Is the new Golf GTI still the king of the hot hatch segment? Andrew English finds out.

Huh oh, it’s that time again. Time to pull the wraps off a new VW Golf GTI, this one the eighth-generation in 44 years of flag-carrying hot hatchbacks.

My how things have changed in that time. Through eight iterations the Golf GTI has grown so much that even its smaller Polo sibling is larger than the original 1976 GTI. This new model’s 242bhp turbo engine summons 2.2 times more power than the original’s 1.6-litre unit could muster and at 1,460kg the new GTI is 1.8 times heavier – oh and it’s also seven times more expensive that the £4,705 Brits paid for the first GTI. 

As we know, not all Golf GTIs have been the absolute zenith of hot hatchery; marks four and five weren’t particularly fantastic to drive and were significantly out gunned by much of the opposition. This new car is entering a particularly strong market with Hyundai’s i30 N Performance, Honda’s amazing Civic Type-R, Renault’s Mégane Trophy and Ford’s Focus ST pushing at the bench marks of performance and agility. 

So, when it goes on sale at prices starting at £33,000 rising to £35,000 this autumn, here’s what you’ll get for your money. 

While clearly based on the current, cooking Golf model launched last year, the GTI gets a wide lower grille and aerodynamic splitter at the front, with LED headlamps. It rolls on specially designed wheels, with a big roof spoiler and a diffuser at the rear, along with big exhaust snaps. 

Under the bonnet is the latest EA888 Evo 4 turbo petrol engine pumping out 242bhp and 273lb ft, tweaked and with a particulate filter, but largely in the form which was fitted to the Performance version of the previous GTI. Top speed is electronically pegged at 155mph, with 0-62mph in 6.3sec. They’ve yet to finish full exhaust emissions and fuel economy homologation tests, and the body is more slippery than the outgoing GTI Performance model, with a coefficient of drag down from 0.3 to 0.275, but as an indication, that superseded car with a DSG transmission, achieved a WLTP-test best of 37.7mpg. Driving fairly briskly in this new model, I achieved an indicated 30.4mpg. 

Transmission choice is between a six-speed manual, or seven-speed DSG twin wet-clutch gearbox and the electronically-controlled, multi-clutch-plate limited-slip differential, optional on the outgoing Performance model, is now standard. 

The chassis is upgraded with harder springs, up five per cent at the front and 15 per cent at the rear, and titivated damping, suspension mounts and bearings. The aluminium rear subframe from the outgoing GTI Clubsport S has been pressed into service in place of the standard car’s steel item and the wheel carriers are new. The car now has a variable-ratio steering rack to improve the agility at low speeds, but the faster, central part of the rack still has the same 2.1:1 ratio as before. The brakes get a bigger master cylinder (so more effect for the same pedal movement) and speed-sensitive boosting. Adaptive dampers are still an option (about £1,000), but you’ll probably want them as they are the icing of the cake on the new, faster acting and more comprehensive Vehicle Dynamics Manager - VDD. By monitoring just about every dynamic variable, the VDD adjusts the drivetrain, suspension and steering to suit according to the settings dialled into the system. Calibration of this must have been a mighty task.

And like Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel’s Marshall amplifier, this GTI goes to 11. VW has allowed three settings below maximum Comfort and beyond maximum Sport, where the car will tolerate four-wheel drifts and tail slides without clamping down on them like a fierce German nanny. It doesn’t mean there’s any more transverse deflection in the wheel angles, just that you’re allowed to use it more. 

In the cabin, there’s a high-quality feel and look, with lovely fabrics, close-fitting panels and sleek touch screens. The GTI iconography is all there, the fretwork grilles, the golf-ball gear lever knob and the plaid seat coverings, which look like an American tourist’s trousers... 

