I hope you’re not expecting a proper hot hatch test of this superb Golf GTi as it arrived in the apex of a perfect storm in my life…
Vertigo is a bitch. There, I used a naughty word in one of my reviews because I firmly believe that it’s as deserved as everyone on the internet alleges. Next to toothache, man flu and (presumably) child birth, vertigo or motion sickness must be one of the most agonising debilitations the human body can endure.
For reasons which have no business in this review, when this Anemone Blue Metallic Mk8.5 GTi arrived at my house, I was bed-ridden with an un-merrily spinning head. A good 48 hours later, I’d found most of my feet again and gently maneuvered this sporty Volkswagen down our undulating driveway.
It was here, about halfway down while turning towards my garage, that this GTi’s automatic braking system detected a potential crash and dropped all available anchors. As a recovering vertigoist, I was not amused by this stunt, even more so because no other test car had ever done that and I was miles away from a crash.
Happily (for me), my wife experienced the same rude stop in exactly the same spot. And despite fairly strict press vehicle rules, my better half grabbed the keys and became my chauffeur for the next few days. So I apologise that I never drove the GTi properly; and for the sarcastic short video about that auto-brake system.
However, this gave me the perfect opportunity to review a GTi in a way which may have been glossed over too often. Instead of writing vrr-pha haikus and torturing metaphors about cornering grip, my little family slotted this 265hp medium-sized hatchback into our daily routine as if it was, umm, just a medium-sized hatchback.
Obviously all its go-faster gear brings a few commuting downsides with it, chief among which is a borderline choppy ride. You can blame these amazing clover-leaf 19-inch alloys being barely covered by a set of Bridgestone Potenza 235/35 R19 tyres. The steering is super quick and the ride is tolerable, most certainly to the GTi’s target market.
We probably aren’t its ideal customers, although the Golf basis meant that two adults with a kid found plenty of room, loads of versatility plus a great mix of tech and comfort features. VW has dialled in their current digital cockpit well, as there are multiple volume or shortcut buttons, plus a fairly simple and easy infotainment system.
The digital gauge cluster needs a bit of fettling before you’ll find the right set of info (or a simplistic lack thereof, if you so please) but every other user interface in this refreshed eighth version of the hot hatch daddy is intuitively designed and sensibly placed. I didn’t test the sound system with Drum & Bass on max. Sorry.
Some personal highlights include the two-tone sports seats, the driver-angled dashboard with plenty of chrome trim, a handsome steering wheel and more storage areas than you can throw a Yeti cup at. Most noise levels are pleasingly low, with only intrusive road rumbles on rough tarmac or raised exhaust tones on wider throttle openings.
Ah yes, typing of which, I recall that my wife’s few days behind the wheel didn’t include a single full-throttle blast. That’s not because she’s boring, quite the opposite, she’s the only non-professional driver I know who’s piloted an Ariel Atom around Killarney. It’s just that she’s, umm, busy. And not a boy racer from Umhlanga.
This beautiful blue GTi spent half a week being roped into school runs, business meetings, doctor visits, gymnastics practise, pharmacy runs, tea with friends, grocery shopping and quick trips to nearby equestrian stables. It’s only in the last two situations where this car’s low ride and sporty skirts need a degree of care around speed bumps, raised entrances and tall sidewalks.
But all the other trips we undertook – even an early morning walk on the beach, as evident from the sandy footprints in my photos – highlighted how versatile this legendary lunatic can be. No traffic light grands prix, no exhaust farts, no red-line runs. Instead, this 195kW turbo-petrol four-pot burbled through its seven automated dual-clutch gears at little more than 2,000rpm.
In fact, peak torque of 370Nm arrives at 1,600rpm so the GTi makes a superb low-rpm cruiser or commuter. Had my loved one actually planted her right foot, maximum power would’ve arrived at 6,500rpm and we could’ve potentially hit 100km/h in just under six seconds. But we didn’t. Ditto for the alleged top end of 250km/h.
Nope. We cruised around suburbia and ran errands in our neighbourhood with such ease and (relative) comfort that this review almost wrote itself. As I was a passenger for all of this, and an ailing one at that, I didn’t note our exact fuel consumption but remember that the car still had lots of juice left in its tank when we handed it back.
Volkswagen South Africa claims an average of 7.1L/100km from the 50L tank, which will be hard to achieve around town and/or with the driving habits of a teenager. But out on the open road, at grown-up speeds? Easy peasy I feel queasy. And let’s not forget the multi-level 375L boot (with emergency spare wheel) and folding rear seats for up to 1,230L of packing space.
My repeat apologies for not hammering the living daylights out of this press vehicle, or taking it for a performance and brake test, but I did have a valid excuse and found great delight in how such a hot-headed and tarted-up version of the world’s best hatchback has not abandoned its roots.
It is an excellent daily driver.
