From the November 2016 issue

We’re no strangers to the usual flow of emotions that accompanies new-car ownership, even if the cars we test aren’t ours. Whenever we get a new long-termer at 1585 Eisenhower Place, we feel that familiar sense of acquisitional pride. The car is new, it smells good, it feels taut, and climbing into it every day is as refreshing as a cold Fresca in the Sahara. Then, as the miles pile on, the small idiosyncrasies grow wearying, the bright glow of fresh metal dims, your dime turns into a nickel. We all get jaded, and hell hath no fury like a jaded automotive journalist.

But that didn’t happen with our long-term 2015 Volkswagen GTI. We never tired of it. And that’s because the car is simply right. All the controls are natural 10s: The electrically assisted steering is carefully weighted; the turbocharged 2.0-liter delivers lots of traffic-friendly low-end torque; the seats are comfortable and supportive; and the action of its six-speed manual, with a light clutch and an easy-shifting stick, reminds you how gratifying it is to row your own gears. From day one, this car was the golden child that could do no wrong.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

Exhibit A: The very first logbook comment declares the car “perfect,” which is a very un-German descriptor. A perfect German car? This is not possible. Without room to improve, the engineers in Wolfsburg would put themselves out of a job. That said, over seven generations of improvement, VW has made this car as close to perfect as any in the current market. It’ll comfortably transport a family of four across the country, haul two bikes with its 53 cubic feet of max storage, or serve as an amusement-park thrill ride for one.

The best part is that the ’15 GTI delivers this versatility starting at $26,205, which is why most editors on staff would buy a GTI as their daily driver were they spending their own cash. The base GTI comes equipped with satellite radio and heated seats. We chose a white exterior because of how the GTI’s black and red exterior trimmings pop against the high-contrast background. VW throws in leather with the pricier SE and Autobahn trims, packages we might have opted for if we didn’t prefer the character of the Clark plaid seats. We did spec the $1495 Performance package. It proffers an additional 10 horsepower via engine programming, for 220 total, and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. Finally, the $995 Lighting package brings bixenon illumination, a major upgrade and worth the cost.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

All in, our GTI cost $28,695, which is about the same as the long-term Mazda 3 we wrote about last month. Taking delivery in February 2015, we immediately installed four Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 winter tires for $788, and in that swap we may have screwed up the prescribed rotation of the summer tires, something we didn’t notice until it was too late. We put the summer tires back on, and after a free-of-charge 10,000-mile service we sent the GTI to C/D’s California office, at which point it was nearly ready for its 20K service. The Los Angeles dealer performed most of the ­recommended duties, including cabin and engine air-filter changes, while sneaking in a $13 “fuel additive” and omitting the tire rotation. By this point, the front rubber was worn; we had a hard time believing the tires were ever rotated at all, because the rears still had 80 percent of their tread.

We ate the cost of two new Bridgestone Potenza S001 summer tires and threw them on the rear axle, putting the best tires in the rear to avoid the risk of uncontrol­lable oversteer. After that, the tires wore evenly. The second half of the test revealed a more representative estimated tire life of about 30,000 miles.

Initial testing returned only so-so acceleration performance, with a zero-to-60-mph time of 6.1 seconds and a quarter-mile pass taking 14.6 seconds at 100 mph. We’ve recorded 5.8 and 14.4, respectively, in other GTIs. More importantly, though, the GTI hung on to the skidpad at 0.93 g and stopped from 70 mph in 156 feet. Those chassis scores are the real reason the car is lust-worthy. Without them, there would be no spunky handling that inspires its drivers to use the car to its potential. We’re mostly mature enough that we won’t drag-race any stanced Honda Civics; we’d much rather have the GTI’s compliant ride and astute handling than a quicker, torque-steering monster.

View Photos We have no complaints about this long-termer’s handling, comfort, packaging, or basically anything else. This is a novel and welcome sensation for us. MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

Despite its legacy as a hot hatch, the GTI is also a pretty efficient car, averaging 29 mpg over its stay with us, which is 12 percent better than our long-term ’14 Ford Focus ST. On longer trips—like those to California, upstate New York, and Asheville, North Carolina—the highway mileage was regularly 35 mpg or better.

