The same full-throttle soundtrack repeats
itself upshift by upshift. Just as the right index finger gets ready to pull in
fourth gear, we brake hard for a roundabout, the Williams flashing a friendly goodbye,
already quite small in the frame of the rear-view mirror. In stead of darting
off to the right, I spend a couple more laps on the one-way oval, relishing its
equilibrium, dancing full circle along an unbroken white line, exiting with
enough verve to make the imaginary crowd stand up and cheer. Yes, I know, I
know. But I blame the car – it makes you unable to help yourself.
Ergonomically,
it's about as close to perfect as a hatchback can get
By now I feel so at home in this car that I
would have happily traded the Air France ticket for a tankful of super unleaded
and the permission to drive home to Munich. Instead, we put the red racer to
the real test on a nameless plateau close to Soissons. With the exception of
one blind second-gear bend , it's all third gear stuff- a winding, fast,
undulated, open descent. Followed by a climb, and then by another descent. Evil
stuff for a passenger, ideal for a photographer. The GTI communicates on all
levels: steering, throttle, transmission, suspension , brakes. This car loves
being pushed, but only to a point. Overstep it, and things get messy with too
much attitude, too much electronic interference, too much drama. That's not
what fast Golfs are about. They are nine-tenths winners, not eleven-tenths
wannabes. So let's stay composed. Play it right, and the GTI will indulge in a
super-sweet four-wheel drift or a three-wheeled corner, but it stays
sufficiently well planted to make full use of all the Tarmac there is. True,
the brakes feel a bit soft after the third run, but after about half an hour
it's quite obvious that the driver would run out of stamina long before the
Golf runs out of talent.
There's
generous room in the rear
That said, you'd be disappointed if l
hadn't switched off every electronic driving aid in search of juvenile thrills
I'm clearly too old for. Hitting the ESP button once will deactivate traction
assist, but this can be counter-productive on moist Tarmac where a little
wheels pin tends to be faster than no slip at all. Keep the button depressed
for at least three seconds and ESP will switch to Sport mode, but even on a
race track you can never totally deactivate stability control. As soon as any
brake intervention occurs, the system is automatically back on duty. Perhaps VW
should consider its ESP policy for the GTI Performance Pack. After all,
stability control can be switched off completely in the 213 kW four-wheel-drive
Golf R out later this year.
A
380-litre boot is beneficial; it expands to 890 litres with the rear seats down
It was the right road to take for the GTI.
After all, the latest version of the iconic Golf was never meant to be loud or
young, and it was neither going to be a sports car in disguise or a hardcore
hot hatch. Instead, this car has to incorporate the best of all world s, even
though it may never rule a single one of them. It epitomises effortless
velocity, practical sportiness, accessible performance. It is an everyday, any
road, everyman car that makes its owner shine because it is so easy to drive,
astonishingly quick, totally benign and yet more rewarding than many extrovert
crackerjacks.
