My Experience

These impressions are from my test drive of a Golf GTI 1.8T 5-speed at a local dealer. I drove the car for about half an hour on city streets, winding secondary roads, and the freeway.


Performance

The GTI is a fast car, no doubt about it. The turbocharged four-cylinder engine delivers some scorching 0-60 times (usually quoted around 6.5 seconds in most magazines), and when the boost was up, the GTI pinned me to the seat like no other mid-priced sports coupe did. The trouble is, that turbocharger also gives the GTI the least predictable power delivery in the sports-coupe class. When you nail the throttle for a quick burst of acceleration, there's a moment of lag where nothing happens. Then, the turbo spools up and you slingshot ahead--often, more than you intended. I'm exaggerating a bit to give you an idea of what it feels like--in the real world, the effect is more subtle than it sounds--but it's still distinctly noticeable and dissatisfying. When you're doing flat-out quarter-mile runs on a track, this kind of nonlinear response isn't an issue, but on real-world roads--with twists, turns, and traffic--it makes the GTI's acceleration feel a bit erratic.


Transmission/Clutch

The GTI's transmission and clutch were also a bit of a letdown. The shifter has a rubbery, springy feel when changing gears that doesn't convey a sense of mechanical precision. I never missed a shift in the GTI, but it wasn't very satisfying to row through the gears. The clutch also suffered from a slightly elastic feeling that didn't clearly communicate where the engagement point was. Keep in mind that I'm a bit picky--I never stalled the car or wound up in the wrong gear, so these aren't egregiously poor driver interfaces--they just felt surprisingly vague and un-sporting in what I had expected to be a solid, Teutonic-feeling sports coupe.


Steering/Handling

You've probably noticed that there's a theme of imprecision developing with the way the GTI drives, and that impression applies to steering and handling too. The GTI is a fairly good-handling car, but it feels disappointingly similar to the base-model Golf. The GTI's body leans heavily in hard turns, and it bounces and floats when you hit bumps mid-corner. The steering is light and fluid on-center, so it never locks on to a straight-ahead path. On the freeway, you must correct its wandering with irritating frequency. For an economy car, all this is fine--but if you're expecting a total transformation from the Golf GL, as I was, you'll probably be a bit disappointed by the GTI's relatively soft reflexes.


Ride

Here's where the GTI's softness pays off. For a sports coupe, the GTI has an almost-luxurious level of ride comfort. The body floats gently over bumpy roads, with very little impact harshness transmitted to the cabin. It's very quiet inside, too, so freeway travel is serene and smooth. There are only two caveats here. One is that the soft suspension lets the body bound over humps and dips in the pavement, and the other is that the GTI's body structure doesn't feel quite as solid as its competitors. There's a small amount of chassis shudder over really big potholes that you don't feel in its newer rivals like the RSX and Celica. Despite these flaws, those who prioritize comfort highly will find the GTI's ride pleasantly painless.


Interior

Along with its luxurious ride comfort (for a sports coupe), the GTI impresses with its distinctly luxurious interior appointments. The front seats are trimmed in soft leather, and the expensive-looking dashboard materials and caffe-mocha color coordination are very nice indeed. There are lots of thoughtful details, like lighted vanity mirrors, seat-height adjustment, and cupholders that slowly emerge from the dash at the push of a button. If I had more sedate tastes in cars, this probably would have been my favorite interior in the entire sports-coupe class. However, being the nitpicker that I am, I couldn't help but be slightly irritated with the GTI's driving position. It's tall and upright, which is great for your back and gives you a nice, high-in-the-saddle view of the road ahead. But it's not sporty, and it sets a responsible, family-car mood that I felt was too grown-up for a sports coupe. This is clearly a matter of taste, but if you like the rakish, fighter-jet interiors of the Celica, Eclipse, and other GTI rivals, you'll probably find the GTI's cabin less exciting than you might prefer.


Practicality

Here's another area where the Golf shines. Besides having loads of space up front, the GTI has a rear seat that's surprisingly usable for two people. A third passenger could squeeze in if their life depended on it, but they wouldn't be comfortable for long. Still, having five seatbelts--just in case--is a plus when you consider that most of the GTI's rivals only offer accommodations for four. The Golf's boxy hatchback body also allows for tall, bulky items to fit in the trunk, which is surprisingly commodious. As a bass player, I especially appreciated the low trunk opening--in most sports coupes, I would have to lug my amplifier over the car and drop it into the trunk. In the GTI, I could have loaded it straight in, at bumper-height. Between this feature and the aforementioned comfortable seats, my lower back liked this car a lot.


Reliability

Consumer Reports has rated the Golf line's reliability as "much worse than average." They don't mention the GTI's reliability specifically, but it looks to be in poor company. This is frustrating, considering how practical the GTI is in so many other aspects. Still, one can't really call the GTI a "practical car" with a clear conscience when its reliability record looks to be so poor.


Overall

I had high hopes for the GTI. How could I not, with a turbocharged engine stuffed into one of the smallest and lightest bodies in the sports-coupe class, and the promise of German-engineered precision? But it didn't take long for me to realize that today's GTI is essentially more of a luxury-hatch than a hot hatch. It's fast, no doubt, but the emphasis is on comfort, making it far more suited to gentle autumn cruises than reckless back-road banditry. This came as a shock to me, given that Volkswagen essentially invented the hot hatch in 1978, and has been building GTIs for 25 years. With that much experience, why aren't they taking the RSX, the Celica, and all those other upstarts to the cleaners? In any case, out of all the high-performance sports coupes on the market, this car seems like the one for the over-55 set. I personally don't see any upside to the GTI getting the posh treatment, but everyone has different priorities. If you'd gladly give up a measure of precision and responsiveness for an extra dose of luxury, you'll probably appreciate the GTI's deluxe accommodations and comfortable ride. But to me, there's no excuse for the original hot hatch being so devoid of enthusiasm. It's not that the GTI doesn't deliver--it's fast, smooth, and comfortable--it just doesn't deliver the enthusiastic spirit and agility that its reputation promises. That, plus the potential for poor reliability, earns the GTI two stars and keeps me from recommending it.




Feel free to check out my reviews of some of the GTI's competitors:
Honda Civic Si
Hyundai Tiburon GT V6
Mini Cooper S
Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart
Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
Subaru Impreza WRX
Toyota Celica GT-S
Amount Paid (US$): $19,065