[Omkar]

Volkswagen Golf GTI Review

Volkswagen Golf GTI Pros

• An iconic hot hatch that brings driving excitement back to the table
• 261 BHP, 2.0 TSI engine is extremely enjoyable. Power-to-weight ratio of 179.5 BHP/ton means it is mad fun to drive! Sounds great too
• Excellent handling package. Electronic differential lock, progressive steering and solid brakes give you additional confidence in corners
• Sorted ergonomics for the driver. Cabin offers good space and practicality for a hot hatch
• 5-star safety rating (Mk 8 Golf) and equipment like 7 airbags, Level 2 ADAS and loads more

Volkswagen Golf GTI Cons

• Being imported in limited batches means it is expensive. Also, single spec on offer means there are no optional extras
• Quality of plastics in some areas feels average
• 12.9-inch touchscreen has a bit of latency and the 7-speaker sound system isn’t very special either
• 136 mm of ground clearance means that the car is very low. You will have to be careful on bad roads
• Missing features like DCC (adjustable dampers for comfort & sport modes), electric driver seat adjustment, leather seats, 360-degree camera system, subwoofer, spare wheel, etc.

This review has been jointly compiled with ajmat. Thanks to him for the expert observations!

Introduction

Back in 1976, the world was first introduced to the Golf GTI. For almost 5 decades, Volkswagen has been making this iconic hot hatchback and we finally have it on our shores. In fact, it is the biggest-selling performance model in VW's history to date, with more than 2.3 million cars sold worldwide. While the world is comparing the current generation GTI to the previous generations, it is a fresh canvas for most Indians and the first time experiencing this iconic nameplate.

So, what are we getting going to get in India? Volkswagen is bringing in UK-spec cars made in Wolfsburg, Germany. You only get the GTI variant, and not the GTI Clubsport. There are no additional options available. It's based on the MQB Evo platform that also underpins the 2nd-gen Kodiaq & Tiguan R Line and is powered by the EA888 EVO4, 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with direct injection (TSI) making 261 BHP and 370 Nm. Internationally, the manual transmission was discontinued on this latest version (Mk 8.5), so you only have the 7-speed DSG automatic transmission. We got to spend some time with the Volkswagen GTI at the National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX), in Pithampur, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh. We didn’t get to drive it on regular roads, so when we do get a chance, we will put up a separate report. This was more of a drive experience than a full-fledged test drive.

Volkswagen Golf GTI Price & Brochure

Volkswagen has launched the Golf GTI at an introductory price of Rs. 52,99,900 (ex-showroom). Initially, 150 units of the Mk 8.5 Golf GTI will be imported in the first batch and as per reports, all of them have been pre-booked. VW is planning to bring another 100 units in the second batch. In terms of rivals, you have the Mini Cooper S which starts at Rs. 44.90 lakh and goes up to Rs. 55.90 lakh (ex-showroom). Then on the other end of the spectrum, you have the Mercedes-Benz AMG A 45 S which has an ex-showroom price of Rs. 94.80 lakh.

You can download the Volkswagen Golf GTI brochure here - VW Golf GTI Brochure.pdf

[Omkar]

Volkswagen Golf GTI Exterior Review

To kick things off, the styling is unmistakably Volkswagen. Clean and timeless. However, the lower bumper with the honeycomb mesh pattern looks out of place IMO:


At the rear, you get some nice LED tail lights and twin exhaust pipes at the bottom. The tailgate also features a VW badge along with the GTI badge. Note that there’s no Golf badge anywhere on the car:


Since we’re used to seeing small hatchbacks on Indian roads, the GTI looks elongated. Overall, the car looks sleek and it has a drag coefficient of 0.31:


Being a direct import, the Golf GTI feels solid and very well-built. The panel gaps are consistent and there’s very little flex. Something you’d expect from a Volkswagen. Clean lines and proportionate design elements give it an understated look. There are 4 colour options available - Oryx White Pearl (our test car), Kings Red Premium Metallic, Grenadilla Black Metallic and Moonstone Grey:


The Golf GTI measures 4,289 mm in length, 1,789 mm in width and 1,471 mm in height. It has a wheelbase of 2,627 mm and is fairly low. The unladen ground clearance is 136 mm:


Front face features the iconic red line from all the previous generations of the GTI. As mentioned earlier, the honeycomb pattern air dam looks out of place. You get a radar unit in the middle and fog lamps in the X pattern on the sides:


