Marriage Material

In an almost porsche-like way, vw evolves its iconic golf gti to even greater levels of performance and usability

- Greg Kable

Forty-four years. That’s how long the Volkswagen Golf GTI has been on sale. A rather decent run so far, then. The first-generation model, introduced in 1976, established the formula that each of its successors has carefully followed, with a decisive increase in performance and dynamics over the standard Golf together with a styling package that is as simple as it is subtle.

We limit our use of the word ‘iconic’ at MOTOR, but it’s a description that fits the bill better than any other here. The letters GTI have long become synonymous for enthralling hot hatch performance. And so it is with a good deal of interest and intrigue that we approach the latest version, scheduled for delivery in Australia by the second quarter of next year.

The new eighth-generation Golf GTI, driven here for the first time, receives a revised turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine from its predecessor – an engine dubbed the EA888 internally – developing the same 180kW as the previous Golf GTI Performance. It also has a reworked chassis that benefits from a range of electronic upgrades, including Volkswagen’s new VDM (Vehicle Dynamics Manager), with a centralised network for faster reactions from a whole range of different chassis functions, most notably the adaptive dampers.