WHAT could possibly be wrong with the Golf GTi that even more horsepower couldn’t solve?

Volkswagen obviously feels the same way. Its new Golf GTi Clubsport S has just claimed the Nurburgring lap record for front-wheel drive cars.

That’s all fine and dandy but it set me to wondering if the new Clubsport S will be the ultimate GTi – or an irrelevance?

I’m no fan of cars ‘honed’ at the Nurburgring. The ‘green hell’ – first opened in 1927 - has its place in testing vehicle dynamics. As Jamal Hameedi, chief engineer of Ford’s global performance vehicles, said: “You get so much different content in terms of turns, elevation etc. that you would need to visit five different tracks to duplicate it.”

That’s fine, but car manufacturers’ obsession with the ‘Ring can sometimes lead to a car that is worse to drive on the road.

When Lexus took the LFA to the Nurburgring it didn’t set the world alight. So Lexus packed up and went home to Japan. A few months later it pitched up with something called the ‘Nurburgring package’ which made the LFA faster around the track, but a whole lot worse to drive day-to-day.

So who cares if the Clubsport S owns the current front-drive ‘Ring record? Apart from bar room bragging rights, there’s no improvement on the road, and VW already sells a supersports Golf, the Golf-R, which is one of the finest hot hatches money can buy.

Based on the already impressive Golf GTi Clubsport, the ‘S’ takes the heady GTi cocktail to new heights.

The standard Clubsport model has a 265bhp blown four that’s capable of over boosting to 290bhp for short periods. For the hotter version VW’s techs have tickled the engine to produce more than 300 bhp at all times – an increase which slashes the 0-62mph figure to 5.8 seconds and boosts the top speed to 165mph (you won’t find an electronic rev limiter here).

The engine of the front-wheel drive Golf GTI Clubsport S is technically based on the 1,984 cc TSI engine that also powers the other versions of the Golf GTI and the Golf R.

For the new model, the engine control unit was ‘tweaked’ and a new exhaust system, with a diameter ahead of the exhaust tailpipes of 65 instead of 55 mm, reduced the backpressure and increased the performance. A side effect of the modifications was that the exhaust system produces a wonderful and deliberate ‘backfire’ when braking!

The Clubsport S is fitted with VW’s configurable Dynamic Chassis Control and a driving profile selector. This unique configuration switches the sound, engine and steering (fitted with progressive steering as standard) parameters in the Race profile. The Clubsport S has an entirely different group of settings is hidden behind the Race option– the Nurburgring position.

Simply tuning the nuts off the engine wouldn’t be enough to set a new Nurburgring course record. VW had to shed some of the GTi’s weight so the Clubsport S has been on a diet and it now tips the scales at a mere 1,360kg.

Dumping the rear seats, including the central armrest, for example, accounts for the most noticeable weight saving. A smaller battery, as well as doing without details such as the insulating material, the variable luggage compartment floor, the rear parcel shelf, the floor mats and the bonnet damping pushed the weight down yet further. An aluminium subframe on the front axle and aluminium brake covers resulted in further weight savings.

The engineers also made a series of aero improvements to enable the Clubsport to reach its top speed.

New front bumpers offer improvements in air supply to the engine, aerodynamics and downforce at the front. At the rear, the roof-edge spoiler that was aerodynamically perfected in the wind tunnel, and is significantly larger on the Clubsport versions than its counterpart on the Golf GTI and Golf GTI Performance, results in significantly improve downforce on the rear axle.