New VW Golf GTI MKVI review

"More refined, more economical and yet somehow more fun"

Almost all car buying decisions are influenced by women. But in the case of Volkswagens they actually also decide what goes into production and what doesn’t.

I’m not talking about VW’s female designers and engineers, but the wives of the development team. That’s because their husbands often take prototype cars home for them to try. And what they think matters.

Watch our Vauxhall Astra Vs VW Golf Shootout

They even influenced the new Golf GTI. For instance, the car has an electrical rather than mechanical limited slip differential. The reason?  Well that’s because the head of development’s wife preferred the prototype which had the latter. It was better to drive in the wet apparently.

And this theme pretty much runs though the GTI - it’s been designed to be very easy to live with. A wife pleaser if you like (no double entendre intended). Don’t worry though. VW hasn’t gone and mucked things up by making the car all soft. They’ve learned their lessons from the mistakes of the MKIII and MKIV.

Instead they’ve finessed the fabulous package which was the MKV. As with the standard Golf MKVI a number of key changes have made it more refined, more economical and yet somehow more fun too.

Take the engine for example. It’s an all-new 2.0-litre turbo unit with 210hp. This doesn’t sound like that much power by today’s standards. After all, it’s almost 100hp down on the blistering Ford Focus RS. But that doesn’t matter. Unless your daily commute includes a lap of Silverstone, the Golf GTI is fast enough.

The 0-62mph sprint takes 6.9 seconds, which is the same as the old car, while top speed 149mph – an increase of 3mph. Big wow. What’s impressive though is that the engine manages to be more efficient and less polluting at the same time. It’s more refined and quieter when cruising too. Yet a special device in the airbox makes it more raucous under acceleration.

It’s a similar story with the handling. The car rides better than the MKV, but somehow seems a tad more agile at the same time. The GTI is even better with the optional Adaptive Chassis Control. This costs £700 extra but is a must have. It features computer controlled dampers which constantly adjust to deliver the optimum balance of comfort and handling.

You can override the system at the press of a button for either a comfort mode – which makes the car’s ride softer than in the previous GTI – or sports mode – which makes it harder. The latter also sharpens up the steering and throttle response. But I wouldn’t bother with these two settings. Really, it’s better to leave ACC in normal and let the computer figure things out.

The six-speed DSG dual clutch transmission is another option worth having if you do a lot of town driving. Okay, so it’s not as involving as a manual gearbox and costs £1,305. But the paddle shift system is very slick and you can put it into full auto mode when you are shunting along in traffic.

One option I wouldn’t select is leather trim. The standard tartan cloth just suits the car so well. In fact VW is planning on selling rolls of the fabric as an accessory for kilt-wearing GTI nuts. They probably wouldn’t have been able to do that with the old car’s trim – as with the rest of the new model’s cabin everything feels a little bit more upmarket this time around.

It’s the same with the exterior. The bolder panel creases and new horizontal grille give the car more road presence. And that sums up the new Golf GTI – it’s more refined, and more grown up than the old car. However, it manages to do this without being any less fun. A neat trick that.

The only problem with the car is the price. It starts at £22,410 for the three-door which means it’s more than the Scirocco GT. For an extra £585 the more practical five-door Golf GTI makes much more sense. But if you select the DSG gearbox and ACC this ups the price to £25,100. And, this puts the VW up against the dynamically superior Ford Focus RS.

But that doesn’t matter. Why? Well, the Golf GTI may not be the ultimate hot hatch in terms of outright performance. However, its superior image, economy and practicality make it a better all rounder. And importantly that means it’s more likely to appeal to the missus.

by Mat Watson