As good as the GTI felt at 40,000 miles, it didn’t have a completely trouble-free stay. Some Los Angeleno decided they needed UV protection so badly that they broke the driver’s-side window to avail themselves of our sunglasses. Replacing the window cost $235, but the scattered glass revealed that the high-quality, tightly woven carpet eases cleanup by not trapping rough-edged debris.

The GTI’s small details—such as the carpet, the rattle-damping felt-lined door pockets, and the perfectly shaped flat-bottomed leather steering wheel—bolster its desirability. Some other cheap speed machines, Focus and Fiesta STs for example, concentrate solely on going quicker, sometimes overlooking the gratifying minutiae that slowly become evident over time. You wouldn’t think it, but an interior pull-down handle to avoid touching a dirty hatch is a much-appreciated feature. As is the ability to seek radio stations with a tap of your thumb on the steering-wheel control.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

But the one place VW missed is the GTI’s smartphone integration. It lacks a simple USB port. Instead, it has both iPhone-specific and generic USB connectors emerging from a single port in the covered bin ahead of the shifter. Besides being difficult to swap out, the connectors are frustratingly short and have such large bases that any protective case your phone might wear has to be removed to accept a charge. VW seems to have recognized this as well, because starting in 2016, along with a revamped infotainment suite, GTIs ditched the proprietary connectors for a USB port in the same location. Many of us simply relied on Bluetooth audio to broadcast our playlists.

We ran the GTI up to 25,000 miles without so much as a mechanical hiccup. But when the car went to the dealer for its 30K service, we asked the desk to investigate an annoying 70-mph vibration from the front end and a rattle coming from the rear that sounded like an anti-roll-bar bushing going AWOL. The racket turned out to be due to an improperly placed cargo floor, which is movable to one of two heights, allowing for a flat surface with the seats folded. Initially, the dealer said that the winter tires caused the front-end vibration. Once spring rolled around, and with the summer tires reinstalled, the vibration was still there. The dealer replaced the right-front wheel bearing under warranty, successfully vanquishing the shimmy.

A few editors felt the clutch slipping late in the test, particularly in hard first-to-second gearshifts. When it was inspected, neither we nor the dealer could recreate the slippage, so we took no action. We blame the combination of a driver not using the dead pedal and the GTI’s feathery clutch and high bite point. In most cars, resting your foot on the clutch has no effect. In the GTI, just the slightest pedal pressure initiates clutch disengagement.

Final testing returned slightly laggier acceleration than when the car was new, with the 60-mph sprint and quarter-mile time growing by 0.1 and 0.2 second, respectively. But in this car, those times couldn’t matter less; the GTI could be a 7.0-second-to-60-mph machine and we would still reserve a permanent driveway space for it. You might consider doing so, too. We promise that you won’t grow tired of it.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

Rants and Raves

“If you spent less than $30,000 on a fun car and didn’t get a GTI, you screwed up.”

—Jared Gall

“It does everything well—enough power, great handling, comfortable, and fantastic fuel economy.”

—Jennifer Harrington

“I realize I am in the minority in the Golf/GTI versus Mazda 3 debate when I say I prefer the Mazda. However, the Golf is an excellent car in every configuration.”

—Jeff Sabatini

“I can't come up with any negatives for this 10Best champion, my only wish being that I owned one.”

—Zeb Sadiq

“Next to the BMW M2, the GTI feels, and is, slow. But the steering is superior to the M2’s. The GTI’s light clutch and light-effort shifter make it an amazing manual for stop-and-go hell.”

—Tony Quiroga

“I kind of want to keep driving this car all day, maybe forever.”

—Rusty Blackwell

“The Golfs/GTIs are the polar opposites of Mini’s similarly priced small hatchbacks, understated from a styling perspective but full of substance.”

—Dave VanderWerp

“If I were to buy a GTI, the Lighting package would be the only option. Not sure that 10 horsepower is worth the money.”

—K.C. Colwell

“This is a true perform­ance car, and it’s rewarding even when puttering around town.”

—Joseph Capparella

“Buying anything more expensive is purely discretionary spending. This car is the sweet spot.”

