2016 Volkswagen GTI | CarGurus Test Drive Review

Aug 2, 2023

2016 Volkswagen GTI | CarGurus Test Drive Review

If you love to drive, but you’re on a budget or you need something more practical than a traditional sports coupe, then you absolutely must check out the 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI. An affordable performance icon that is sheer pleasure to drive, the Golf GTI blends athleticism, refinement, comfort, practicality, safety, technology, and value in a manner unmatched by most other vehicles.

Though it got redesigned for the 2015 model year, the Golf GTI remains instantly recognizable. In fact, it could be said that if you’ve seen one GTI, you’ve seen them all. Simple, two-box design? Check. Red exterior accents with “GTI” grille badge? Check. Machined-finish, five-spoke alloys? Check. Standard plaid cloth upholstery wrapped around performance bolstered seats? Check. Function over form interior materials and control layout? Check.

The Golf GTI might be the same as it ever was, plainly penned and painted in drab colors outside of the available Tornado Red hue, but styling has never been responsible for selling this car. Rather, the magic lies beneath this Volkswagen’s conservative surface. Read more on CarGurus: https://cargur.us/8_8dj

Presenter: Chris Wardlaw
Producer: Dan Sharp

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0 -> Hi, I’m Chris Wardlaw for CarGurus, and like many of you, I absolutely adore that

6.66 -> car behind me, which is the 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI.

10.38 -> Now why is that? Well, aside from the fact that it is an affordable performance

15 -> icon that is sheer pleasure to drive, it blends athleticism, refinement, comfort,

20.64 -> practicality, safety, technology, and value in a manner that’s pretty much unmatched

25.619 -> by most other vehicles.

27.06 -> Okay, enough chitchat. I’ve got the key to a GTI in my hand, and that means that if

32.189 -> I’m not sleeping and I’m not eating, then I should be driving.

42.47 -> So that you understand my enthusiasm for this special car, let me set the stage. My

47.78 -> test vehicle is loaded with everything

50.54 -> Volkswagen offers on this car. That means it’s got Autobahn trim and the

55.37 -> Performance package and Dynamic Chassis Control.

59.24 -> It’s got the Direct Shift Gearbox, it’s got the Lighting package,

63.32 -> it’s got a Driver Assistance package. And the price tag is a staggering $36,840.

71.96 -> Now that’s more than 10 grand higher than a base GTI.

76.88 -> It’s even more than the base price of a Ford Focus RS. But I love it anyway.

85.04 -> Driving the Volkswagen Golf GTI is akin to attending the University of Torque.

90.229 -> For people who’ve always focused on horsepower,

94.13 -> you’re missing an important part of the driving enjoyment equation.

98.66 -> Torque is related to that feeling of thrust that’s produced by the engine –

102.47 -> the sensation that you’re being pushed back into your seat while the car seemingly

106.52 -> rockets forward.

107.81 -> So if horsepower is the cake,

110.84 -> torque is the thick layer of yummy, creamy frosting.

116.55 -> Now, this car has got a turbocharged 2-liter 4-cylinder engine, and with

122.22 -> the Performance package,

123.72 -> it’s generating 220 horsepower. That, taken by itself, is a pretty unimpressive

128.94 -> number. Again, what’s important here is torque–258 pound-feet of it–and that

135.78 -> peak torque arrives at just 1,500 rpm and is essentially available all the way to

142.08 -> where peak horsepower kicks in at 4,700 rpm.

145.77 -> So while the GTI’s numbers may seem unimpressive

150 -> when they’re taken out of context, how the engine makes its power is

154.14 -> unbelievably satisfying.

158.7 -> Every GTI comes standard with Volkswagen’s XDS Cross-

162.38 -> Differential System. Basically, what this is is it’s an electronic brake-based

167.1 -> technology that is designed to reduce understeer. Understeer refers to the

172.2 -> tendency for the front wheels of a front-wheel-drive car to kind of run

175.5 -> wide in a corner

176.91 -> if you’re really hustling through a turn. Now, my test car also has the Performance

182.1 -> package, which, in addition to adding 10 horsepower,

185.489 -> it gives the car a torque-sensing limited-slip front differential. And what that

191.13 -> does is it further improves the handling incrementally so that Volkswagen likes

196.709 -> to brag that, on the Nürburgring, it actually improves the GTI’s lap time by

201.6 -> 8 seconds.

202.739 -> But when you think about how long it takes to get around the Nürburgring in

205.709 -> the first place,

207 -> maybe you think maybe that’s not such a big deal.

212.06 -> Now on top of this, my test GTI has the optional Dynamic Chassis Control

215.93 -> Adaptive Suspension, which gives you a choice between Comfort,

220.22 -> Normal, and Sport settings. Now, when you combine these features with a Direct Shift

226.04 -> Gearbox, Automated Manual Transmission with a Sport mode, and

229.519 -> paddle shifters, as well as a set of super sticky 225/40 Bridgestone Potenza

235.099 -> summer performance tires, and it’s utterly remarkable how fast you can

241.28 -> drive a GTI down a canyon road.

247.06 -> Beyond the car’s mechanical hardware, it’s how

249.11 -> Volkswagen tunes the Golf GTI and how the car is designed around the driver that

254.36 -> makes it something truly special.

256.4 -> The driving position is utter perfection, and the deeply bolstered seats really do

262.37 -> a fantastic job of holding you in place when you’re taking corners with more

267.14 -> speed than might be prudent.

269.98 -> Instrumentation is clean, it’s legible, it’s easy to reference with just a glance.

277.94 -> The steering is fast and sharp; it basically turns the GTI into a guided

282.14 -> missile. The brakes, which are a little bit grabby around town, prove absolutely

286.97 -> perfect when you’re running hard down a favorite back road. And under hard

290.9 -> acceleration, the exhaust burps when the transmission upshifts, creating the

295.61 -> satisfying aural confirmation that you are, indeed, hauling ass.

