Take back the throne! 7 minutes 44.523 seconds! Golf GTI 50th Anniversary Edition won the fastest Newcastle North Pioneer

After 9 years, Volkswagen has finally recaptured the Nurburgring North Ring front lap speed record. This time, the winning model is the Golf GTI (Parameter | Inquiry) 50th Anniversary Edition. It ran a record of 7 minutes and 44.523 seconds on the 20.8 km long Northern Ring Circuit, beating the record set by the Honda Civic Type R in 2023 by a narrow margin of 0.358 seconds, reaching the top of the fastest front-end car list. This lap war has a long history. In 2016, Volkswagen won the New North Pioneer Championship with the GTI Clubsport S, but the track timed length was 20.6 km, which cannot be directly compared with today's record. In 2017, Honda FK8 Civic Type R surpassed by a huge advantage of 5.4 seconds, and then set the record again in 2023; when Civic reached the top, it also led the Renault Megane Trophy-R by only 0.509 seconds. The Golf GTI 50th Anniversary Edition is the strongest GTI currently on sale, with a 2.0T turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a maximum power of 240kW, a maximum torque of 420N · m, and a power level close to the 245kW of the heavier all-wheel drive Golf R. Compared with the 194kW of the ordinary European GTI, the 180kW of the US version, and the 220kW of the GTI Clubsport, the performance improvement is significant. In addition to power upgrades, the record-breaking model is equipped with an optional GTI performance kit that includes stiffer springs, additional negative camber angles, optimized chassis tuning, 19-inch forged rims, Bridgestone Potenza Race semi-hot molten tires, and Akrapovič titanium exhaust. The kit reduces the height of the body by 5mm and reduces the weight by 30kg, improving the stability of the vehicle in the bumpy section of the North Ring. Driver Benny Leuchter ran 7 minutes and 46.13 seconds last year, and this time finally found an extra lap space to complete the reverse overtaking.