2021 VW GOLF GTI MK-8

Here we have the new Volkswagen Golf GTI MK-8 2021, the so called 'hot' hatch from VW. Let start this review by talking about the price offered for the new Golf GTI. We are getting this car for just under thirty three and a half thousand pounds. There are even offered some discount deals on this car that can really help on budget.


Moving on towards the exterior, this car does stand out because you get a more aggressive front bumper with this honeycomb effect. You've also got the classic GTI red striping and it runs all the way across the front of the car into the light. The lights they're matrix led lights. Thus, they blank out a part of
their beam. As a result, they do not  dazzle on coming drivers. Another cool feature about this, is that the led strip in front, it also does lights up. This gives a much more aggressive look to this GTI.The thing is, this car's face looks as if it has got that special monobrow. 


That front look stunning

At the side, the GTI has got 18 inch alloy wheels as standard. Though, you can upgrade to some 19s. You also get red brake calipers, some red GTI badging and these side skirts. Although these side skirts are made out of cheap rough black plastic, it does actually contrast quite nicely with the white paint work. The fact being that it sits low to the ground than a standard golf. 

Them calipers are love 


At the back you get a roof spoiler, the back window is also tinted out by 65 percent. This once again works well with the white paint, perfect contrast. You get led tail lights, GTI badging, a more aggressive deeper rear bumper. You can see though the twin chrome exhaust pipes which I really like the look of, and they're real no fake exhaust depictions used. Thank god for that.



On the inside the GTR has some key changes over the normal Golf. The most obvious are the sport seats so they've got integrated headrests, big side bolsters, and the classic GTI  tartan pattern. You have also got a sports steering wheel which feels very nice to hold. You have got some red accents on it and the GTI badging there. There also is a honeycomb pattern here on the interior trim, which is noticed when looked closely.  


They have installed some aluminum pedals down at the driving end. The engine start/stop button glows red trying to encourage you to start the engine. You got some red accents all around the interior at certain places. It does looks very good and adds a unique feeling to the interior of GTI. Some led lighting on the dash and whenever you see the car on the infotainment screen it is of course the GTI in the color that you picked it.


For the speedometer, you get  digital dials as standard in this car. And then you get GTI dials in red. The color combination is great indeed. The interior does feel lovely and a very unique sporty and luxury mixed feelings you get.  The rest of the interior it's golf business as usual.  So fairly nice quality all around. There are some annoying touch sensitive  buttons rather than normal buttons. Coming on to the steering wheel control buttons, they are not up to the mark. The quality is not good enough, they can be swiped or pressed but not sensitive enough. Thus, overall the dash is good, feels good not much on an expensive side, but okay for the budget offering.



For the back  seats you also get  the GTI specific trim which is nice. Another thing, in addition to the normal seat back  pocket, you also get two other ones above the normal seat pocket. It proves to be handy when it comes to putting mobile phones or some other smaller notebooks and stuff. Other then that it is same as a normal golf. Also it is indeed fairly comfy and roomy in the back seat.


The Golf GTI is front wheel drive  and not all-wheel drive like the Golf R. You don't have a rear differential  at the back. So, the boot capacity is exactly the same as a normal golf  at 381 liters. 

Moving on, the  color of the dials change depending on  which driving mode you're in, but in this car they're always on red  even the background is red. This makes you think  you're constantly in sports mode even though you're not. Although, the red is cool but it seems a bit aggressive all the time. The only way you  can know which mode you're in is a little graphic down below the digital speedometer. It just cycles through between like a picture. I know it's a GTI and it has to be red but not everything has to be red. For the driving mode button, It would have been much better to have the driving mode button on the steering wheel rather than at the center of dash, because you have to look down to press it. And it requires you to look down because it is not a physical buttton rather a touch sesitive button it is. So, you have to confirm by looking if it has been pressed or not.

In most sporty cars you can turn off the stability control just by pressing a button nice and quick handy. But it is so convolated in this car. You have to go to vehicle select vehivle from menu, go to brakes, scroll to esc system, then you can turn on or off. Thus, a simple button would have been nicer and easier for this stability control. Everything is red and aggressive but not the controls.

This car has plenty of cool features to help make up for all the cons. 
  1. You get upgraded sports brakes over the normal golf.
  2. The suspension is tuned as well. Very slightly differently, so it's 5 percent stiffer at the front and 15 stiff at the back for improved handling.
  3. The GTI gets an electronically controlled limited slip differential as standard and that can send up to 100 of the engine's power to either front wheel on demand depending on which one has the most grip to help drag you out the corner.
  4. The new body panels and then almost flat underfloor means that this new Golf GTI is actually more aerodynamic then the old car. That will mean something to you if you're an engineer.
  5. The car features a new aluminum front subframe over the old Golf GTI. This makes the front end stiffer and the steering more responsive also helps saves a bit of weight. 3 kilos though, this car still isn't particularly light it comes in at 1463 kilograms in total.


Coming to the engine power and specifications, this GTI is a two liter four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with 245 horsepower and 370 newton meters of torque. The front wheels are driven via a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 7-speed automatic with launch control. Volkswagen says this car can do 0 to 60 in just 6.3 seconds.

The manual mode of the gear box in this GTI does perform very well. The road grip is supreme and it clutches on to the road for sharp turning at higher speeds.The running performance of this vehicle is immensely improved then the previous versions of GTI. It does composes really quick, the precision of this vehicle on road and the feels of steering wheel, brake performace and the manual gearbox are really exceptional. Talking of different driving modes, the sports mode does gives you better precision, road grip and control over car. But, putting the car in comfort mode, it softens the dampers thus resulting in soft suspensions. This increases the suspension comfort level significantly. It performs really really well over the bumps on road. In fact the difference can be felt clearly. Although, it does decrease the throttle response in comfort mode. In some of other cars, you cannot feel much difference between sports mode and normal mode, but this vehicle gives a clear and obvious distinction between both modes. 


One of the greatest things about the VW Golf GTI MK-8 compared to other hot hatches is that it's absolutely brilliant for commuting. It just behaves pretty much like a normal car, it comes with travel assist as standard. You get clever cruise control which uses a radar to keep you a safe distance from the car in front. It auto steers to keep you in lane, so it just takes a sting a long distance drives you should actually hold the wheel and if you don't it will switch off. The seats they're super comfy as well really good for long journeys. 

For the Cabin noise of this car, you don't get much tire noise or wind noise from this car. It is really very good for a sporty vehicle. There is one thing though, when you're pressing the accelerator you can hear the fake engine noise just droning a little bit. It seems completely unnecessary though. This GTI also gives a fair fuel economy. you cannot complain about the economy though,  averaging about 42 miles per gallon which is epic. 


So for my final verdict on the new Volkswagen Golf GTI. The car is a very good all-rounder. It gives a good sports taste together with comfort drives. It might not be the one and only hot hatch out there, but you should definitely go for it if budget is an issue. This machine will offer you an aggressive look and sporty feels. Plus the interior comfort is even nice. The choice might not be yours if you are looking for the best hot hatch out there, or a car with greater capacity, and more power.