling. The GTI engine is controlled by a fully electronic engine management system with E-Gas. It converts its maximum of 300Nm of torque (2,200 to 5,500 rpm) into forward propulsion with the 6-speed DSG shifting gears in fractions of a second. After just 6.6 seconds, the Golf GTI Edition 35 passes the 100km/h mark. No other GTI before it has been this dynamic.
For 35 years, the GTI has been driven via the front axle. There, the standard XDS electronic differential lock now ensures that the rubber on the tyres remains there and does not end up on the street. XDS significantly improves handling properties and detects if the front wheel at the inside of the bend is excessively unloaded during fast driving, in which case ESP hydraulics build up braking pressure at this wheel to restore optimal traction. XDS acts as a transverse differential lock that compensates for the typical understeering of front-wheel drive vehicles during quick driving through bends. The result is that driving behaviour of the GTI is significantly more precise and neutral.
Despite all of its dynamic performance, the Golf GTI Edition 35 is also very fuel efficient. The new GTI with DSG offers a respectable combined fuel consumption of 8.0 litres per 100km (equivalent to 185g/km CO2).
Like all GTIs, the Edition 35 is equipped with a sport chassis; the body sits 15mm lower than on a conventional Golf. Working in front is the familiar MacPherson suspension with helical springs and telescoping dampers. At the rear, an innovative multi-link suspension ensures that the ESP system seldom needs to be activated. The Volkswagen’s four disc brakes are also extremely durable and strong: braked from 100 km/h, the Golf GTI Edition 35 reaches a standstill after about 35 metres. And that too is typical for this GTI.
The Golf GTI Edition 35 has a new bumper design, equipped with bi-xenon headlights plus cornering and LED daytime running lights. Aerodynamics are improved by winglets (air flow surfaces) positioned at lower outboard areas in front. The mid-section of the front spoiler was kept in black. On the car’s sides, the glossy black mirror housings, side sill extensions in body colour and the “35” edition badge on the front wings identify the anniversary model. All Golf GTI Edition 35s are also equipped with smoked LED rear lights, an LED-illuminated licence plate at the rear and smoked rear windows.
Volkswagen has developed new, standard 18-inch “Watkins Glen” alloy wheels for the Golf GTI Edition 35 (named after a US racetrack in the state of New York). The wheels, fitted with 225/40 R18 tyres, are available in “Sterling Silver”.
Volkswagen is offering this Golf in three monochrome colours “Candy White”, “Tornado Red” and “Deep Black”, and in metallic paint “Carbon Steel Grey”.
The interior was customised too. The gear shift grip in the classic golf ball look of the first generation GTI, new decorative strips in the cockpit area and the door trim panels (“Black Array” type), special door sill plates with worked-in “35” logo, safety belts with red stripes and a “35” integrated in the front head restraints of the top sport seats (“Jacky” style). Also always in red are the decorative seams around the 3-spoke sport steering wheel, the hand brake and gear shift trim as well as the borders of the floor mats.
Volkswagen New Zealand have managed to secure just 60 of the 4-door Golf GTI Edition 35 models. These will be available in New Zealand from August of this year priced at $65,000.
Dean Sheed, General Manager of Volkswagen NZ says “We are very happy to have acquired 60 of the Golf GTI Edition 35 for the New Zealand market. The GTI has long been the best selling Golf in the New Zealand market and we expect that these 60 will be sold to sports car enthusiasts nationwide.”
