When VW GTI drivers are asked why they purchased a GTI, they first mention the car’s exterior styling, followed by its overall performance, i.e. the combination of a sporty chassis and an agile engine. Precisely these two aspects – styling and performance – were rearranged by the Generation VI or MK5 development team to bring the sports car’s character into even greater harmony with the original GTI concept. And that means: clear styling plus pure dynamics. No more, no less.
And because the Golf GTI is no ordinary car – it is also an automotive perspective on the world – it is worth taking a look at the facts behind the “GTI phenomenon”: the Golf GTI is the global market leader in the high-performance section of its class. About 84 percent of buyers are men, and six out of ten of them are married. 70 percent of all GTI drivers have more than one car, have no children and are under 50 years of age (average age is 39). Their three favorite colors are black, white and red. 78 percent of new customers always wanted to drive a GTI sometime. Volkswagen also asked the GTI drivers about their dream car. The key wording here: if money were no object. And the response was truly resounding: for nearly 30 percent the GTI would be their first choice, even if they had all of the money in the world.
Inception of the GTI
The Golf GTI is a phenomenon, a brand within the Volkswagen brand, an automobile world view and an unmistakable design statement that has now attained sales of more than 1.7 million units. It is an original among sporty compacts. Spectacular stories have always circulated about how the first GTI (Gran Turismo Injection) came into being. At the center of these stories there is always a “secret society” of people who pushed through the MK1 GTI right up to production stage against the clock and opposition from their superiors. Many of the tales about these developments that have been passed down are true, but just as many of them have become distorted over the decades and are often wrong. The fact is that the Golf GTI was the ingenious idea of a few men and this genius continues. Test drive the MK6 yourself to find out the reasons why you should have one in your possession today.
