Thursday 19th July 2018

WLTP kills off entry-level Golf GTI

New emissions standards continue to cut a swathe through the performance car market

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First the Golf R and BMW M3, now this. With the introduction of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure fast approaching, Volkswagen has opted to do away with the 230hp Golf GTI rather than go to the expense of homologating it with the new emission limits. Until the new TCR variant goes on sale, the slightly more powerful Performance variant will be the sole GTI option on the menu.

The problem from Volkswagen's point of view is the added expense of fitting a particulate filter (a power-sapping option that Renault has just engineered its way around in the new Megane R.S. Trophy). The alternative solution is a hard-headed business decision, and - as with the three-door Golf R - it'll ultimately be the bottom line and the fatter profit margin of the Performance model that has ordered the cheaper GTI's demise.

While the death of the trim level is not necessarily a situation to have you clawing inconsolably at your face, it's worth reiterating what a fine thing the outgoing Golf was. We drove a manual five-door against the new Polo GTI very recently, and in truth, it walked all over its smaller sibling. Not because it's an especially thrilling hot hatch, but because it succeeds so magnificently and obviously in the basic job of being a car in the modern world.

Nice to sit in? Check. Refined? Check. Amenable? Well made? Check. Check. Practical? Check. Economical? Check. Just fast enough to be interesting? Check. Comfortable? Check. Capable? Check. Was it a serious B road rival to a Megane or Civic or an i30 N? No. It's so concerned with being rounded and agreeable that Volkswagen delegated all the scruff-of-the-neck pointy stuff to other more expensive versions. But for a sub £30k car to live in every day, to commute and mistreat, it hardly knew a peer. Let's hope the Mk8, due next year, proves a worthy enough follow-up.

[Dale487]

As long as we don't lose the manual gearbox I can live with this.

[Dale487]

Pumpsmynads said:

Dale487 said:

As long as we don't lose the manual gearbox I can live with this.

How many have you owned?

Cars 4 - Manual cars 4 - Golf GTIs 0 (because the boot is too small, but very very seriously looked at a last of the MK7s at the beginning of 2017).

Surely everyone really wants a Performance Pack GTI but economics comes into it and you didn't lose much on the day to day buying the normal GTI.

I just don't want to lose the manual option like we have on the R.

[Dale487]

E65Ross said:

Dale487 said:

Cars 4 - Manual cars 4 - Golf GTIs 0 (because the boot is too small, but very very seriously looked at a last of the MK7s at the beginning of 2017).

Surely everyone really wants a Performance Pack GTI but economics comes into it and you didn't lose much on the day to day buying the normal GTI.

I just don't want to lose the manual option like we have on the R.

Unfortunately for the minority the majority of the market dictates the product.

True - I just really hope the MK8 GTI doesn't go DSG only.

But look at the situation with diesel, everyone was told that's what we should buy but it was only right for a minority - once I'd decided that a petrol SEAT Leon estate was the right way to go, due to all the diesels and autos (or both) my choice became quite limited. And look at the Ferrari market, where F1 'boxes and manuals are both available - the manuals now hold the premium.

Advantage Hyundai in the sub £30K manual hot hatch market.

[Dale487]

Murphy16 said:

Technical question here.

All these new petrol particulate filters, where do they sit in the exhaust system? Will aftermarket exhaust manufacturers have to incorporate one into their end to end full system designs? Surely that'll push the prices up. And won't these particulate filters strangle the engine sound coming out the back of the exhaust?

So it'll now cost more to upgrade the exhaust system (one of the first things I've always done to a car) to liberate some more of that raw sound that's lacking from new performance cars.

Edited by Murphy16 on Thursday 19th July 15:58

Isn't removing DPF or similar now an automatic MOT fail? (I'm aware that you could refit the standard exhaust just before the MOT and then out back to the freer following one just after but not everyone is up for that.)

[Dale487]

E65Ross said:

Dale487 said:

E65Ross said:

Dale487 said:

Cars 4 - Manual cars 4 - Golf GTIs 0 (because the boot is too small, but very very seriously looked at a last of the MK7s at the beginning of 2017).

Surely everyone really wants a Performance Pack GTI but economics comes into it and you didn't lose much on the day to day buying the normal GTI.

I just don't want to lose the manual option like we have on the R.

Unfortunately for the minority the majority of the market dictates the product.

True - I just really hope the MK8 GTI doesn't go DSG only.

But look at the situation with diesel, everyone was told that's what we should buy but it was only right for a minority - once I'd decided that a petrol SEAT Leon estate was the right way to go, due to all the diesels and autos (or both) my choice became quite limited. And look at the Ferrari market, where F1 'boxes and manuals are both available - the manuals now hold the premium.

Advantage Hyundai in the sub £30K manual hot hatch market.

The key in your comment about Ferrari where the manual holds a premium is that it applies to the USED car market. Manufacturers make cars for people buying new cars. And for new cars, far more DSG style boxes are made, so you can't blame them for not making a manual IMO.

I'm not blaming any car manufacturer for making want new car buyers want (or at least think they want or are directed to buy), I'm just saying that the market swings one way for new & nearly new then the other for used. Personally I think a manual gearbox option is more important than 10-20bhp.