Reviews
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Volkswagen’s Mk4 Golf GTI arrived in Australia just in time to witness the Subaru WRX phenomenon go large.
And talk about a difference of opinion. Where the Japanese fed their rally-bred sedan a rip-snorting 2.0-litre turbo, all-wheel-drive, massive fogs and a great big wing, the Germans followed the stealth route with a set of alloys, dark-tinted taillights, colour-coded rub strips and a low-blow 1.8-litre turbo.
There wasn’t a single spoiler or foglight in evidence and you couldn’t even see the exhaust – Volkswagen deliberately concealed the tip behind the rear bumper. And that, believe it or not, was how the Golf GTI began the decade.
The former is something little girls would appreciate and the latter spells a whole new level of club chic.
The Golf’s basic style remains the same – prominent Volksy grille badge, elemental headlights, curved windscreen, fat C-pillars, shortish wheelbase and upright tailgate – but the garnishing is chalk and cheese.
2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI 40 Years review Jump into the marginally heavier Mk6 and it’s amazing just how lithe it is, how keen its turn-in is and how much more animated it feels. In every dynamic discipline you’d care to name, the new car is an absolute revelation. Even wearing the 17s of our test car, the Mk6 GTI has miles of mid-corner and corner-exit grip, goes exactly where you point it, and will move its tail around a bit if you ask it to.There’s actually feel and connection fed through its beautifully chubby leather three-spoker, and it even rides brilliantly, with far greater finesse than the Mk4 ever had.
2017 Volkswagen Golf GTI adds 180kW manual It’s this effortlessness that really sets the Mk6 GTI apart – not just from the Mk4 GTI but also most of its competitors. The brilliance of the modern-day Golf GTI is that you can have your cake and eat it too.
Practicality, economy, and relative affordability aren’t mutually exclusive to this highly covetable hot-hatch. And just because you’ve spent less than 50 grand, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a fantastic, high-class interior.
But it’s the new GTI’s continuation of the Mk5’s all-round dynamic excellence that really stands out here. These days, VW makes driver’s cars.
