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Practical proof of that GTI Legend
One thing is for sure — the Volkswagen Golf GTi has an incredible pedigree. It goes back to 1976 — that’s 24 years before I was born, so little should I know! But here’s the trick — I race an original Golf 1 in the Burly Pro GTi Challenge and after three seasons in that incredible little car, I've become quite au-fait with the badge and the brand — that’s my race car in the pictures with its great-great-great grandson GTI 7.5.
The biggest similarity between the two, is that they are both winners — the new one remains a market leader despite it being a little long in the tooth too and mine? Well, it’s still winning after all these years and if it gets beaten, its by another Mk. 1 GTi and to me, that is pedigree second to none…
Beyond that, probably the only things that are comparable between these two 43 years down the road, are their low-pitched grumbles while idling and their incredible ability to be so practical at such great value. The new one is of course light years ahead in terms of build quality (mine is actually a bucket of bolts in that respect, but then it’s only built to do one thing).
The new GTI also now has a capital I and its technical spec is space age in comparison, never mind the car being so much bigger, safer and more sophisticated, but it certainly maintains the core characteristics one would expect from a Golf. Mark 1 is of course timeless — to still be winning after all these years is quite astounding — never mind its ageless Giorgetto Giugiaro style — it's going to be interesting to see how the new one shapes up in 40 years time. I’d say pretty well, too!
OK, so what about this Golf 7.5 GTI? For starters, it's the all round practical king, the perfect daily driver packed with brilliant tech that stretches to among the best infotainment systems of its kind in comparison to its rivals. Which is pretty interesting — it never took all that long for this spec to spill down from those flagship Audis to this car, so one has to wonder how long that next haptic revolution will take to filter down to Golf — generation 8, perhaps?
That will eliminate any touchscreen reservations we have about this car’s system — like most rivals, it’s too sensitive to touch on rougher roads and that finger-mark smudging is one aspect we can’t wait to see how the carmakers address! For the rest, I suppose VW can place more focus on making comfort and eco modes even more comfortable and economical because GTI is after all a car that will be used as easily as a daily driver as it is a hot hatch track day car.
I found GTI to be most economical, but I really had to work to achieve that, while softer damping, or a more versatile spring versus damping solution would perhaps keep everyone happy with that ride, which is fine by me, but not sure if my mom — who loves this car and who certainly is a prospective buyer — would be happy with that harshness everyday.
Last, but very much not least, we were pretty intrigued as to this particular unit’s performance, but we are convinced it’s real. GTI’s launch control is almost perfect, even if it hesitates a touch towards the top of first gear as it predicts wheelspin that doesn’t arrive which likely costs it around a tenth. Which is a pity, because I’m pretty sure that hugely impressive improved 5.8-second 0-100km/h time is about that same tenth of a second off our front-wheel drive record…
The yellow car on the other hand is a good old manual and we work quite well together, it and me — as rough and ready as it is. Which is completely contrary to the quite sublime new one. - Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: Volkswagen Golf GTi
Engine: 189kW 350Nm 1998cc turbo petrol I4
Drive: 6-speed DC auto FWD
TESTED:
0-60km/h: 3.06 sec
0-100km/h: 5.84 sec
0-160km/h: 13.06 sec
400m: 13.9 sec @ 166km/h
80-120km/h: 3.41 sec
120-160km/h: 5.38 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 248km/h
Fuel: 6.4 l/100km
CO2: 149 g/km
Warranty/Service: 3y 120K/5y 90Kkm
LIST PRICE: R565K
RATED: 89%