The red strip from the grille extends into the headlamps as well. Note the red GTI badge on the grille. You get LED matrix headlights with automatic headlight control:


Nice ‘IQ.LIGHT’ badge on the brow of the headlamps:


Here’s a look at all the lights in action. The Mk 8.5 Golf GTI gets an illuminated VW badge which looks good in person:


Long bonnet has prominent creases:


The Golf GTI is equipped with Level 2 ADAS with front and rear radar sensors along with this camera. There are about 20 features like lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, high-beam control, rear traffic alert etc. The annoying bit about the ADAS features is that every time you restart the car, all the features are activated and you have to turn them off manually:


Contrast black roof along with a sunroof:


Big GTI badge on the door trim. The side mirror gets integrated turn indicators and a puddle lamp…


… that projects this GTI pattern on the ground:


18-inch Richmond alloy wheels look nice, but not very special. You also don’t have any optional wheels on offer. The wheels are shod with 225/40 section tyres:


Red brake calipers offer a good contrast:


The spoiler extends from the roof and houses the HMSL. Tailgate carries the solo GTI badge in the middle which is almost the same size as the one on the door. Like most VW cars, the badge on the tailgate doubles up as a reversing camera and an unlock switch as well:


3D LED rear taillights look nice with their cube design. They also come with ‘welcome’ and ‘goodbye’ features that can be customised from the touchscreen:


Here’s a look at the rear lights in action:


A look at the rear bumper and twin exhaust pipes. The exhaust note is something the enthusiasts will enjoy:

[Omkar]

Volkswagen Golf GTI Interior Review

On the inside, you have a lot of sporty elements that go well with the character of the car. A bunch of red accents in an all-black interior looks good. The overall design looks nice and clean, but the quality in some areas isn’t very premium. There are some soft-touch elements on the top part of the dashboard that feel good, but plastics in certain areas don’t feel as solid as you’d expect from a VW:


Sporty flat-bottom steering wheel looks good and feels excellent to use. It’s chunky and you immediately feel at home when you hold on to it. It has contrast red stitching and also red accents on the bottom spoke along with a GTI badge. It gets rake and reach adjustment:


Buttons on the left are for cruise control and you also have volume control. On the right spoke, you have the buttons to control the MID and you also get a button for the heated steering wheel. VW received a lot of flak on the Mk 8 Golf GTI for having touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel. Thankfully they have taken the criticism positively and brought back physical buttons. These feel nice to use and should last long:


Paddle shifters are tucked behind the steering wheel. Ajmat found these to be too small:


The driver gets the Digital Cockpit Pro which is a 10.25-inch MID. The display is crisp and it is customizable as well:


There’s a lot of information that you can toggle through. You can even have the boost pressure displayed in one of the dials. Here’s a look at the different views that you can choose from:


A look at the light panel which is placed on the right-hand side of the driver. Unfortunately, this is still touch-sensitive and I didn’t find it very intuitive to use:


Brushed stainless steel pedals look nice and are well-spaced. The dead pedal is set at an angle, but is very usable:


The Golf GTI's doors open wide and the all-black doorpad has a very simple and straightforward design. The door pockets can hold a 1-litre bottle and some other knick-knacks:


Most of you are familiar with this panel from the Volkswagen group of cars. All the windows get auto up and down feature:


The Golf GTI that we will get in India are UK spec cars that have been manufactured in Wolfsburg, Germany:


Sporty bucket seats are nice and snug. They offer good overall support and keep you in place during hard cornering. They’re heated, but not ventilated which is a miss for Indian conditions:


Another thing that might not be appreciated by some of the customers is the manual seat adjustments at this price point:


You get this red ‘GTI’ stitching on the seats. Also, notice the traditional Scalepaper Plaid fabric seats with red elements:


The front passenger seat also gets an ISOFIX child seat anchor:


One of the highlights of the dashboard is this massive 12.9-inch LCD touchscreen display that’s running VW’s MIB4 system and has wireless Android Auto & Apple CarPlay connectivity. The screen is tilted towards the driver and has a nice and crisp display. It is mated to a 7-speaker system (4 speakers + 2 tweeters + 1 dashboard centre speaker) which sounds ordinary and nothing out of the ordinary. We also found the touchscreen slow to respond in comparison with some of the other systems that we’ve used in a similar or even lower price bracket. There’s a hint of latency in operation. Otherwise, there are multiple operations that you can control from the touchscreen:


