The MkI VW Golf GTI Is A Legend, But The MkII Is The One I Want
Pros
Cons
I’m well aware of what a MkI VW Golf GTI looks like, but when presented with one IRL, I stop in my tracks and stare, mouth agape. They’re a rare sight these days, which is a shame, as in the metal the hot hatch originator comes close to visual automotive perfection.
It’s compact, boxy, cute, yet sporty and purposeful-looking. It does just enough to let you know it isn’t an ordinary Golf, with some red lipstick for that flat, slatted grille, some small plastic wheel arch extensions and a surprisingly chunky front splitter.
Inside, the Clark ‘tartan’ plaid seats and the golf ball-like gear knob subtly make you aware of the car’s intentions, rather than shout at you. This is the recipe VW has stuck with right up until today with the seventh-generation car, and, we sincerely hope, the eighth-gen. A Golf GTI is not and should not be brash.
The quiet brilliance continues when you start to drive one quickly. Progress may not seem all that dramatic compared to the new 286bhp GTI TCR, but the 110bhp MkI is happy to move on at a swift pace, its unremarkable 1.6-litre inline-four letting out a pleasantly raspy tune from the tailpipe in the process. The rev limiter cuts in around 6000rpm, requiring a quick shift from the four-speed manual-box, which demands some effort and care to get right. Not that I mind - you actually feel some sort of mechanical connection with what’s going on underneath, unlike modern GTI manuals.
The true fun begins as you tackle anything remotely resembling a bend, or perhaps a roundabout. There’s a real fluidity to the body, which just seems to want to playfully move around all the time. The front wheels give up fairly easily, but just as they do so, a throttle lift sees the back end start to swing forward in a way that’s never, ever unpredictable. Body roll is at times considerable, but given the relatively low speeds you’ll be doing, that’s not really an issue.
It’s good, clean, simple fun, and although VW seems to be claiming it’s recaptured this magic with the new Up GTI, I’m just not sure this is the case. I’ve certainly never gotten out of an Up GTI wanting one as much as I now want a MkI GTI, which is a problem - you’re looking at around £10,000 for a good one these days, with some lower-mileage examples even going for over £20,000. Damn.
With an equally mint Mk2 sitting just next to the MkI’s parking spot upon my return, it seemed rude not to continue my journey through the GTI back-catalogue. And my word, what a leap forward it is. I was expecting only incremental changes, but the reality is very different.
The MkII feels so much more tied down. Grip and traction at the front end increase exponentially, and body roll is far more contained.
It’s more serious. More capable. And yet, it still knows how to have fun - it’ll still happily cock a rear wheel and indulge some lift-off oversteer. It may be over 30 years old, but in a lot of ways, it feels a lot like a modern hot hatchback, the only true giveaway being the steering - like the MkI’s, it’s reasonably sluggish.
The big surprise, however, is the engine. I thought this car was going to be all about the chassis, but the 16-valve 1.8-litre N/A inline-four is a rev-hungry hero. It’ll keep going to 7000rpm, letting out a glorious induction bark during the final 1000rpm before the redline. It reminds me of the four-pot in the Mercedes 190E 2.3 16, which remains just about the best-sounding inline-four-powered road car I’ve ever heard. 139bhp may not seem like much, but don’t forget, although weight did increase quite a bit over its 810kg predecessor, this is still a light car. And unlike the MkI, the II does actually feel quick.
As an object of desire the more handsome, neater-looking MkI has it comprehensively beaten, but when it comes to the driving experience, the MkII eclipses its predecessor to a much greater extent than I’d anticipated.
Considering what was achieved all the way back in the 1980s, the MkIII really should have been epic, but as I found out via a drive in one just after my MkII encounter, this is where VW seemed to really lose its way with the GTI.
It’d take them until 2005 and the arrival of the MkV to make a car that truly deserved those three letters on the grille, having made a step in the right direction with some versions of the MkIV.
The Mk1 is rightfully revered not just as the machine that kicked off VW’s GTI dynasty, but also a machine that spawned a whole genre of affordable performance cars. But it’s not the starting point that wins my heart - nope, it’s the car that refined the recipe to perfection. It’s the MkII.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I’d buy the hell out of one
The MK2 looks to chubby and weird imo
Hahah, I’ll just stick to my Mk4 337
Although I’d kill for an Mk1 or Mk2
The exact definition of a highway rat.
Only thing I don’t particularly like about the mk2 is the steering wheel, it’s just nasty, I would like to have a mk2 with a mk1’s steering wheel
A year ago i wouldnt have wanted to be seen dead in a vw but now since i own a mk4 golf id actually would buy a mk 1 or 2
Mk2 is the best avalaible Look/money /performance.If you are a car collector,you need one in a magic color !
Mk1 Golf’s have gone beyond the point of me ever owning one and I never bonded with the Mk2….
Golf’s were never my thing VW wise (even though I’ve been in the VW scene for 13 years or so) I started in Polo’s and some of my best and longest known friends in the scene are still making Polos way faster than they should be!
Back to my original point, Mk2 Scirocco (if you can get a Mk1 even better but they’ve gone the same as the Golf’s) reasonably cheap compared to the Golfs, injection cars have the 112bhp 1.8 and the chassis is the same just with a coupe body on
I’ve had 5 now and keep coming back to them, the bay is sizeable enough to take any engine you like (I put a KR 16v from Mk2 Golf in one, there’s a couple of R32 ones, few 1.8T ones (neva lose!) and even one with the V5 engine in (which I might do to my current one!)
In the early 2000s, one of my childhood friends had the chance to start with a non-catalyzed 1986 GTI 16-valve Golf II (no power steering, ABS, …). It may sounds a bit low by now, but 139 hp for less than 940 kg is like a death weapon in the hands of a learner.
Because of this I felt in love with MK2 and also learned that KR (EA827) engines are like bullet-proof (in stock n/a form).
Fun fact: back in the days he was too fat to be able to put on his seatbelt.
We were young… and mad.