2007 Volkswagen GTI Review

Specifications

Last time I told you why we all love the GTI. Now, we have to take the longview and report on the total experience. Part 1 may have seemed like a sickening love-in to some of you, but that’s just the way I feel, and I’ve got the support of everyone else in the office, not to mention Automobile Magazine—if you hadn’t heard, it was their pick for Car of the Year. However, I haven’t lost sight of my mandate to evaluate all aspects of any vehicle I test, and we all learned a lot in our three-plus weeks with the GTI.

First of all, it’s an icon. It stands for driving pleasure at an affordable price; granted, $22K isn’t cheap, but it delivers performance, and perhaps more importantly, a driving experience that can match almost anything, including many cars twice its price and more. Of course, there are Mazda MX-5s and Boxsters out there that may deliver superior balance, dynamics and more communicative chassis’, but they simply can’t match the versatility and accommodations of a five-door GTI. You can also look to the Mazdaspeed3’s higher-horsepower-per-dollar value, but it’s a little too tightly wound, too banzai and generally a menace in less than ideal conditions. Honda’s Civic Si, while superb, is not nearly as adept at balancing commuting comfort and daily driving with a track-day or backroad plaything.

As good as the GTI is, it’s not perfect, and as good as the steering wheel is,the interior leaves me wanting—in fact, it kinda’ leaves me wanting my Mk.IV GTI. It’s not that there is a discernible drop-off in materials quality or any problems with the faultless assembly (everything fits flush and tight), but the pastiche of the current corporate parts that make up the center stack are dull and tedious despite the lovely blue backlighting and an occasional spar of aluminum—and one aspect that I particularly don’t like is the chin that hangs over the little storage cubby—it just seems like a design dead end with no grace or purpose. And aside from the plaid cloth seat inserts, a monochrome sea on the dash and doors only continues the dreary theme during daylight hours. Come night, however, and the blue and red gauges and dials light the cabin up in a festive scheme, making night driving an event to celebrate.

And then there is the infamous VW reliability to consider. Volkswagen has never fared well in JD Power’s dependability surveys or Consumer Reports’ reliability recommendations, mostly because of a host of minor electric and convenience feature gremlins that some ascribe to assembly in underachieving facilities located in Mexico and Brazil. While I can’t say how GTIs and Rabbits will fare on the long-term reliability surveys, I can report on our own frustrations with an uncooperative battery. One morning, after a heavy snowfall, the GTI refused to start, so we used another car at our disposal. After a jumpstart that night when we had some time, the car ran (and started) without issues for another week and we thought it was just a one-time freak of electricity. And then it happened again. This time we were prepared with a booster pack and got it home safely and then called our local VW dealer to arrange its regularly scheduled service as well as a look at the battery.

I dropped it off first thing the next morning,got a ride to work in the courtesy shuttle and picked it up at the end of the day, hoping that they would find and therefore fix the problem or change the battery. As it turns out, the car was starting fine and the battery passed its load test, so I was sent on my way with a clean, freshly serviced GTI. And then the next day at lunch, on a very mild winter day, it didn’t start again. That’s when I did my best indignant owner impersonation and called the dealership again asking that they take it back and resolve it. Oddly, by nightfall, the GTI started without a hiccup, and was fine again in the morning, so I was starting to feel a little paranoid. I repeated the routine the next day, leaving the car at the dealership and telling them to hold on to it, to try to start it at different times during the day. Nothing. It worked fine. I wanted to yell at somebody. But the fact is, our local Volkswagen’s Service Advisers treated me with respect and courtesy at every stage and the Service Technician came out to ask me all the diagnostic questions he could think of in order to get an idea of the problem. I couldn’t fault them, because they did everything in their power to diagnose the problem, and just as it appeared without cause, the car didn’t seem to have any more problems after that for another whole week. But the question lingered in my mind: How many times does the car have to not start before they replace the battery? What if I hadn’t had an extra car around to give me a boost? I would have had to call roadside assistance, first for a boost, then for a tow, and then I’d be taking the bus unless I lived close enough for shuttle service. That’s not exactly what you sign up for when purchasing a new car. Things go wrong, yeah, but a dead-live-dead-live battery at 5,000 miles? And no solution? Weak.

If not for that issue, it would have been several weeks of untarnished fun,shared by several of the staff, three of whom own Volkswagens, accounting for a Mk.III Jetta, a Mk.IV GTI VR6 and a Mk.V GTI five door, just like our tester, while another GTI might be on the way. Why do we love VWs so much, even when we know what a questionable reputation they have in terms of reliability? For me, it’s the engine: the VR6 is one of the sweetest engines on the market, and definitely one of the best to grace the engine bay of a compact car. With plenty of power and torque and an irreplaceable V6 growl, the only time I’ve been disappointed getting back into it was after I had the Audi RS4 for a weekend.

