Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50 breaks Nurburgring record

Volkswagen has announced that its Golf GTI Edition 50 is now the fastest front-wheel drive production vehicle on the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

The model - made to commemorate 50 years of the Golf GTI - took only 7:44.523 minutes to complete the 20.832km lap on the legendary racetrack. With this new record time, the Golf GTI Edition 50 is now the fastest out of all previous Volkswagen production models on the Nordschleife.

The anniversary model is now the fastest front-wheel drive production vehicle on the legendary racetrack

Heralded as the fastest and most powerful GTI production model to date, the GTI Edition 50 is equipped with a 2.0-litre engine that delivers an output of 321bhp and 420Nm of torque. This allows it to hit the century sprint time of 5.3 seconds and a top speed of 270km/h.

A MacPherson front axle and a four-link rear axle form the basic layout of the chassis. Overall, the anniversary model is 15mm lower than a classic Golf and equipped as standard with DCC adaptive chassis control.

The model in question that broke the record was equipped with the optionally available GTI Performance package Edition 50, which includes a specially tuned chassis lowered by another 5mm, a lightweight R-Performance exhaust system with rear silencers in titanium, as well as 19‑inch forged alloy wheels and Bridgestone Potenza Race semi-slick tyres.