Latest Golf GTI is a real driver's car
30/07/09 16:54 Filed in: Road
tests
It doesn’t seem that long ago since I
was raving about the then new Volkswagen
Golf GTI, but now there’s an even newer one and I’ve just been
driving for the past week.
The reason that we have a new Golf rather sooner than might have expected is, supposedly, because the previous model was costly to manufacture. The new car has been designed for easier assembly.
Day running lights are a sensible addition appearing on many new cars
So, if it is quicker to manufacture, does that mean compromises in the Golf’s renowned build quality. To me the new car looks every bit as well put together, from its neat and restrained exterior, to the purposeful black interior. As with previous evolutions of the Golf, this one is not going to stop you in your tracks. In the week that I drove it, I only saw one head turn in apparent recognition that this was something new.
I do like the interior. There seem to be a greater number of spangley, shiny bits to brighten up the blackness of the interior. But – whereas these are often horrid silver plastic – the Golf GTI’s highlights really look like the real deal.
I found the driving position pretty near perfect with comfortable and supportive seats. The steering wheel – probably the most important point of contact between the driver and the car – feels great with a nice thick rim and little thumb cut-outs. Indeed, the only fly in the ointment was that my test car was the five door. With the driver’s seat set almost at the back of its runners, I did find I was having to peer round the door pillar at junctions.
The extra passenger doors of course make getting into the rear seats a great deal easier. Longer-legged adults may find the knee space a little limited, however, but that’s probably a result of those big, comfortable and supportive sports seats in the front.
Equipment levels are good and, although the test car did not have the optional navigation, it did come with the screen which is used for some of the car’s settings, including the audio. It also provides the rear view from the reversing camera if you buy the £660 park-assist option.
My test car also had the £1305 addition of the dual-clutch gearbox. I have been a fan of DSG gearboxes since I first drove one. It is nice around town to be able to drive the car like an automatic and then, out of town, to benefit from the lightening quick gearchanges that this box is capable of.
If you want to do your own gears, you can shift with the floor selector or the steering column paddles. In truth, I found the auto was so good at choosing ratios that I tended to leave gearshifts to the expert most of the time. In the sports setting, the GTI will really hang onto the gears and even does its own throttle blips for downchanges into corners. No need to heel-and-toe.
As before you wonder if the car sees the road ahead, so uncanny is its ability to choose the right gear most of the time. Was it me, or did this particular Golf get caught in the wrong gear just a couple of times?
The interior of the manual Golf GTI
This sixth iteration of the famous Volkswagen Golf GTI has an 11 bhp increase in its power output to 208 bhp. This results in slightly quicker performance with a 0-62 time of 6.9 seconds, although it actually feels even quicker. At the same time fuel consumption has been improved and emissions reduced to 173 g/km.
Using restraint I was getting over 30 mpg, but with the DSG in sports and enjoying both the performance and the crisp engine note this would easily drop into the mid to low 20s.
On the open road, be it dual carriageway or B-road, the GTI feels just right. You don’t want a car like this to be too raw in its feedback to the driver.
This is not, after all, a competition car. It is meant to be a refined high-performance hatchback. I felt the engineers at Volkswagen had pitched this well. The handling, ride and steering all had a fluidity to them, but with enough feedback for the driver to feel really in control.
I was left marvelling at the way the engineers have managed to combine compliance with firmness – not an easy trick! The refinement is helped by the fact that this is also a notably quiet car.
So, to the acid test. No, I did not enjoy handing over the Golf GTI keys. So, what about the buying decision?
Well Volkswagen have made this difficult. You can buy a Volkswagen Scirocco for almost £1,000 less.
This five-door Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0 TSI costs £23,000 (without the options), or £22,415 for the three-door. The equivalent Scirocco costs £21,345 and delivers only the merest fraction less performance. Yet the Scirocco comes with the trick Adaptive Chassis Control as standard – something that is a £705 option on the Golf.
So, the strongest challenger for the Golf GTI could well be a Volkswagen sibling! You decide.
The reason that we have a new Golf rather sooner than might have expected is, supposedly, because the previous model was costly to manufacture. The new car has been designed for easier assembly.
Day running lights are a sensible addition appearing on many new cars
So, if it is quicker to manufacture, does that mean compromises in the Golf’s renowned build quality. To me the new car looks every bit as well put together, from its neat and restrained exterior, to the purposeful black interior. As with previous evolutions of the Golf, this one is not going to stop you in your tracks. In the week that I drove it, I only saw one head turn in apparent recognition that this was something new.
I do like the interior. There seem to be a greater number of spangley, shiny bits to brighten up the blackness of the interior. But – whereas these are often horrid silver plastic – the Golf GTI’s highlights really look like the real deal.
I found the driving position pretty near perfect with comfortable and supportive seats. The steering wheel – probably the most important point of contact between the driver and the car – feels great with a nice thick rim and little thumb cut-outs. Indeed, the only fly in the ointment was that my test car was the five door. With the driver’s seat set almost at the back of its runners, I did find I was having to peer round the door pillar at junctions.
The extra passenger doors of course make getting into the rear seats a great deal easier. Longer-legged adults may find the knee space a little limited, however, but that’s probably a result of those big, comfortable and supportive sports seats in the front.
Equipment levels are good and, although the test car did not have the optional navigation, it did come with the screen which is used for some of the car’s settings, including the audio. It also provides the rear view from the reversing camera if you buy the £660 park-assist option.
My test car also had the £1305 addition of the dual-clutch gearbox. I have been a fan of DSG gearboxes since I first drove one. It is nice around town to be able to drive the car like an automatic and then, out of town, to benefit from the lightening quick gearchanges that this box is capable of.
If you want to do your own gears, you can shift with the floor selector or the steering column paddles. In truth, I found the auto was so good at choosing ratios that I tended to leave gearshifts to the expert most of the time. In the sports setting, the GTI will really hang onto the gears and even does its own throttle blips for downchanges into corners. No need to heel-and-toe.
As before you wonder if the car sees the road ahead, so uncanny is its ability to choose the right gear most of the time. Was it me, or did this particular Golf get caught in the wrong gear just a couple of times?
The interior of the manual Golf GTI
This sixth iteration of the famous Volkswagen Golf GTI has an 11 bhp increase in its power output to 208 bhp. This results in slightly quicker performance with a 0-62 time of 6.9 seconds, although it actually feels even quicker. At the same time fuel consumption has been improved and emissions reduced to 173 g/km.
Using restraint I was getting over 30 mpg, but with the DSG in sports and enjoying both the performance and the crisp engine note this would easily drop into the mid to low 20s.
On the open road, be it dual carriageway or B-road, the GTI feels just right. You don’t want a car like this to be too raw in its feedback to the driver.
This is not, after all, a competition car. It is meant to be a refined high-performance hatchback. I felt the engineers at Volkswagen had pitched this well. The handling, ride and steering all had a fluidity to them, but with enough feedback for the driver to feel really in control.
I was left marvelling at the way the engineers have managed to combine compliance with firmness – not an easy trick! The refinement is helped by the fact that this is also a notably quiet car.
So, to the acid test. No, I did not enjoy handing over the Golf GTI keys. So, what about the buying decision?
Well Volkswagen have made this difficult. You can buy a Volkswagen Scirocco for almost £1,000 less.
This five-door Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0 TSI costs £23,000 (without the options), or £22,415 for the three-door. The equivalent Scirocco costs £21,345 and delivers only the merest fraction less performance. Yet the Scirocco comes with the trick Adaptive Chassis Control as standard – something that is a £705 option on the Golf.
So, the strongest challenger for the Golf GTI could well be a Volkswagen sibling! You decide.