HOLE IN ONE

The iconic hot hatch makes it to India as an import, but with 265bhp and a stonking 2.0-litre turbo motor, we get behind the wheel and tell you what to expect

- Dipayan Dutta

Here’s the thing about the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk 8.5. If you're the kind of person who looks at a hot hatchback and instinctively starts calculating boot space, fuel economy, and how many Excel sheets the infotainment system can support, you might want to flip these pages right now. But if you're someone who hears the word GTI and immediately pictures a red stripe slicing across a blacked-out grille like a katana through tofu, welcome.

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. This is not a cheap car. Not here in India anyway. It’s going to be a full-blown CBU import, and that means a sticker price of just above Rs 50 lakh, all said and done. Fifty. For a Golf. That's more than a decent luxury sedan, or even a couple of lesser sportscars. It also makes it a bit of a cultural experiment. A global icon, dropped into a market that’s still not sure how to categorise its car lovers.

And yet, the first batch is already sold out.

It’s tempting to say this is a pricing disaster, but maybe—just maybe—we're underestimating the Indian enthusiast. Maybe we've moved past looking for a spec sheet-to-rupee conversion. Maybe we're finally okay with buying into legacy. Into the idea of a hot hatch as a piece of rolling heritage. Into the GTI.

And this new Mk 8.5 version? It’s not just resting on legacy. It’s here to remind you exactly why it wears those three letters on its rump.