For Justin, our Jetta owner, well, it’s just what he got, and I know for a fact that when I was shopping I saw some really cheap Jettas and Golfs because their value is greatly affected by VWs poor reputation for reliability. And what about our Mk.V GTI owner? I asked Adam Allan, the newest writer to join American Auto Press, what influenced his purchase decision.

Adam: After looking exhaustively at many cars, I finally pulled the trigger ona 2007 GTI 5-door. It was a tough call because this market segment is filled with some worthy competitors. I ultimately decided on the GTI because it was the car that can do it all, and do it all well. You want a car that’s practical, yet has unparalleled fit and finish? Check. How about an unflappable highway cruiser that offers turbo-lag-free rushes of torque? Check. Yes, the GTI seems to have it all. What’s more exciting is that the GTI seems to be in the midst of a renaissance.

The GTI is a car that invented the hot hatch genre. The original generation was quick and feisty, and offering up huge levels of performance and handling for its day. As the car aged however, it became portly and slow witted. The knife edge that made the GTI what it was had been dulled. For the fifth generation, Volkswagen brass threw down the gauntlet and challenged their engineers to recapture the glory without losing the comfort and amenities that recent generations had developed. They succeeded, giving GTI fans good reason to celebrate.

I love the way the suspension is terrific at soaking up harsh impacts, yet holds the road with a vice like grip in the twisties. The suspension is mounted to a carved-from-an-ingot-feeling chassis, allowing engineers to tune the setup for the ultimate compromise between ride and handling. I still crack a smile every time the little 2.0 liter shoves the car forward on a modest plateau of torque. Oh, and the Recaro buckets are just awesome; great bolsters for cornering, yet good for more than an 8-hour day on the road.

Another reason that makes the GTI so cool: It was originally designed byengineers as a pet project. That’s right, zero intervention from the bean counters. They knew that if accountants got involved, it would dilute the essence that would eventually give the GTI a cult-like following. When was the last time you saw that in the automotive industry?

Jonathan: Well, those of us that don’t have one, want one, and one thing Volkswagen has not gotten wrong is their advertising and marketing approach. Jeff, our resident designer, is going to be in the market soon, and he was hooked for the first “Fast” commercials, and he even brushed up on one of the dealer handouts, which only has him more hooked.

Jeff: Volkswagen defines your “Fast” as: “That part of us that comes to life when moving through space at an accelerated rate of speed.” In a parody workgroup and information session put together and used as a marketing device to sell the GTI, Volkswagen asked participants to get to know their “Fast” and make friends with their “Fast” through a series of questions and activities. Questions seem to be taken from a matchmaking questionnaire, like “What would you say to your ‘Fast’ when you met it for the first time?” and “What does your fast sound like?” This marketing tool is aimed directly at my demographic (young, hip, good looking, y’know). It was extremely easy for me to make friends with my “Fast,” not least because it appealed to my sense of humor as well as my thirst for thrills; in fact, it felt like we were long-time friends getting back together for a night of speed and adrenaline.

Even if I hadn’t driven the GTI (which I have) I would still want to get one of my own. At the end of the survey, the results showed that my “Fast” is friendly yet mischievious (yes, mischiev-i-ous), also a perfect way to describe the GTI… It’s a nice, friendly, inviting car, but once you factor in the 200hp and acceleration, as well as its fine handling and responsive braking, boy can you ever get into some mischief-y. I can’t remember the last time I was so excited to be sitting at the front of the line at a red light. The anticipation of bursting off the line and leaving everyone in my rear view (up until the posted speed limit of course).

Volkswagen also suggests that the GTI is designed to enhance performance(Really? - Ed.) and involve all of your senses, so after driving the GTI and experiencing the enhanced performance first hand, I kept thinking back to the questionnaire: what would I say to my “Fast”? I would say, “I love you,” words that don’t come easily under normal circumstances. And what does my fast sound like? Silence, because I’m already gone.