By clicking the icon on the top for ‘Assist’, you can access the ADAS features. As mentioned earlier, every time you restart the car, the ADAS features are all switched ON. So, if you want to keep the lane keep assist feature switched off, you have to manually do it from this menu every time you restart the car. You get a 3-zone climate control on the Golf GTI and you can control the rear AC from the touchscreen. There are some presets as well that will adjust the AC controls as per the requirement. Lastly, you don’t get a 360-degree camera, but you have parking sensors all around. The reverse camera display is good:


There are a total of 4 drive modes that you can choose from. The Golf GTI in India doesn’t come with adaptive chassis control or DCC. Hence, you cannot control the suspension settings on the go. You also get 3 options for the traction control system in which you can either switch it off completely or keep it in Sport mode:


You get touch-sensitive panels below the touchscreen for the dual-zone climate control to set the temperatures and a volume control panel in the middle. These aren’t very intuitive and we’d have liked physical buttons or knobs instead:


Below, in between the central AC vents you have this panel with options for ADAS, climate control, parking menu and driving modes:


You only have type-C USB ports. There’s a covered wireless charging pad below. I think this is the only place where you have the ‘Golf’ badge in the car:


A big piano black centre console with a slot on the left to keep your key. You have the engine Start / Stop button on the top along with the transmission mode selector, parking brake and auto hold button. In the past, the Golf came with golf ball texture on the manual gear selector, but things have moved on and now you have this tiny gear selector:


Cupholders that can hold cups of all sizes. There’s also a 12V socket placed here:


Center armrest is adjustable and you can lock it in place:


There’s a small storage area below with a felt bottom:


A look at the passenger side of the dashboard. The top part is soft-touch material. You get a carbon fibre-like-looking trim above the AC vent. This plastic doesn’t feel all that premium:


The glove box is well-sized and can hold a bunch of documents with ease:


A look at the rear seats which are also draped in the traditional Scalepaper Plaid fabric. All three passengers get adjustable headrests and 3-point seatbelts. However, the backseat is best for 2 passengers as the third passenger would be uncomfortable thanks to the big transmission tunnel, hard backrest (back of the armrest) and the overall seat contouring:


Getting in and out of the rear seat isn't easy as the car is low. You have to bend and get into the back seat. Once in the rear seat, the overall comfort is good for a hot hatch. There’s a healthy amount of space on offer and the backrest is also set at a comfortable angle:


Here’s ajmat (6’0” tall) sitting behind his driving position. He had a couple of inches worth of knee room and had good headroom as well. Underthigh support however could’ve been better. However, shorter folk wouldn’t find this to be a big issue:


Center armrest is set at a nice height and has cupholders:


You get a ski hatch which gives you access to the boot and allows you to carry long items:


The Golf GTI is equipped with a 3-zone climate control:


The seatback gets a couple of handy slots that can be used to keep small items:


The boot space is rated at 380 litres which is good enough for a hatchback. You can also expand it to 1,237 litres by folding down the rear seats:


Nope, you don’t get a spare wheel:


You do get a puncture repair kit and also note that you get anti-theft wheel bolts:

[Omkar]

Driving the Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0L Turbo Petrol 7-speed DSG

Featuring on the Golf GTI is VW’s workhorse engine family, the EA888. This is however the EVO4 version of the engine that was introduced in 2022 on the Mk 8 Golf GTI and the R. On this Mk 8.5, the engine gets a power bump and produces 261 BHP @ 5,250 – 6,500 rpm and 370 Nm @ 1,600 – 4,500 rpm. It is mated to a 7-speed DSG automatic transmission that sends power to the front wheels:


This is the part that most people are curious about – How the Golf GTI feels behind the wheel. Being one of the OG pocket rockets, it packs a serious punch while being light on its feet. With a kerb weight of 1,454 kg, it has a power-to-weight ratio of 179.5 BHP/ton and a torque to weight ratio of 254 Nm/ton. Fire up the engine and you hear a nice growl from the exhaust. Once settled into a smooth idle, you can get going. Unfortunately, our driving experience was limited only to the track and we couldn’t drive it on normal roads. There were 2 parts to our track drive experience. Firstly, the high-speed track and secondly, the handling track. We had 2 laps each for ajmat and me around the high-speed oval track (11.3 km with 4 lanes). The aim was to hit the top speed and hold it.



