2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI Rabbit Review: Always Delivering The Goods
As the 7th generation of the Volkswagen Golf winds down, the German giant celebrates it with a cool Volkswagen GTI Rabbit edition. Way back in 1975, a small Volkswagen car arrived in North America, set to replace the aging yet hyper popular VW Beetle. Elsewhere in the world, this car was known as the 1st generation Volkswagen Golf. Here, we called it the Rabbit. The following year, the company launched a car that was to define a genre: the Golf GTI. I could end the story here and write 鈥渁nd the rest is history.鈥?But that would be lazy. The Volkswagen Golf GTI went on to be one of the most successful and influential cars of its time. As the years and generations went by, the GTI lost some of novelty however, and unlike many of its would-be copies, it has always delivered. Yes, the Volkswagen GTI has stood for performance, handling and for the 5th generation, it actually had a mascot named 鈥淪peed.鈥?But these elements were a side-effect of the car鈥檚 built-in perfect balance.
This balance is a result of brilliant engineering, not over-compensating or a desire to boast. This has always applied to the GTI. This is why the car is modestly powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine. The EA888 TSI engine develops 228-horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. 1,500 rpm. On its own, the mill tells no story of wonderous power or massive acceleration. But again, this is not the point. My Cornflake Blue tester featured what continues to be one of the best dual-clutch transmission reasonable money can buy. Now with 7 forward gears, it extracts all the power - none of it goes to waste. This is the crucial aspect. The problem is that they cannot be all be used, if for more than a few seconds. The GTI can be exploited to the max, and the 7-speed DSG makes the most of it. The torque comes on tap quickly and it鈥檚 rewarding and non-threatening. The standard front differential lock manages everything with relative ease. I might be making the GTI Rabbit seem average but before 6 seconds elapse, the 100 km/h mark comes and goes.
But again, it鈥檚 not about the speed. While accelerating, the DSG pounds away the gears with incredible precision - it鈥檚 quite impressive to say the least. The real gem, the real trick up the GTI鈥檚 sleeve is and should forever be the way it handles on the road. A GTI is not meant to pull 1 G of lateral acceleration. It was conceived to handle the daily grind is unexpected comfort along with a level of surefootedness that is equal parts exalting and reassuring. The GTI handles and responds wonderfully well to all driver inputs. The heritage-inspired Rabbit Edition, the car I evaluated, holds one distinct advantage over the other GTIs, and that鈥檚 Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC). It is in large part responsible for the GTI Rabbit鈥檚 immense breadth of on-road abilities. What鈥檚 more, steering is quick but never sharp or harsh and can be adjusted through the multiple drive modes included with the DCC.
The brakes, also lifted from the Golf R, are immensely powerful - this may be the only mechanical aspect of the car that is over developed. It鈥檚 the best element to boost. Physically, the 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI Rabbit is offered in Cornflower Blue, Urano Grey, Pure White and Deep Black Pearl. The obvious choice is the color of the car in the pictures. Other unique aspects include 18-inch black alloy wheels, a well-integrated black rear spoiler, LED headlights with the Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS), black mirror caps and Rabbit stickers. 35,395 with the DSG, it鈥檚 nearly a bargain. The cabin sports Rabbit tags on the sweet Clark-cloth seats, red-stitched floor mats, keyless access with push-button start and many safety features such as Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Traffic Alert. As well as being a superb driver鈥檚 car, the GTI continues to be one of the most talented compact family cars - it is a Golf after all. There鈥檚 plenty of room for five occupants and loads of gear. Included within the seductively subtle outer shell are an 8-inch touchscreen with motion detection, App-Connect smartphone integration (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a Fender audio system with subwoofer and more. Buying a Volkswagen Golf GTI, no matter the trim, is a wise and rewarding purchase. The 鈥淩abbit鈥?is special in that it will be unique to 2019 and only offered for a short while. We expect there will be a 2020 MK7 Golf GTI, this time a Wolfsburg Edition, and by 2021, the new MK8 GTI will arrive, or shortly thereafter. As a side note, the Golf will not be returning to the US when the new generation of the car arrives. Rumor has it that it will come to Canada.
Everything you hit that loud pedal a sonorous sound emits from the front of the car. There is a loud induction sort of growl and if you wind down the windows you'd also notice a slight whistle too. And couple this to a rapid pick up of speed after 2,500rpm (3,000 for the proper thrust to come) the package of maximum thrills in a small package seems to fall into place. Once you hit the accelerator, the tyres chirp and the car rockets off. The noise emitted from the front (and some from the rear) sounds like a heard of angry hippos charging up a river bank. Luckily the sound it makes is matched with some performance. Front a stand still the Polo GTI will do 100kmh in around 6.7seconds and it will feel wonderous in doing so. It also has some impressive thrust if you are doing 90kmh to 120kmh - under 4 seconds. The Twincharge engine works very well with the 7 speed DSG in keeping revs up and gearchanges satisfyingly quick. There is no lag whatsoever in the gearshifts and the little Polo GTI never holds anything back.
