Great Eight Expectations

Small steps ensure that the new Golf GTI doesn’t put a foot wrong

- Pawan Dhingara

The new Golf 8 GTI isn’t all that different from the outgoing Golf GTI – despite more than five years of development time between the two. On the surface that might sound disappointing, or it could just be the best possible news for GTI aficionados. It would be correct to apply the old adage, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

The Golf 7 GTI was annoyingly good. On any Venn Diagram, you could imagine drawing, the Golf GTI would always sit somewhere in the middle of the overlaps – the Reuleaux triangle, to give it its proper name. Throw anything at it (school run, or a mountain pass) and it always found and delivered something extraordinary. It was a lesson that is understated performance and practicality.