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About Golf and GTI

If you had to pick one car that explains Volkswagen, it would be the Golf. Launched in 1974 as the replacement for the Beetle, it gave Europe a front-drive, cleverly packaged hatchback that rode well, felt solid and seemed to suit everyone from students to doctors. Then in 1976 Volkswagen added a fuel-injected engine, a tartan seat and a golf-ball shifter, called it the GTI, and more or less invented the hot hatch as a category.

Across eight generations the Golf became the yardstick every compact car is measured against, and the GTI became the yardstick for every fun one. The all-wheel-drive Golf R, the most powerful of the family, adds serious speed for drivers who want a sleeper. The current eighth generation drew criticism for touch-sensitive controls and fiddly software, and a midcycle update brought back more physical buttons and a better infotainment system. In the United States the regular Golf has been dropped, leaving the GTI and Golf R to carry the name.

The hot-hatch world it created is thinning out, with rivals such as the Honda Civic Type R and Hyundai Elantra N carrying the torch, and enthusiasts mourned when the GTI lost its manual gearbox in America. The future points electric: Volkswagen is preparing an electric GTI based on its ID. models, and an electric Golf is planned later. This page tracks reviews, special editions, long-term tests, recalls and every step of the Golf's transition.