Test Drive: 2013 Volkswagen GTI Wolfsburg Edition

2013 Volkswagen GTI. Click image to enlarge

Article and photos by Steven Bochenek.

You could say there’s a substantial subculture of GTI drivers out there who adore this four-door hatchback and geek out over it at every opportunity – but ‘cult’ probably describes them better. A quick search on the Internet results in scores of opportunities for the faithful to aggressively agree with other. To instantly achieve priestly status in the cult, there’s the Wolfsburg Edition which throws in a heap of sporty extras in one price.

(Wolfsburg? World VW HQ in Germany, it was a Brave New World–esque worker’s paradise built during the early 20^th century.)

Note the red border, enclosing the signature black mesh grille: de rigueur among the GTI faithful. And of course those GTI and Wolfsburg badges. Let’s get inside: proximity opening means that with the key in your pocket, you jiggle the door handle for it to unlock and open.

Here there’s more to geek out at, like the fire-engine red border-stitching on the leathers, cloth and carpets. Next, there’s the tartan Jacky Cloth coverings on the sport seats (referring to Scotland’s famous son, Jacky ‘Et’s-a-grrrate-day-fr-rrracin’ Stewart). That cloth is the equivalent of the Wolfsburg cult’s secret handshake. As with any religion or cult, some of the rituals and accoutrements will seem questionable to the outsider. But, like the guy in Fiddler on the Roof, believers will shortly tell you it’s a “tradition”! Never you mind if his seats look like they just fell off a shortbread tin. And the Holy Grail is that black golf ball shaped shifting knob.

It’s easy to sneer – that is, until you get behind the wheel. It’s a bloody fabulous ride. A week after the car was returned, my index finger unconsciously reaches for the keyless start button and my pulse accelerates with memories of the GTI’s performance, if not some of its popular garb.

2013 Volkswagen GTI. Click image to enlarge

You enjoy a rip-snorting front-wheel drive powered by a 2.0L four-cylinder turbo engine with six-speed automatic DSG (short for direct shift gearbox or the infinitely cooler if the utterly unpronounceable Teutonic direkt-schalt-getriebe) with Tiptronic.

It puts out 200 hp. This impressive punch comes in a welterweight body, whose curb girth is just 1,376 kg. There’s the faintest hint of turbo lag, which is readily replaced with turbo leap, or launch. So you can go like hockey puck. Better still there’s the sport mode which shortens gears for an even more dynamic jump to light speed. It’ll get your heart racing – and impoverish you at the pump. Use it sparingly.

But even with all that velocity, what’s more impressive is the car’s maneuverability. A sport suspension drops the GTI slightly for a welcome low centre of gravity. The leather wrapped and sporty flat-bottomed steering wheel offers good grip – and the experience of the steering itself is rally worthy. It handles marvelously.

With some fast cars, you don’t notice the speed. The GTI isn’t among them. Being light, it’s not the quietest ride. The doors are so light, they could almost be renamed flaps – even with those tweeter and woofer speakers mounted in them. And being close to the ground – its clearance is just 138 mm, so you get a good sense of the world whipping by.

2013 Volkswagen GTI. Click image to enlarge

Mix that with the inertia-bending agility and the GTI’s ride can feel a lot like a Wild Mouse at your local amusement park. A row of five button spaces rests above the gear shift knob, yet only a single button amid them is active. The effect is a bit cheap (what could have been there but wasn’t included?). However, it does highlight that anti-skid button. On a clear day, corners deserve a touch of slide: great fun!

For all the thrills of the ride, I couldn’t get used to the sport seats. Even when I got used to the questionable tartan cloth – how that is premium is beyond my ken – I never got comfortable. The seats are well positioned for excellent sighting but simply wouldn’t accommodate my frame. It may be different for you.

There’s a less expensive six-speed standard transmission and many purist geeks (me, among them) would opt for it. However, the paddles provide a bracing ride! Were it not for the greater expense, I would – and this is a rare admission – gladly continue with paddle-shifting. Thrilling as ramming home a stick shift is, the paddles added a touch of nuance. A tight S-bend on a short sine wave of hillocks convinced me once and for all. Imagine the difference a surgeon feels using haptic instruments controlled by computer, rather than a scalpel, for minute incisions and sewing. The mind fills in the blanks and the subtle capabilities seem grander.

Yet for a city bounder, all that ability may be impractical. We could talk a bit about the GTI’s storage capabilities. (The backseats don’t flatten completely and, even then, the cargo volume increases only to 1,300 litres from 410.) But if you’re still reading this, chances are you don’t care. This is about the GTI experience. I regularly pictured myself cornering Tuscan precipices and Manx bluffs, not picking up groceries or children. No, if you’re reading this, you probably don’t have a checklist of safety features you need to get or the approval of your spouse either.

2013 Volkswagen GTI. Click image to enlarge

With all the goodies involved in the price, you couldn’t upgrade to the Wolfsburg Edition’s level without dishing out much more cash – and that assumes some of the trim’s unique extras were even being offered. For example, even if you wanted to celebrate your cultish First Communion, the Wolfsburg Edition badges aren’t options you can order without buying the Wolfsburg Edition package.

Or consider the 18-inch Watkins Glen Alloy Wheels. They look cool in a gangsterish way and the Pirelli Zero Nero tires they ride on are circular rubbery talons. The Dynaudio 300-watt digital stereo helps rattle your lower backbone, as if the sport suspension wasn’t enough.

Not unique to the Wolfsburg Edition are the adaptive bi-xenon headlights. Sure, they sound like a mutant power to rival Wolverine’s – and almost are. When you turn they shift and point to where you’re turning towards, not directly forwards.

The dual-zone climate control is pretty effective. All that black inside loves the sun and can heat up past Canadian comfort zones. So when the A/C comes you could freeze a passenger not sitting in direct sunlight.

2013 Volkswagen GTI. Click image to enlarge

The power sunroof seems unnecessarily complicated if you’re not a complete performance geek. Each centimetre affects drag co-efficiency. With the sunroof closed, the GTI’s is 0.32. A dial for controlling it has multiple settings. You can open it bit by bit. Little icons on a circular dial indicate slightly open, slightly more open, almost middling openness, middling openness – and so on. Again, it’s cool for the inner tribe, but a distracting pain in busy traffic.

Overall

Comfort

3.5/5

Performance

5/5

Fuel Economy

2.5/5

Interior

3.5/5

Exterior Styling

4/5

With such attention to drag you’re forgiven for thinking this is some fuel-efficient means to save the environment. The GTI Wolfsburg is for thrill seekers, period. For the eco-miser there are other Golf trims including a highly efficient diesel. The Wolfsburg’s claimed fuel economy stats are 9.9 L/100 km in the city and 6.2 on the highway. On my first trip of 180 km, which was about two-thirds highway, I got 8.7, milking the cruise control for about half of the highway driving. Later in the week, on a short trip of about 8 km in the city I got 9.4; and 11.1 on another. However, I was really hard on it – this is a fun car and a lot of temptation for a leaden foot. Furthermore, we had a world-class heat wave with DNA-changing humidity during the week of the test. The A/C was always on.