Volkswagen Golf GT Sport TSI 2007 Review

Road Test

Overall rating: 4.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 4.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

About our ratings

It is not often these days that a unique or truly out-of-the-square car comes along but Volkswagen Golf GT is one. For although the five-door hatchback body and model name may be familiar, under the bonnet lies a very different powerplant.

With environmental concerns continuing to drive ever deeper into car manufacturers' consciousness, along with a need to satisfy performance requirements, Volkswagen has developed the world's first volume production twin-charged engine.

As a base it uses an economical 1.4-litre four-cylinder direct-injection petrol unit. To this both mechanical supercharger and turbocharger are fitted.

Turbochargers alone have been used on very small capacity engines before but there is a significant challenge in reducing the turbo-lag that becomes evident -- usually via fairly ordinary acceleration off the line before a monster kick at around 2500rpm. By using a mechanically-driven supercharger, Volkswagen is able to offer maximum torque of 240Nm between 1750-4500rpm (with 200Nm on offer from just off idle at 1250rpm through to 6000rpm) while top end power (125kW at 6000rpm) comes courtesy of the turbo boost.

At the same time, the small capacity engine gives the car a listed combined average fuel consumption of 7.7lt/100km.

As the badge suggests, the GT is a sports model of sorts and sits midway between the five-door petrol 2.0 FSI manual Comfortline Golf priced from $29,990 and the hot hatch GTI that is stickered -- in manual, five-door guise -- from $39,990.

On the other vital statistics it sits between the two as well with the atmo 2.0-litre producing 110kW/200Nm at a ‘cost' of 8.0lt/100km while the GTI's turbo 2.0-litre generates 147kW/280Nm and sups marginally more fuel with an ADR 81/01 figure of 8.1lt/100km. (You can read our coverage of the launch of the GT earlier this year here)

From the outside, there is definitely a sibling familiarity although the GT appears a little less hard edged than the GTI. The front section is shared with the GTI although in its own colour combination while at the rear a small roof mounted spoiler and twin tailpipes mark it as a sports model. It sits 15mm lower than the standard Golf on a sports suspension and the 17-alloy wheels are shod with low profile 225/45 Continental rubber.

Inside, it's the same story, with the GT sharing such items as shapely sports seats, cosmetic sports highlights and a boost gauge in the instrument cluster with its more potent GTI kin. Standard kit includes dual-zone climate control, cruise control, power windows and mirrors but surprisingly for a car of this price, the audio system only takes a single CD.

But as the real difference lies under the bonnet, the value of this car is in the driving. The theory sounds fine but does it work in practice? Absolutely!

From the minute you press the accelerator, there is a strong surge off the line with the power delivered in a very smooth linear progression. If asked, the engine will keep pulling right through the 7000rpm redline and although it gets a bit vocal at the top end, it doesn't sound harsh or particularly strained.

It offers the sort of sustained grunt that would have anyone laughing in disbelief that the base engine had a capacity of merely 1.4-litres. It is also a supremely flexible engine with an abundance of in-gear acceleration. If you are feeling lazy, it will happily pull up from 60kmh in sixth at about 1700rpm to cruise comfortably at highway limits ticking over at around 2500rpm.

Around town, it offers fuss-free driving and if you didn't know better, you could easily be fooled into thinking that there was a strong 2.0-litre-plus four working away, rather than a clever system of super and turbocharging working at its optimum level.

While there is no denying its strength just off idle, it does feel happiest playing between about 3000-6000rpm and keeping it there via the six-speed manual gearshift is not exactly a chore. Although the shift quality is a little notchy and not the slickest in the business, it is reasonably easy to slip quickly between ratios.

This becomes particularly relevant when you get out of town and start to play, for like its big brother, the GT offers a superbly balanced and responsive chassis that invites an enthusiastic drive.

The ride is on the firm side, as you would expect, but there is enough suppleness to soak up small ruts and bumps. Comfort is aided by superb seats.

The Carsales Network's country run for this car was a 180km dash down the Mornington Peninsula and on the winding roads that criss-cross the hills, the car proved every bit as agile as its GTI sibling.

Using just second and third gears to wring the most out of the turbo you can rapidly push through corners with the car remaining very stable and secure on the road. Body control is good and there is little in way of understeer with the ESP subtly intervening in extreme circumstances.

The steering is well weighted and direct (if anything perhaps slightly on the heavy side for city driving) with plenty of feedback and the big tyres offer an abundance of grip.

For a fun blast without a thought for fuel economy, we still managed to return a credible 8.1lt/100km and after a couple of hundred more kilometres of easy city driving across the week, that figure fell to 7.5lt/100km.

While VW may be trying to push the small capacity economy meets sporty performance angle, it is really the sheer driveability of this engine that makes the GT such an enjoyable car.

On paper, it might not have quite the figures of the GTI and without testing back to back, it would be difficult to say exactly how much of an edge the bigger turbo does offer. Nonetheless at a $5K saving, for the sake of a little less luxury (no six-stack CD being the main difference) the GT makes a very strong case for the best value performance car in the VW range.

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