The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Volkswagen’s hot-hatch 2017 turbo GTI reigns supreme
One of my favorite things to do in a car is shoot through holes in traffic. But for it to be really fun, you’ve got to have the right car, a fast car, one with quick, responsive steering.
Volkswagens, especially sporty ones, excel at this sort of hooliganism. Take for example this morning’s commute to work. We were putzing along behind a bright red Pontiac and a box truck in the left lane. Traffic cleared in the other lane, and bam, we were there to fill the emptiness ahead. Flick the steering to the right, downshift to second gear and plant your right foot. Feels like a rocket ship taking off as you leave the slowpokes behind.
The turbocharged GTI Sport is the best car for this mission. Turbo engines can exhibit lag in certain circumstances, such as off-the-line acceleration. But in this scenario, the turbo is already spinning, so it’s ready to provide boost right away, catapulting the car forward.
In addition, the Sport version of the GTI produces an extra 10 horsepower compared to the base GTI. Interestingly, there is no fuel economy penalty. Both engines are rated at 24 mpg city and 34 highway. We saw 25 mpg in admittedly heavyfooted driving and a lot of freeway cruising.
We drove a Tornado Red 2017 GTI Sport with a six-speed manual trans- mission. The Sport carries a $2,400 premium compared to the base GTI. Besides the uprated engine, it also includes bi-xenon headlights and keyless access and push-button start, and most important, a limited-slip differential. Without a single option on it’s sticker, this is also the cheapest way to get maximum performance from a GTI. Including destination charges, our GTI priced out at $28,815.
Well, unless we opted for Volkswagen’s superb dual-clutch automated manual gearbox. VW calls it DSG and it actually improves on the standard transmission’s performance.
But folks who want to feel the strongest connection to the car will opt for the three-pedal version. They’ll find a light clutch pedal that is easy to modulate, but the shifter is notchy.
While the GTI’s excellent throttle response makes for great fun when pushing the car, it makes it difficult to drive smoothly when puttering around town. It prefers to be pushed. In fact, the car begs for it.
A real surprise is the engine’s lack of low-end grunt. You’ll want to downshift a gear or two when accelerating on the freeway. That’s not a complaint. Because the engine wants higher revs to produce power, more rowing of the gears is required. That’s unusual for a turbo motor that produces peak torque at 1,500 rpm.
The GTI also doesn’t care much for highway cruising. The car’s relatively wide 225/40 tires on 18-inch wheels tend to follow every groove in the road, causing it to wander a bit. More of that driver involvement.
The tradeoff for the GTI’s razor-sharp handling is a sharp response to the bumps on Michigan’s cratered roads.
VW created the hot hatch genre with the original GTI in the late ‘70s. The idea was to take a gar- den-variety econobox, give it a horsepower boost, stiffer suspension and dress it up with a few body enhancements.
Buyers get a fun car, but one that still has the utility of lesser models. Adults can sit in the back seat and there’s enough space for everyone to bring their luggage for a weekend away. Try that with a Subaru BRZ.
The downside is many cars in the hot hatch category suffer from excessive torque steer. The front wheels are simply not where you want to send big horsepower because the powerful engine tries to take control of the car. Torque steer is a significant problem for the Ford Focus ST and the MazdaSpeed 3, which is currently out of production. Those cars produce more horsepower than the GTI and are faster in a straight line.
The GTI Sport’s 220 horsepower might represent the upper limit for power among hot hatches. Anymore, and it just becomes unseemly.
The GTI’s interior is all business, in fact, maybe a little too much business. Everything works well, the materials are all high quality, but there aren’t many differences compared to the regular Golf hatchback. VWs have always had conservative interior design, but it would be nice if VW would give the GTI more unique touches. It has a racy GTI steering wheel with red stitching, red-trimmed floormats, red accent lighting on the doors and of course, traditional-for-the-GTI Clark plaid inserts in the cloth seats. Other than that, it’s standard issue upper-trim Golf.
One unique feature is the Performance Monitor built into the GTI’s info- tainment system. It tracks cornering force, turbo boost pressure and other stats that car geeks care about.
The front seats are deeply bolstered. With grippy cloth upholstery, there will be no sliding about. Even those packing some extra pounds will find them comfortable. Rear-seat passengers have good headroom and won’t have to cram their knees against the front seatbacks if those in the front row are of normal height.
Of course, the GTI offers the latest electronic features, many as options. Smartphone integration is standard on the GTI. Optional features include blind spot monitoring, rear traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, parking assist and lane assist.
In the hot-hatch category, the GTI is the original and in many ways, still the best.