Something you actually need to drive—assuming you are one of the remaining few who knows how that third pedal works in an era being increasingly characterized by one-pedal driving

By Gary S. Vasilash

 “Wow! You should drive the wheels off that!”

Which isn’t the sort of remark that you’d ordinarily get when someone sees a parked car. Not even a muscle car.

Especially not something when the guy saying it probably grew up watching muscle cars on Telegraph or Woodward.

It was clear that one look and he thought that it is a vehicle to be driven and everything else would just be icing on the cake.

He was looking at the VW Golf GTI.

In autodom in general the GTI is somewhat rare.

That is, it didn’t appear in the U.S. until 1983.

And while 41 years is a non-trivial number, there isn’t an abundance of the cars out there.

In 2023 Volkswagen of America delivered 7,451 GTIs.

Through Q1 2024 it has delivered 2,412, which is a 156% increase over Q1 ’23.

If it maintains the Q1 pace through the remaining three quarters it could reach 9,648 by the end of the year. As a percentage, a lot. But as tires on the ground, not so many.

And the reason is simple.

While the Golf in Germany* is still primarily a family car that is available with a variety of powertrains, the GTI is, quite simply, a car that it categorized by enthusiasts as a “hot hatch.”

The hatch configuration lends itself to, say, stocking up on things for the family. And with the rear seat folded the GTI offers 34.5 cubic feet of cargo capacity. Plenty.

But odds are Costco is not the destination for the car, especially not the Mk3 GTI 380, as it is equipped with a six-speed manual transmission.**

It is meant to have its wheels driven off. So to speak.

When the observation was made, even though the car was standing still the bright-red brake calipers seen though the gloss-black wheels inserted in the summer tires telegraphed the message that this car is meant to go.

And it does.

The transmission is mated to a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that produces 241 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque.

It is a front-drive car. To help mitigate issues when getting on the accelerator therew is an electronically controlled torque-sensing limited-slip differential that keeps the car going where pointed.

There is something that strikes me as somewhat ironic about the GTI with the six-speed.

There are metal surfaces on the pedals. A massive metal dead pedal. It is a car that you have to, comparatively speaking, work at driving.

In effect, it is more “mechanical” that your run-of-the-road vehicle. And I mean that in a positive way.

Yet as this is a contemporary car it has, in the words of VW, a “technologically advanced cabin, which offers an integrated high-end digital experience.”

Yes, this means digital gauges for the driver and an infotainment system. Now obligatory.

But the thing that is amusingly odd that for being such a “mechanical” vehicle, the interfaces are not knobs and buttons but smooth, touch-sensitive surfaces.

If there is any car that really needs a large, knurled volume knob, it is the GTI.

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*Whenever an auto plant is launched, politicians typically come out and make a speech. When the eighth-generation Golf went into production in Hall 12 of the Wolfsburg plant, Stephan Weil, Minister President of the State of Lower Saxony, made some remarks including, “I’m an absolute fan of the Golf and have myself been driving one for several years. For many people in Lower Saxony, the Golf is a piece of home and something they can identify with. Just like the VW Beetle was in the past, the Golf has been a symbol of mobility and freedom for decades. Since 1974, the Golf has made a significant contribution to the stability and growth of Volkswagen and industry in Lower Saxony.” During the past 50 years there have been more than 37-million Golfs sold around the world, of which more than half were produced in Wolfsburg. More of these cars are transportation vehicles rather than enthusiast cars.

**The GTI is also available with a seven-speed DSG automatic transmission with Tiptronic. The automatic is optional. Here’s something that seems, well, different. The MSRP for the GTI with the six-speed ranges from $32,685 to $40,825. But the MSRP for the vehicle with the optional seven-speed ranges from $31,965 to $40,505—less than the models with the manual. Presumably this has something to do with volume: something made in fewer numbers tends to have a higher price than something made in greater numbers. Or maybe it goes to the point that this is the final year there will be a manual in the GTI, so if you want it you’ve got to pay a bit more for the privilege.