Decided to launch the car from a standstill, so went through the usual rituals. Engaged Sport mode, switched the traction control mode to Sport (can turn it off completely as well), left foot hard on the brake, right foot burying the accelerator, saw the revvs climb to 4,000 rpm and hold with the MID showing ‘Launch Control Program Active’ and then dumped the brake pedal. With a bit of wheelspin, the car lunged forward and the speedo kept climbing. Upshifts kept happening at ~6,500 rpm and we hit the top speed of 267 km/h in just under a minute. The claimed 0-100 km/h time is 5.9 seconds which is very much believable. Here’s a video of the launch.

https://youtu.be/v2C80J-FGPU

We also got to drive the GTI on a short patch of the handling track for some time where we tried to simulate some of the day-to-day driving conditions. The throttle response is sharp and you have to be gentle with it. Part throttle inputs are all you need for most of the city driving conditions. The bottom-end is strong and there’s no unnecessary lag at low revs. You have instantaneous power delivery and you’ll get up to speed very quickly. The mid-range is addictive and post 2,000 rpm there’s a strong surge of power that stays till over 5,000 rpm. The gearbox upshifts on its own at 6,500 rpm and doesn’t hold on to the gear in manual mode. In automatic mode, the gearshifts are super quick and you won’t find anything to complain about. In the time that we were pushing the car on the handling track, the gearbox managed to stay in the right gear all the time.

Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)

The GTI comes with twin tailpipes at the back which are loud. The higher Clubsport variant which is available internationally, gets Akrapovic sports exhaust as a part of the optional Performance package, but we don’t get that. This exhaust has a nice raspy note to it which is addictive. You can also hear pops and bangs on lift off. I bet most enthusiasts will appreciate this exhaust as it does everything you expect it to. It is worth noting that the GTI comes equipped with 'Electronic engine sound' which uses speakers to amplify the engine noise in the cabin. In terms of road noise, we didn’t drive it on regular roads, so we wouldn’t comment on that. The wind noise started to creep in post 100 km/h on the high-speed track.

Bonnet gets insulation underneath:

Mileage & Fuel economy

The exact fuel efficiency numbers haven’t been revealed yet. The UK spec Golf has a WLTP-claimed fuel efficiency of 16.92 km/l. Given how enjoyable the Golf GTI is to drive, I doubt anyone would be reaching anywhere close to that figure.

The Golf GTI has a fuel tank capacity of 45 litres:

Suspension

The Golf GTI gets independent suspension all-round with McPherson struts up front and four-link axle at the rear. It has 18-inch alloy wheels shod with 225/40 section tyres. Our test car was running on the Bridgestone Potenza S005 tyres.

One of the most asked questions on the forum when the news about the Golf GTI came out was whether it gets adaptive chassis control or DCC. Unfortunately, the car that will be brought to India won’t get adaptive chassis control. What it essentially does is react to the road surface and driving situation to optimize the dampers for comfort or handling. What we do get on the Golf GTI is an electronically controlled front-axle differential lock which optimizes grip and handling. There’s also a vehicle dynamics manager, albeit with limited operations compared to the version with DCC.



From theory to practice, on the handling track, we had a small section to test out the GTI. Unfortunately, due to certain restrictions, the whole handling track wasn’t available. We ended up doing rounds up and down the allotted section which included a long U-bend and a chicane with a couple of short straights. The turn-in is sharp and you can point the car into a corner aggressively. The chassis is quite capable of handling the power on tap.

The Golf GTI feels light on its feet and quick direction changes are handled very well. In fact, it’s very easy to place the car into a corner. We were trying different lines through the small section of the track and it was holding its own quite well through various scenarios. At no point in that short stint, the car felt like it was losing grip and was unsettled. Of course, there was tyre squeal, but you could tell all the technical wizardry working underneath to keep the car on track. Our test car did encounter an EPS unit error while driving on the handling track. We did the old Microsoft restart and the error went away. But there was a bit of resistance from the steering wheel in one section when taking right turns, so we asked the technical team to give it a check and hopped in another car.

https://youtu.be/JWRlBQkL-FI

On the high-speed track, the car was extremely stable as you can see from the video above. The stiff suspension kept the car glued to the road. But then again, that’s a purpose-built track and we will have to drive it on our regular roads as well for more observations.

