Gadgetory

there are only a few genuine classics in the auto industry that are affordable anyway and this is one of them let's see what the seventh generation feels like and how it carries its legacy as we drive the 2015 VW GTI this one's an FCE trim with a manual by the way check the tech first of all the golf is still a golf one of the most reliable formulas in the business is still basically the same formula it's a little longer it's a little wider than the last generation but almost trivially the big giveaway for the spotter is the hood the face of the current Golf has got this lower sloping down snout going along with that our new headlights and taillights beyond that the packaging is very familiar now I may not like every VW car but I think I like every VW cabin they just punch above their price class in terms of kind of a nice mature style solid materials now we have the lesser of two head units a 5.8 inch display radio a larger nav unit eight inch in a package is available but to be honest I don't think it holds a lot of delights VW is just not cool when it comes to doing great head units even on this one look at a crappy dot pitch of that display you've got some nice well-thought-out helper hard keys around it your media choices are pretty good it's not a class leader in terms of apps for example if you're gonna play an app it's going to be just the audio coming off your phone instead what you got is a CD player over here where you can't reach it in the glove box SD card slot there as well because you know everyone loves that here's your multi device interface down there and the binnacle I hate these things you got a custom port that has to go to a VW or Audi cable that then goes to your device just get a USB and of course we have bluetooth streaming that's going to be your saving grace along with your radio choices rear camera is optional on these cars the base cars do not have it bear that in mind ditto for Park distance sensor that's another option package it's part of sunroof keyless access those are also part of option packages and your audio can get bumped up and I mean bumped to fender audio which to me just sounds like more speakers with a massive subwoofer you can easily use to overdrive everything else so keep it around the middle okay under the hood one engine choice on a GTI you've got a 2-liter sidesaddle inline turbo for two gearboxes available though six-speed manual thank you or a 6-speed DSG it's their dual clutch transmission front wheel drive 210 horsepower or 220 if you get a special performance package that basically hots up the software in both cases though 258 pound-feet of torque 0 to 60 s and the low sixes for this car now if you want all-wheel-drive not available here interestingly you get slightly better mileage with the manual that isn't usually the case these days 25:34 if you have a clutch 25:33 if you get the DSG gearbox and this engine wants premium by the way now first of all you gotta get used to a couple things for even you're going in this car I'm not crazy about the clutch it's one of those really light ones never been a fan but that is a little easier to commute in and you may like that feel the power comes on in a spooly fashion like this nice little growl you get out of this engine and get it idle it's dead silent and silky smooth the driving ergonomics are quite nice on these vehicle at least I think so plenty of headroom by the way even if you're tall and as I mentioned earlier a nice sturdy build quality in here there's an adaptive suspension available for the GTI we don't have it and I don't miss it I like the way this car handles now the least you can get into a GTI for is about twenty five six that's going to be a two-door it's gonna be a manual transmission car no rear camera no nav no sunroof pretty bare-bones but you're getting the DNA at six hundred bucks for a four-door eleven hundred dollars for the dual clutch transmission the performance package that gets you more horsepower limited-slip and bigger brakes is 1495 driver assist is also pretty limited park sensors and forward collision warning for 700 I can take or leave it adaptive suspension can't comment on it because we don't have it but it's $800 and it requires that previous performance package the key is the SE trim level for sunroof keyless rear cam automatic lights defender audio unfortunately you're gonna lose the cool plaid cloth Autobahn for 1700 is only on four doors by the way it also brings you power seat for the driver and automatic temperature control your $26,000 GTI can rather easily become a $35,000 GTI if you do it all up CNET style still a couple grand shy of the entry point for a Golf R though so they maintain some separation there and for most people this is enough great everyday driver and ready for spirited driving when you are