PRAYERS ANSWERED FINALLY!

No one was waiting for this car — but we must welcome it wholeheartedly anyway

- Yash Sunil

Hallelujah! After years of petrolheads’ prayers and pleas, Volkswagen has finally brought the Golf GTI to India. In 2016, VW teased us by bringing the Polo GTI in limited numbers to test the Indian market, and that only made enthusiasts crave the Golf GTI even more. Now, nine years after that first prod, and 50 years after it was first launched globally, we have the option to get our hands all over the Mk 8.5 Golf GTI.

It isn’t often that I get restless before a drive, but VW wanted us to properly experience everything the Golf GTI offered — that meant a day hooning the GTI at the Natrax Automotive Test Centre near Indore. More importantly, I got to floor the GTI’s throttle pedal at the 11.3-km high-speed circuit, maxxing it out as I went. That'll make anyone’s day, right?

VW has always excelled in making hot hatchbacks, and the crème de la crème of the lot has always been the Golf GTI, which VW hasn‘t tinkered with or messed around with for India.

It is powered by an EA888 turbocharged 2.0-litre inline-four petrol motor, which produces 261 bhp and 37.7 kgm, mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, sending power to the GTI’s front wheels via VW’s VAQ electronically controlled limited-slip differential.

The beauty of the GTI has always been its sheer flexibility — being exhilarating to drive on the limit and also being comfortable enough to be a daily run-around. Fire up the GTI, and in sport mode, the exhaust emits a bassy rumble which won’t have your neighbours hating on you.