2000 Volkswagen Golf GTi T review from UK and Ireland

Lazy electric window.

A nicely crafted, swift, satisfying and refined car which sadly has no right to wear the GTI badge.

My previous 306 XSi was infinitely more fun to drive, but that doesn't mean the Golf isn't a great car, because it genuinely is. I just object to it being marketed as a hot hatch.

Where a 306 has cheap black plastic, the Golf has an interior which is an object lesson in quality and attention to detail. The Recaro seats and blue glowing dials are particularly superb. In fact, the whole car has a polished, slick feel to it, which is only really let down only by a vague gear change. It also lacks the incredible chassis balance, feel and agility that makes the 306 such massive fun to drive hard. As a driving machine, the 306 is a much superior car.

The Golf's engine is beautifully refined and incredibly flexibile. I suspect it has a fairly light pressure turbocharger as it doesn't deliver the kick in the pants that you might expect from what is a fairly exotically specced power unit. Instead, power builds from little more than idle, and there's a wave of torque all through the range. Consequently fuel economy is pretty good, and I suspect engine life will benefit too.

Dealers are fairly unpleasant. They seem to think they are selling prestige cars, not mainstream products, and would do well to remember that Volkswagen is not a prestige brand.

Overall, a beautiful car, just not a hot hatch. Recommended though.