For me, the thing that has always impressed me about performance Golf's is that they just do the job without shouting about it. If you want to be noticed and look like you've just crashed into Halfords, then surely the Civics or Focus RS are the cars you - wings, fins and all.
However if you want an understated fast hatch that ticks all the boxes (performance, handling, comfort, practicality, looks and equipment), then in my opinion the Golf is still the one to beat. Sure there are more powerful hatches, hatches with wheel arch bulges, scoops and spoilers, bigger boots, cheaper prices, but really.... one that does it all so well as the Golf ?
It's interesting that whenever a magazine or on-line article is comparing small to medium family hatches, the Golf always seems to be the one that it's bench marked against.
I'm sure it will be a cracking car, very fast, competitively priced, good warranty, but I'd have to see it in the flesh, as whilst VW build quality isn't perfect, compared to a lot of it's peers, it's still pretty good, and if the build quality isn't a significant step up from my neighbors I3 cooking model, then that in itself could be enough to kill it before it get's going.
I think this sums up my attitude to the GTI perfectly. My last car was an astra j vxr, which, on paper at least, had the golf beat in terms of power and chassis, what with a drexlar diff, brembo brakes, adaptive suspension and a twin sroll turbo that was making around 60 bhp more than the golf. In reality however, I find the golf much easier to live with on a daily basis, and at least as fun to drive on a country road. The weight was one thing against the astra, but even before I got a dtuk tunning box and pedal box, I would still pick the golf over the astra every day.
In terms of styling, which is always subjective anyway, I did really like the agressive look of the vxr, but the Golf has a timeless appeal to it. Further more, I work in a Porsche dealership, and have had many more compliments regarding the gti than I ever did about the astra. Sometimes what's on paper dosen't always mean so much as what the car is like to drive and people's perceptions of it, for good or ill. I just can't see the hyundai pulling people away from more established brands at £28,000. I'm sure its a good car, but then the gt86 gets a good review yet the mx5 is still the go to choice.
