VW Golf II GTI : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Safety	Good
Comfort	Good
Road Handling	Good
Security	Good
Looks	Good

Advantages:	great to drive and built to last
Disadvantages:	bit boring

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I had the pleasure of owning a Mk.2 GTI from new and covered 120,000 miles over ten years until I wrote it off after skidding on an untreated icy road last Christmas. Even though this model lacked airbags, etc. it still performed well in destruction testing leaving everyone in one piece and limping home under its own power. With the great fun I had with this car over the last decade convinced me to buy another GTI. I bought a Mk.4 GTI Turbo in January and have now covered 8,000 miles without any problem. When I drove this car on test I was impressed by just how far VW had progressed over the last ten years. This car really is a quality item with everything well screwed together and a really nice interior with grippy Recarro seats. On the safety front the car has driver and passenger front and side airbags and three proper three-point seatbelts in the rear. I'm a bit of a car nut so I'd read all the quality car mags. before buying and I knew that the Turbo was supposedly the pick of the range but even I was surprised by just how nice this car is to drive. Even when it was brand new and the engine and gearbox were tight it went really fast and remembering how the last Golf didn't really loosen up until 50,000 miles I'm looking forward to this one getting even better as time goes on. I didn't like the Mk.3 GTI but I think this model is nicely understated, especially in Black with those lovely alloys and only the red 'I' on the badge to distinguish it from lesser Golfs. It's grown up over the years and hopefully won't get the same negative reactions from vandals and traffic cops as the last one attracted. Comparing it to the Mk.2 its not better in every way - you need to remember to drop a gear or two after slowing to enter a roundabout otherwise it can bog-down until the revs rise and the turbo smooths things out. There isn't any real turbo lag and the turbo kicks in very softly c. 2000 rpm and then it really accelerates. It doesn't have the Mk.2's phenomenal acceleration around 50-70mph in top which made that car so much fun to drive and the suspension is quite a bit softer which combined with the nicely weighted power steering make it a lot more comfortable but a bit less communicative. It can gently bounce a little at speed on undulating motorways and you either have to accelerate through this or back off a bit. I'm told VW build and import some cars from South Africa and these can be a bit rattly but mine was built in good old West germany and is as solid as a rock. This car is a good example of german enginnering at its best!!!!!!!!!!!