Volkswagen Golf GTI
Our rst experience of this much-anticipated hot hatch suggests that it fully deserves the iconic GTI badge On sale Autumn Price from £32,000 (est)
FIRST DRIVE
THERE ARE TIMES when being a passenger is preferable to doing the driving: when you’re sprawled out in the back of a luxury limousine, for example. But while the first taste of a new Volkswagen Golf GTI most definitely isn’t on that list, a chance to be driven around VW’S Ehra-lessien development track in a late prototype was an opportunity not to be missed, so we could see and feel how this reincarnated hot hatch is shaping up.
RIVALS
Power comes from an updated version of the outgoing car’s turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine, now producing 241bhp in standard form. That’s 13bhp more than its direct predecessor and the same as the old GTI Performance model, so 0-62mph should be possible in a little over six seconds.
The engine is pleasingly raspy under acceleration and there are crackles when you lift off. Plus, with options to include the Akrapovic sports exhaust system that so dramatically improves Volkswagen’s sporty T-roc R SUV, you should be able to make the finished car sound even better.
A limited-slip differential is now standard on the Golf GTI, boosting traction out of corners. As before, you can choose either a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic with steering wheel-mounted shift paddles. The four driving modes (Comfort, Eco, Sport and Individual) are also familiar, but Volkswagen has added extra steps between them in an effort to give the GTI a broader range of driving characteristics.
We’ll give you our verdict on all of the settings once we’ve tried them, but we can tell you now that body control is a real strength when Sport is selected. There’s still a degree of lean in slower corners, but it’s more progressive from the point where you first turn in than in the old car. Indeed, if we had to pick just one word to describe the new GTI, it’s ‘composed’.
Even when our driver entered a tight, bumpy bend uncomfortably fast, the car held its line instead of sliding across the road or bouncing off line. And when he lifted halfway through a fast, sweeping bend before mashing the accelerator into the carpet again, the GTI’S rear end remained remarkably stable.
The ride has an understandable firmness to it, but on our car’s 18in wheels (standard on UK cars; 19s will be an option) it never felt harsh. Impressively, when you soften the springs in Comfort mode, things are still well tied down, with vertical movements kept to a minimum.
This ties in to one of the GTI’S traditional strengths: that it has always been easy to live with. More controversial, though, is Volkswagen’s decision to do away with the majority of the Golf’s dashboard buttons; instead, you get twin digital screens (one for instrumentation, the other for infotainment), and a Siri-style voice control system.
Sporty touches that mark the GTI out include red on-screen graphics, a flat-bottomed steering wheel and the traditional tartantrimmed seats. Other standard equipment includes keyless entry and start, lane-keeping
assistance, automatic emergency braking and ambient interior lighting with 30 colours.
Overall, the early signs are encouraging. The new GTI may not be the most powerful hot hatch out there, but it appears to retain the mix of agility and everyday usability that’s always been key to the hot Golf’s appeal.