Better Than The Original!

Still a Pocket Rocket -- The 2007 Volkswagen GTI

By John Birchard   Photos by the Author

It was the original “pocket rocket”. The Europeans, as usual, got first crack at it. Then, in 1983, Volkswagen brought the GTI to America and a new category was born for us Yanks -- a German performance sedan that was both affordable and practical.

The boxy little hatchback was hot. It handled great and went like stink and yet one could haul a week’s worth of groceries or a couple of kids. The GTI was the answer to many a young family guy’s prayers.

Through the intervening years, the letters “GTI” have been applied to some Volkswagens that are better forgotten. But the current version merits the label by returning -- to the degree possible given safety regulations and customer demands -- to the original concept. It's a hip, hot, affordable hatch.

SM’s test vehicle arrived disguised as a refrigerator. Dressed in a virginal, icebox white paint job, our GTI achieved the difficult task of both standing out and hiding in the crowd. Unless you focus on it, this Volkswagen doesn’t demand attention. None of the boy racer stuff: hood scoop, decals, chinning bar rear wing or hang-low cladding. It’s not a cop magnet.

The GTI is the traditional two-box Golf design made modern by smoothing the corners and applying the corporate open mouth-black tongue-extended face of VW-Audi. The mouth of the GTI is tarted up with a thin red line around it. It’s a look that’s grown on us with time’s passage.

Volkswagen and cousin Audi excel at interiors. The GTI is one more example of thoughtful ergonomics combined with tasteful appearance. The materials used look and feel good. Fit-and-finish are up to standard. Gauges, displays, knobs and levers work the way they should. Upholstery in the test car was a sorta plaid that added a bit of color to the black-and-gray interior landscape.

But surface appearance has never been GTI’s main stock in trade. More often than not, numbers have told its story. Here are some numbers that -- as my high school English teacher used to say -- “compare and contrast” the original American GTI with the present-day version:

·         Base price '83/'07:             $8,500                          $22,220

·         Curb weight '83/'07:            2,070 pounds                 3,100 pounds

·         Engine '83/'07:                   in-line 4                         in-line 4 (turbo)

·         Horsepower '83/'07:            90                                 200

·         Transmission '83/'07:          5-sp manual                  6-sp manual

·         0-60 mph sec '83/'07:         10.6                              7.0

·         MPG highway '83/'07:         29                                 32

Plain as day, the current car is quicker, more fuel efficient, heavier and a helluva lot more expensive. Subjectively, it’s also quieter, smoother, more comfortable and vastly better equipped than the econobox it springs from.

The effects of inflation on the price we pay for cars we’ll leave to the economists. The roughly 50 percent increase in a GTI’s curb weight is due to safety equipment (air bags, side impact door beams, ABS, Electronic Stabilization Program, etc.), sound deadening materials, comfort and convenience items (air conditioning, power sunroof and windows and the like). And, the car is just bigger.

Despite the weight gain, today’s GTI gets up and going far faster than the '83 -- more than doubling the horsepower will do that. Torque is another useful measuring stick: the '83 churned out 105 foot/pounds at 3,250 rpm. Today’s pocket rocket is good for 207 foot/pounds between 1,800 and 5,000 rpm. That’s right, more than double the torque over a broader range.

Where the old and the new are similar is when it comes to the question, what’s it like to drive?  First word that comes to mind is -- fun.  Volkswagen transformed a humdrum econobox for us in '83 and they have rediscovered the old-time religion. If you’re seeking a blend of driving fun and affordable practicality, you’ll find it at your VeeDub dealer.

Our test GTI was the four-door model with a six-speed manual transmission and “Interlagos” sport cloth upholstery. The only options were the power sunroof and Sirius satellite radio service (Package 1) and rear side impact air bags. Bottom line, with destination charge, it was $24,950.

What we liked about the 2007 GTI:

·         Crisp handling and firm-but-not-bone crushing ride

·         Engine that hauls ass but doesn’t waste gas

·         Easy-shifting six-speed

·         Manual pump that raises/lowers the driver’s seat

·         Night-time blue and red dash illumination

What was not so hot about the 2007 GTI:

·         Uses only premium gas

·         Give us another week, we’ll think of something else

The auto industry in general and Volkswagen in particular has come a long way since 1983. What wowed us 24 years ago seems a little quaint by today’s standards, but the idea behind the first pocket rocket still holds water. A car that’s fun to drive doesn’t have to be super-expensive or exotic. In Wolfsburg, it just has to carry the initials “GTI”.