VW’s sporty new drop-top
No open-air sports car is more attractive than the new Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabriolet, says Paul Bond in AutoExpress. It is the first drop-top GTI since the MkI, and it has really “turned on the style”: it looks both more dramatic and sporty than its hatchback cousin, sporting “gorgeous” 18-inch Monza alloy wheels, twin exhausts and a steeply raked windscreen.
The interior is just as attractive, says Bond, with figure-hugging seats, racy red stitching on the steering wheel and gear selector, and plenty of kit as standard, including Bluetooth, cruise control and front and rear parking sensors. And to drive, it is “just as potent as the hatch”. Its turbocharged engine “revs eagerly towards the 7,000rpm red line” with an “addictive burble from the exhausts”, and the quick, responsive steering makes the car feel nimble in corners”.
But perhaps the car’s biggest strength is its practicality. “Unlikealmost all of its rivals, there’s enough space to seat four adults comfortably, and headroom is decent. The 250-litre boot is big enough for medium-sized bags and split-fold seats are standard.”
It feels like a quality item, says Mike Duff in Evo. The downside is that the extra mass of the cabriolet has blunted performance, and the chassis is a fair bit softer than the hatchback. It’s expensive too. It doesn’t “quite have the pure chuckability that makes the Golf GTI such a great hot hatchback”, agrees What Car, but then it still has “enough agility to have fun”. And the refinement is “better than you might expect for a open-top”. If you’re after a reasonably fast four-seat convertible, the Golf GTI Cabriolet should “tick many of your boxes”.
Price: £30,610
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 207bhp
Transmission: six-speed automatic, front-wheel drive
0-62mph: 7.3 seconds
Top speed: 146mph
Economy: 36.7mpg