My view on all generations of the legendary VW Golf GTI. #Blogpost by JenstheGTIfreak

Hello all and welcome to my blogpost about a car which I adore. The Golf GTI.

In this post I will take you through each generation of the GTI and will tell you what I think of it with some additional information to it. Some are good, some are great, and some are not that good.

The Mk1 Golf GTI

Aah, the Mk1. The car which started it all. The car that was actually never meant to happen but it did and what a succes it was. Even though there were a few other fast hatchbacks around back then, the Mk1 GTI started a new era. VW planned to make just 5000 of them and turned out to make many many more.

Now then, the actual point of this post. What I think of the Mk1 GTI. I think the Mk1 is an absolutely legendary and beautiful car. Having such a low weight and a relatively high power output it was absolute great fun to drive. Obviously I’ve never been able to drive one yet , but by some this car is still referred to as the best hot hatchback the world has ever seen. Many people still favorite it and it’s hard to argue why. The only small problems were that the brakes didn’t really work that well and that even for the time, it was still quite expensive.

The Mk2 Golf GTI

Oh yes, the second generation of the oh so awesome Golf GTI. This car had a lot to live up to because the Mk1 was such a succes. But it did and oh it did. This generation came in a huge amount of different versions and special editions. I’m not going to name them all but just mention my favorite and another really special one. The 16V, which had 139 HP and compared to the 110 HP the Mk1 already had was a lot for such a light car. The fact that the Mk2 just weighed a little bit more meant it was quite fast. Now you think, damn that’s a lot of power for such a light car. But then we had the Mk2 G60. This car had a lot of issues with its G-charger but that didn’t stop it from being quite special. Thanks to the G-charger the G60 had 160 HP and for a car with such a low weight that was blisteringly fast.

Now then, my thoughts on it after rambling on about all the specs. I genuinely adore the Mk2 GTI. I think it is an seriously brilliant looking car and the G60 and 16V versions just made it even more awesome. This car has to be my favorite GTI which has ever been built. But it is not just my favorite GTI. No, it is my favorite car(cue Jeremy Clarkson voice)in the world. It is not just about the awesome engines it featured, it is just about its appearance. It is a very friendly and familiar looking car, even though it is getting older it still is, even today quite a head turner. I think it is the familiarity of the car which makes people like it that much. Everyone will know somebody who has at some point owned or still owns a Mk2. Not just talking about the GTI right now since they both have that familiar look.

The Mk3 Golf GTI

Well, the Mk3 GTI. You might already notice that I’m not as enthusiastic anymore. That’s mainly because the Mk3 GTI was a particularly dull car. In the 90’s there were a lot more safety rules which had to be followed meaning that the Mk3 GTI turned out to be rather heavy. And VW didn’t really bother souping up the engine to make up for the weight gain which meant it was very slow, the 8V even had a slower 0-100 KPH time than the original Mk1 GTI

Well then, my view on this one. I think the Mk3 GTI might have been….dare I say it, the worst GTI that has ever been made. The car lacked lots of the typical GTI looks, was heavy, bad engines, it was slow and last of all, it wasn’t a proper GTI. Yes it might have had some of the red details and still a bit of punch, but the lack of the real typical GTI looks, the fact it was heavy, the bad engines(by bad I mean underpowered, not badly made or anything) and it being slow that didn’t make it a GTI, because all I just mentioned, is what makes a GTI a GTI. There are other factors which count too obviously, but these are the main ones.

Luckily, back then there was an alternative to the disappointment of the GTI. The Mk3 VR6. This car basically was the start of the R-Golfs. It wasn’t named R, but after this one there has always been a quicker version of the GTI. The Mk4 R32, the Mk5 R32, the Mk6 R and the current Mk7 R(even though the GTI Clubsport S is faster). This car turned out to be a great alternative to the GTI. This car had the power to match the gained weight of the Mk3. One last thing about the looks of the Mk3, some examples of the Mk3 GTI looked quite boring, but luckily there were very clean looking ones(for example the Mk3 GTI pictured above)and some people decided to change the looks themselves which was a bit of hit and miss to be honest.

The Mk4 Golf GTI

Well, the Mk4. Again not an ooh or aah start like the Mk1 and Mk2 but that also is because this wasn’t a car like the Mk1 or the Mk2. This car also was bigger, so it was heavier. VW had taken on the power disadvantage but not enough unfortunately. On the Mk4, the GTI wasn’t an entirely different car like the others, but it was just a equipment level with different engines available. This was so crazy you even had a Golf GTI TDI. Another point of complaint was that the 1.8 T which was available for the GTI, wasn’t just available for the GTI. There were ‘normal’ Mk4 Golfs which you could also have that engine in. The 1.8 T engine wasn’t a bad one though. This engine was loved by tuners since you could get a lot of power out of it quite easily.

My opinion of the Mk4 Golf GTI. The fact that GTI was just a equipment level on this car, makes me dislike it a lot already. I do think it looks good though, a bit dull though and they didn’t change the exterior enough for the GTI which makes it hard to recognize. As a GTI, this car was a failure, but as car, this car was alright. Very tuning friendly, not bad looking and reasonably powerful.

