The 2022 Golf GTI will have a much smarter brain for more driving fun

Now that COVID-19 has put paid to traveling anywhere for all but the most essential reasons, driving impressions of Volkswagen’s new Golf GTI will remain an indeterminate while away. But VW’s engineers and designers are just as capable of conducting a product briefing remotely as they are in person, so we can bring you plenty of technical info on what is now the eighth generation of the archetypal hot hatchback.

It all began in 1975, when some enterprising soul at VW thought to shoehorn a more powerful engine and some uprated suspension bits at the company’s then-new Golf hatchback. Front-engined and front-wheel drive, the hatchback Golf itself was considered a risky move inside a company that was known for air-cooled rear-engined machinery. So the GTI was planned as a limited-run variant to give the new car a bit of a halo. Instead, it became a massive sales hit, earning it a permanent place in VW’s lineup. And while you (or rather I) might think of Europe as the home of the GTI, apparently the United States and Canada now account for 45 percent of all GTI sales. (Thus, we’ll be getting the GTI and the next Golf R but none of the more basic Golfs.)

Yes, there will still be a six-speed manual

The Mk8 GTI is a gentle evolution of the outgoing model, and it uses the same Modularer Querbaukasten, or Modular Transverse Toolkit architecture, as most of the rest of VW’s internal combustion-powered range. The styling changes between Mks 7 and 8 are subtle enough that non-car people will probably miss them, but if you’re staring at a Golf and you see a lower grille full of hexagons, some of which turn out to be LED foglights, you’re looking at a Mk8.

Under the hood, the car uses a turbocharged 2.0L, four-cylinder engine known as the EA888 evo4 to VW nerds, with 241hp (180kW) and 273lb-ft (370Nm) waiting for your right foot. And there’s good news for those who like to row their own—a six-speed manual transmission will be available if you don’t want the seven-speed dual clutch DSG gearbox. (If I had to pick, I’d say you want the manual with the GTI and the flappy paddles with the Golf R, the Mk8 version of which will be released a little later.) US-spec GTIs will come with 18-inch wheels as standard, with 19-inch wheels as an option, those even being fitted with ultra-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires for people who need all the grip all the time (except when it rains).

A lot of new code

Most of the improvements to the new GTI are electronic. There’s a new digital main instrument display and a new 10-inch infotainment system. There are more advanced driver-assistance systems, most of which will be standard equipment. And there’s a reworked Vehicle Dynamics Manager, which coordinates all the various subsystems like electronically controlled dampers, the multiplate-clutch front limited slip differential, and variable-ratio electronic power steering (with just 2.1 turns lock-to-lock) to maximize the driving fun. (There are some suspension changes, too: new front and rear springs, new damper hydraulics, different bushings and, at the front, a lighter aluminum subframe borrowed from the Nürburgring-crushing Mk7 GTI Clubsport S.)

As proof of the digital nature of the new GTI, consider this: there are 15 different drive modes you can cycle through. If Comfort isn’t comfortable enough, you can further decouple the chassis from the road surface, isolating the car’s occupants from the tarmac underneath them as much as is possible. And if Sport isn’t sporty enough, keep sliding the settings to the right to further cut body roll and rejigger the LSD for maximum cornering and agility. In this most extreme setting, the electronic safety nets will even allow a little bit of slip angle in cornering. (There’s also Eco, Snow, and individual modes in there, too.)

The upgraded digital brains extend to the GTI’s brakes, which now factor in how fast the car is traveling when calculating how much the brake booster should help you when you decide it’s time to slow things down.

The transition from Mk7 to Mk8 also improved the Golf’s high-speed aerodynamics balance and cut drag, although that will probably only be noticeable on those remaining derestricted stretches of German autobahn.

The result is a car that is quicker to complete a lane change or 60-foot (18m) slalom than the Mk7 GTI and one that’s four seconds a lap quicker around the handling course at VW’s Ehra-Lessien proving grounds in Germany. (2:04.8 minutes versus 2:08.7 minutes on a 2.5-mile/3.3km track.)

US imports of the Mk8 GTI—which will be built in Germany, not Puebla, Mexico, like US-market Mk7s—should start toward the end of 2021, as model year 2022 cars. The Mk7 GTI will continue being built at Puebla into model year 2021, according to VW.

Listing image by Volkswagen