Volkswagen Golf GTI (1997-2004) Review

On the road

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All the controls move with oily precision, and all three warm Golfs are easy to drive smoothly with all abrupt inputs filtered out. There's a comfortable, multi-adjustable driving position, and better than average all-round visibility despite thick rear pillars. The gearchange is smooth, but feels remote from the action. Blue instrument backlighting gives an unusual night-time ambience.

The steering and suspension feel too elastic, depriving you of precise, positive interaction. Your cornering line is always plus or minus a bit, never spot-on, although there's plenty of grip and the elasticity never turns to stodge. Body roll and tyre squeal build up too quickly, except in the 1.8T. Compared with past Golf GTIs, there seems to be rubber insulation at every driver/car interface.

The base 2.0 (shared with the New Beetle) feels like an upmarket ordinary Golf rather than a GTI, with performance that is merely brisk and disappointingly anodyne. The 1.8T (150bhp) is quicker and punchier, but the turbo softens the throttle response so that instant bite, so much a part of the GTI character, is absent. The V5 sounds intriguing with its five-cylinder harmonic warble, and its sharper response makes this the most exciting engine.

On a different note, the torquey 130 bhp and 150 bhp TDI PD diesels are no less worthy of the GTI badge - and arguably more worthy of it than the 2.0-litre - and have strong mid-range performance and flexible acceleration. They're probably the best-suited to the character of the GTI these days, and unsurprisingly, account for a high proportion of GTI sales.