Volkswagen Golf GTI | Test Drive | Auto Class Magazine

Volkswagen Golf GTI | Test Drive

Words Matteo Lavazza / Photos Volkswagen Media

The Golf still is the Golf we all know, this is one of those certain things like the afternoon nap after your forties and Nutella. This means the Golf GTI is one of the best sports cars ever and will remain so until at least its 74^th generation. Right? Well, things aren’t that simple – yeah – not even for her. The MK8, which is now close to giving up its space to the 8.5, brings some innovations compared to the previous one, first of all the fact it almost costs €50,000, which is actually not hot hatch money. We finally got our hands on it and even if for a short – very short – time, we understood better what has really improved and worsened in one of the most loved and respected sports cars by enthusiasts.

Twenty years ago, to buy a brand new Golf GTI (we’re talking about a MK5), you would have spent €27,000. A nice amount of coins, which has now been substantially doubled in just three generations. But are there really that many differences? Is driving really another kind of experience? Yes and no, but let’s proceed in no particular order. The MK8 is an obvious and direct descendant of the MK7, with which it shares the engine, the same 2-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged which here delivers 245 horsepower in the basic GTI version and ready to increase to 261 with the 8.5 update. A remarkable power for a front-wheel drive, which for one reason or another cannot grow much, provided that the Golf R does not do the same. We thus find ourselves with an engine that is certainly exceptional, flexible and perfectly usable in everyday life without having to bleed out at the petrol pump, but which does not represent anything new compared to what we saw with the previous gen.

245 horsepower, a slight turbo lag and 370 Nm of torque that compensate for a weight that increases by almost 100 kg, still making the GTI an agile hot hatch thanks to which you begin to understand what it means to really go fast. Yes, because even though it’s not a rocket with wheels, license plate and insurance, if you squeeze the 2-liter well, fun won’t be long in coming. Pre-restyling you still have the possibility of opting for the 6-speed manual transmission, while the automatic dual clutch has an extra gear and does 0-100 per hour in 6.3 seconds. Top speed? Electronically limited at 250 per hour, but then these numbers are not the ones that are really of interest when talking about a Golf GTI. The front axle has a self-locking differential and the suspension stiffen properly, still leaving the possibility of deactivating traction control. Good news.

Bad ones say hi regarding the passenger compartment, with an annoying absence of physical buttons that make coexistence less intuitive, especially when you have to browse through a thousand menus from the central display. It’s a shame, especially for those controls which during fast-paced driving would be more comfortable and above all safer in plain sight, just a finger and a click away. Apart from this, the seating position is superb, the visibility is excellent and dynamically the GTI is still the GTI you’d expect, here perhaps too much the same as before and here I come back to ask myself why the price continues to rise like a cake in the oven, while the mechanical innovations seem to be really limited. And then, that LED strip on the front is really ugly and annoying, take it away from there.

The progression, however, makes you forgive almost everything: just 3.4 seconds to go from 80 to 120 and feedbacks that, despite the weight, can convey a sense of fun and light-heartedness that fortunately has not yet been lost. If I think back to the GTI MK5 I remember how nervous it became once taken by the neck, an aspect already mitigated with the MK6, then further filtered with the MK7, which in the Clubsport and Performance versions however was able to bring out even more nerve than the more powerful R. Now we are faced with an aesthetically updated model, which as usual does not differ too much from a standard Golf, but which knows how to hit exactly where it should. Of course, those €46,750 are really a lot and still make it a questionable choice especially taking into account the likes of the Hyundai i30 N and Honda Civic Type-R, just to mention two front-wheel drive models that at least for me would leave no doubts. If you then broaden your interest by also taking into consideration a good second hand model – with this figure – a world opens up, even to much more exotic choices. This leaves a bad taste in the mouth and above all almost 50,000 Euros still intact in your bank account.