And yes, the next GTI is faster
The 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI is the best
GTI ever, sure enough. After a near-complete overhaul, it should be. It matters
as much that the GTI is fresh and thriving. We look more eagerly for a new GTI
than we might for a Scion, waiting with almost reverential expectations.
This Mk VII GTI is larger, lighter and
faster than the 2013 (known inside VW as Mk VI). Horsepower increases 5 to 10
percent, depending on configuration, and torque a more substantial 24 percent.
Fuel efficiency also improves 18 percent. The ’15 GTI feels more spacious
inside and it offers class firsts such as a mechanically locking limited-slip
differential. It will be sold with a range of equipment and options that make
the original 1983 U.S. GTI seem primitive. Still, the specifics feel like tools
to help carry the load. You don’t have to remember the first GTI to understand
that it hauls heavy baggage.
The
2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI is the best GTI ever, sure enough
How do we count the ways? The GTI created a
category when it launched in the U.S. – economy cars, as they were called,
tuned for more emphatic response and more discriminating drivers. The original
hot hatch spurred imitators from three continents, many good cars in their own
right. As VW boomed, blundered, crashed and rebooted, the GTI gave the brand
credibility with enthusiasts, no matter what else VW was selling. The GTI never
wavered from a self-evident truth: If you could afford only one reasonably
priced car, you were nonetheless entitled to solid engineering emphasizing
driving satisfaction. Perhaps most significantly, the GTI defined tastes and
sensibilities for subsequent generations of enthusiasts.
As
VW boomed, blundered, crashed and rebooted, the GTI gave the brand credibility
with enthusiasts, no matter what else VW was selling
There are at least a few cars like it sure
enough – the Mustang before, the Subaru WRX after. Call them affordable dream
cars: cars enthusiasts aspire to, at least through young adulthood, and cars
they might realistically own.
The GTI is what Scion has been trying to
achieve for 10 years and still wishes it could be. The next Golf and GTI
will be the first North American VWs built from the company’s
front-/all-wheel-drive MQB platform. MQB uses a single, essentially identical,
part between the steering box and the firewall regardless of vehicle. This body
section is vital to both crash protection and assembly, and the commonality
represents potentially huge savings in development and assembly costs. Moving
out from the foundation, MQB can accommodate everything from a subcompact like
VW’s European Polo to a midsize SUV such as the Touareg.
The new GTI’s exterior dimensions increase
slightly: length and wheelbase 2.1 inches, width nearly an inch. The roof,
however, sits 1 inch lower, contributing to a significant reduction in aero
drag. The unibody is welded from 28 percent ultra-high-strength steel, compared
to 6 percent in the Mk VI Golf.
The consequences are a stronger and more
rigid body-in-white compared to the Mk VI, but it’s also lighter, providing the
biggest chunk of a 32-pound reduction. This GTI is also a subtly handsome car
with a wide C-pillar harking back to the original Rabbit/Golf. Its appearance
has change more substantially than photographs suggest, and judgment is best
reserved for the real thing.
The
new GTI’s exterior dimensions increase slightly: length and wheelbase 2.1
inches, width nearly an inch
The engine is the familiar 2.0-liter
direct-injection turbo-four still with the iron block, though a new casting
trims 8 pounds. A new cylinder head features water-cooled exhaust-gas
recirculation to reduce fuel consumption at full load. Peak horsepower in
standard trim increases 10 hp, but the biggest improvement is torque. Peak
increases 51 lb-ft to 258, and it comes a bit sooner and over a broader span.
That’s before the Performance pack option,
which increases boost and fuel flow slightly – raising peak horse-power to 220
and spreading max torque over an even broader swath of rpm. The upgrade also
adds larger front brakes, vented rear rotors and a hydraulic, clutch-operated
locking differential able to send all the torque to one wheel or the other. The
mechanical slip-controlled differential replaces a standard electronic diff,
similar to the one used in the Ford Focus ST, that simulates limited-slip using
the brakes to manage torque delivery.
