Quite the contrary actually, I bought mine out of positive choice. The 1 series looks like a bread van with no room in the boot and the 3 series is about as bland as a bowl of porridge. The MB’s are for butchers and taxi drivers. The GTI is fast, cool and well executed. This wannabe just loves it for what it is.

VW has completely lost it’s way in offering low priced, good quality, reliable cars. VW now reminds me of latte drinking, yuppie wannabes who can’t quite afford a BMW or MB.

Too bad.

VW didn’t fire its mojo off into orbit; it’s been hammered for the last 8 years with an exchange rate that would have brought a lesser manufacturer to its knees. Had Ford been headquartered in Wolfsburg during the last 8 years, Ford would be liquidating its last factory tooling right now.

I am not familiar with the IMMD, but my guess is that Karl Rove is curator, no?

methinks the 2-door is vastly more attractive than the 4-door and looks like no Japanese car i have ever seen, but that’s pure personal subjectivity that has no place in an objective review. perhaps instead we should compare price difference between the models and assess the difference in dimensions of entry/egress between the models. How does the cargo space compare? I’d take the 2-door and put the bag o’ cash in the back seat. but, that said, both GTI models represent extremely good packaging that allow suprizingly large interior space in a tidy package.

the steering wheel feels great, far better than a “squashed crown”. The flat bottom steering wheel is fantastic because i don’t have to tilt the wheel to comfortably slide into the driver’s seat, even when wearing billowy scottish unbiforcated male garments that match the plaid seats.

speaking of seats, does any manufacturer offer better seats at this price point? …none in which i’ve had pleasure of installing my derrière.

while decently balanced, the GTI understeers when pushed, just like almost every other front-heavy car in the world. traction, too, is limited like any other fwd beast. Thus a GTI would never keep up with a Boxster or Miata without application of serious driving skills and a few aftermarket tricks. But for most street driving the GTI satisfies the quest for performance and agility.

there are very few cars whose brakes truly impress me, and for the most part, German cars’ brakes just don’t feel progressive and firm to my liking. Porsche braking performance won’t happen here. But, again, pedal feel is subjective, and this is probably the only mechanical quirk on the GTI worth elaboration. the binders stop the car as well or better than most cars in the GTI’s price range.

the obvious handling difference between the gen 4 and gen 5 GTI is that the stiffer body and superior suspension allow the new model to play ball. the old flexy flyer GTI gave up before the second inning.

downsides: premium fuel is required to get the advertised performance out of the superb 2.0T engine, and of course when you do, you’ll find yourself pushing the engine into the not-so-fuel-economical zone. An economizer this is not. However, the GTI is currently the best hot hatch in North America, and it deserves high praise for arriving on our shores at a price that belies its ability. Unless of course you go for the leather interior (which unfortunately comes only in black, a little warm for some climates), which kicks the price up two big notches almost into Audi/BMW/Acura territory.

Bottom line: solid 8/10 score.

However, I have 2 major gripes. The brakes suck. I have driven more than my own GTI with another well run in example. If you want real stopping power you are going to have to stand on the brakes with a hefty right foot. The stopping power is not commensurate with the loud pedal. I was considering having the brakes upgraded to Brembos or something else until I was told it would stop the ABS and anti wheel spin technology from working. I don’t know how VW got that one so wrong.

The other gripe is the drive by wire accelerator. There is no feel to it and the engine response lags far behind the depression of the pedal compared to a mechanical linkage. There’s no such thing as blipping the throttle on this one, the pedal has already returned before the engine has decided to respond, a split second I grant you but enough to make it feel benign.

Hmmmmm.