Volkswagen Golf GTi 2005 Review

VW's Halo Model

Every car maker needs a car like the Golf GTI. As a halo model they don't come any better. So good is the GTI that the rest of the albeit-accomplished Golf V range basks, no, fair bakes, in its glory.

Quite simply, there's very little we can find wrong with the GTI, save maybe for a recalcitrant navigation/audio package. Tested here in Direct Sequential Gearbox (DSG) form, with leather and other 'must-have' options, the GTI is steaming, full-cream double-shot Swiss chocolate Moccacino in a hot hatch world dominated by lukewarm decaf skinny flat white offerings.

It may be German, but the GTI's got more brio than any Italian hatch, is as clinically efficient as any Japanese offering and when not cutting up the nearby racer roads, soaks up the suburbs like the very best riding French compacts. The perfect urban and sub-urban sportster? Damn close, we reckon.

The turbocharged direct-injected TFSI powerplant may be shared with Audi stablemates but mated with the DSG it has a character all its own in the GTI. We liked the offbeat idle and muscular midrange of the 147kW/5100rpm and 280Nm/1800rpm mill. We especially loved the delicious 'boomph' that issued from the exhaust at each split-sceond DSG upchange - be it at full noise or just around town.

VW quotes a 0-100 km/h time of 6.9sec with DSG and a 235km/h top speed. While we can't attest to the latter, we can admit to demolishing a few V8 egos around town with the former.

It may not have all-wheel drive but the GTI fair hunkers down and sprints away from the line. Just don't expect the fuel economy to be anything to write home about when you're savouring the 'boomph'... The best we could manage was on the thirsty side of 12lt/100km.

The interior with optional leather ($2990) is a treat. We love the quality of VW's plastics across the Golf V range (look for a seven-day impression on a DSG-equipped TDI shortly) and the GTi's no exception. Plus the sports seats on the GTI are the business.

Outside the mesh grille with red detailing, deep front airdam, foglights, black skirts and rear 'diffuser', roof spoiler, big-bore dual exhausts and 17-inch alloys do more than enough to give the car a bespoke sports look. While Euros get a choice of three-door body style, Down Under our GTI gets five as default. This adds a dose of practicality to the car without turning it into a pretender. For the record, we put five real-world adults plus luggage in the car for a 40 minute cross town airport jaunt with no complaints.

Immediately after dropping off the troops, it was back to boy racer mode to attack the local twisties. Those millimetre precise DSG paddles, the thick sculptured flat-bottomed racecar steering wheel, Cooper S-rivalling turn-in and power-to-the-ground traction...