Not that I’m remotely biased in the least, but I decided that the VW marketing people must know a thing or two about aesthetics.
They chose a white three door GTI as their launch commercial feature car.
https://youtu.be/iK20UnL_hjQ“Regrets, I’ve had a few... “
I ordered one myself, my first ever brand new car, within a few days of model launch.
Pure White manual Performance Pack

I even had to pay extra for the colour as white wasn’t free at that time.
It’s quite a popular shade as the mk7 GTI looks good in it.
Hell, I’m on my fifth in a row! If I had to change cars again tomorrow then a white Golf would be right up there again.
My thoughts on my own GTI 3 door?
It looked great, I love the rear window line aping the mk1 Golf’s, and proper GTIs should be three doors anyway

In practice it was a PITA. The doors were too long to get out of easily in my garage or tight parking bays. I hated having to reach back to get the seat belt on (#shortarse) especially when my back was playing up.
The front seats didn’t slide forward far enough to get into and out of the back seats very easily either.
On the flip side, the natty little cup holders either side of the rear squab were cool, the interior didn’t appear to have been cheaped out on quite so much because there were no non-illuminating rear door trims or sills and did I mention it looked better in profile?
Aside from that I thought the power delivery was a bit flat, it was very good on fuel and the gear-change wasn’t the best.
The white manual R I had afterwards had five doors.
That was a much better car full stop. No wonder they’re so popular. Simply brilliant machine.
After that a white manual GTD graced my drive for a brief few weeks and that was the last brand new car I owned. That’s about all I have to say about that car...
Next up was a white manual Clubsport. Fantastic looks, fantastic handling, much more exciting power delivery than a standard GTI and a fluffy steering wheel. Recommended.
Then came a TCR. But that’s also got 5 doors plus is a DSG so irrelevant here. At least it’s white.
My advice? I don’t actually have any.
My opinion? If you want a newish three door manual GTI M, get one you can actually have some fun in every single day. Get an up! GTI
Hell, I might even follow my own opinion later this year, I don’t need a family car anymore, I don’t need nearly 300bhp and having spent the last three weeks reengaging with a manual gearbox again I sure don’t need DSG...
Oh, it’d have to be a white one too
