Familiar friend packs a punch
Volkswagen’s sports- car- in- training helps melt away the winter blues
Let’s face it, for most of Canada, this winter has seriously overstayed its welcome.
But with the arrival of March, the sun has come out, the temperature has dared to sneak above 0 C and the puddles in the streets and on the sidewalks are indicative of a melt. No more testing sport utes and all- wheeldrive cars ( for now), it’s time for something sporty — and red!
Better ease into it, though. Haring about in a Porsche 911 Carrera, Corvette Z06 or some other flashy sports car would only anger the snow gods into unleashing six more weeks of frozen hell. But a Golf GTI — yeah, that’s what’s needed to shake the rust off these cold bones.
Except for the Cuisinart rims and the sunshiny Tornado Red paint job, it looks like a gardenvariety hatchback from 10 metres away. Get behind the wheel, though, and it’s a sports- car- intraining, a tonic for those who consider driving well an art, not a chore and — for those of us with long memories — an old, familiar friend.
Seven generations in and the quintessential hot hatch is still the puppy that wants to scamper. Oh, it’s put on a lot of weight over the 30- plus years it has been sold in North America, but it has compensated for the avoirdupois by more than doubling the power of the original uber- Rabbit.
The tartan- pattern sport seats and the golf- ball shift knob are a kind nod to the faithful, as is the fact that a six- speed manual is still offered, though the DSG manumatic and its paddle shifters is a necessary concession to the video game- addled younger crowd.
Yet it’s that six- speed manual, mated with the GTI’s EA888 2.0- litre turbocharged, directinjected four- cylinder that’s a marriage made in heaven. Now, 210 horsepower and a healthy 258 pound- feet of torque do not a missile make. But people, the GTI is not about knocking off zero- to- 100s — the all- wheeldrive Golf R and its 292- hp turbo four can carry VW’s banner for that duty — it’s about balance, comfort, refinement and a playfulness that is so beyond the common it should be patented.
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.
A GTI- specific instrument cluster and aluminum- look pedals, along with the previously mentioned golf- ball 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.
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.