![\"\"](\"http:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/GTI-2020-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe GTI (petrol) has been unveiled\u00a0alongside its GTD (diesel)<\/a>\u00a0and GTE (petrol plug-in hybrid) siblings, all three of which will go on public display for the first time at the\u00a02020 Geneva motor show<\/a>\u00a0in March.<\/p>\n Much the same as we got with the standard Golf 8 models. 2020 GTIs promise to be a little bit quicker, more responsive, and even more premium than the cars they replace, effectively straddling the gap between more affordable hot hatchback such as the Ford Focus ST or Hyundai i30 N and a high-end competitor such as the Mercedes-AMG A 35 or Audi S3. Just like all of those cars, the Mk8 Golf GTI is five-door only.<\/p>\n For once, though, there\u2019s some rather less subtle styling differences that will mark out the GT triplets from their cooking cousins. You\u2019ll still find classic touches such as tartan seats and red pinstriping, but optionally available is a unique lighting signature for the front made up of a full-width LED element across the grille and Clio RS-style chequered-flag foglights inserted into the honeycomb lower grille.<\/p>\n Both of these are to be found on the optional equipment list, though, so buyers will still be able to fly under the radar bearing only subtly reshaped bumpers and diffusers plus a rear roof spoiler.<\/p>\n Slightly puny 17-inch rims come standard, but you can option these up to 18- or 19-inches.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all swoopy screens and touch-sensitive controls in here \u2013 like the standard Golf, almost every physical button has been eliminated in the name of sleekness. Could that seem out of place on this staunchly old-school, non-hybrid GTI? We\u2019ll have to wait and see, but return buyers will doubtless be pleased to see the continuation of deeply supportive but still comfortable bucket seats, now with integrated headrests.<\/p>\n Available optionally is the highest-end dashboard the brand offers \u2013 Volkswagen calls this \u2018Innovision\u2019, but it\u2019s really a 10.25-inch digital instrument panel blended into a further 10.0-inch infotainment display. All cars get the dials as standard, though only GTE models have that larger central screen without ticking an option box.<\/p>\n Manual cars \u2013 yes, you can still get a manual, and we\u2019re damn glad of that \u2013 still get the iconic golf-ball gearknob. DSG cars, of which VW will sell plenty, get a similarly dinky drive-by-wire selector to the one found in the standard model. Not the most auspicious beginning to a journey, though the brand\u2019s making lots of noise about the \u2018pulsing\u2019 lighting around the starter button just before you fire up the engine.<\/p>\n It should come as no surprise that there\u2019s a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine under the hood. Our earlier prediction of 242bhp and 295lb ft was bang on the money. Impressively, these are the same figures as the GTE – including torque, which is a surprise considering the instant response that car has from its electric motor. No word on performance or fuel economy figures just yet.<\/p>\n Dynamically, Volkswagen\u2019s promising big things \u2013 courtesy of a few clever systems drawn from the standard Golf range. The suspension \u2013 McPherson strut front, multi-link rear \u2013 can be optioned with DCC adaptive dampers as before, but they\u2019re now capable of \u2018talking\u2019 to each other thanks to the \u2018Vehicle Dynamics Manager\u2019. This manages the lateral movements of the dampers as well as the electronic differential \u2013 VW says it\u2019ll sharpen up dynamics and increase the spread of maximum comfort to maximum dynamism. That limited-slip differential is standard, by the way \u2013 all Mk8 GTIs will have the Mk7\u2019s \u2018Performance Pack\u2019 features as standard.<\/p>\n Volkswagen won\u2019t disclose the weight yet but claim to have kept it similar to the outgoing model, despite the extra equipment on offer.<\/p>\n Pre-set driving modes run through Comfort, Eco and Sport, but \u2018Individual\u2019 can be configured to make Sport even sportier. Possibly one to avoid potholes in.<\/p>\n Assisted driving tech is present and correct, with the usual glut of safety systems \u2013 as you\u2019d expect. Volkswagen\u2019s Travel Assist also appears, capable of driving the car semi-autonomously on motorways and larger roads at speeds of up to 130mph, provided you\u2019ve an autobahn handy.<\/p>\n Perhaps not against the mighty new breed of hyper hatches, but a higher-spec, higher-performance model will join the range later in the year. This is set to replace the outgoing GTI TCR, but will return without the TCR moniker as VW doesn\u2019t plan to return to the race series. It\u2019s likely that this car\u2019s power output will begin with a \u20183\u2019, though it\u2019s early days yet.<\/p>\n Right-hand drive cars will make their way to customers towards the end of 2020. No word on pricing just yet but expect a moderate increase over the outgoing model. We\u2019ll bring you all the details as we get them, as well as all of our thoughts when we finally get to drive the new car.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI has finally arrived \u2013 the most important model in the brand\u2019s performance portfolio, the evolution of a hot hatchback icon and a paragon of affordable performance since 1975. No pressure whatsoever, then, on this 2020 VW Golf GTI model. The GTI (petrol) has been unveiled\u00a0alongside its GTD (diesel)\u00a0and GTE (petrol Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/GTI-2020-9.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9EBPs-5eT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20153,"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143\/revisions\/20153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwgolf1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\nWhat can we expect of the 2020 VW Golf GTI?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAbout that engine\u2026<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nIs 242bhp enough?<\/h2>\n
When can I have one?<\/h2>\n