New GTI in LA
I'm still not done with the LA Auto Show:
I'm so ready for the new Volkswagen Golf GTI.
I owned a 1980 Rabbit L — the American version of the first-generation Golf — back the early 1980s, and it was a great car. What I really wanted, though, was a Rabbit GTI, the original "Pocket Rocket."
VW is pulling a quick switch on us this year — there will be two GTIs in showrooms during 2006. The first will be based on the fourth-generation Golf. Then later in 2006, we'll get the fifth-generation 2007 Golf GTI.
The fourth-generation GTI carries a $20,340 base price. It has the VW 1.8T four-cylinder 180 hp/175 lb ft of torque engine, and is capable of getting to 60 in 7.5 seconds with the five-speed manual. The EPA rates it for 31 mpg on the highway — that's if you can drive in a sane manner. I can't.
Car and Driver got their hands on a 2007 GTI for a quick review. That's the one I'm waiting for. The improvements appear incremental, with a lean back toward the kind of handling and performance that made the GTI such a "must have" in the first place.
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