—Eric Tingwall

“The height- and length-adjustable center armrest encapsulates the smart thinking this car represents.”

—Alexander Stoklosa

WHERE WE WENT: Most long-term updates begin with what we like, but we’re starting this one with a road trip from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Los Angeles, California. The Ann Arbor office, in a display of largess, took the long-term Subaru WRX back to Michigan and sent us the long-term Volkswagen GTI for the fall and winter. Since the GTI arrived in September, the West Coast crew has kept the VW in constant motion. When it’s not sluicing through Los Angeles traffic it has traveled to San Francisco three times and to San Diego four times. It’s an incredibly comfortable highway star, and with the cruise set at 80 mph, the GTI’s fuel economy rises into the low 30s.

On these long hauls, seat comfort has been praised. But it’s not just the tartan-covered front chairs that garner compliments, as rear-seat riders have found the back seats to be spacious, supportive, and easy to get into thanks to the square roofline and large door openings.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

Headquarters has started asking about when we might want to swap out the GTI. We’re reluctant to give it back, but their promise of the long-term Mazda Miata may assuage the loss.

WHAT WE LIKE: In L.A. traffic we’ve come to appreciate the light clutch-pedal effort and the effortless throws of the GTI’s six-speed manual transmission. A good manual is a pleasure to use, even when the freeway comes to a grinding halt. While the traffic tries to convince us that autonomous cars are the future, the GTI keeps us comfortable until there’s a break in the gridlock and we can properly exercise the 2.0-liter turbo.

Southern California has more than just traffic, so we’ve taken the GTI out into the mountains both as a photo vehicle for comparison tests and for fun. Outside of the city, the GTI never fails to delight. The chassis, supple in normal use, tackles mountain roads with complete ease, and the turbocharged engine never runs out of breath at altitude. We’ve yet to encounter an environment that doesn’t suit the GTI, but we haven’t taken it off-road. Now, how far is the Rubicon from L.A.?

WHAT WENT WRONG: Hard runs through the canyons may explain why the front tires wore out after 24,181 miles. We replaced them with the same Bridgestone Potenza S001 tires. Ordered from the Tire Rack, they were $253.75 each. With installation and shipping, the new rubber set us back $579.30.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

The GTI calls for service every 10,000 miles. The first service is free, but you’ll be reaching for the wallet when the 20K job rolls around. At 21,330 miles, we took the GTI to Volkswagen of Downtown L.A.; a glorified oil change, with a host of inspections and a new cabin air filter, totaled $269.95. The tires were supposed to be rotated, but the dealer didn’t do the work. Plus the service cost was padded with items like battery cleaner ($8.67), a charge for washer solvent ($1.87), and a $13.45 fuel additive. Volkswagen doesn’t require these extras, but dealer service recommendations and manufacturer recommendations rarely agree. We’ll have to be more vigilant in the future to make sure the dealer does only the work recommended by VW.

The GTI rang in the 2016 New Year with a broken driver’s-side front window. In addition to the loss of a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, the break-in cost us $235 for a new window and installation. The only other car broken into on the street happened to be one of the GTI’s platform-mates, an Audi A3. Clearly the thieves were drawn to Volkswagen’s MQB architecture.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: There’s not much in the logbook as far as complaints. One shorter driver complained about her knee hitting the steering column, but moving the steering wheel up and the seat cushion down alleviated the problem. After spending 2800 miles with the GTI, technical assistant Zeb Sadiq had only one complaint: that he didn’t own one. Everyone who has driven the GTI since it arrived in California feels exactly the same way.

Months in Fleet: 11 months Current Mileage: 27,625 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 29 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 13.2 gal Fuel Range: 385 miles

Service: $269.95 Normal Wear: $579.30 Repair: $0

Damage and Destruction: $235

WHAT WE LIKE: In a word, everything. The universal praise of a vehicle, particularly one that costs less than $30,000, is unheard of in an office that boasts as many opinions as it has heads. If our government could agree on anything the way we agree on this Volkswagen GTI, Congress would be a heck of a lot more productive.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: There is no such thing as perfection. Even during a pitcher’s perfect game, there’s bound to be an errant pitch that bounces in the dirt. The few quibbles here come down to personal preference. Whereas some people see the GTI as resembling a utilitarian doorstop, others see simplistic beauty. While it’s probably too much to ask for the infotainment to be luxury-grade, we would have liked a little more improvement over the last-gen’s interface in terms of speed and usability. That said, the 2016 GTI (and most other VWs) are slated to receive Volkswagen’s new infotainment system dubbed MIB II. Among other things, MIB II includes Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and MirrorLink capability. So if infotainment is high on your list of priorities, get a ’16.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

