Getting Better With AgeIt seems like yesterday when the GTI nameplate was brand new.
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| 30 years in the making, and the GTI is still the king of hot hatchback. (Photo: Volkswagen Canada) |
While stuffing high-performance engines into tiny little automobiles took place before Volkswagen built anything other than the Beetle, the GTI was historically significant as it was the first true hot hatchback, an archetypal vehicle which set the pace for an entire generation. Now, five generations and countless other wanna-bes later, the GTI is approaching its 30th birthday. Volkswagen is celebrating this momentous occasion by creating a special concept car built off the GTI, appropriately called the GTI Edition 30.
The latest GTI is a car that's bringing the legendary marque back into the limelight. Over the years, the revered hatchback has transformed from a buzzy, lightweight compact to a comfortable, luxurious cruiser; even though the new car is bigger and heavier than the generation before, featuring even more luxuries and amenities, it's bucked the trend of the modern GTI by bringing greater driver involvement back to the mix. This is of course, not to mention a heavy dose of retro styling cues, including those very interesting plaid seating surfaces.
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| Edition 30 version of the GTI sports new bodykit, different wheels, and 30 extra horses. (Photo: Volkswagen Canada) |
many of Volkswagen Auto Group's performance products, the GTI features the famed 2.0T engine, which utilizes a low-pressure turbocharger in conjunction to FSI direct injection. Generating 200 horsepower and 207 lb-ft of torque at an easily accessible 1,800 rpm, it's managed to find its way under the hoods of everything from VW's Jetta and Passat, to Audi's A3, A4 and the brand new TT. Like its predecessor, the 1.8T, the new 2.0T is starting to get a reputation with the tuners, and VW has certainly caught on. For the Edition 30 concept car, Volkswagen has tweaked the output to generate 30 additional horsepower, which, coincidentally is an extra horsepower for each of the candles on its birthday cake.
While Volkswagen hasn't released any figures other than the gain i
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| VW R32 features a narrow-angle V6, and 250 horsepower. It's very, very quick. (Photo: Volkswagen Canada) |
n engine performance, it's easy to imagine what the 30 extra ponies have done. The GTI's natural competitors in North America - the Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged and Honda Civic Si - would be left in a wake of turbocharger hiss if it were to show up on our shores, while it would bring the car's horsepower close enough to compete directly with the Subaru Impreza WRX. Meanwhile, over in Europe, the GTI Edition 30 could act as an important stopgap between the standard GTI and the 250-horsepower V6-powered R32 model. Currently, the GTI takes 6.5 seconds to reach 100 km/h, but that should be neatly trimmed down to 6.2 seconds with the performance boost.
