Review Car

2011 Volkswagen Gti

2011 Volkswagen Gti comes in two-door and four-door versions. All are hatchbacks. Three trim levels are available, GL, GLS, and GTI. Upscale trim and a high level of standard equipment make for a comfortable and sophisticated experience. Two people can sit comfortably in the back seats. The hatchback design means you can fold the seats down and cram in an impressive amount of stuff. Four transmissions are available: 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual, 4-speed automatic, or 5-speed automatic with Porsche’s Tiptronic manual override. 2011 Volkswagen Gti offers more engine options for its compact than other manufacturers. Four engines are available for the Golf: 115-horsepower 2.0-liter inline-4; 180-horsepower 1.8-liter turbocharged inline-4; 200-horsepower 2.8-liter VR6; 90-horsepower 1.9-liter TDI turbocharged diesel inline-4. GL two-door is extremely well equipped for a small car, with standard air conditioning, cruise control, power windows, power heated mirrors, a premium sound system with CD player, and neat woven-cloth upholstery. Golf GL comes standard with the 115-horsepower engine and 5-speed manual transmission, but is available with a 4-speed automatic.

2011 Volkswagen Gti offers plenty of storage space, with a large glove box, deep door pockets and a center tray that’s useful for stowing cellular telephones. Golf’s cup holders are well placed and adequate for most container sizes. Driver and passenger doors use different inside handles that make them easy to close. Seats in our GTI 1.8 T were firm and supportive. More side bolstering would help brace driver and passenger in tight corners, however. Seating adjustments are trademark Volkswagen, with its unique jack to adjust seat height; they are a bit difficult to use at first with an awkward knob for adjusting rake, but familiarity improves this. The optional Monsoon Sound System with eight speakers is among the best factory stereos we’ve heard, with crisp highs and snappy bass response. Rear seats, with height-adjustable headrests, seem surprisingly roomy with plenty of headroom for all but the tallest passengers. There isn’t much stretch-out legroom, but the seats are unusually high off the floor, which makes the available space more comfortable than in many other compacts. For the taller person, sliding your feet under the front seats makes the back seat of the Golf a quite comfortable place for short trips. In addition to all this, Volkswagen offers not only its standard four-year/50,000-mile warranty, but also coverage of wear and tear items and adjustments during the initial 12 months or 12,000 miles of ownership. Additional coverage includes a five-year/60,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, four years/50,000 miles of 24-hour roadside assistance, and protection against rust-through for 12 years. The 2011 2011 Volkswagen Gti electrically-powered steering requires little effort, but has virtually no ‘road feel’ – there’s little communication between the front wheels and the steering wheel. Handling, while reasonably balanced with minimal lean, is prone to understeer, and its limits can be reached fairly quickly. The 2011 2011 Volkswagen Gti passenger compartment is generally very quiet – not surprising since the gasoline engine isn’t running all of the time. Even when it is running, the engine emits a dull buzzing sound which gets louder under hard acceleration – but not any louder than a Corolla.