CarReview: Golf GTI
Author: Sam Clarke / Published Date: 1 November 2011
Categories: Team Updates, Novated Leasing, Just Love Cars™
Make & model: VW Golf GTI
Cost: $58,000 (this version)
Value for money: 
How fun to drive: 
Reviewed by: Sam Clarke
Overview
“$58,000 for a hatchback!” You hear that a lot when you drive a GTI, and yes it is a lot for a hatchback, but it's worth it.
The Golf GTI combines the safety and solidity of a well built German automobile with the speed and exhilaration of an Italian sports car, and the reliability and electronic wizardry of a Japanese manufactured vehicle.
It's great fun, reliable and safe. What more could you want..?
Exterior
To the general public, a Golf looks like a Golf, but to those in the know it’s blatantly obvious which version is which, especially when it comes to the GTI. In addition to the all important three letters, there’s the twin exhaust tips and the red ring around the honeycomb grille. Sure signs of its superiority.
For some the exterior is a little understated, but to others that’s part of the appeal.
They don’t want lairy spoilers and vortex generators for their crawl through the peak hour grind. They’re quite happy to be underestimated, and then quietly burn up the highway leaving the rest in their wake.
The extensive options list will let you express yourself however.
This particular GTI was optioned to the hilt, which is part of the
reason I had to put up with “$58,000 for a Golf!” so regularly. The 18”
Detroit alloy wheels look great, and complemented the Tornado red paint
nicely – a red blur as I shot along the Bells Line of Road towards the
Blue Mountains.
Interior
For me the interior of a car is all about feel. How the car feels
when you sit in the seat, how the door feels when it closes, how the
steering wheel feels when you hold it & how the plastics feel when
you do the tap test.
This is a very scientific operation that
must be completed within one minute of sitting in a new vehicle. It
involves reaching over to the center of the dash board, and prodding the
plastics.
The GTI excels in all three areas.
The seats
The
seats are fantastic. They are a well constructed compromise between
comfort, and the ability hold you in place when the road gets twisty.
The doors
The doors close with a nice solid thud - safe, secure, comforting.
The tap test passes with flying colours
The dash plastics are nice and soft to touch, and the combination of faux carbon
fiber and metal trim around the dash remind you that you are not in an average Golf.
A special mention must go to the steering wheel
What
a unit! It’s beautifully shaped and sculpted to allow your hands to sit
comfortably, and all the controls are at your finger tips.
On
to the practicalities. There’s a lot of room in the Golf, and it will
comfortably fit four adults and luggage, and the fact that it has a
sunroof means 6'ers in the back don’t have to duck! The road noise was
also very, very low. Having driven a lot of different cars over the
years, having the word ‘sport’ or ‘performance’ in the title usually
means roaring tyres, and road noise… not so in the GTI.
Which brings us to the best part, the drive…
Drive
There is a huge amount of hype when it comes to Golf GTI’s, and
every review harps on about the ability to devour twisty roads
effortlessly. I agree 100%.
This car is the perfect jack of
all trades, especially when combined with the Adaptive Chassis control
and the fantastic Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) - essentially an automated 6
speed manual gearbox. As a manual driver, the DSG gave me enough
control when I needed it and the ease of an automatic when I didn’t.
The
car will handle trundling around town with the suspension set to
comfort, and you wouldn’t know you are driving a turbo charged hot
hatch. Hit a good stretch of road though, and all you need to do is set
the suspension to sport, the DSG to manual mode and let the fun begin.
The
GTI is a very fast machine on a good national park road. The engine has
really strong pull from very low revs, and you are never left waiting
for the turbo to catch up out of a hairpin.
Sometimes engines
that have good pull down low tend to run out of puff higher in the revs,
but that wasn’t the case with the GTI. It loved pulling from the bottom
of 2nd gear, and really revving out between corners. Combine the
stability program with the Golf’s artificial limited slip diff (XDL),
and it was like playing playstation! You just turned the car, put your
foot to the floor, and off you went.
The
car would determine how much throttle needed to be applied and calculate
the fastest way through the corner. Instant driving perfection.
I
actually found it almost too easy. I like to work for my corners and I
like to feel what the front wheels are doing, particularly with a
powerful front wheel drive car. I like to be able to modulate the
throttle to prevent under steer, or wheel spin. I don’t mind trail
breaking into a corner and having the back of the car step out slightly
setting the car up nicely to power through the apex.
The GTI doesn’t want you to do any of this, so I switched it off...
When
testing a car, especially on the road I generally leave the driving
assistance system; ESP, XDL,VDC, ESC, ’XYZ’ whatever it’s called,
switched on. When I turned the Golf’s ESP off it was much more
exciting; however I never did feel like I had complete control of the
throttle, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
Most people, myself included no doubt are not quite as good drivers as they think they are.
With this in mind, I’m sure someone at VW has decided not to trust
drivers’ assessment of their own skills, and I suspect that the Golf
never actually allows you 100% control. It’s an extremely powerful
vehicle and unless you’re an experienced racing driver, a little help in
handling it isn’t a bad idea.
In any event, with or without the
XDL, the Golf is an absolute pleasure to drive. For the majority of
people, it will make them feel like a driving god, and the ability to
carve up corners, while smoothing out any mistakes they make, will
inspire confidence, enjoyment and pace.
Costs
Purchase price
The GTI starts at
about $43,000. This gets you a 3 door manual with tartan seats. So how
does it get to $58,000? The previously mentioned option list, that’s
how!
The options on this car were: 5 door, Sunroof, Leather
interior, DSG, Bluetooth, MDI media integration, Detroit 18” wheels,
Adaptive Chassis Control & Parallel park assist.
Do you
really need all of that? Well that’s up to you. My only essential would
be Bi-xenon headlights, as I found the standard headlights a little
lacking. I must admit that my favourite of the above options was the
parallel park assist.
Servicing & parts
As
far as servicing and parts go. The majority of these cars will be
leased, and kept for their warranty period. For this period of time, the
fact the service interval is 1yr or 15,000km means that servicing will
be fairly reasonable.
The only service that can surprise people
is around the 60k mark, as the DSG will need a service. Like most
European cars outside the warranty period, spare parts can be a little
more expensive than their Japanese counterparts.
Who is this car perfect for?
Me. And anybody else who wants the style and performance of a hot
hatch, but doesn’t want to commit to harsh suspension, jerky brakes and a
snatchy engine response.
Tell it like it is
On the right road the GTI can make you feel like Mark Webber, and
you’ll end up looking for the scenic route on those driving trips
away, on the way to work, pretty much any time you get in the car!
Interested in a test drive? Want to find out how affordable the GTI is when you package it? Want to ask about ESP? Just give me a call on 1800 288 674.
Sam Clarke
The official site
VW Australia - Golf GTI Multimedia
See it in action
The lucky folks at Fifth Gear racing a Golf GTI and a Subaru Impreza round a race track.
