Volkswagen Golf GTI 2017 Review

All-singing, all-dancing hot hatch
Third gear, 5300rpm, sweeping corner – this is the natural habitat of Volkswagen’s Golf GTI. Shopping centre full of caffeinated ding-bats keen to reverse into you? Also the Golf GTI's natural habitat. The German hatchback is, for want of a better analogy, the Justin Timberlake of the car world.

It does everything well – sings, acts, dances and probably makes a mean risotto too.

Volkswagen’s new 2018 Golf GTI, dubbed the Mk 7.5, is still the most versatile hot hatch today. Like JT, it can be everything to everyone.

The Golf GTI 7.5 is the new standard bearer of performance for Golf until the Mk 8 arrives in 2020, which will probably be offered with a pair of virtual reality goggles so you needn’t even leave the garage to get a sense of speed. Ah, the future… always just over the horizon.

Seriously though, the new model isn’t fundamentally different to its predecessor, with reworked front and rear-end styling, more power and some new tech features loaded in, like a fancy new 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system.

That’s not a criticism, just the facts.

Indeed, the 2018 VW Golf GTI is still the gold standard in its class. It’ll do the daily grind with same effortless ease as it carves up apexes.

VW Golf GTI a jack-of-all-trades
This car makes fewer compromises than North Korean despot Kim Jong Un.

Upright windows provide clear vision and there’s enough boot space for a big grocery shop. Compact dimension and a reversing camera makes it easy to park, there’s ample room for four adults or simply fold down the seats for a surfboard or bikes. The Golf GTI retains everything that makes the vanilla-flavoured Volkswagen Golf a winner.

Refinement levels are very good for a car in this class too. The drivetrain is quiet and smooth at nominal velocities and the suspension comparatively compliant. Even the way the vents and switchgear move and the doors thud shut is pleasant. It's a car you'd be proud to have sitting in your drive-way or car park.

Take it beyond the urban sprawl however – or find a few choice freeway on-ramps – and the Golf GTI comes alive.

Powered up with more mumbo
Power has been hiked by a handful of kilowatts to 169kW at 6200rpm, while torque remains unchanged at 350Nm – although it’s now available across a wider range (1400rpm to 4600rpm) thanks to fuel mapping tweaks in the third-generation EA888 2.0-litre four-banger’s ECU.

It blasts to 100km/h in just 6.4secs and revs with more zeal than a religious madman without ever getting raspy or ragged, even when you push beyond its 6200rpm rev limit. Power is transferred to the front wheels with the kind of military precision that only comes with 40 years of development, giving you a lot of control over how you want to tackle a corner.

Cruise in and blast out is always enjoyable, slamming the loud pedal just as you apex the corner. Or you can ease in the power gradually through the exit of the corner for a smoother effect. Generally speaking, the Golf GTI gets in and out of corners with convincing predictability and its performance threshold is easily and comfortably explored.

You don’t need to be a race track regular to extract the maximum out of this car; it’s incredibly approachable on so many levels.

If it ain't broke...
This access-all-areas performance is made possible thanks to an excellent independent suspension setup and an above-average steering rack. It’s true that the chassis remains unchanged compared to the Mk 7 Golf GTI but the car is so responsive to input the lack of recalibration doesn’t feel like an opportunity missed by Wolfsburg’s spanner men.

Up front 312mm disc brakes provide the lion’s share of the well-regulated stopping power for the 1352kg hottie, with 300mm rear discs akin to the tiny vestigial tail possessed by each and every homo sapien on the planet. Good to have but little utilised.

Sleek new LED daytime running lights sit above new black strakes shrouding the LED fog lights, while the car’s derriere features new-look LED brake lights and a pair of large exhaust outlets.

Criticisms? It rides very firmly when the adaptive dampers are switched to angry mode, crashing loudly over sharp bumps, and there’s really not a whole lot of new stuff here. Underneath it’s essentially unchanged, with just cosmetic tweaks. If you’ve got a Mk 7, you’d need a lot of convincing to upgrade to this. Perhaps if there were a five-year warranty included… As it stands you only get a three-year receipt.

And for risk takers only…
If you’re a little loco, however, there’s the new limited-edition VW Golf GTI Performance Edition 1.

