IIRC, BMW and Audi have been doing M-Sport and S-Line packages that have primarily been about appearance for quite some time now.
My MK7.5 GTI's sport mode makes the fake intake noise speaker (SOUNDAKTOR!) louder. I could deactivate it and get an aftermarket intake for real interested noise, but most aftermarket GTI intakes have marginal gains at best without a downpipe and tune (and possibly a bigger turbo like the Golf R's IS38).
Well, it also stiffens up the electronic steering, increases throttle response, and if I had the active suspension and DSG, it would stiffen up the suspension and change the shift points.
I just leave it in Sport mode, which the thankfully lets me do without having to activate it every time I start the car. It's still like a Lexus compared to my old open intake, turbobacked, Mazdaspeed3 with aftermarket engine and trans mounts.
Mine is the Rabbit Edition, which besides the black spoiler, wheels, and mirror caps, let me get the better lighting and safety gizmos of the SE/Autobahn models without spending as much. I think Honda used to do something similar towards the end of model runs with "Special Edition" trims that slotted between an LX and EX.