Living with a Golf GTI
Here’s the great thing about my job - I don’t have to own everything I desire to drive or live with. Not that I can afford it either, but that’s besides the point. Having the lovely Golf GTI as my daily driver for a month is one such example. And since I had it, I thought I would share what it is like to live with a sporty icon.
The thing about a sporty car, a good one at least, is that you don’t always need to drive it fast to appreciate it. In fact, most of the time you don’t. It’s the small things that make the difference, the little details that quietly remind you why cars like this exist in the first place.
The way you’re positioned in the driver’s seat, for instance, and how the steering wheel and pedal box feel just right the moment you settle in. Nothing feels like it needs adjusting once you start moving. The driving position naturally puts you in the mood to drive, even if the drive ahead is nothing more than a slow commute through the city.
Then there is the steering. The response is crisp, calculated, and reassuringly consistent. It feels just as alive at 50kmph in crawling traffic as it does at 150kmph on an open highway. There’s a clarity to the way the front end responds to your inputs that makes the car feel alert without ever feeling nervous.
The brakes play their part too. There are bucketloads of feel coming through the pedal, delivered without demanding heavy effort because the braking system itself is so potent. It’s one of those setups where modulation comes naturally. You always know exactly how much braking force you’re asking for, and exactly how much the car is giving back.
And that feeling of your seat almost skimming the road surface because you’re sitting lower than most other traffic? That only helps the sense of connection. You feel more integrated with the car, more aware of what it’s doing beneath you. Plus, it looks just as lovely standing still as it does when leaving the world behind, which is always a good sign with a car like the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
However, as a daily driver, a few challenges begin to surface. No, not the ground clearance; surprisingly, we haven’t scraped its belly yet, even with the occasional speed breaker thrown into the mix.
It’s the smaller things that get to you over time. The lack of a request sensor to lock and unlock the car means reaching for the key fob every single time. Or having heated seats, but no cooling function. In a city like Mumbai, that feels like a strange choice.
Then there is the tyre pressure warning that lacks actual monitoring. The system will indicate that something is wrong, but not which tyre or by how much. That feels like information half delivered.
And of course, this is one of the few Volkswagens to offer ADAS, except it doesn’t stay turned off. Every time you restart the car, you have to switch the systems off all over again, if you’re so inclined.
But to say these irritants take away from the joy of having one in your garage — even temporarily, in my case — would be a lie. Because when you actually sit down and drive it, the reasons you like it come rushing back almost immediately.
Pictures by Kaustubh Gandhi
