Agreed. On the surface, it doesn't look like you're getting a lot extra for your money. Everything is the same apart from the engine and seats pretty much.
VW did the same with the MK4 Anniversary. They just stuck some BBS rims on it, a slightly bigger turbo, some cosmetic enhancements and called it a day.
They did make a mild effort with the Corrado VR6 in making the engine 100cc bigger than the Golf VR6, but that was it.
The only 2 times they made an effort to distinguish the special models from the bread and butter ones, were the Rallye and G60 Limited. They were days when the engineers had a say in the matter. Everything is marketing led now. Yeah let's just slap some wheels on it, paint this, paint that......it's all people need for a limited edition.
The E30 M3, Integrale etc were steered by motorsports though. VW were never really into that to the same degree. Too conservative and profit orientated. The Rallye was their only attempt at a motorsport special, and it was a flop. Underpowered and unsophisticated 4WD system.
I do like the coherent package of the ED30 though. The styling and wheels work well, and the engine is far meatier past 5000rpm.
When I try and describe the ED30 to my car ignorant mates, I just say it's a GTI with an S3 engine in it, and they seem to get that. As above, my main reasons for going ED30 were the looks, engine and better upkeep from previous owners.
