Volkswagen Golf GTI – engine and gearbox and technical highlights
A 261bhp figure is adequate, but a slick DSG and eLSD make the most of those horses
It feels like everything is powered by an EA888 engine these days. The 2-litre lump first appeared in a GTI for the Mk6, and this latest evo4 unit is the most powerful ever fitted to a base GTI. Now producing 261bhp to the old car’s 242, it punches harder yet retains the slightly flat and one-dimensional character it’s always had. To be fair there’s only so much you can do with four cylinders and a turbo, but Honda, Mercedes-AMG and Hyundai (dearly departed) have managed to squeeze more character out of theirs.
There’s nothing offensive about the GTI’s motor, though, and its linear delivery and effortless flexibility suit the package. At no point do you wish for extra urge, and it revs out cleanly to the 6500rpm red line. Pull for the next gear and the shifts are swift, but they can be laggy when going down the ’box – annoying when you’re relying on engine braking to slow into corners. Sometimes this is because there aren’t enough spare revs available to slot into a lower gear, even though it might feel like there are.
The GTI Clubsport has a corresponding uplift in power, sharing its state of tune with various Cupra models from the Leon, Formentor and Ateca ranges. Here, it’ll pack a more considerable 296bhp, with a less dramatic rise in torque to 295lb ft available between 2000 and 5200rpm. As with all Golf GTIs, a seven-speed DSG is the only gearbox option.
The structure is typical MQB, so there’s little in the way of chassis surprises. The front axle is a fairly standard MacPherson strut design and the rear is multi-link. VW has separated the suspension tuning depending on the wheel size, as cars fitted with a larger 19-inch wheel option pick up a bespoke set-up. The same applies to cars fitted with the optional Dynamic Chassis Control, differing depending on the wheel size, but regardless both feature an excellent new capability that doesn’t just give the driver three options for the dampers, but a sliding scale of 15 different settings. Along with the uprated suspension, the GTI’s brakes are also given chunkier hardware compared to base Golfs.
Weight wise the truthfully isn’t much more than the old Mk7.5 GTI, when compared to the GTI Performance five-door dsg. In this era, that has to go down as a win given the ever-increasing safety and kit count of modern cars.
> Used VW Golf GTI (Mk7, 2013 - 2020) review – still the best hot hatch all-rounder
The Mk8 chassis overall features an aluminium front subframe that saves 3kg, along with new bearings and springs front and rear whose rates have increased by five per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Damping is revised, too. That, and much more, is all tied into the Vehicle Dynamics Manager. Ramping up the sound and powertrain to Sport while leaving the dampers and steering in Comfort is a good sweet spot in the new GTI. With these settings the GTI is painless to drive, with a good level of compliance and light steering efforts to work with.