Luckily, also for this car there was a alternative. The Mk4 R32. This car wasn’t a equipment level but an actual car on its own. This car featured a 3.2 VR6 which drives all four wheels(sometimes). The VR6 also put down a lot more power than the GTI which meant it was a lot quicker and much more fun to drive.

The Mk5 Golf GTI

Aah, the Mk5 GTI. Yes you heard that right, the aah’s have started again because this car was the return of an icon. The Mk5 GTI had undergone a weight loss and a power gain which meant the fastness of the car was all sorted. The GTI finally was a proper car on its own again with a 2.0 turbo engine which could only be found in the GTI. The Mk5 had gotten back all of its red details again, which meant that it was properly recognizable again and different from the normal Golfs. Some car magazines actually call this the best GTI of them all but I think that is a bit high praise.

My view on this car is that it’s a great car returning to its original roots, It has all the things what makes it a GTI: it is reasonably light, it has a good powerful engine, it has all the red GTI details, it looks good and most of all: it is fast.

And if for some reason, you didn’t like the Mk5 GTI, there also was the Mk5 R32. This car was still powered by the same 3.2 VR6 but with slightly upped power. It also had the AWD system which did the job alright. This car came with a DSG gearbox and a manual. This DSG also was one of the early DSG’s so it wasn’t as sharp and fast as they now are.

The Mk6 Golf GTI

Ooh, the Mk6 GTI. This car wasn’t that much different to its predecessor but it did have some slight changes which worked pretty well. Engine is the same but just upped with power slightly. The Mk6 had also undergone a weight loss which made the car a bit quicker. Some models also came with and electronic differential but it didn’t make a huge difference handling wise. The biggest change was that the CEO of VW(Martin Winterkorn)then insisted on the new GTI having one exhaust in each corner. This meant the rear had to be completely redesigned.

My view on this car is just like the Mk5 that it is an absolutely great car. There wasn’t that much difference between the Mk5 and the Mk6 GTI though. The changes which have been made are very welcome changes tho. If I were to choose between the two it wouldn’t really matter for me since they’re quite equal in the technical part so it’d just be looking at other things which don’t matter massively like ‘which one has a better interior’.

And if the Mk6 GTI was too slow for you or something, Volkswagen once again came up with a faster version. The Mk6 R. This time it was just named R because VW probably didn’t want to admit they’re downsizing and R20 would have sounded pretty daft. You guessed it right from reading 20, this car had a spiced up version of the GTI engine pushing out 270 HP. This car also used the AWD system. Unlike the Mk5 R32 though, this car came with a manual and DSG

The Mk7 Golf GTI

Ooooooooh yes baby, the Mk7 GTI. Even though it didn’t look like it, but this car was completely changed unlike the Mk6 GTI was. They might have looked the same, but this car is very different underneath. Power was only upped by 10 HP which didn’t seem much, but this car also came as the Golf GTI ‘Performance’. This meant the car had 10 more hp, beefed up brakes, GTI written on the brakes and best of all, a mechanical front differential which could send up to 100% of the power to one wheel. This completely kills off any kind of torque- and understeer. If you find understeer in this car you’re driving way to quickly.

Alright, my view on this car is that VW managed to outdo themselves once again with this car. The way the diff works and what a difference it has made is absolutely staggering. Jeremy Clarkson actually liked it so much he now owns one. If you were to buy a newer GTI and could spend the extra, you have to get the Mk7 and definitely with the performance pack.

And if you’re one of these guys ‘front wheel drive is wrong wheel drive’ then there is the Golf R. Unlike the Mk7 GTI this car hasn’t changed much to its predecessor. It has still got the haldex AWD system and it got a slight power boost. For the Mk7 VW also started making the Golf R estate. Now this is an absolutely awesome car. You have the awesomeness of the hatchback R, and add the great looks of the wagon and more practicality.

Here’s another special Golf and a alternative, this time it still is a GTI though. Two actually. Meet the Golf GTI Clubsport and Clubsport S. These are the two special edition Golfs for the GTI its 40th birthday. These are the only birthday Golfs I mention in this post because they’re the most different. Firstly, the ‘normal’ Clubsport. Power had been upped to 265 HP, 290 in overboost because otherwise it would be in the Seat Leon Cupra 290’s way. This was more of a marketing trick. Anyways, this GTI was the first one along with the S to feature actual downforce. This means there wouldn’t be sudden lift-off oversteer at high speeds. The Clubsport S is where it gets more serious. The car had been on a serious diet with also losing the back seat. This car has managed to claim the record of the fastest fwd car on the Nürburgring. Not that lap times matter in a GTI, but it’s nice to know what it’s capable of. The car has 310 HP still to the front wheels but VW fitted the car with semi-slicks so there wouldn’t be any understeer moments. The car also only came with a manual gearbox because a DSG box was too heavy (20 KG more than a manual) to make up for the faster shifts

Favorites

My favorite GTI: the Mk2 GTI 16V
My favorite fast-Golf-which-is-not-a-GTI: the Mk4 R32

If you made it here, thanks for wasting your time on this post. Thanks all for reading my post. I also want to thank all of my followers for upvoting and commenting on my posts since it is my 1 year anniversary here today.

Anyways, if you got any questions or tips to make my blogpost skills better, leave them in the comments below!

Cya!

-Jens