We’ve driven the GTI on a track and now it’s time to drive it on the road. But I think it has more ‘potential’, or does it?
A few months ago, we drove the GTI at NATRAX, which in my slightly biased opinion is the most advanced test facility for motor vehicles in Asia. We did what any self-respecting hot hatch lover would do - a quarter mile, handling track, the high speed bowl… the works. And yet, that whole experience actually left me a bit sad. Because all I really wanted to do was drive this real-world perfect little nugget on our real-world unperfected Indian roads. Especially since I had just come out of Octavia RS ownership, and I know exactly how this platform behaves where it matters, not in a proving ground bubble, but in the chaos of daily driving.
The wait was long. And sad. It took a while for the GTI to officially enter Volkswagen India’s press fleet. The moment it did, I had to have it for a week. When it finally arrived, it was, as seems to be the case often these days, a wet and grey day, weirdly brightened up by the grey the GTI wore. Now I could tell you all about the Golf, the engine, the interior and the VW obviousness, but this article is not that. This is purely: how does this thing drive on actual Indian streets? Is it deserving of that insane price tag?
First, the GTI is invisible. Almost. Most people will assume it’s a Polo with wheels and a bodykit. For people who buy cars for Instagram attention, that’s a problem. But for people who enjoy being the quiet assassin, that’s the whole point. In fact, I tested the theory. I parked the GTI in the airport parking lot for 12 hours. Not one person looked at it either while I left it, or when I came back, and there were like 20 teenagers in that zone when I returned. Not one even stopped mid-conversation. This is EXACTLY what a hot hatch should be: either wildly extroverted, or beautifully understated. The GTI can do both.
Next, the ground clearance myth. This comment is the favourite playground of people who have never driven something low or performance oriented. Let’s dispel that: the GTI is usable! Not scrape-every-bump low. Unless the speedbreaker is designed to scrape BEST buses, you will be fine. And even over those, “angle of attack + patience” solves the world’s problems. And road comfort? Honestly, I’ve driven worse-riding compact SUVs. The Golf is usable, drivable, and even comfortable by Indian standards.
For most people, the suspension balance will be ideal. Enthusiasts may want coilovers. But for normal, regular humans, this is the perfect sweet spot.
Performance-wise too — a sub-300hp car today is the perfect modern daily formula. Quick enough to destroy any boy racer, enough poke to silence the random over-eager EV guy, and mellow enough to not intimidate its owner. I genuinely expect a fair number of GTIs to land up in middle-aged or older garages, remain bone stock for years, and THEN get straight-piped the day they get sold.
The exhaust note is pleasant, the subtle pops are tasteful, the torque steer is non-existent, tyre-hop isn’t a thing, and the interior has the right amount of quality.
If it had cooled electric seats and proper hands-free keyless on the door handles, this would be flawless.
But guess what? Even without those two features, this is still the perfect modern enthusiast’s everyday car. Now if only it was cheaper.
While a stock car is all well and good, cars like the Golf GTI are the perfect canvas to fulfil your ‘Built, not Bought’ dreams. We took the GTI to N1 Racing in Mumbai, one of the best VW group tuning shops in the country to get a better understanding of what is and what isn’t possible. Sadly, the simplest mod to extract more power, a remap, can’t yet be done on these cars as no tuning shop has successfully unlocked the coding on these ECUs. So instead, one must do it the old fashioned way, with hardware upgrades. You have various exhaust and intake options, all of which will add a bit of horsepower. A downpipe and an intercooler on these turbo cars also makes a huge difference, so does a decent of of plugs and coil packs. And of course, not to be left behind, a set of coilovers, of which there are plenty can sort out the height, ride and handling on the GTI the way you want it. While we would love to add a price list, check out N1 Racing’s website for more details where there is something available for the GTI for every price point. That said, the one mod you must do, the moment you buy the GTI, should be wheels.