This is a far livelier vehicle to drive at the limit and gets lots of spicy mechanical upgrades. It’s probably best suited to drivers who live life in the fast lane. What is the fast lane? You know, microwave dinners, binge-sessions watching The Bachelor and an ability to build a crazy powerful desktop PC with liquid-cooling for under $1500.

If the regular Golf GTI’s cruise in, blast out method sounds tame, the Golf GTI Performance Edition 1 offers the upgraded blitzkrieg method. Just max the engine at all stages of driving and attempt to mitigate understeer and/or induce wheelspin with feverish rotations of the steering wheel.

Fitted standard with the same new-generation seven-speed wet clutch DSG automatic transmission as the Golf R, it’s faster to 100km/h, taking just 6.2secs. The front differential lock is designed to reduce understeer to pushing more torque to the outside wheel.

That said, it spins the wheels more often than the GTI and moves around underneath you as lift-off oversteer materialises. This makes for a pulse-pounding experience behind the wheel. Limited to just 150 units, this special-edition GTI gets its power down with more drama due to the increased power and torque, up to 180kW and 370Nm – the latter figure just 10Nm shy of the Golf R.

The stoppers are up to the task of slowing the angry German too, the Golf R’s larger 340mm front and 310mm rear anchors swapped in, and it’s lively where the standard Golf GTI can sometimes be described as obedient.

Golf GTI too cool for school
The three-door Golf looks fantastic too, with a more resolved, sportier silhouette than the five-door hatch. Back seat room is still pretty good, it's just a bit harder getting in and out. Don’t fret if the asking price of the GTI Performance Edition 1 ($47,990) is too much, because VW has confirmed a new cut-price three-door model – the GTI Original – will be coming in 2018 for under $40,000.

Both cars are good old-fashioned front-drive fun, tyres screeching as grip limits are tested mid-corner, changing direction with alacrity, but the beefier PE1 version is more satisfying to blat hard.

The tartan cloth upholstery on the normal Golf GTI is just boss, but the honeycomb-style suede-effect patterning on the Performance Edition 1 is pretty special too, possessing a more pleasing, tactile quality.

What’s new over the previous Golf GTI models? Well, there’s a fancy new 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system. It’s elegantly integrated into the dash and easy to use, and unlike the bigger (optional) 9.2-inch version it has a separate dial for volume control. I prefer that to total touchscreen functionality.

More features, more luxury
All the usual culprits are in there too, including Bluetooth everything, electric everything (except seats), LED headlights (now standard on all models), dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and engine start (except on three-door models) and a leather steering wheel. Reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, LED interior ambient lighting, seven airbags, stability control, a driver fatigue detection system, autonomous emergency braking and adaptive dampers are also gratis, the latter changing the car’s ride from very firm to not-so-firm.

There’s a bunch of option packs that VW reckons will resonate with buyers, starting with the Driver Assistance Package ($1600) that adds adaptive cruise control, lane assist, park assist, blind spot monitoring, rear traffic alert and a dynamic headlight assistant.

The Infotainment Package ($2300) upgrades the touchscreen to a bigger 9.2-inch setup that gets the gimmicky gesture control tech – swipe to change songs etc – along with a 400W Dynaudio premium stereo system. With subwoofer. Fully sick bro. It also replaces the analogue tacho and speedo with a fully digital system that is very cool.

Finally the Luxury Package ($3900) adds electrically adjustable and heated leather-appointed seats, power folding door mirrors and a panoramic glass sunroof. Add all three packs and the asking price gets a bit heady.

The Volkswagen Golf GTI was always a good car and now it’s just a little bit better. It’s an exceedingly polished vehicle that may not offer the extreme thrills of some of its rivals, but it has a more upmarket feel now and a wider spectrum of usability. It’s as efficient and quiet as it is fun and loud.

It's been accused of being boring but that's not the case – it's just very accomplished, a jack-of-all-trades. That's one of the reasons it accounts for so many Golf sales in Australia.

This is one golf club you will definitely want to belong to.

2017 Golf GTI pricing and specifications:
Price: $41,490 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 169kW/350Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 6.7L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 152g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP