I've got 2,500 kms on the car now and I'm absolutely loving it! It may not be a fantastic sports car, and it may not even be a great "hot hatch", but to me it is just about the perfect all-round
car. Honestly, even if money was no object, there isn't another car on the market today (in Canada) that would fit my needs better - and for $32,000 (financed at 0%), I think it's a hell of a value.
The cabin is a great place to spend time: supremely comfortable, attractive, functional and expensive-feeling. The hatchback practicality is perfect for all my mundane daily chores: grocery shopping, taking the dog to the park, hauling bikes, skis, cardboard to the recycling depot... . There's plenty of room for four people, and the car cruises quietly and effortlessly at 120 km/h (and far, far beyond
).
And, of course, it's just plain fun to drive while doing all of the above.
Having said all that, I do have some reservations. It's probably just because I was so used to the Civic, but the GTI does sometimes strike me as being
too refined. (Of course, the Civic was noisy, somewhat harsh riding, and not especially comfortable. Can't have it all, I guess.)
The shifter has nice, short throws, and snicks positively through the gears, but gives an odd sensation of not being connected to anything. It's almost as if it shifts
too easily: while the Civic's shifter may not have been as smooth or precise, it did feel like it was actually connected to something mechanical down there: the GTI feels like shifting a video game console.
The steering is somewhat the same. It always gives plenty of feedback as to what the tires are doing, and it has great on-centre feel, but there's nevertheless something a little artificial in the way it does its job. It weights up nicely as cornering forces build, but sometimes feels overly light and sensitive on turn-in.
The suspension does strike me as giving almost a perfect balance between ride and handling. There is a bit of body lean, but it's hardly excessive, and the car takes a stable set throughout the corner. Well, there is a tiny bit of float at times, but again, it's hardly excessive. It would be easy enough to tighten things up a notch (like I'd done with my Civic), but I really doubt the tradeoff would be worth it.
The car will obviously understeer at the limit (and you really feel its extra 500 lbs over the Civic when it does), but otherwise the car feels nicely balanced and especially eager to rotate with just a modest lift of the throttle. Lateral grip is simply outstanding - comparable to what I remember my Civic was like on its (admittedly skinnier) R-compounds.
Even with the stock suspension, the car is ridiculously quick and easy to drive. Which I guess is really my overall impression: that the car is almost too fast, too capable, too refined, and simply too
easy. Not that I'm complaining, but it does have me wondering.
For example, the other day I was cruising down one of my favourite winding roads at a relaxed 7/10ths pace. I wasn't working hard and the car wasn't working hard, yet when I looked down at the speedometer, I was shocked to see that I was doing more than double the speed limit! Which got me wondering "what is the point of having all this performance potential if you can't use half of it without going to jail?" (And then I started wondering what could possibly be the point of owning an M3 or 911, but maybe I'll pose that question in another thread
).
So, to get a better idea of what the car is really capable of, I've got a track day booked for July 30th. I'll be able to give it a proper flogging then, but in the meantime I'm content to simply enjoy listening to the fantastic stereo while driving to work and the grocery store at sane speeds. (Well, aside from the occasional off-ramp taken at three-times the speed posted on the yellow sign.
)
