So I finally managed to grab a test drive in the new Golf GTi.
The car I test drove was a Tornado Red, standard 217bhp 5 door, fitted with a 'manual' box and bog standard 18" 'Austin' wheels wrapped in Dunlop Sport Maxx rubber (225/40 ZR18). The only optional extra's added were Keyless Entry (£350) & Discover Pro Nav system (£1,725), both of which I could have done without. Although the car had only been at the dealership for two weeks with 700 miles on the clock, there were plenty of scratches on the harder plastics in the interior…. it wasn't in the best of conditions to say the least! What was really noticeable, was that there were lots of deep scratches around the area where the normal ignition key slot would have been…. although the car was set-up for keyless entry, people had obviously forgotten and tried inserting the key into an imaginary hole. It looks like even if you've opted for keyless entry you still get a key on the remote fob? (Probably as a safeguard or override function)
EXTERNAL APPEARANCE
The car itself looked good, but if I'm brutally honest slightly underwhelming, as a lot of people on here have already commented. I can't really put my finger on why… I was under the impression it would look better in the flesh than in the pictures, but it didn't. Maybe because it could have done with a clean and the flies covering the bonnet didn't exactly help matters. I'm not sure the Tornado Red colour did it much favours as well. I've owned a solid red coloured car in the past and absolutely loved the colour, but this just didn't seem to suit the GTi. For some reason it didn't show off the lines as well, but then maybe in different lights its different.
The 18" 'Austin' wheels looked good and are a nice evolution of the old 18" Monza's, but still looked "slightly" under wheeled! Shame they didn't offer that same 'axe-head' design as a 19" option because I do like them.
INTERIOR
The overall quality was again good, but not such as big leap as many reviewers have commented. I had originally said that I liked the look of the fake carbon-fibre 'esque' trim, but in reality it looks a little cheap… maybe the high gloss finish had something to do with it? Maybe it would have looked better with a matt finish or stuck with piano black? Not sure. Steering wheel looked & felt great.. nice width… not too chunky but not too thin either. I much prefer the look of the new steering wheel over the old however I still prefer the more sculptured feel of the Mk6 over the new. Not a fan of the triangular small window in the A-pillar.. looks like a pain to clean. Tartan seats looked great and reminds me of the original tartan found in the Mk1…. better looking & less fussy than in the Mk6. One comment I would make is that although the thigh bolsters on the seat are more pronounced, they still don't grip you enough. i understand that they have to cater for all sizes, but I personally would have preferred more support (but then I'm not a particularly large individual).
DRIVE
So to the drive itself…. and all I can say is it doesn't disappoint. It does everything the old car did, but BETTER!! Yes the steering feels detached, but you get that with any modern day electric steering. Performance wise its quick, but not stupidly so as to scare you witless!. What was instantly noticeable (compared to the Mk6) was how much quicker it felt off the line…. You really do notice the extra 52lb/ft difference in torque. Theres no whiff of turbo lag whatsoever. Also noticed a lovely exhaust note whilst I was standing on the forecourt waiting for the salesman to bring the car round… however the lovely exhaust note is not so apparent when you're sitting inside the vehicle itself. Even on a hard charge the exhaust is very 'muted'… probably more so than the Mk6.
No problems with front end grip as well. I took a high speed corner in 4th gear at 60mph which tightened on itself & there was no hint of understeer at all… I just kept my foot planted to the floor and it went round effortlessly (& this was without the clever e-diif, just the standard XDS). Turn in was precise and accurate, however the damping was "slightly' on the firm side (more so than my Mk6) which was a bit of a surprise. Drove over few expansion joints in the road that sent a noticeable thud and vibration through the cabin. Not sure why this would be? Maybe the tyres were over inflated or something? There wasn't such a 'huge' difference between Comfort, Normal & Sport mode in terms of throttle response & steering input, however there was a 'subtle' difference. I kept changing the settings whilst driving, but it wasn't always apparent which mode I was in. Much preferred driving in 'Sport' mode though as the steering did feel more weighted (would have loved to have tried a demo with the DCC to see if this made much more difference to the handling).
There was one gripe though, and it could have been down to me but for some strange reason I couldn't get a smooth shift from first into second gear. I tried adjusting the throttle and then the clutch on numerous occasions, but every time I got a horrible drivetrain shunt changing up? Weird… Probably me. Probably just need to change my driving style or the car needs to be run in more?
VERDICT
So what was my overall impression? Theres no question it's 'Good'…. in fact VERY "Good", which was pretty much what I expected.
However those of you coming from a Mk6 may feel "slightly' underwhelmed (like myself), as its pretty much business as usual (albeit with a few subtle changes here & there). However those of you who are coming over from other marques will probably be "deeply" impressed as its a stunning piece of machinery and probably the best 'all-round' hot hatch on the market at the present moment.
