Put your foot down on the pedal and it's difficult to launch it from standstill without chirping the front tires. After some experimentation, modulating the accelerator allows for relatively quick 0 - 60 (96.6 km/h) times, averaging at just over 7 seconds, with a minimum of rubber left on the ground. That said, the traction control system wasn't up to the job during hard acceleration in the wet. The GTI 'bunny-hopped' harshly when attempting to quickly speed away from stoplights, making its extra power virtually redundant. All said, VW's excellent AWD system, 4-motion, would be an option many would spring for in the GTI, if it were available. Food for thought Volkswagen!
Wet or dry, during hard cornering, the GTI clings to road surfaces with confidence. It truly shines on the open highway, especially on those beloved back roads...you know...the ones that haven't been 'smoothed' over by well meaning civil engineers on a quest for ultimate safety. This tiny road warrior attacks curves with verve, taking on one hairpin after another, never relenting, never tiring - the sizable vented disc brakes proving themselves well up to the task of controlling the overzealous enthusiast in most of us.
Not only is this one of the best vehicles to get from point A to point B in a 'gotta-be-there-yesterday' kind of hurry, but the GTI also does it in style. The quality assembly puts the GTI in a class of its own. These materials, especially the high quality plastics, give the car the feel of a much more expensive machine. Touch the dash or press one of many back-lit switches and buttons - the plastics are soft and dense and the controls have that certain 'click' that gives you the confidence they'll be working just as well ten years from now.