Can the hottest Volkswagen Golf GTI ignite the passion and reclaim its crown now lost to the Ford Focus ST?
The seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI is one of those rare hot hatchbacks that deftly balances performance and athleticism with genuine comfort and refinement.And now that prices for early cars have fallen below £6000, it’s starting to look like quite unbelievable value for what could be an enthusiast’s ultimate daily driver.Any Golf GTI has to be special from the off, but the 2013 Mk7 had to be exceptional to stand a chance against the Honda Civic Type R and Ford Focus ST.Which is why Volkswagen turned to a chassis supremo from Porsche – the man behind the 997-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS, no less – to ensure the hot hatch steered, handled and rode better than any other Golf GTI that had gone before. Rather than give its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder enough power to worry its engine mounts, Volkswagen settled on a sensible 217bhp output – more than enough punch for public roads but not so much that your passengers (or the dog you’re carrying in the Mk7’s generous boot) are uncomfortable.The Performance model will better suit the tastes of the diehard enthusiast (the dog perhaps less so), with its 227bhp, bigger front brakes and trick, electronically controlled, limited-slip differential.The LSD makes the Golf even sharper and more sophisticated than a Focus ST on a rural B-road. Once settled into a corner, you can open the throttle and there’s no understeer or wheelspin, just tons of front-end bite, making it more confidence-inspiring and harder to unsettle.Even better: a Performance will barely cost any more than a standard GTI today.You can have a manual or DSG dual-clutch transmission, both of which are very good in their own ways, in a choice of three- or five-door bodyshells.Be wary of manual cars that have had a power upgrade, though, because the standard clutch isn’t strong enough to handle big hikes in torque. So if you want a tuned car, or want to modify one yourself, the DSG is a better bet.Volkswagen rolled out the Mk7.5 model in 2017, and while the pre-facelifted car needed little fixing, this revised version is undeniably superior. Provided you can stump up the extra dosh, it’s definitely worth forking out more for what is widely recognised as the zenith of VW’s hot hatch lineage.Prices for the facelifted car start from around £13,000, and Performance pack versions are slightly dearer still, but with its tweaked styling, uprated headlights and improved infotainment, it’s a more appealing all-round package.The Active Info display (a bit like Audi’s digital dashboard) is excellent, as is the upgraded 9.2in touchscreen, although not many first owners opted to have that.The standard Mk7.5 GTI was tuned up to 228bhp, while the Performance variant received an even bigger hike, to 242bhp and 273lb ft.If you are going for the later car, we would suggest that the standard version has more than enough road-appropriate performance, dynamic sophistication and driver reward – and it’s cheaper than a post-2017 Performance model.Sure, there are more exciting rivals that offer greater reward on the limit, but they can’t match this era of Golf for its ride and handling composure, all-round versatility and premium feel – attributes that even today’s £40k Mk8.5 GTI struggles to improve on.