Tag: Golf GTI

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Volkswagen

Mk7 Golf GTI lands in Singapore, check the pricing!

Mk7 Golf GTI in Singapore

The new Golf GTI has recently arrived in Singapore. If you’re not familiar with car prices over there this will come as a shock, it’s priced from SGD212,000 (AU$182,000). And you thought Australian car buyers got screwed on imported car prices!

The good news is there is a special launch edition—five door configuration with leather, DSG and sunroof; no Performance Pack—that comes in at a mere SGD199,000. Although you can choose the colour.

As for Australia, the Mk7 Golf GTI is due to go on sale before the end of the year and we expect it to maintain its AU$40,000 price point.

[Thanks to Tim for the tip]

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Video Volkswagen

Should we lust after, laugh at or respect the GTI?

Chris Harris drives the Mk7 Golf GTI

Chris Harris turns his hand to the Mk7 Golf GTI. He’s at the wheel of a base-spec 162kW model with a proper gearbox. Part of the GTI’s appeal is its understated nature. And yet, when a respected reviewer, such as Harris, takes an understated approach to his work what are we left with?

Just that, a question mark. Yes, Chris does say lots of nice things about the latest GTI, but where’s the passion and the gut feel that we normally get from his videos?

So, are we too comfortable with the Harris style, or has the GTI recipe become so familiar that it’s almost taken for granted? Like Chris, we’re going to leave you with a question mark.

[Thanks to Richard for the tip]

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BMW Mercedes-Benz Volkswagen

VIDEO: Hot hatch mixed masters

Autocar A45 AMG v Golf GTI v M135i

Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar has had the enviable task of comparing a trio of very different hot hatches. There’s the 265kW four-cylinder all-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, the 250kW inline six-cylinder rear-wheel drive BMW M135i and the 169kW front-wheel drive Volkswagen Golf GTI.

They are three very different hot hatches. Indeed aside from country of origin and the fact all three are turbocharged they don’t really have a lot in common. Pricing, especially, is very different. And yet, if you had the chance to drive all three on the same roads on the same day you’d grab the opportunity with both hands.

So put aside the practical differences for a moment and enjoy the ride. Then, at the end, you can try and rationalise the outcome.

[Thanks to John for the tip]

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Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf VII GTI in detail

Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTI

Following the international press launch of the all-new Volkswagen Golf GTI comes a raft of new information and details about the company’s much loved hot hatch.

To recap, the new Mk7 Golf GTI is lighter, faster, more efficient and better equipped than any previous GTI. It comes in two specifications, the regular 162kW/350Nm model and the 169kW/350Nm Performance Pack.

The Performance Pack brings with it a few extra goodies to go with its modest power increase, most notably larger brakes and an XDS+ electronic differential lock. And it’s that electronically controlled mechanical diff that’s grabbing many of the headlines.

You’ll find all the detail you want about the new Golf GTI after the break, but in Volkswagen’s own words here’s some more detail on the XDS+ diff to get you started:

A newly engineered electronic front differential lock is being used exclusively in the Golf GTI Performance. To date, Volkswagen is the only carmaker to utilise an electronically controlled differential lock in a front-wheel drive production model. Compared to purely mechanical locks, the front differential lock integrated in the Golf GTI Performance offers advantages such as a variable degree of locking and comprehensive interfaces to the ESC, EDS and XDS+ functions. This makes it possible to completely avoid negative effects on steering response and steering precision that otherwise occur with mechanical locks.

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Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf GTI “Edition 35”

Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 35

Volkswagen has released new images of this Golf GTI “Edition 35”. As its name suggests, it’s been created to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original Mk1 GTI.

Official press text is thin on the ground at the moment, but we can tell you the Edition 35 has an 18kW increase on the regular GTI. That means peak power is up from 155kW to 173kW.

Outside, there’s model specific 18″ “Watkins Glen” alloy wheels, as well as model specific “35” badging. The front spoiler has also been given a slight tweak. Inside, the “35” theme continues with badging on the door sills and honeycomb trimmed seats. Also included is a dimpled gearknob, a feature honouring the Mk1 once more and previously seen on other special edition GTIs.

The Golf GTI Edition 35 will make its public debut at the annual Wörthersee show in early June. We expect more technical details will be revealed then. We don’t expect this model will find its way down under, but we will ask the question to Volkswagen Australia.

UPDATE 11 May: A brief press release from Volkswagen AG has been added below.

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Categories
Mazda Volkswagen

Burnout fatigue

VW Golf GTI

The folks over at Inside Line bring us this Burnout Super Test featuring the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Mazda3 MPS. Why they bothered is anyone’s guess. Perhaps the presenter should have said his last line to camera at the start of the clip and saved everyone the hassle.

