2015 Volkswagen Golf Gti 20 T Se Review
Car Review: 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI
Volkswagen'south sports-car-in-training helps melt away the winter dejection
Let'due south face it, for most of Canada, this winter has seriously overstayed its welcome. If it wasn't the snowfall, it was the omnipresent bone-spooky cold that has sucked out whatever joy we had in our hearts.
But, with March, the sun has come out, the temperature has dared to sneak above 0 C and the puddles in the streets and on the sidewalks are indicative of a melt. Oh, bliss, oh, rapture! Thoughts of putting away the shovels, the blower, the boots and the down-filled parkas fill my head. No more testing sport-utes and all-wheel-drive cars (for now), it'due south time for something sporty … and red!
Better ease into information technology, though. Haring about in a Porsche 911 Carrera, Corvette Z06 or another flashy sports car would just anger the snowfall gods into unleashing half dozen more weeks of frozen hell! Just a Golf GTI … yeah, that's what's needed to shake the rust off these cold basic.
Except for the Cuisinart rims and the sunshiny Tornado Red pigment chore, it looks like a garden-diversity hatchback from 10 metres away. Become behind the bicycle, though, and it's a sports-car-in-training, a tonic for those who consider driving well an art, not a chore and — for those of us with long memories — an quondam, familiar friend.
Seven generations in and the quintessential hot hatch is even so the puppy that wants to scamper. Oh, it'southward put on a lot of weight over the thirty-plus years information technology'southward been sold in North America, but it's compensated for the avoirdupois past more than doubling the power of the original über-Rabbit. The tartan-blueprint sport seats and the golf ball shift knob are a kind nod to the true-blue, as is the fact that a six-speed manual is still offered, though the DSG manumatic and its paddle shifters is a necessary concession to the video game-addled younger crowd.
Yet information technology's that six-speed manual, mated with the GTI'south EA888 2.0-litre, turbocharged, straight-injection iv-cylinder, that's a marriage made in heaven. Now, 210 horsepower and a healthy 258 pound-anxiety of torque do not a missile make. But, people, the GTI is not about knocking off nix to 100s — the all-wheel-bulldoze Golf R and its 292-hp turbo four can bear VW'due south banner for that duty — information technology's about residual, comfort, refinement and a playfulness that is so across the common information technology should be patented. Unless y'all're a complete klutz when synchronizing clutch pes and shift hand, the GTI has the ability to brand you feel, if not like a superhero, at least 1 with the motorcar. And, it'due south not as if this hatchback is a wimp. Though the DSG-fitted version is a 10th or two faster, the manual version will still hit 100 km/h in seven seconds, and pull off an fourscore-to-120 km/h passing movement in four. And it doesn't run out of breath at college revs, either, with a robust frazzle note.
Making play fourth dimension extra special is the new "driving mode selection" feature. At that place are three modes to choose from — Normal, Sport and Individual. Normal and Sport accept a different steering weight and throttle response, while Individual allows one to alter the steering and throttle to his or her own liking. I found Normal quite acceptable for most driving conditions, switching to Sport for when a set of curves appeared and the road was clear. Though slightly larger in size compared with its predecessor, the 2015 GTI is 30 or and so kilograms lighter. It likewise has a lower centre of gravity and an aggressive opinion, helped past a sport suspension that lowers the car past almost ten millimetres compared with a regular Golf game.
For all of the praise heaped on the GTI for its roadworthiness, though, it isn't a racetrack warrior. As was discovered last year during Driving'south test of six "Road Rockets Under $30K" at Calabogie Motorsports Park, the DSG-equipped VW, in the words of Derek McNaughton (Driving'south managing editor), "got addled, its tail wagging left and right under hard braking, the traction control stepping in early and non beingness able to completely disengage as the auto flung well-nigh into the bends. The extra 51 lb.-ft. of torque over the sixth-gen GTI is definitely a plus, but the GTI felt more like a K Tourer than a rail star." Given that most GTI owners won't be track testing their cars extensively, I think they will exist able to live with the disappointment.
Also read our review of the 2015 Subaru WRX
I love the fact VW recognizes that enthusiasts tin likewise need a car with a applied side to information technology, building the GTI in both three-door and five-door hatch variants. The 5-door Autobahn tester'south cabin is an example of ergonomic mastery. Drop your butt into the heated sport seat — the about comfortable, withal perfectly supportive and bolstered, perch found in any car under $100,000 — and everything else falls into place. From the feel of the flat-bottom steering wheel to the ideal placement of the gear shifter to the visibility of the gauges, the car is designed for fatigue-free driving. It's also designed for those of u.s. who are leggy, with plenty of front end-seat travel and lots of headroom. Given the GTI's overall compact dimensions, though, rear-seat passenger comfort will exist entirely dependent on how far the front seats are back in their tracks.
A GTI-specific instrument cluster and aluminum-await pedals, along with the previously mentioned golf ball shift knob and the flat-bottomed sport steering wheel, differentiate the model from bottom Golfs. The only sub-par aspect to the machine is the minuscule touchscreen infotainment centre. It'south OK for displaying things such as the driving fashion and radio functions, non and then much equally a navigation screen. The map showing my neighbourhood looked like a plate of spaghetti and was virtually equally easy to decipher unless I went to maximum zoom-in.
Compare Caput-to-Head: Volkswagen Golf GTI and Subaru WRX
That's a mere mumble, though, for an otherwise stellar car. It's not similar the GTI doesn't take competition — its principal rivals are the Ford Focus ST, Honda Civic Si and Subaru WRX. Simply, while each of those is fun in its own right, none accept the overwhelming completeness of the VW. At less than $34,000 for a topline Autobahn v-door, it punches well above its weight as a sporting auto. Like many, I accept concerns virtually the cost of repairs in one case the motorcar goes off-warranty, simply if Volkswagen has its stuff together with its entire line of new gen-7 Golfs, then this GTI will provide joy for many years — especially when information technology'due south cherry-red.
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Source: https://driving.ca/reviews/road-test/car-review-2015-volkswagen-golf-gti-5-door-autobahn
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