Design
Race Ready
- Racy, elegant, distinctive. Three words that sum up the GTI’s personality.
- A bold red stripe that spans headlight to headlight, a signature GTI trait, makes the Golf stand out.
- An illuminated grille, with an illuminated Volkswagen logo looks super cool post sundown.
- 18-inch alloy wheels have a striking design and a clean silver finish. Look closely and you’ll see the massive brake disc and red-painted brake calliper peeking from behind.
- The tail lamps have a smoked-lens effect and come with customisable animations on unlock.
- It looks great in each of its colour options that include: Moonstone Grey, Grenadilla Black Metallic, Kings Red Metallic, and Oryx White Mother Of Pearl Effect. We love the subtlety of the grey and white.
- The low stance makes it look sporty. But the 136mm of ground clearance might require you to be careful over speed breakers.
Interiors
Driver Focused
- The interior is designed to wrap itself around the driver. Everything else seems secondary.
- Design is simple, with a layered dashboard design, carbon-fibre-patterned trims and gloss black panels.
- Use of soft-touch materials on the top half of the dashboard and front door pads gives it a premium feel.
- A chunky flat-bottomed steering wheel has prominent contours at the 10-2 and 4-8 positions. The dimpled leather wrap feels rich too.
- The single-piece bucket seats look great, draped in the GTI’s signature ‘tartan’ fabric upholstery.
- Fit and finish is consistent and solid, as expected from a German car.
- Plastics used in the cabin, especially in the lower half of the dashboard and the door pads are hard and scratchy.
- The touch-based switches for the climate control, drive modes and headlights will take some getting used to.
- Leather upholstery for the seats should’ve been offered.
Space & Practicality
Practical Power!
- The bucket seats at the front offer supreme levels of support and just the right amount of cushioning, holding you in place even during hard cornering.
- The seat can be adjusted manually, and the steering gets tilt and telescopic adjustment making it easy to find a comfortable driving position.
- Even a six-footer will be very comfortable in the front seats. The footwell area is wide too.
- Storage spaces are acceptable, with twin cupholders, a dedicated phone storage and large door pads.
- The second row has ample space for a six foot tall occupant to be seated behind a six foot tall driver.
- Heavy bolstering means the backseats are best used to seat two occupants.
- There’s ample headroom and width on offer in the rear seats for two occupants.
- Rear occupants get their own climate control zone along with a central armrest and spacious door cards for bottles and other knick knacks.
- The Golf GTI’s 380-litre boot fits a large suitcase or a few small ones, but stacking is tricky, so smaller bags work best.
- Those generously proportioned will ‘spill out’ of the front seats.
- In the rear seats, the middle occupant is likely to be uncomfortable owing to the raised seat base which reduces headroom, and the large central tunnel.
Features
Just The Basics
- The 12.9-inch touchscreen has a crisp resolution, easy to understand interface and quick response times.
- It supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
- A 10.25-inch Digital Driver’s Display has customisable views and shows all the statistics of the vehicle.
- Ambient lighting is configurable (30 colours) and lights up specific sections of the dashboard and door pads. Lends a premium vibe to the cabin.
- Other features include heated front seats, wireless phone charger, push-button start/stop, electric panoramic sunroof and an auto-dimming inside rear view mirror.
- The 7-speaker audio system sounds basic.
- Front seat ventilation and powered front seats seem missing for the price.
Safety
No Compromise
- The Golf GTI features 7 airbags, including a front centre airbag.
- ABS, tyre pressure monitoring system, electronic stability control and ISOFIX child seat mounts are offered as well.
- Front and rear parking sensors, along with a reverse camera is provided.
- Level 2 ADAS is on offer, with features such as adaptive cruise control, auto emergency braking and lane assist.
- ADAS is unlikely to be India-friendly, as we’ve seen with most fully imported vehicles.
- For this price, a 360-degree camera should have been offered.
Performance & Mileage
Hot Hatch!
- The Golf GTI is offered with a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine that makes 265PS of power and 370Nm of torque.
- This motor sends power to the front wheels via a 7-speed DSG (dual-clutch automatic)
- 0-100kmph is taken care of in just 5.9 seconds.
- Top speed is electronically locked to 250kmph (speedo indicated: 267kmph!)
- With a strong power delivery, and a raspy sound, this engine begs you to push it harder.
- The gearbox is super quick, hammering out lighting fast upshifts and downshifts as required.
- You can use the paddle shifters to control the gears manually, but you’d almost never need to.
- The drive modes include Eco, Comfort, Sport and Individual — which can be selected as per requirement.
- The exhaust note is a highlight, letting out occasional pops and crackles as you drive hard.
- Expect 4-6kmpl when driven hard. Calm cruises on the highway might see the efficiency reach double digits.
Handling
For The Enthusiast
- Expectedly, the Golf GTI is set up to be a sharp handler and not a plush luxury car.
- You can feel the imperfections in the surface, which makes the drive experience involving. However, it never gets uncomfortable.
- It is one of the best-handling front-wheel drive hatchbacks on sale. It rewards precise inputs with grip and stability.
- High-speed stability is phenomenal. Changing lanes at triple digit speeds seems like child’s play.
- The low ground clearance and stiff ride might not be to everyone’s taste. Exercise caution over large speedbreakers and broken roads.
Verdict
Should You Consider The Volkswagen Golf GTI?
- The Volkswagen Golf GTI seemingly does it all. It’s a true-blue hot hatch, while being a family car at heart. Very few cars come close to delivering the sheer joy the GTI does. For that reason alone, the Golf GTI should be on your consideration list..