312.96 -> Now obviously the GTI exists for driving enjoyment, but it also has a fair degree

318.02 -> of practicality. I mean, how could it not, given the 5-door hatchback body style?

325.42 -> For example, adults will fit in the backseat.

329.99 -> It is a snug fit and there’s not a lot of room here for knees and shins,

335.3 -> but trust me, once you start whipping this car around corners,

339.8 -> anybody riding in the backseat is going to feel really glad that they are snug

344.18 -> and secure and braced back here.

350.78 -> Now to access the cargo area,

353.18 -> Volkswagen deftly integrates the release right with the Volkswagen badge. When you open

358.669 -> this up,

359.21 -> supposedly there’s 22.8 cubic feet of cargo space here. Now

363.229 -> frankly, I don’t see it. I mean, that’s a bigger number than a Ford Taurus with

366.74 -> its big ol’ butt, and as you can see, I’ve got a full-size suitcase in here –

371.18 -> it’s taking up most of the useful area, but if you remove this, and you remove that, and

380.09 -> you take this cargo cover off, and then you stacked things to the roof and all

383.779 -> the way to the seatbacks, maybe there’s 22.8 cubic feet there?

387.83 -> But I’ve got to be honest with you, I really don’t see it. Now if you go ahead and you

393.83 -> fold these rear seats down,

396.65 -> Volkswagen says you’ve got over 52 cubic feet, and that’s a good cube-

400.94 -> sized area –

401.87 -> it’s perfect for your next IKEA run. Volkswagen makes two big changes to the

406.31 -> GTI for the 2016 model year.

408.349 -> The first is the installation of this new infotainment system. It’s got a 6.5-

413.089 -> inch capacitive-touch display screen,

415.219 -> it’s got useful buttons for volume and tuning, and it’s got big buttons on

421.31 -> either side for accessing your main menus. The highlights of the system

425.509 -> include smartphone-projection technology; as you can see, Apple CarPlay is up on

429.949 -> the screen right now.

431.15 -> It also has a couple of USB ports, SD card slots, Car-Net subscription services,

436.789 -> and App-Connect connectivity with text-messaging support,

441.56 -> and so much more. All of this is stuff you should not be using, because you’re

446.27 -> going to be driving this car like a bat out of hell, and you’re going to be

448.91 -> needing to concentrate on the road ahead.

453.24 -> The second change this year is the addition of new safety equipment.

456.71 -> Now I hope you don’t ever need it, but in a car that encourages risky behavior

460.37 -> like this one does,

461.48 -> you’re probably going to be happy that you’ve got it. Automatic post-collision

465.38 -> braking is standard this year, and basically what that system does is it

469.16 -> brings the car to a stop just as soon as is possible after a first impact. The

474.95 -> idea is that, after the car’s airbags have deployed and after the structure

478.79 -> has absorbed that initial impact, it gets the car stopped before any secondary

483.08 -> collisions can occur.

484.37 -> Now speaking of structural safety, the GTI gets a Top Safety Pick rating from

488.87 -> the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and a 5-star crash-test rating

492.62 -> from the federal government. Now additionally, this year the Car-Net

496.46 -> subscription services system supplies

498.979 -> automatic collision notification as well as something called a Family Guardian function.

504.65 -> So let’s say you bought your kid a GTI. Now I strongly discourage that, but hey, that’s

509.479 -> your call.

510.2 -> Family Guardian will send you, the parent, a text message every time the car

515.089 -> exceeds a specific speed or travels beyond a specific boundary. Buy one of

519.919 -> these cars for a teenager, and well, you can expect to get lots of text messages

524.51 -> from your car.

525.47 -> And finally, there’s a new Driver Assistance package available.

529.19 -> It includes adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning with lane assist, and a

533.18 -> blind-spot monitoring system with rear cross-traffic alert.

536.33 -> What’s most important about this upgrade, though, is that it includes a forward-

540.23 -> collision warning system with automatic emergency braking.

551.02 -> As some of you have so thoughtfully pointed out in the past,

554.62 -> I’m an old guy. Indeed, I’m closing in on 50, and while I’m not nearly as bald as

559.93 -> my younger brother,

561.25 -> things are getting a bit thin up here on top.

564.61 -> This, more than anything, makes me think that maybe driving my beloved Miata

568.93 -> could prove increasingly hazardous to my health.

571.66 -> After all, who drives a Miata with the top up? That completely misses the point,

576.16 -> and frankly, I’m not a big fan of hats. I am a big fan of small, light, fun-to-drive

582.07 -> cars.

583.03 -> So if I were to replace the Miata with a new set of wheels,

586.48 -> the Volkswagen GTI sits near the top of my candidate list.

590.86 -> It does everything I want it to in terms of performance, and it does everything I

595.03 -> need it to in terms of utility.

596.86 -> Plus, it is safe enough and just roomy enough for my family.

600.7 -> I guess that what I’m trying to say is that it doesn’t get much better than a

605.02 -> GTI for all-around bang for the buck.

607.57 -> Be sure to check out my full review of the GTI on CarGurus.com, and if you

612.07 -> found this review helpful, please share this video and subscribe to our YouTube

615.55 -> channel.

616.27 -> Thanks for watching, too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some driving to do.

652.47 -> When you combine all of these features with the Direct Shift Gearbox, the cha–

657.24 -> oh s****.

658.9 -> Whoa.

661.56 -> Good thing there was nobody coming then. You feeling all right?

665.27 -> [Yeah, yeah.] Okay.

666.35 -> [All right, time for camera rolling.]

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H784YaaaaFk