WHAT WENT WRONG: How do we stretch “nothing” into a paragraph? The only things that happened to the car weren’t its fault, but we’ll detail them here for posterity’s sake. A wayward stone caused a spider crack in the windshield, which we repaired at our local glass shop for $50. It was small and far enough from the driver’s line of sight that we didn’t feel it warranted a complete replacement of the windshield. With the GTI’s 10,000-mile service intervals, we’ve been to the dealer only once and that service—an oil change, a tire rotation, and lots of inspections—didn’t cost us a thing thanks to VW’s Carefree Maintenance program. That will be the only free service for the car, though, because coverage ends at 10,000 miles or one year. While at the dealer we asked them to look at the shifter because one driver complained that reverse was difficult to engage. Our dealer snugged up what little adjustment there is in the shifter and said it likely was driver error.

WHERE WE WENT: For the most part, the GTI has stayed close to home. Medium-range journeys included overnight jaunts to Indianapolis, a long weekend in southern Indiana, and quick trips to NYC and North Carolina. As the VW arrived in February, we immediately slapped a fresh set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 winter tires ($788 in the OE size of 225/40R-18) on our white four-door, and no one seemed to notice the drop from a Y-rated tire (good for 186 mph) to an H-rated tire (130 mph). Occasionally, winter tires’ relatively soft rubber compounds can play havoc with the ride and handling (see our long-term 2003 Mini), but not in this case. The GTI just left its Ann Arbor home for Southern California where we presume our staffers on the West Coast will enjoy it as much as those in Michigan.

Months in Fleet: 6 months Current Mileage: 17,919 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 30 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 13.2 gal Fuel Range: 400 miles

Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Damage and Destruction: $50

Optioning a test car for long-term duty will occasionally turn our office into a war zone. Sunroof lovers and haters, for example, nearly come to blows when the order sheets circulate. The arguments for and against introverted shades of gray or extroverted reds and yellows are hotly contested. But the one thing everyone could agree on: We need a long-term Volkswagen GTI.

For the last 10 years, VW’s winning GTI formula has been the benchmark in its segment. Imitations are often attempted, but not one manufacturer has matched the same combination of practicality, fun, and affordability. Maybe we didn’t necessarily need it, but boy did we want it.

Choosing among the GTI’s three basic trim levels—S, SE, and Autobahn—brought greater accord to the office. Everyone wanted the sweet plaid seats and the only way to get plaid seats is with the base S trim. Upgrading to SE and Autobahn brings leather. The cloth seats may not shed filth as easily as leather, but they aren’t as chilly on brisk Michigan mornings, either. And they are heated. Cloth plus heated equals warm tushy.

Other choices on the long-termer fell into place without argument. We could have saved $600 and gone with a two-door model, but the convenience of never having to slide a seat forward to allow rear passengers access is well worth it. We bypassed Volkswagen’s excellent dual-clutch automatic, an $1100 premium, because we like the involvement of a manual transmission—although no one should feel shame for going with the automatic. If we were based in a city with crippling traffic or massive hills, we might have gone that route.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

The $1495 Performance package, on the other hand, was a no-brainer. With it comes a modest, 10-hp bump for the EA888 2.0-liter turbo (for 220 total), a crafty locking differential, and slightly larger front and rear brake rotors. Long-term tests are great for testing new technology and this is VW’s first front-drive limited-slip diff. It uses an electrically powered hydraulic pump that engages a multiplate clutch, syncing the driveshafts. VW says it is good for 8.5 seconds a lap on the Nürburgring.

