Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI to drop TCR badge for Clubsport moniker – report

Volkswagen will reportedly not apply the TCR badge to the flagship version of its upcoming Golf 8 GTI after all, which suggests the Clubsport moniker could be revived.

According to Autocar, the Wolfsburg-based firm’s decision to pull out of the TCR racing series means it has had to rethink the name of what will be its most potent GTI. And “GTI Clubsport” seems the most likely option.

When the Golf 8 was revealed in October 2019, VW said in its press material a TCR version of the new GTI was on the cards. But a month later, the firm announced plans to focus its motorsport strategy on electric mobility, saying “farewell to factory-backed commitments using internal combustion engines”.

“The production of the Golf GTI TCR for the racetrack will expire at the end of 2019 and a successor based on the new generation will not be offered. Customer service and spare parts supply will be guaranteed in the long term,” the company said at the time.

Of course, the TCR version of the outgoing seventh-generation Golf is scheduled to touch down in South Africa in the second quarter of 2020 (before the first Golf 8 arrives) in limited numbers.

As a reminder, the outgoing Golf 7 GTI TCR employs the brand’s familiar turbocharged 2,0-litre four-cylinder, but in this case tuned to deliver 213 kW and 370 N.m, up on the standard GTI’s outputs of 169 kW and 350 N.m.

Fitted with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, Volkswagen says the special model is capable of sprinting from zero to 100 km/h in 5,6 seconds – a full eight-tenths quicker than the standard GTI. Maximum speed, meanwhile, is 250 km/h, although the automaker says this can “optionally be increased to 260 km/h”.