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63 – New Golf GTI comes out fighting

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27 September 2008

I remember the excitement: my dad’s latest company car – a new Golf GTI.

Even for me, sitting in the rear, this was motoring nirvana.

The thrummy four-cylinder engine; the sporty responses; the firm ride; the great exhaust note. Impressed? You bet! Those sort of boyhood memories just don’t fade.

It was silver. And it was one of the first generation Golf GTIs with the 1.6-litre engine and golf ball gear knob.

And now, 32 years later, MkVI has arrived. VW is calling it a ‘concept’ ahead of its formal unveiling at the Paris Motor Show. But it looks pretty much the finished article to me.

The original Golf GTI MK1 was powered by a 1588cc four-cylinder engine with K-Jetronic fuel injection. It developed a magical 110PS at 6100rpm and 103lbs ft of torque at 5000rpm. That meant 0-60 mph in 9.0 seconds before reaching a top speed of 110mph.

The new GTI MkVI has a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder developing 210 PS. It will do 0-62mph in 7.2 seconds before reaching a top speed of 148mph. All that additional power will be harnessed by electronic wizardry from electronic stability control to an electronic diff.

A new Golf GTI is always an event. And VW’s designers have worked hard to maintain all the car’s iconic styling imagery.

I’m sure the new car will be fantastic to drive. The current MkV Golf GTI is considered one of the best yet. But, despite all this progress, I wonder how brilliantly connected and alive the new car will feel – compared to the adrenalin-fuelled purity of the original?

Thirty two years after the original was launched, here’s MkVI

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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