We did splurge on the Lighting package, a $995 add-on bringing bixenon lamps that swivel during cornering. We skipped the adjustable dampers ($800, on top of the SE and Autobahn trim levels) because we found the base damper tune to perform just fine. Volkswagen doesn’t charge for summer tires, and we opted for a white exterior hoping its stealth would make us invisible to the po-po. Chalk one up for the introverts.

All in, our GTI stickers for $28,695, which is well below the national new-car average and represents an amazing value. With up to 53 cubic feet of stowage, there is little we own that won’t fit in its cargo hold. Sure, the car doesn’t have a built-in navigation system. We used to almost always opt for nav, but with everyone’s Wazing, Googling, and, God forbid, Apple-mapping, we felt that even with its absence the GTI’s driving pleasure was great enough to make the car a popular choice for road trips.

Surprisingly, the logbook is totally void of comments so far, save one, which reads, “It’s [expletive] perfect!” The lack of comments isn’t a stain on the GTI’s record. Those driving it probably saw the expletive and thought: “What can I say that hasn’t already been said?” There has, after all, been a lot of good said about the seventh-generation GTI, with two comparison-test victories, first in Europe and later stateside, and a 10Best trophy. The GTI is one of the best all-around vehicles; like a nice pair of jeans, it’ll hold its own in a formal setting but is casual enough to mix it up on a relaxing weekend drive. The ride and handling balance is reminiscent of BMWs of yore—think 3-series models with chassis codes beginning with “E.” This is a grown-up car accessible to those who are still growing up and desired by those who will never grow up. Big kids, like us, love it.

View Photos MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ZEB SADIQ

What the GTI has going for it isn’t clear from its test numbers, the way it is with a much more powerful hot rod, like a V-series Cadillac product. There are bone-stock Accords and Camrys that’ll beat its zero-to-60-mph time of 6.1 seconds. Even its lateral-acceleration figure of 0.93 g isn’t all that spectacular. What makes this car so great is how all of it comes together. With barely a hint of turbo lag, the engine pulls hard to redline, and the seamless fluidity of braking, downshifting, and accelerating out of corners with excellent body control is the secret sauce. More power wouldn’t make it better, it would only dilute the greatness.

If you think the 6.1-second zero-to-60 time seems a little slow for this car, you’re correct. We thought the same thing and ran the acceleration test twice, just to be sure. There are a number of things that could be the cause, like an extremely tight engine that didn’t ease up by the time we tested it with 3000 miles on the clock. One culprit we can definitely point out is the undefeatable stability control. There are two reduced-intervention modes: traction control off and sport. Despite the names, neither actually disables traction control. Any bit of wheelspin—which helps acceleration—evokes a reduction of power. To top it off, at about 4500 rpm, ESC intervenes again. This is something we will surely be tracking as the GTI ages. Maybe the differential needs a little more break-in.

Having arrived in mid-February, a dreadfully frigid month in Michigan, the VW’s odometer didn’t turn very quickly, but a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 winter tires ($788) kept the GTI moving and out of the ditch. With the stock Bridgestone Potenza S001 summer tires back on the car, we expect the miles to rack up rather quickly. Now the office is only fighting over the keys.

Months in Fleet: 2 months

Current Mileage: 3305 miles Average Fuel Economy: 27 mpg

Fuel Tank Size: 13.2 gal Fuel Range: 360 miles

Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Damage and Destruction: $0

Specifications VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $28,695 (base price: $26,205)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, iron block and aluminum head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 121 cu in, 1984 cc

Power: 220 hp @ 4700 rpm

Torque: 258 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 103.6 in

Length: 168.0 in

Width: 70.8 in Height: 56.8 in

Passenger volume: 93 cu ft

Cargo volume: 23 cu ft

Curb weight: 3125 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 6.1 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 14.6 sec

Zero to 120 mph: 23.2 sec

Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 6.8 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 11.8 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 8.1 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 14.6 sec @ 100 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 125 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 156 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.93 g

PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES

Zero to 60 mph: 6.2 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 15.3 sec

Zero to 120 mph: 23.9 sec

Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 7.0 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 12.4 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 8.1 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 14.8 sec @ 98 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 125 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 162 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.93 g

FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA combined/city/hwy: 28/25/34 mpg

C/D observed: 29 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

12 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance;

1 year/12,000 miles scheduled maintenance

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