Around 40 years later - VW Golf GTI then and now
As you know, the VW Golf GTI is already in its seventh generation, so it's time for a little comparison between the first and the current model.
The original GTI was presented in Frankfurt in 1975, but the fast Wolfsburg model was not available to buy until the following year. It had 110 hp and weighed around 845 kg. The fun cost CHF 15,790 or DM 13,850 in 1976 and for that you got a car that sped from 0 to 100 in 9.4 seconds and ran at 185 km/h.
Around 40 years later, a VW Golf GTI costs around 2.5 times as much in Switzerland, while in Germany the car has become around 4 times more expensive. But you also get 230 hp (or 245 hp in the "Performance" version), which now also has to contend with a weight of around 1400 kg. Nevertheless, the "new one" naturally accelerates much faster from 0 to 100 km/h. A good six seconds is enough for the standard sprint and the speed limit is only reached at around 250 km/h. This would have been enough to keep most super sports cars in check in the seventies.
But the improved performance is certainly not the biggest difference between the Golf GTI from 1976 and its modern successor.
There are even some similarities that hark back to tradition in the new model, such as the red accents on the radiator grille and under the LED headlights or the upholstery pattern (depending on the equipment).
Unsurprisingly, the current GTI is a significantly larger car than the original Golf. The new model measures 4.27 meters in length, almost 1.8 meters in width and 1.482 meters in height, while the first GTI was content with a length of 3.705 meters, a width of 1.61 meters and a height of 1.39 meters. The new size is particularly advantageous for people who have to sit in the back and, of course, today's Golf can also carry a little more luggage.
But the difference is really huge when you look at the interior and the electronics.
In the Golf 1, a few transistors controlled the fuel injection and the radio's station search, whereas the current GTI is equipped with almost as much computer power as a modern Mercedes S-Class. With DSG, Lane Assist, traffic jam assistant and cruise control, the GTI can drive almost autonomously, the driver becomes a monitoring agent. And when he gets bored, the large monitor or the Active Info Display invite him to play games that are more reminiscent of Playstation than GTI driving.
Of course, this is not how GTI driving was once intended; thanks to its minimal weight combined with ample engine power, it should above all be fun and feel sporty. Of course, the current GTI can also be driven at full throttle and, thanks to the concentrated technology, should also be able to run circles around the 40-year-old original GTI. Nevertheless, today's Golf no longer feels as crisp and direct, exudes significantly less driving pleasure, filters and influences too much. This probably doesn't bother the new Golf owners too much. Hardly anyone would swap the new GTI for the old one, even though perfect examples of the original GTI are not far off the new price of today's GTI.
It would probably be best to have them both in the garage, the old one for the occasional chase around bends on low-traffic roads, the current one for the comfort-enhanced drive to work.
