A hole-in-one
100 km/h arrives in just seven seconds
Given that most GTI owners won’t be track testing their cars extensively, I think they will be able to live with the disappointment.
I love the fact VW recognizes that enthusiasts can also need a car with a practical side, building the GTI in both three-door and five-door hatch variants.
The five-door Autobahn tester’s cabin is an example of ergonomic mastery. Drop your butt into the heated sport seat — the most comfortable, yet perfectly supportive and bolstered, perch found in any car under $100K — and everything else falls into place.
From the feel of the flat-bottom steering wheel to the ideal placement of the gear shifter to the visibility of the gauges, the car is designed for fatigue-free driving.
It’s also designed for those of us who are leggy, with plenty of frontseat travel and lots of headroom. Given the GTI’s overall compact dimensions, though, rear-seat passenger comfort will be entirely dependent on how far the front seats are back in their tracks.
A GTI-specific instrument cluster and aluminum-look pedals, along with the previously mentioned golfball shift knob and the flat-bottomed sport steering wheel, differentiate the model from lesser Golfs.
The only sub-par aspect to the car is the minuscule touch screen infotainment centre. It’s OK for displaying things such as the driving mode and radio functions, but not so good as a navigation screen. The map showing my neighbourhood looked like a plate of spaghetti and was about as easy to decipher, unless I went to maximum zoom-in.
That’s a mere grumble, though, for an otherwise stellar car. It’s not like the GTI doesn’t have competition: its primary rivals are the Ford Focus ST, Honda Civic Si and Subaru WRX. But while each of those is fun in its own right, none have the overwhelming completeness of the VW.
At less than $34,000 for a topline Autobahn five-door, it punches well above its weight as a sporting car.
Like many, I have concerns about the cost of repairs once the car goes off warranty, but if Volkswagen has its stuff together with its entire line of new 7th-generation Golfs, then this GTI will provide joy for many years — especially when it’s painted red.