Unlike some of my colleagues, and one in particular I won’t name who drools over the GTI even in pictures, I’ve always had a liking for the car but never had a crush on it.
It’s always been fun to drive, with strong performance and good handling. In my humble opinion, the best ones were the 1985-1992 GTI 16V (which VW fans call the Mk2) and the 2007-2009 GTI (the Mk5). The latter was particularly interesting, and won our Hot Hatch comparison test back in 2008.
The last-gen GTI had the muscle and the moves, but personally, I didn’t find it very alluring in the looks department. Wait, let me rephrase that: I didn’t think its conservative looks and presence justified it over a Rabbit, which cost up to $10K less and had only 30 less horsepower. The black rear bumper especially turned me off, but maybe I’m just being picky.
However, the 6th-generation Golf GTI now gets exterior styling that matches its performance potential. It starts with the 2010 reskin that includes curvier sheetmetal, streamlined headlights and flattened taillights that look less goofy than the previous-gen Golf. We really like the optional 18-inch wheels, although a couple of staffers still prefer the standard 17-inchers.
But the distinctions between the Golf and the GTI are more significant than before. The new GTI sports a more-aggressive front bumper with strakes and vertical fog lamps, the red pinstripes in the front grille are more visible, and the rear bumper now has style, with an air diffuser and dual chrome exhaust tips.
The 2010 GTI has the same guts as the Mk5, which isn’t bad news at all. VW and Audi’s excellent turbo 2.0-litre inline-4 with direction injection is among our favourite engines, so you don’t mess with success. It develops 200 horsepower as well as 207 pound-feet of torque that peaks from 1,700 to 5,000 rpm, which means almost all the time.
It’s always been fun to drive, with strong performance and good handling. In my humble opinion, the best ones were the 1985-1992 GTI 16V (which VW fans call the Mk2) and the 2007-2009 GTI (the Mk5). The latter was particularly interesting, and won our Hot Hatch comparison test back in 2008.
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| The 2010 reskin includes curvier sheetmetal, streamlined headlights and flattened taillights. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com) |
The last-gen GTI had the muscle and the moves, but personally, I didn’t find it very alluring in the looks department. Wait, let me rephrase that: I didn’t think its conservative looks and presence justified it over a Rabbit, which cost up to $10K less and had only 30 less horsepower. The black rear bumper especially turned me off, but maybe I’m just being picky.
However, the 6th-generation Golf GTI now gets exterior styling that matches its performance potential. It starts with the 2010 reskin that includes curvier sheetmetal, streamlined headlights and flattened taillights that look less goofy than the previous-gen Golf. We really like the optional 18-inch wheels, although a couple of staffers still prefer the standard 17-inchers.
But the distinctions between the Golf and the GTI are more significant than before. The new GTI sports a more-aggressive front bumper with strakes and vertical fog lamps, the red pinstripes in the front grille are more visible, and the rear bumper now has style, with an air diffuser and dual chrome exhaust tips.
The 2010 GTI has the same guts as the Mk5, which isn’t bad news at all. VW and Audi’s excellent turbo 2.0-litre inline-4 with direction injection is among our favourite engines, so you don’t mess with success. It develops 200 horsepower as well as 207 pound-feet of torque that peaks from 1,700 to 5,000 rpm, which means almost all the time.
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| The new GTI sports a more-aggressive front bumper with strakes and vertical fog lamps. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com) |