So, the Mk VII Golf. It's the newest generation model that's now on sale in North America, and it's based on VW's new modular (MQB) platform.
In essence, certain sections of the platform can be enlarged or shrunk, then assembled like Lego bricks. Thus, they can make a variety of different cars with those underpinnings, the Golf and GTI featured below being the first.
Greater economies of scale are the result for VW; more equipment for the same price is the result for us.
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2015 Volkswagen Golf
The butt was first meant to sit in the regular Golf, with the new 1.8L TSI engine acting as its heart and a six-speed automatic serving as its arteries. The automatic is unobtrusive and serves its purpose well. It's a good transmission.
Acceleration is satisfying; the TSI is a good engine.
Handling was surprisingly good. The model I drove was the top-of-the-line Highline trim with sport suspension as standard equipment. This made it fun to thread through the course.
But is the Highline worth the extra few thousand over a non-sport-suspensioned model? I have no idea – they didn't let us find out.
Either way, the Golf offers tremendous value-for-money, giving you a wonderfully-equipped car in exchange for noticeably less than thirty grand. Plus, I enjoyed my yoctosecond of driving time in it...
2015 Volkswagen Golf TSI Highline
[five-door compact hatchback; front-wheel drive, front engine]
[five-door compact hatchback; front-wheel drive, front engine]
L4 16-valve, DOHC
Turbocharged
GASOLINE
[forward gears]
AUTOMATIC
w/ manual mode
AUTOMATIC
w/ manual mode
[top speed] 200 km/h
[L / 100 km]
highway
6.5
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2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI
Golf GTIs are tweaked to be a better-handling, better-accelerating, and overall better-driving upgrade to the standard Golf. As such, you'd expect that it would blow some 'plebian' Golf with only sport suspension right out of the water.
It didn't.
Handling was only marginally better than the Highline Golf... I even found it disconcertingly easy to reach its limits (or what felt like them). Any semblance of this on such a simple track is hugely disappointing for a car with sporting pretensions.
Don't get me wrong, it is better than the car it replaces – the problem is that it's too soft. Perhaps the forthcoming Performance Pack will redeem the poor GTI...
As you'd expect, the tested car had the DSG gearbox: a manual transmission with a computer controlling the clutch pedal instead of your left leg. The tangible result is a transmission with all the drawbacks of a manual but none of the benefits. You might as well save a couple grand and just get one with a stick.
Is the GTI worth five figures more than the base Golf? I don't know for sure – they didn't let us find out. Is it at least worth six thousand over the Highline and its sport suspension? It didn't seem like it.
And that's embarrassing.
2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI
[five-door compact hatchback; front-wheel drive, front engine]
[five-door compact hatchback; front-wheel drive, front engine]
L4 16-valve, DOHC
Turbocharged
GASOLINE
[forward gears]
AUTOMATIC
w/ manual mode
[top speed] 200 km/h
[L / 100 km]
highway
6.9
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Electric power steering is the devil: the wheel gave me zero confidence when throwing both cars through the many corners. Crucially, this is much more difficult to overlook in the GTI than it is in the standard Golf...
The interiors on these cars, on the other hand, are fantastic. Luxurious, high-quality materials adorn a cabin that's roomy enough for five tall adults. Both of these Golfs felt very solidly built, too.
After all is said and done, this blink-of-an-eye test left us with more questions than answers. Is a GTI worth it over a standard Golf? Before attending, I thought it was. After attending, I'm not so sure.
However, I am sure about the impression the GTI and the event left: they both didn't live up to their potential.
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