Weekend Drive By Hormazd Sorabjee Ready To Tee Off

. Half a century later, the formula remains the same: Take a sensible family hatchback, drop in a proper performance engine, sharpen the chassis, and make the whole thing practical enough to live with every single day.

Volkswagen handed me the keys for a weekend, so I whisked it the GTI off to Mahabaleshwar, and from the first kilometre, the GTI made a strong case for itself.

The 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder makes 265 horses and 370Nm, channelled through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to the front wheels. The engine pulls cleanly from low revs and builds to a frantic top-end rush that never gets old.

What impresses more, though, is the chassis. Volkswagen’s electronics pull the car’s nose into corners with almost surgical precision. On the ghats, the GTI darted with a fluency that had me grinning for a solid hour.

The steering deserves special mention. Light enough for city work, it loads up as speeds climb, giving genuine confidence when you start pushing. Body roll is minimal, the front end feels almost telepathic, and on a good stretch of tarmac, this car makes you feel like a far better driver than you probably are.

Even on broken flat roads, the GTI continues to impress. Ground clearance is a modest 136mm, but every speed-breaker on the Pune-Mahabaleshwar run was cleared without drama, though you do need to go carefully over the truly savage ones. Low-speed ride is firm, the suspension absorbs more than you expect. And at highway speeds, it settles into a composed, planted gait.

The cabin deserves more credit than it typically gets in the performance conversation. The seats are bolstered with Alcantara and tartan fabric, holding you snugly through corners without making every exit feel like a wrestling match. The 12.9-inch touchscreen is one of the better units in this price bracket. Climate control, however, is still a two-touch affair that distracts your eyes off the road.

Boot space is a genuine 380 litres. Door pockets swallow large bottles. There is proper storage throughout the cabin. Rear seat space is adequate for two adults, though the wide transmission tunnel makes the centre seat largely ceremonial.

A few niggles are worth noting. Throttle response off the brake is sharper than ideal, making slow-speed parking twitchy even in Eco mode. The Pirelli All-Season Cinturatos generate noticeable tyre roar at speed and give up grip earlier than a dedicated performance tyre would. A tarmac-oriented compound will transform both refinement and cornering confidence.

At ₹50 lakh (on-road), the Golf GTI is not a rational purchase. It not only lacks cooled seats but the seat adjust is manual. There’s no 360-degree camera, no spare wheel. But by the time you have carved through your first ghat with the exhaust cracking on every downshift, you might not miss those features. There’s no hot hatch in the market quite like it.

Hormazd Sorabjee is one of the most senior and much loved auto journalists in India, and is the editor of Autocar India.