Volkswagen Golf GTI (2013 - 2017) 2.0 TSI GTI (Performance Pack) 5d Owner Review

Until now, the Golf GTi is the car I've just never got around to owning, and after the first few months of ownership i wonder why i hadn't. Being a closet Petrolhead, I've owned my fair share of the more performance side of the range of vehicles and these cars have mostly given me both pleasure and pain, (some mostly in the ratio of the latter, ahem Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi / BMW M3). So, after much online reading, i went for the Golf GTi with Performance Pack with 19" Santiagos. It really is what they say 'a car for every man (or woman)', it really can do it all. Its so refined and quiet when you want it to be, with great acceleration there when you need it, and stick it in Sport Mode the suspension stiffens, the engine noise growls and it becomes a bit of a rocket roaring beast. The chassis is great and you feel in control of every movement. There's lots of toys, the finish is solid and refined with lots of nice touches. This all sounds like a fuel guzzling car which surprisingly it isn't, I can get 450 miles from a tank, albeit that i do have quite a straight run to work along A roads and dual carriageways and i'm never in a rush to get to work! The not so great bits? well the biting point of the clutch is way too high, very near the top, and this seems like a common bugbear to many so its not just me. Secondly the audio sound, its very bass light, to compensate I've had to raise the bass to near maximum. Consequently, it often distorts at mediocre levels. If i had this system in a base Golf i'd have been a bit disappointed but in a range topping car?? if you can get one with an audio upgrade i'd recommend doing so. The only other slight niggle is that the Start/Stop can be a bit annoying in heavy traffic situations. That said, it doesn't detract from the experience of the car as a whole. My mid-teen Supercar obsessed son thinks its quite a cool car and believe me, that's very high praise indeed