The Original Hot Hatch Is Back
The original GTI: its the car that laid the foundation for the hot hatchback segment, and it arrived on the block around the same time that Men at Work were taking us "Down Under", Eddie Grant had us boppin to "Electric Avenue" and what is now and seems like it will forever be the biggest band in the world (Beatles and Stones aside), U2, was just about to release "The Unforgettable Fire" which would put them over the top in the U.S. market. Yes, skinny ties, zoot suits and suspenders were on their way out and preppy pastel-coloured Alligator golf shifts by IZOD Lacoste and uncomfortable trendy deck shoes were all the rage, but it was the GTI that has stood the test of time.
I would like to write about how I fondly remember owning one with gold snowflake 13-inch | | The true pioneer - VWs first GTI. (Photo: Volkswagen of America) |
wheels under rolled fenders, and how it could mow down most performance cars in its day, but I cant, because Im a child of the 90s. Nevertheless, not being there didnt stop me from admiring the vehicles from the decade earlier. I loved learning about things like Audis quattro system and the early M-Powered BMWs, but hot hatchbacks, primarily the GTI intrigued me. It didnt have a prancing horse on the badge (a prancing rabbit would have to do), it wasnt particularly showy and it didnt cost a bundle. What got | | First-gen with the new fifth-gen model. Note the size difference. (Photo: Volkswagen of America) |
me even more confused is it just wasnt very powerful. Yet, it was immensely popular, for reasons that I couldnt understand in my prepubescent mind.
The interesting thing about the GTI is that unlike most of the cars on the road today, it was an innovation born out of necessity. The car was created during a time when gasoline was ultra-expensive, at least for the time, and generally speaking, money was tight; people simply couldnt afford to have two cars as they do now - what would have been a regular practical family car | | This was VWs idea of a GTI. It looks no different than a regular Golf, which it more or less is. (Photo: Volkswagen of America) |
(or, possibly, a big SUV, like a K5 Jimmy) and a sports car. People needed one car to do it all, and the GTI was the first vehicle to provide thrill-a-minute handling while still being thrifty to run, own and insure. And unlike most cars to emerge from Wolfsburg, the GTI was engineered by a bunch of zany wrench-heads as an after-work project, so it had little original influence from the finance department; meaning the first batch was about as pure as performance cars get.
It is widely regarded that the first GTI was the best of the bunch; the so-called | | Talking about the Mk.III and IV GTI hurts. So, heres a picture of the new car. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) |
Holy Grail of compact cars, but the one that really does it for me is the second generation - perhaps because its the GTI that I remember most fondly. It was usefully bigger, but it retained much of the nippy, nimbleness of the original car, not to mention that it looked great up until its demise in 1992. The third generation car was fat and stupid, and because the fourth generation GTI was an affront to the name, Im not really going to bother talking about the car.
At that time, Volkswagen was concerned with moving the brand up-market, rather than focusing on the spirit of the GTI. Its not | | Adding more power and more weight didnt work on Mk.III and IV. Mk.V needs to do more to win hearts back. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) |
that the third and fourth generation GTIs arent good cars either, because they really are. The third generation GTI (eventually) bore the unique 15-degree narrow-angle VR6 engine that made it suitably brisk and refined, and the fourth generation had an interior that could serve a one-two knockout punch to the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. But such attributes have little to no face value when it comes down to the true nature of the GTI; the Mk.III and IV cars failed to retain any sort of sparkle. A hot hatch without sparkle is merely a room temperature hatch, and there are very few things that are appealing at room temperature.
But | | Honeycomb grille, red outline, and classic GTI typeset re-kindle the classic spirit in appearance. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) |
thankfully Volkswagens modus operandi has changed; theyre no longer trying to be Germanys Next Top Model, building eight-cylinder Passats and six-figure luxury sedans, not to mention terrain-conquering SUVs. Volkswagen is now hitting back with clever yet very realistic vehicles, the same kinds of cars that they used to build. Well soon see it in upcoming niche models, the first of which is the latest GTI.
Volkswagen says that the Mk.V car returns to the GTIs real roots, but after the past two generations its going to be hard to convince people. Right off the bat, the outlook is overcast: this latest GTI is based off the fifth-generation Golf, which is longer, wider and taller than the ones currently | | You couldnt ask for a better interior in a sporty, compact car. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) |
roaming the planet. Eighty percent more torsionally rigid it may be, but its also substantially heavier than the previous generation. Thats not a good thing, either, as weight is the natural enemy to anything thats supposed to go fast and be able to change direction quickly. But dont be too quick to discount it as a GTI imposter: this is the real deal.
One thing that the designers in charge of the GTI got 100 percent right is the bodywork; its jam-packed with all of those heritage details, giving a healthy nod to the original without being a blatant rip-off. The changes made are subtle and tasteful; they really do transform a rather ordinary looking machine into something thats not just a Golf. The chrome bib has been replaced with one thats pitch black; the | | 2.0T engine sounds and performs wonderfully. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) |
grille, reworked with honeycomb mesh, is ever so delicately outlined in red. The lower bumper with its three deep intakes is aggressive but not showy, and much the same can be said about the rear spoiler or the red-painted brake calipers. What I like most about its design is that it isnt susceptible to fads and trends; it should forever remain timeless and most likely wont ever go out of style. Sort of like those classic white tennis shoes or an un-tucked white dress shirt.
There is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that the GTI has one of the best interiors of any sports compact car, bar none. The Recaro seats are perfect, their aggressive bolstering holds you firmly in place, and the flat-bottomed steering wheels about as good as they come; combining a narrow diameter with a plump rim thats perfectly contoured for driving | | The GTI is always ready and willing to go -- even if youre in the wrong gear. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) |
with hands at 3 and 9. It really puts you in the mood for enthusiastic driving. The shift knob isnt a golf ball (an option), but its funky and chunky, plus the pedals are hunks of rubber-studded aluminum. Yet what makes me want to give VW a standing ovation is the fact that at the heart of the new GTI is a Golf. Everythings screwed tight, with no squeaks and rattles, the plastic is of high quality, and the whole car feels thousands and thousands of dollars more expensive than it actually costs.
The new GTI doesnt make any more horsepower than the outgoing 200-hp 2.8L V6, but that 200-horsepower is now generated from an engine thats seven-tenths the size and has two less cylinders, which saves precious kilos; not to mention even more precious gasoline. Mind you, no other GTI has benefited from as much technology as this; assisted by a low-pressure turbocharger | | 300 km/h (180 mph in USA) speedometer seems optimistic, Uncapped it can hit 140 mph, (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) |
and the same FSI fuel-injection technology that helped Audi sweep Le Mans, the new car actually manages to deliver 207 lb-ft of torque, or twice that of the original car. This is important, considering it weighs about twice as much as the original. Its also much quicker than the classic 84; for the six-speed manual car, 60 mph is eliminated in just under seven seconds, and with the DSG the numbers dip into the high sixes. Keep your foot planted and itll keep accelerating until it hits an electronic barrier of 130 mph.
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