Autoblog Senior Editors Seyth Miersma and Greg Migliore go for a ride in our 2015 long term press car, the Volkswagen GTI.
Transcript[CAR ENGINE CRANKING]
[ENGINE ACCELERATING]
SEYTH MIERSMA: Hey guys. This is Seyth Miersma with "Autoblog."
GREG MIGLIORE: Hey. I'm Greg Migliore.
SEYTH MIERSMA: We're here in our 2015 Volkswagen GTI long-term car that you've probably seen and read a little bit about. And we are driving in a wild, exciting, and undisclosed location in Northern Oakland County.
[TECHNO MUSIC]
So this is the sixth generation GTI, if I'm not very much mistaken. Right, Greg?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. You know, it might even be the seventh generation actually.
SEYTH MIERSMA: Let's start that again. So this is the seventh generation GTI, if I'm not very much mistaken. Isn't that right, Greg?
GREG MIGLIORE: You're dead on. You are so right.
SEYTH MIERSMA: Not the sixth at all. I've been going back since we talked about doing this video. And I've been thinking about the GTIs generations past that I've been in. And I think that I've got four for sure, and maybe five.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK. Well, you're beating me. I've been in at least three of 'em. And they're great cars. They're fun cars. It's amazing how consistent they are, throughout the generations, of getting that same-- the mission of the car remains the same. You get it in it and it's a driver's car. It's an enthusiast's car.
SEYTH MIERSMA: I agree. I think that the mission has stayed exactly the same. But what's different is the environment that you launch in. I think, these days, when you've got a hatchback-- you look at things like the Mazda Speed 3 and the Ford focus ST and cars like that. Those are really serious performance cars.
GREG MIGLIORE: Right, right.
SEYTH MIERSMA: So I think, to me at least, this GTI bridges the gap between a fun to drive but low-powered hatchback and those pretty serious front-wheel drive performance cars.
GREG MIGLIORE: This is the sweet spot. It gets up to 34 miles per gallon. This one does. And it's 210 horsepower, 3,000 pounds. So when you actually look at those raw numbers-- to the non-informed observer you might be, like, is that really a performance car? 210 horsepower, it weighs 3,000 pounds. But it's right in the middle.
SEYTH MIERSMA: Yeah. You and I, although we're both obviously quite young and spry and handsome--
GREG MIGLIORE: Mm-hmm. Well said.
SEYTH MIERSMA: --can remember the days when 200 horsepower was-- I mean, 200 horsepower was a pretty high-performance V6--
GREG MIGLIORE: Sure, yeah.
SEYTH MIERSMA: --20 years ago, 15 years ago. So 210 horsepower, again, in a hatchback-- these days, because the horsepower wars have ramped everything up, doesn't seem like a whole lot. But when you come back to the idea that the speed limits haven't really changed that much, you can use it on a day to day basis and really enjoy it.
So, guys, we're gonna swap sides over here real quick. And I'm gonna--
GREG MIGLIORE: Getting to drive this.
SEYTH MIERSMA: --let Greg take over. And we'll just continue rapping.
So there are obviously a lot of things that we really like about the car. I've gotta say that amongst my nitpicks, the strongest one by far has been driving this car in the winter time with the automatic park sensors. They're not great for snowy environments.
GREG MIGLIORE: Right.
SEYTH MIERSMA: When those sensors get covered with snow, they won't work particularly well. And it wants to trigger basically a really loud, obnoxious beeping noise.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's frustrating. And frankly it's a little unnerving. 'Cause you're like--
SEYTH MIERSMA: Absolutely.
GREG MIGLIORE: --what's going on here? So, yeah, I agree with you. Not to rag on this car, 'cause it's not a problem that's unique to the GTI. I drove a Buick Encore last night and it was going off all the time too.
I don't know. I guess I haven't lived with this car long enough to really find things I truly dislike. It's still in the out-of-the-box feel for me. I mean, I love hot hatches. This one looked pretty good. Not all of them do.
SEYTH MIERSMA: It's distinct from the regular Golf. But it's not-- if you're into a car that makes a really big statement about you visually, this is not the car that you're gonna be looking for. I think a GTI is pretty much supposed to be white, with a couple of red accents everywhere, and a stained interior other than the plaid seats. And so obviously whoever ordered this car ordered the wrong color. But beyond that, they did a pretty good job.
GREG MIGLIORE: The steering wheel is one of my favorites. I love the shape, the feel, the red stitching, the semi-flat bottom. The manual's great. I love the way the gear shift feels.
All the inputs that connect the machinery to you, feel good. On a basic level, the car feels connected to you. The clutch is easy to use. I'm wearing shoes that have this much bread on them. But I can still shift this car.
SEYTH MIERSMA: Yeah. It's really light. The catch point is easy to find. I haven't ever stalled this car. I haven't really missed a shift that I can recall. So the gate's pretty tight. But it's not overly notchy. So I think that's a huge plus.
And I like the directness of the steering. I think that it's-- a short wheelbase. I think it's really easy to change direction. I do feel like we're getting less and less road-feel with every generation of GTI.
But again, it's about compromise. And I also think that this steering is a lot less stressful than a more talkative rack on something, like we were mentioning, the WRX. So you're really getting more of a balanced total package instead of one that's completely optimized for driving through a corner at 9/10.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, that's the Volkswagen GTI. I think we're pretty psyched to have it in our long-term fleet for a year. For "Autoblog," I'm Greg Migliore.
SEYTH MIERSMA: I'm Seyth Miersma. Thanks for watching, guys.
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