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| First Drive | St Tropez, France | Volkswagen Golf GTI |
Some will outgun it for power, while others will turn heads more readily, but Volkswagen's new Golf GTI retains its inherent class, solidity and driver appeal. If you're in the market for an everyday hot hatch it's difficult to argue against Volkswagen's iconic GTI.
In the Metal
Just as the current Golf could only be a Golf, the GTI is unmistakably the next model to wear those so-important three letters on its grille and bootlid. The trademark red pin-striping is obvious around the honeycomb effect black grille and there's a hint of a quad lighting set up within the Golf's large single headlamp units. Meanwhile, inside there is black red and white tartan sports seats, a chunky red-stitched and bottom cut-off steering wheel and piano black trim panels. Seventeen-inch alloys (18s as an option), twin tailpipes and a rear 'diffuser' complete the exterior package.
While it's obviously a bit more sporting than its non-GTI brethren, VW's hottest Golf (for now - there's a four-wheel drive super Golf due later in 2009) retains all the classy styling restraint of the basic car upon which it's based. That's always been part of the GTI's appeal and understandably Volkswagen hasn't messed with it here.
What you get for your Money
The GTI gets all those styling enhancements mentioned above as well as two-zone climate control. Under the bonnet there's a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 207bhp and 206lb.ft of torque from 1,700-5,200rpm. Helping control that grunt is the new 'XDS' system that's incorporated into the ESP and traction control, helping reign in understeer by braking the inside, unloaded wheel when cornering. There's loads of safety kit too, the GTI coming with enough airbags to keep it afloat.
Driving it
The basic package for the GTI is fantastic in standard form so you can forget ticking all those options on your order form. We'd have to face a ridiculously congested daily commute to the office to pick the DSG over the standard manual, regardless of how quick and seamlessly it shifts. We like to blip our own downshifts here, thanks. Although the numbers don't suggest it the manual car feels quicker, the throttle response crisper and the interaction with the slick-shifting six-speed gearbox such an integral part of the driving experience it's the one to have. Not that 50% of buyers will agree, as half of the GTI's UK buyers opt for the DSG with its two-pedal, paddle-shift set up. Shame on you.
Full Story: The Car Enthusiast - Volkswagen Golf GTI
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