Another Golf, another GTI. But first impressions matter, so the Mark 7 GTI’s launch let it shine in its natural environment — on the track.

 

Okay, so the Golf GTI’s always been a bit too well rounded to be truly called a track warrior, but the fact that VW Singapore specifically painted a racetrack onto the Changi Exhibition Centre grounds as part of the new GTI’s launch festivities speaks volumes of what it envisions its owners doing with their cars. 

The Golf GTI Driving Experience was held from 17th to 21st July with Pirelli as the official tyre partner, allowing participants to test the GTI’s performance in a straight line as well as through the corners.

The handling circuit — dubbed Power Alley — featured a mix of corners, all designed to test the car’s front-end sharpness, ability to resist power understeer and stability in quick direction changes.

First impressions? As befitting its reputation as a ‘mature’ hot hatch, any over-exuberance is quickly curtailed by the electronic nannies. Powering out of corners, you can really feel the XDS electronic diff at work, braking the inside wheels to prevent the front end from washing wide; effective, it is. The car is certainly confidence inspiring, allowing you to really lean hard on it into corners, and to throw it about in high-speed chicanes.

Enjoyable as track-work is though, there is always more fun to be had when there’s competition involved. At the Experience, this came in the form of a drag race and brake test, dubbed the Urban Drive Challenge (a misnomer for sure, unless you frequently do this between the lights). What participants had to do in the head-to-head challenge was accelerate up the road as fast as possible before coming to a stop within a set of cones. With the launch control feature, standing starts couldn’t be easier; just turn Sport mode on, traction control off, floor both pedals, release the brakes and off you go, tyres scrabbling for grip on the dusty tarmac. Same goes for the brakes, hauling you down with conviction and without fade, despite repeated emergency stops from 130 km/h.

Ok, so this was just a brief taste of the new GTI’s capabilities, but it certainly got us excited about what it can do with more space and time to play with. Default body style is the 5-door version, but the 3-door, as well as the fabulous tartan cloth seats, are available as options.

For just under $200,000, the benchmark has been set.