Back to the future
doubt that anyone has actually noticed, but the TopGear GTI is actually a partial homage to the original hot Golf launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1975. But it’s as close as we could get to the original. That car was only available in three-door manual form, and it also had a tartan interior and puckered gearknob, too. The similarities pretty much end there, though.
Mainly because back when the concept of a practical and sporty car was a new idea, mechanical fuel injection was seen as the top tier of technology. And the numbers were pretty mundane by today’s standards: Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection gave about 106bhp at 6,100rpm and 103lb ft at 5,000rpm. Mind you, the MkI only had to push around 810kg – roughly the same weight as a 2014 bumper packet of crisps – giving 0–60mph in nine at the bottom and 110mph at the top.
These days, the MkVII has seven airbags, City Emergency braking and radar cruise, as well as a whole host of other passive safety systems. Yes, it weighs 1,351kg (the DSGequipped car some 19kg more), but you get the feeling it won’t crumple like a wet paper bag if it gets clobbered by a lorry. It’s also a whole division faster (6.4 to 62, 155mph), and gets a turbo for 227bhp, more than the 1985 E30 BMW M3. The Golf R is essentially a similar car – albeit with AWD – and that gets even more power. At 296bhp, it actually has more grunt than an original Porsche 930 Turbo.
But even that’s not the end of the story – VW has suggested that the Type EA888 engine could make an appearance with
Inigh-on 200bhp per litre: the Golf R400 concept boasts 395bhp and acceleration fgures to hammer even the most committed sports cars. A 0–62mph time of 3.9secs and limited top speed of 174mph in a car that still manages the shopping is not to be snifed at.
Meanwhile, I’ve been taking my own advice and driving the twisty way home a little more than usual, and have decided that I might now, at a ripe old age, have started to come to terms with front-wheel drive. Mainly because of the Golf PP’s diferential; an electro-mechanical multi-plate clutch that sits between the dif cage and right-hand driveshaft. It all but kills understeer (but doesn’t generate any extra torque steer) – the thing that really annoys me about higher-power front-wheel drives. My name is Tom. I like FWD. Who knew?
REPORT 8 1984cc, 4cyl, FWD, 227bhp, 258lb ft 47.1mpg, 139g/km CO2
0–62mph in 6.4secs, 155mph 1351kg £ £27,120/£31,850 Total mileage 7256 Driver Tom Ford Why it’s here Is the Golf GTI the car to end all car arguments?