Review: Row, row, row your gears, one last time in the Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is such a good car that I convinced my mom to buy one in 2017. It’s practical, affordable and does just about everything well. When the company discontinued the regular Golf in Canada and the United States in 2021, it was a sad day for the automotive community.

Selling only the high-performance GTI and R versions reduced Golf sales by nearly 60 per cent in Canada and more than 70 per cent in the United States. The Civic has always outsold the Golf, but in 2021, Honda sold more than 43,000 Civics, compared with about 6,500 Golfs.

Last month, Volkswagen announced that after the 2024 model year, the GTI and R will lose the clutch pedal, leaving the dual-clutch automatic as the only option. It’s a good transmission but the Golf loses a part of its identity without a stick shift.

Volkswagen Canada says manual sales right now are even with the automatic, but there’s a bit of a rush to get one before they’re gone. When the manual is no longer offered, the company expects a decline in sales but they’re hoping a refresh of the design, coming in 2025, will help keep it to a minimum. It’s a clear sign that the once-common Golf has become little more than a niche product. Especially compared to the Civic, which is usually the top-selling car in Canada.

The Golf GTI made the term “hot hatch” famous. It quickly earned the favour of automotive writers when it was launched in 1976 and is regarded as one of the greatest cars of all time. Its influence on the auto industry has been profound, setting off an entire subgenre of fizzy hatchbacks that continue to be exceedingly popular worldwide.

For the eighth generation, the GTI retains all the fundamentals that have made it great. It’s compact, agile, powerful and feels like a premium car trapped in an economy car’s body. Its iconic two-box shape carries forward with only evolutionary styling tweaks and you can still get it with the famous tartan seats.

Driving it is an absolute blast. The punchy turbo four-cylinder makes 241 horsepower and produces torque everywhere in the rev band. There’s a nice deep tone from the exhaust and it’s not irritatingly loud. The GTI has electronic dampers that have a large spread from soft to hard and in their “comfort” setting deliver a ride that’s remarkably good for a compact hatchback.

Chuck it into a corner and it dives in eagerly. Steering is light off-centre, but weights up nicely as you add lock. It’s a front-wheel-drive car so understeer is inevitable, but the limited-slip differential helps to quell it. The front tires grip so hard that you can only get the rear end to step out if you’re really pushing it.

Everything about the GTI is polished and refined and, like the last generation, it feels more substantial than its price tag suggests. It doesn’t just handle well; it’s easy to drive, has excellent seats and is also fuel efficient. It’s as much car as most people would ever need but has some hard-to-ignore issues.

The cabin of the last-generation Golf, the one I recommended to my mom, rivalled that of an expensive luxury car. This GTI is a step in the wrong direction. When Volkswagen decided to eliminate all the buttons, they made it less user-friendly and the ergonomics suffered. Heating and air conditioning can only be controlled through the infotainment screen, and the silly touch-sensitive slider for the stereo volume and cabin temperature is frustrating at best. The slider also doesn’t illuminate so it’s invisible at night. Even the sunroof control is a capacitive touch slider, which is completely unnecessary.

If you can get over the interior, the GTI is just as good as it has always been. With a starting price of $37,378, it offers good value for the money and is a properly quick hot hatch.

But I still lament the loss of the base Golf. Volkswagen replaced it with the Taos, a compact crossover. There’s nothing wrong with the Taos, but it’s not as nice to drive as the Golf and is less practical. It has similar passenger comfort and a little more cargo space but is more expensive and less efficient.

What we see with the Taos isn’t anything new. SUVs replacing sedans, wagons and hatchbacks is just the reality today. They’re more lucrative for the car companies. Small cars are relatively expensive to make; it’s one of the reasons that the domestic brands have largely abandoned them and why only a handful remain on the market.

Volkswagen revealed the ID. 2all concept car last year, spawning rumours that it could be a Golf replacement. However, the company recently backtracked on plans to offer only EVs by 2030, and will introduce more plug-in hybrids in response to consumer demand. The company is not the first to do this as EV adoption levels off and more affordable options are needed.

The loss of the manual in the Golf is a sign of the times and indicative of how consumer preferences and buying habits have changed over the years. What was once among the most common vehicles in the school parking lot has now become an endangered species. There’s still time to get one, though, but you’d better hurry because the company says they’re going quickly.

Tech specs

2024 VW Golf GTI 380 Performance

• Base price / as tested: $40,995 / $41,490 plus $1,950 for freight and predelivery inspection plus other fees and taxes
• Engine: Two-litre turbocharged inline-four
• Horsepower / torque (lb-ft): 241 / 273
• Transmission / drive: Six-speed manual / front-wheel drive
• Curb weight: 1,441 kilograms
• Fuel consumption (litres per 100 kilometres): 10.1 city; 7.0 highway; 8.7 combined
• Alternatives: Honda Civic hatchback, Toyota GR Corolla, Mazda3 Turbo, Acura Integra

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