2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI 40 Years pricing and specifications: $48,990 flagship here from June

Celebrating the GTI hero’s 40th birthday, this new variant was revealed in September last year with the GTI Clubsport badge. As with the Edition 35 before it, the new birthday special saw Volkswagen Australia immediately throw its hand up for a local allocation.

The GTI Clubsport, to be known here as the GTI 40 Years edition, was first revealed as a three-door offering for the European market. But, as with the wider GTI range, Australian buyers will be offered a five-door option only (Euro-market Clubsport shown here).

Priced at $48,990 plus on-road costs, the Golf GTI 40 Years edition will enter with a $2500 premium over the GTI Performance (which originally launched from $48,490), while just scraping in beneath the $52,740 starting price of the 206kW all-wheel-drive Golf R.

The Golf GTI 40 Years edition’s star feature will be its upgraded outputs, climbing from 162kW in the regular model (169kW in the GTI Performance) to a new 195kW. Torque is unchanged at 350Nm, but a new boost function ups numbers briefly to 213kW and 380Nm.

The GTI Performance’s limited-slip differential is on-board, and - again like the GTI P - the new variant will be offered as standard with a six-speed DSG transmission. Volkswagen Australia is working to get a manual added to the range, but timing and pricing for that option is still to be confirmed.

As last year's unveiling revealed, we can also expect a number of subtle styling and aero enhancements, including a unique bumper at the front end with deep new side ports.

New 19-inch alloy wheels fill out the guards with a low offset, while the rear gets a modified bumper, a larger tailgate-topping wing, and the same darkened tail-lights that grace the GTI Performance and Golf R models.

Black door mirrors and extended side sills with black graphics will round out the exterior tweaks, while Tornado Red and Pure White will be the only paint options on offer.

Inside, there’s GTI-themed red stitching to the steering wheel, seat belts and floor mats, along with front door sill strips with the GTI logo.

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Front Assist with City Emergency Brake (City EB) and Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Traffic Alert are all included as standard.

The only optional extra will be a panoramic electric glass sunroof at $1850 RRP.

The GTI 40 Years will be offered in limited numbers, but Volkswagen is staying quiet on exact numbers for now. The earlier 173kW/300Nm Edition 35 variant was limited to 200 units, available in both manual and DSG forms.

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