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Car review -
Volkswagen Golf GTI 3-dr hatch
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Model release date: October 2009
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THE daddy of all hot hatches has had the same super-slick makeover that has given the rest of the Mk6 Golf range a new lease of life (and a swag of awards), but is the GTI still the class champion? After much deliberation, we chose a base three-door manual (most buyers plonk for the five-door DSG ‘auto’ with a list of extras as long as this car’s lineage – it goes back to 1976 you know!), since we reckon the lightest and cheapest in this category of car can often mean the best. And – with the exception of a couple of issues – we have not come away unimpressed either ...
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Golf GTI Mk5
May 2005 to Oct 2009
STATING that an icon was reborn is no overstatement, because the fifth-generation Golf GTI restored the hot hatch qualities that made the pioneering Mk1 and world-conquering Mk2 versions classics within their lifetimes. Powered by a 147kW/280Nm 2.0-litre TFSI four-cylinder turbo engine mated to a six-speed manual or six-speed wet-clutch DSG dual-clutch transmission, the South African-assembled front-wheel drive GTI soon became Australia’s affordable performance-car darling, with waiting lists extending beyond one year. Initially, just a five-door hatch was imported, but from late 2006 a cheaper three-door version was also introduced. A limited edition, 169kW/300Nm GTI Pirelli edition landed in October 2008, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a Europe-only model featuring special wheels from the Italian tyre-making giant. All-in-all, some 25 per cent of all Golf sales were of the GTI.
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