This review
first appeared in the April 2018 edition of the Northern & Central
California Cruisin’ News published
out of Folsom, California – mg
Fortunately, a recent week in the 2018
Volkswagen Golf GTI Autobahn five-passenger hatch was a satisfying experience,
with a 2-liter, turbocharged 4 dishing up 220 horsepower and making the machine
scoot around with impressive velocity.
The max 258 foot-pounds of torque comes in
early at 1,500 rpm, so trips off the line get the heart going … if you’re into
that sort of thing, which I am.
Sure, it helped that the GTI’s skin was
“Deep Black Pearl Metallic” but there’s also something very satisfying about
nailing the accelerator on a little four-door model and blowing away an
annoying lane-drifter on the freeway. If
you don’t know what I’m talking about, well, perhaps you should go looking for
another cup of tea.
Beyond the GTI’s enjoyable “oomph,” the tester
was decidedly civilized.
Volkswagen has bragged about its revamping
of the Golf GTI lineup and how each 2018 model, the Autobahn version included,
has its own unique appearance and style.
On that score, VW did quite well.
The Autobahn does indeed have distinctive
touches to set it off from the others.
And inside, you get a feast of quality comfort and convenience features.
Colorful ambient lighting, illuminated door
sills and backlit switches make for a fun experience driving at night. I also enjoyed the sporty, flat-bottomed
steering wheel, the heated seating surfaces and the standard navigation system
on the Autobahn.
An impressive lineup of safety and
driving-enhancement features added a feeling of security.
I was not a fan of the adaptive cruise
control system, but that’s not a knock on the tester. I pretty much despise all such systems, because
they tend to overreact in busy traffic, slow down way too much in advance of
anticipated trouble and are too slow on the draw to resume normal cruising
speed when potential trouble has long passed.
I guess I’m just too impatient a driver to
deal with current adaptive cruise systems.
Even so, they seem to keep evolving, and I’m sure they eventually will
come up with a system that can even please me.
Fuel mileage on the tested model was pretty
fair, given the pop generated by the turbo-4: 24 miles per gallon in the city
and 32 mpg on the highway. The starting
price on the Autobahn is a somewhat hefty $36,170.
You might be thinking that this GTI is a
peppy weekend toy. I disagree. It shapes up as a wonderful daily driver,
complete with a surprisingly spacious cargo area of nearly 53 cubic feet with
the rear seats folded. And as a bonus,
the trunk floor can be raised or lowered.
Performance, versatility and nicely
equipped. I’d say my tester would feel
at home on the Autobahn, or pretty much any other road you can name.
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