The VW Golf GTD is exactly the sort of smartly designed driver’s car youd expect from the German car manufacturer… only more so.
You know where you stand with a Volkswagen Golf. You know you’ll have to pay a little bit extra when compared to other cars in its class, but you also know that you will be getting a seriously classy car for your Euro.
If you purchase a VW Golf, you expect the doors to close with a reassuring thud, the bonnet to open with a satisfying clunk, and for the engine to run with a mixture of power and efficiency so German that if the car’s horn played an excerpt of a David Hasselhof track you’d not be surprised.
Not best pleased, admittedly, and you’d no doubt be back to the dealer to get things changed pretty darn quickly, but not entirely surprised.
The VW Golf GTD is ruthlessly efficient and a smart recent addition to the long-established Golf family, not particularly flashy (buy flash enough) and boasts an impressive attention to detail – it’s impossible to look at the leather and rubber interior without feeling the urge to rub your hands over the dash and around the steering wheel while giving an approving nod.
OK, maybe it’s just me who gets the rubbing urge, but I’m sure you get my drift. A VW Golf is a quality car that wants to be handled, that wants to be driven. It’s about as solid as the Cliffs of Moher but as nimble and stealthy as a black panther.
(As an aside, I’ve never got the name ‘Golf’ which to me conjures up buggies and men walking around in bright-coloured v-neck sweaters, but what do I know…)
Desire
When it comes to the new GTD version of this decades-old classic, that desire to drive and (carefully) throw the car around the N roads is there, only more so. If it were a person it would be something like the clever chief designer who has lovingly crafted it. And, like him, it should always be dressed in black.
You can also get the GTD in slate grey (as pictured), which I suppose is just about acceptable. The thought of a GTD in anything other than black or grey, though, looks about as wrong as a green Ferrari with orange trim.
The car I got to sample for a few happy days was a sleek, black menace that purred, right down to the subtly snarling black-matte honeycomb grill that sweeps across the front of the car and houses the iconic VW badge. In fact, only non-black elements being the chrome VW badges, front and rear.
Viewed from outside, you’ve the unmistakable profile of a modern Golf – only it’s been squashed so as to appear as if it’s crouching down ready to take on whatever you ask of it. The suspension is 15mm lower than on standard Golf models, and that half inch or so makes a surprising difference. Equally, the body-coloured bumpers at the back have the effect of making the GTD appear lower and wider than it really is.
Add some 17″ alloys and you’ve got yourself a head turner.
Of course it looks better out on the open road than it does parked outside a Woodie’s DIY or a Dunnes Store (it belongs much more outside Superquinn, of course), but you can pretty much take it anywhere – if you do need to load it up with Woodie’s finest home and garden material it quickly converts into a more than adequate warhorse.
The interior features black, black and yet more black – the handstitched leather seats hold you firmly in place, and the bobbled rubber dashboard puts the plastic effect of the interiors many other supposedly higher-end cars to shame.
Behind the rear tinted windows is enough room to fit two comfortably and three at a push. It’s not the most modern or out-there interior, but by going for timeless quality over tediously quirky, the VW design boffins have created a car that will age well.
All the bells and whistles are conveniently found at the driver’s fingertips, including a six-speed gearbox and the ability to switch from easy-to-handle normal mode to super-responsive sport mode (which deftly adjusts the suspension, steering and accelerator response settings).
Which brings us to the drive itself, which you won’t be surprised to hear is fun all the way. It’s also safe, given the seven airbags (including a knee airbag), ABS and an electronic stabilisation programme that together help give the car its maximum five-star rating from the EuroNCAP crash test agency.
But back to the fun: there’s plenty of torque, which makes the car punchy from as low as 1750 rpm and the six iterations of GTi have definitely rubbed off on the GTD giving the six-speed GTD the ability to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.1 seconds and to reach a top speed of 219 km/h.
Hot
Long ago the GTi put down its hard-to-challenge marker as the hot hatchback that all others needed to be measured against. It almost single handedly wiped out the two seat sports car market for the best part of a decade (until Mazda hit paydirt with the Mk1 version of the MX5).
The GTD may not boast the undeniably superior petrol purr of its petrol fuelled cousin, but it comes pretty close and there’s no diesel chug to worry about. So close that you’ll be stretched to feel short changed. In fact, rather than short changed you’ll enjoy the financial benefits of cheaper fuel charges.
There are some who say that diesel cars never match up to their petrol equivalents. For years I’ve been one of those people, and for the most part I still am. But having spent time behind the wheel of a GTD, I have to concede that if you want performance out on the road coupled with performance at the petrol pump, or rather diesel pump, and you want a car that is both practical and entertaining, then the Golf GTD might just be the perfect package.
The lowdown
Car tested: VW Golf GTD (3-door)
Engine: 2.0 litre (1968cc), 170 bhp
0-100km/h: 8.1 seconds
Top speed (where permitted): 219 km/h
VRT/tax band: Band B, annual road tax €156
Cost: €31,535 (5-door also available for €32,435)
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