I think that us enthusiasts have far greater expectations of anything with a GTI badge than VW do - They seem to view it as just an extra options version.
I completely agree, it's very disappointing.
Ive seen it in the flesh, and i still wouldnt say no
I don't doubt it is a nice car, but is it really special enough to be a "Special Edition"? Performance-wise it doesn't look so, and the visual extras are barely recognisable to most.
I guess the concept of the Special Edition car has been diluted over the years, and I'm rather skeptical that they do an Edition x car every 5 years.