Still, nobody got hurt and so long as the readers out there don’t go fooling around like this on public roads we should all live happily ever after.

You can see the moving pictures after the break.

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Motor Shows Volkswagen

Wörthersee: Volkswagen Golf GTI Excessive

Golf GTI Excessive

In addition to the adidas limited edition, Volkswagen has also presented this Golf GTI “Excessive” to the fans at the Wörthersee show in Austria. It looks like Volkswagen has dusted off last year’s Wörthersee 09 Concept and bolted on a few shiny plastic bits.

There’s an increased track, set off nicely by BBS alloy wheels and a big brake kit. The aggressive front splitter and rear diffuser look the part, but those wheel arches and side skirts are pushing a few unwelcome boundaries.

Volkswagen are leaving the door open to these parts being made available over the counter of your local dealership. They say if the fans show enough support at Wörthersee then they could put the kit into production.

More after the break.

UPDATE: Volkswagen UK press release added below. This tells us the Excessive has modest increases in power and torque, among other things.

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BMW Volkswagen

Would you buy a GTI over an M3?

Edmunds, Golf GTI v BMW M3

Michael Jordan would. Not that Michael Jordan, no, the Michael Jordan from Edmunds Inside Line. In fact, MJ not only reckons the current Golf GTI is better than the BMW M3, he says it is twice as good!

It’s true, this is what he said, “This is some great car. It’s not that it’s less than half the price as an M3; it’s that it’s more than twice as good as an M3.”

There is some method to his madness, though, “I’m tired of driving 4,000-pound sedans masquerading as coupes. Most of my disappointment in the BMW 1 Series has to do with its unwillingness to embrace a new personality as a light car rather than simply perpetuate the old 3 Series template.”

Jordan continues, “For me, the Volkswagen GTI is the kind of M3 that I prefer, less like a V8-powered truck and more like the Whispering Bomb.”

I can see where he is coming from, and the price gap is exacerbated to greater extremes here in Australia, but if presented with the choice of a GTI and an M3, budget aside, the M3 would get my vote. Read the full article and let us know what you think.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line | Thanks to Adam for the tip]

Categories
Volkswagen

2009 Volkswagen Golf GTI at the Paris Motor Show

The Paris Motor Show was the official reveal for the MkVI Golf GTI Concept. Here’s a couple of short YouTube clips from CARandDRIVER.com (above) and Edmunds InsideLine (after the jump) filmed in Paris. There’s nothing really new in these clips, but it’s still good to get a closer look at what is shaping to be another great GTI from Volkswagen.

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Volkswagen

Volkswagen MkVI Golf GTI driving footage

Video footage of the next generation 2009 Golf GTI has recently emerged on YouTube. The clip itself is not the most inspiring video ever made, but fans of the iconic GTI will be welcome this footage all the same. For more on the new GTI read this previous AUSmotive article.

Categories
Volkswagen

2009 MkVI Golf GTI image gallery

2009 Volkswagen MkVI Golf GTI

Fourteen photographs of the 2009 Volkswagen Golf GTI—click on each pic to load wallpaper sized 2000x1320px super images.

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Categories
Volkswagen

Details of next Golf GTI emerge

MkVI Golf GTI

Details of Volkswagen’s MkVI Golf GTI have been revealed on the autocar.co.uk website.

Like the regular Golf VI range the new GTI has taken an evolutionary approach with a minor reworking of the front grille treatment being the largest immediate difference compared to the previous MkV iteration. The all new body kit is entirely different, with a more appropriate use of color coding all round. “The effect is to visually widen the GTI to make it look much more aggressive and sporty,” said exterior design chief Mark Lichte.

There is a single exhaust tip at each edge on the rear and the interior keeps the flat bottomed steering wheel treatment.

Official details of the MkVI GTI will be released at next week’s Paris Motor Show, but it is believed the base GTI will be powered by the same engine used in the Edition 30 models (approx 160kW). An all wheel drive GTI-R model with around 200kW is also expected to be revealed at some stage in the future, this will replace the hole left by the demise of the VR6 powered R32.

More images can be seen after the jump and stay tuned to AUSmotive for higher resolution pics as they become available.

*update* More pics can be seen at evo.co.uk, of note is the interior image where it looks like the speedometer now only indicates up to 260km/h (MkV GTI was 300km/h) and the dash illumination is more Audi like with white dials and red needles, so it appears the familiar Volkswagen blue-lit dials have been scrapped.

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