There are new seats with integral head restraints and very comfy they are, too. Accommodation isn’t the largest in the sector, but since it’s a five door, (the three-door Golf is no more), it’s easy to get into the rear seats and they’ll (just) swallow a couple of adults. The 380-litre boot isn’t the biggest in the class, but it’s more than good enough. The rear seat backs fold 60/40 per cent on to their bases, so the load bed isn’t completely flat. 

Billed as the first digital Golf, there’s good, but a lot of bad in the facia. The three-spoke steering wheel, centre screen and a lack of fascia buttons looks clean, but none of the new digital functions are particularly intuitive to use and feels as effective like stoking a particularly over active gerbil. Nor was the ‘Hey Volkswagen’ voice control system working; VW’s software woes continue. 

The general rule about this screen-based stuff is that you need to access the most commonly used functions easily. You might never want to alter the sound quality or phone settings, but everyone uses heating and ventilation and burying functions as simple as turning the air con on and off in a sub menu is as much a safety as it is a convenience issue.  

“Rivals had got close,” said chief chassis engineer Jürgen Pützschler at the launch. “We needed more low-speed agility, more high-speed stability and more feedback.” 

Start her up and the strangled warble idle quickly gives way to a determined buzz saw thrum, rising to a fizzing steroidy growl at peak revs. Not that you need to run it up that hard since the flat torque curve remains at 273lb ft all the way from 1,600rpm to 4,300rpm. 

And while the 242bhp seems a little meagre compared with some 300bhp plus rivals, it’s that wide torque spread, combined with the snappy changes of the DSG ‘box, which make this car so easy and unfussy to drive. Only on the way down the ratios does the twin clutch occasionally make abrupt changes. With the settings in Comfort, this newest GTI rides pretty well, the optional 19-inch wheels and tyres cope with sharp-edged bumps and pot holes, although this was in Germany where roads are a lot better surfaced that in Britain. Reckon on supple rather than soft in the UK. 

Dial in a more extreme setting and speed up, and the steering comes alive. Like a lot of VW’s MQB-chassis cars, it steers off the centre with a creamy accuracy, but the yaw build up is stunning, it races into corners like a go kart, with that adjustable damping holding up the front outside wheel and restricting body roll, yet still riding over bumps. The level of this technical achievement cannot be under estimated, because unlike a battery electric car, the Golf is still feeding back through the wheel rim, telling you how much grip is left in the suitcase; the GTI’s steering system is a thing of rare sensitivity. 

You can play with the handling in a way that a lot of previous GTIs simply wouldn’t/couldn’t allow. On a track this would be terrific. They even showed us a video of the car at VW’s Ehra-Lessien test track showing just how terrific it was as the back swung round on lifting the throttle pointing the nose tighter into the sharper bends.  

And it is super stable. I held the car at its electronically limited maximum speed of 155mph for a good while on the autobahn and the systems seemed to shrug and say: “now we go fast, ja!”. Nothing seems to faze this car. 

And when you need to slow, the all-round disc brakes are phenomenal stoppers, allowing you to slow right on the edge of maximum adhesion time after time. 

Back on top, then; though the previous Mark VII wasn’t exactly a lump of lard. Outside of the confusing dashboard, the electronics allow you to exploit this car with more accuracy, but don’t detract from the skills of the driver, or the fun. We’re going to miss cars like this when they’re gone and that’s the unspoken thought at this launch. As VW heads down the all-electric path with its ID3 family replacing the Golf, this Mark VIII GTI might be the last and greatest GTI. Try not to think of that too much and carpe diem as they say, for this is as good as it gets, be assured; eight is great. 

The Facts

Model: Volkswagen Golf GTI 

Price: from £33,000 to £35,000

Engine: 1,984cc four-cylinder turbo petrol with seven-speed twin clutch transmission, front-wheel drive

Power: 242bhp @ 5,000rpm

Torque: 273lb ft @ 1,600rpm

0-62mph: 6.3 seconds

Max speed: limited to 155mph

WLTP Fuel consumption: n/a see text 

WLTP CO2: n/a

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