Steering

Another trick up the sleeve of the Golf GTI is progressive steering. It basically has a variable steering rack and pinion gearing which reduces the effort at low speeds. In fact, lock to lock for this steering is just under 2 turns. The turning radius is 5.45 meters. When driving enthusiastically, the steering felt fairly direct and predictable. In sharp bends, you don’t have to turn the steering all the way around.

Braking

The braking is top notch and the pedal feel is progressive as well. Driving at slow speeds, you have to be really gentle with the brake pedal to stop smoothly. On the track, the car sheds speed very effectively giving you good confidence in the corners.



Disclaimer: Volkswagen invited Team-BHP for the Golf GTI test-drive. They covered all the travel expenses for this driving event.

[Omkar]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

[JunkyardHunter]

Great review as always, and shame that you couldn't test it in real world conditions. The car looks brilliant, and is a clear evolution of the MK7.5 GTI. Noob question - is the top speed limited to 267 KPH?

[123.rishabh]

Excellent review and a fabulous product, the exhaust sounds really nice.

Should be a good competition to the Mini Cooper S (JCW Pack) which now lacks the exhaust package.

The only concern here is the non compliance of E20 fuel which might be a problem in the future specially seeing how sensitive these VW group Petrol engines are for fuel.

[sunikkat]

Nice car and a great review. Though I would never buy this since it’s too expensive for a second car and lacks badge value for a primary car (view based on personal situations), it would be great to see them on roads.

Manual seat adjustments is a total eyesore. Why VW at this price point?

When do we expect the pricing to be out?

[Utopian]

A detailed, exhaustive review for an awesome car ! I love the timeless design of the Golf and they have thankfully held to that barring the front grill. I am sure the car would be a hoot to drive in that 2.0 TSI + DSG guise.

Can't wait to see it on our humble NCR roads.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by JunkyardHunter

Great review as always, and shame that you couldn't test it in real world conditions. The car looks brilliant, and is a clear evolution of the MK7.5 GTI. Noob question - is the top speed limited to 267 KPH?

Actually, its limited to 250KPH. We breached the limit due to the banked circuit as well as the wind blowing our way.

Edit: Must also add - this is the indicated top speed, there could be speedo error within 10% also

[KharbandaKartik]

Originally Posted by Omkar

Braking

Big 17-inch discs on all wheels of the Golf GTI. The braking is top notch and the pedal feel is progressive as well. Driving at slow speeds, you have to be really gentle with the brake pedal to stop smoothly. On the track, the car sheds speed very effectively giving you good confidence in the corners.


Disclaimer: Volkswagen invited Team-BHP for the Golf GTI test-drive. They covered all the travel expenses for this driving event.

17 inch brake discs? That can't be true !

[xtremeshock]

Amazing review, was waiting for this car, coming from a VRS owner hate to say this but the BYD Seal AWD seems like a better option for performance enthusiasts if you don't plan to take it on the track much, in today's day 265Hp for 50L Ex showroom seems too much, should have atleast got the 333hp AWD version for this price, alternatively the 340i seems like a value proposition, really hope they can find a way to make it cheaper maybe local production for both the new Octavia VRS and the GTi.

[Rohitthebest]

Great review as always.

Fantastic to have at least 150 such beauties (and the beasts) on our roads. Looking forward to coming across a few in Pune, presumably very shortly. And now, one dream is finally attainable in India. Although I will still be keen on getting one with two doors only but now that this is launched in India, for sure is a winner in all the departments.

[autobahnjpr]

Finally Golf is launched here. Happy to see fabric seats which are more suitable to our hot weather than leather ones. As has been pointed out, E20 incompatibility will create a doubt in the minds of prospective customers. Sad to see that it is not being offered with DCC.

I do not understand why it is being exported from UK and not from Germany where it is manufactured. Does this mean, the car will first physically go to UK and then come to India?

[GeeTee TSI]

Handsome car with timeless European hatch proportions. In fact, the Golf traits (practicality, quality) has me interested too (besides the GTI aspects)

As a primary car, it has quite many alternatives (even within VAG) at that price point but stands out as a no-brainer second (fun) car if one has the means. Surprised as I type this because a younger me pined for the iconic, global VWs like there was no tomorrow. Refinement and ride comfort on my list of priorities might nudge me to look wider as an upgrade from my Octavia.