It's a good time to be a hot hatch fan; the Honda Civic Type R is better than ever, both Renault Sport Megane and Hyundai i30 N have recently been updated and the excellent Focus ST now has an automatic for the first time. Buyers are spoilt for choice. Into that mix we can now also add the latest version of the hot hatch OG, the VW Golf GTI.
With the standard six-speed manual gearbox, the Golf costs £33,460. For reference a Civic Type R GT is £34,820, a Megane 300 £30,895 (or £34,895 as a Trophy) and a Focus ST from £30,575. Not an untypical VW premium, then. For that buyers will get 245hp from the revised 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo, 18-inch wheels, the trademark checked upholstery and a heated leather steering wheel. Safety systems like Travel, Side and Emergency Assist, plus the very interesting Vehicle Dynamics Manager - promising "an ever sharper and agile driving experience, along with unrivalled long-distance comfort" - are also included.
The premium for the seven-speed DSG is £1,500, taking the Golf GTI to £34,960 and dropping the 0-62mph time to 6.2 seconds. That's largely comparable to rivals, with the Focus automatic costing £1,450 over the six-speed and Renault asks £1,600 for a dual-clutch Megane. Beyond dropping a couple of tenths from the benchmark sprint time and adding paddles behind the wheel, the DSG makes Golf fractionally more efficient: its best CO2 and MPG scores are 168g/km and 38.2 respectively, against 169g/km and 38.2 for the manual.
Those enticed by neither GTI should know that the hybrid GTE is also available to order now. While more expensive than both petrol powered cars at £35,960, it has the same 245hp and more torque (295lb ft against 273); a larger 13kWh battery pack means 32 miles of electric range and a 0-62mph sprint time of 6.7 seconds. Officially it returns 176.6mpg and 36g/km.
So that's fast Golf buyers pretty well catered for, even before the R arrives. As for where the latest GTI ranks amongst the myriad of rivals, that's a question we'll aim to answer as soon as possible. And that'll do, surely, for today's hot hatch news...
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