Jonathan: Not that you meant for me to answer that, but the IS-F sounds like that kind of project, which is why I can’t wait to drive it. Anyhow, as a Mk.IV owner, I can attest to how amazing a job they’ve done bringing the steering back to life and setting the suspension to provide a keener edge with which to carve up asphalt, but I’m still pining for an R32 and dreaming about a possible R36, which some say is in the works for 2009. Even though Justin has written prior reviews of the GTI, which you can find in this site’s archives, he discovered that he still had more to say after he spent some time in this latest edition:

Justin: The Volkswagen GTI is a reminder that technology can still do good, and that with the proper guidance, almost anything can be achieved. Almost. The new GTI (and Rabbit for that matter) is bigger, heavier and safer than ever before; such is the natural progression of vehicles. Case in point is Volkswagen’s subcompact car in Europe, the Polo. Today’s Polo has progressed to the same size as the original GTI. Today’s GTI is verging on the interior volume of older generations of the Passat.

Despite this growth, VW has come out with a car that doesn’t feel bigger,and doesn’t feel heavier. It’s like there was a certain element of rediscovery, as if the engineers knew that fun had to be high up on the priorities list. It’s why there isn’t a six-cylinder (Hello? R32… - Jonathan) or even a five up front, but a lightweight turbocharged inline-four. It’s why the brakes have progression and feel, and the steering goes exactly where you point it. The back end doesn’t threaten to bite your head off if you slip up (something the old one did), but that’s a good thing. I (heart) it. (Sorry Justin, but we don’t have emoticons for you. - Ed.)

The GTI easily tops my favorites list. It does everything I want a compact, sporty car to do, and it does it so very well. Realistically, our five-door hatchback is probably the right configuration for me—I’m always moving people and cargo around, and access is easy as pie. But my heart says it’s the three-door for me. The GTI, in North America at least, has always been a three-door GTI. It’s not sacrilege or anything (five-door GTIs have been around for quite some time in Europe), but I prefer the profile of the three-door; it just looks sportier than five. Funny how my left and right brain both vote GTI, the only difference being the door count. Oh, and I’ll take mine in white, with the Hufeisen 18s and the plaid cloth seats. Please and thank you.

Jonathan: Doesn’t anyone have any criticism? What is this, a GTI forum? Apparently Steven has some complaints, but they’re all about the Mk.IV.

Steven: Sorry, Jon, I’m with Justin and Adam on this one. Something needed tobe done and VW listened to all of the complaints leveled at the previous generation Mark IV GTI. The list of complaints about how heavy and softly suspended it was; the dubious build quality even though the materials felt expensive; the fact that it was reasonably quick in a straight line, but that was about it. So all of these complaints were addressed with the outstanding Mark V GTI. The suspension was tightened up and finally independent in the rear; production was moved back to Germany to address quality issues; the styling is trim and sporty; and the wonderful 2.0T and 6-speed manual were dropped in, but they didn’t give up any high-end features. Rather, they added treats like HID headlights and a 6-disc CD. To top it off, you can upgrade to a Satellite Navigation system and electronic climate control that hopefully works better than the old Climatronic system.

I did have a couple of concerns though, since ours was equipped with wide, 18-inch snow tires on the optional 18-inch rims (well worth the money), which were way too wide for winter duty, and in heavy snow the tires fought for traction. Narrower snow tires would help a lot (Like the 16s on Adam’s GTI - Jonathan), so consider putting some money aside for a set of cheap steel rims and winter tires and save the alloys for the good weather—either that or move to New Mexico, Arizona or California.

Our test GTI was silver in color and was the epitome of fun to drive. The 2.0Tis everything an engine should be. Direct injected for power and economy—I saw a best of 26 mpg and an average of 22 mpg—and turbocharged without the lag, not to mention that it is infinitely tunable. The all-black interior (even the headliner) looks very classy and is nicely broken up by real aluminum trim and the wonderful Interlagos retro patterned upholstery. The seats are fantastic in every way and make it unnecessary to upgrade to the leather option, which would only serve to dull things too much. Everything has a high quality, expensive feel to it that belies the car’s price. The newly available 5-door model GTI is so practical, especially for those like myself who have children. The one drawback to this is that, like Justin, I prefer the looks of the 3-door and it would be hard not to opt for that model, as it seems sportier.

Jonathan: Well, I guess I’m the only one to poke a hole in the GTI’s bubble, and despite my issues with its failure to launch, if I’d had it a little longer, maybe I would have been lucky enough to have the problem occur while at the dealership for them to find the solution. However, there’s still an element of mystery that surrounds problems with electrical relays and many idle-stall issues reported by Mark V Jetta and Rabbit owners on various forums, so it could just be a fact of life for a VW owner, despite a commitment to greater quality from the brand. I can’t say that it wouldn’t be worth the trade-off, since I already made that decision for a car that doesn’t match the new one for its higher performance threshold, sharper reflexes and nimbler handling. Would I still go back to the franchise? Somewhere out there is a black 3-door calling my name, although I can’t tell from this distance if it has the 17- or 18-inch rims…