Thrilling first ride in Golf GTI for top motoring magazines...

Journalists writing for two of the UK’s most popular weekly motoring magazines, Autocar and Auto Express, have been among the first in the world to ride in the eagerly anticipated eighth-generation Golf GTI. The car features on the front covers of both mags this week.

The journalists were given special access to a prototype Golf GTI at Volkswagen’s secret test track, just north of Wolfsburg in Germany, a few weeks ago. It was the first time any media have been allowed to ride in the new GTI.

Autocar’s Greg Kable said: “It feels wonderfully agile and responsive in the best of GTI traditions but also assuredly stable and composed when pushed to its limits. It’s going to be a few more months until we get to jump behind the steering wheel ourselves, but we already know there’s a great hot hatch here”.

The pair, who both live in Germany, were each treated to a passenger ride with Volkswagen Head of Driving Dynamics, Karsten Schebsdat, at the wheel. Karsten has an impressive CV, he was responsible for the celebrated Mk7 Golf GTI Clubsport S and instrumental in the handling characteristics of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0.

Karsten Schebsdat and Volkswagen racing driver Benny Leuchter also held a digital press conference this week, sharing more details on the brand’s agile new hot hatch. Journalists from all over the world were given an insight into the development and fine-tuning of the chassis in the latest Golf GTI, discovering why it handles even better than the outgoing Mk7.5.

Read the AutoCar article Here

Find out what Auto Express had to say about the new GTI Here

Keep up to date on the Golf 8 GTI on our Product Page

Volkswagen GTI Magazine
Volkswagen GTI Magazine autocar