Volkswagen GTI

The Volkswagen GTI has been king of the hill in the hot-hatch category for ages, but in the last couple of years, Ford and Mazda (among others), have rapidly crept up on the segment veteran. Both are now offering more power in slightly larger frames. So the question is, how does this now-aging sixth-generation model hold up against the new kids on the block? I spent time in the GTI last year, but a do-over was definitely required after driving the competition. I wanted to sort out if the GTI can still hold its own, or if buyers are better off waiting a couple years for the seventh generation to come to North America.

Visually, the GTI is still an easy sell. While it doesn’t have really loud and over-the-top styling cues, such as the Mazdaspeed3’s giant smiling grille, or the Focus’s catfish nose and videogame fireball tail lights, it also doesn’t have any details that look out of place. I’m still a big fan of the GTI’s LED headlight design, and the BBS-like Watkins Glen alloy wheels are a nice change of pace from what’s usually available. While I will agree that the GTI could use a bit more of an edge in the style department, it is clearly a design that has been refined over its generations and most of its buyers are more interested in how it feels whipping around corners than how it looks in front of a coffee shop. As I spend more time putting the GTI through its paces, that refined maturity continues to set it apart from both the Ford and the Mazda.

The passenger cabin of the GTI is equally conservative, though Volkswagen has added a couple of trim details to keep things interesting. For starters, the Wolfsburg Edition variant comes loaded with plenty of standard equipment — although not leather seats; instead there’s that ghastly plaid cloth that Volkswagen insists on putting in its vehicles. The nice thing about the bizarre cloth choice is that the hint of red pairs up quite nicely with the subtle red details throughout the interior, primarily the red trim on both the seatbelts and floor mats.

From a functional standpoint

, everything in the interior lands exactly where you’d expect. The sexy flat-bottomed steering wheel remains in place, as do the slick, brushed steel pedals. VW has always done an excellent job of making upgraded GTI interiors stand out over the base model and this Wolfsburg is no exception. The touch-screen audio and navigation setup is very simple and user-friendly, though I find it peculiar that it seems so similar to the system that was in the Kia Rio I tested back in the spring. Luckily, both systems operate quite seamlessly and definitely have the latest version of the MyFordTouch system beat.

Right out of the gate, the GTI reminds me why I’ve always been a fan. From behind the wheel you still get that perfect feeling of being in something compact, even though it’s not nearly as small as it used to be. At idle, the GTI is a bit noisier than its competitors, and as soon as you put your foot down you are rewarded with that familiar growl of VW’s tried and true 2.0L-turbo engine. I would have enjoyed seeing a traditional manual gearbox in the GTI, but Volkswagen’s lightning-fast DSG is still one of the best twin-clutch boxes out there. Even though it’s at a relatively significant power disadvantage when compared to any of the other players, it still feels as swift as the rest. Packing a modest 200 hp, it is at a 46 hp deficiency when compared to the Ford Focus ST, however it is also just less than 200 lbs lighter, which makes all the difference.