During a Touran launch trip in 2006, we also had on hand the Golf GT, fitted with the same 170hp 1.4-litre TSI engine which propels the Touran to such great effect. In the name of research, I gave up a day tour of Rome and instead headed straight for the mountains of the Gran Sasso d’Italia, about two hours’ drive out of the capital.
If anything, the TSI unit is even more impressive in the smaller, nimbler Golf. There’s plenty of torque available even from idle, and the car feels seriously keen as it sprints away from rest. The car came with the all-important DSG gearbox but without the multi-function steering wheel and its integrated shift paddles, so gearchanges had to be called up by nudging the gearlever back and forth.
The engine is super-smooth all the way through its rev range, and as with the best sporty motors, the engine note takes on a progressively keener edge as it nears its redline. The supercharger helps with the low-end punch, and at higher revs the turbo steps in to keep things on the boil.
And boil it does. On the autostrada, the Golf has ample overtaking urge even well into three-figure speeds, and the well-spaced gearing of the 6-speed gearbox endows it with a relaxed, loping stride. The power delivery doesn’t ease up until it approaches 6000rpm, and the car still feels very eager even at 180km/h, which I hit on deserted stretches. It was only the incessant November rain which kept me from exploring its maximum potential. All this, I had to constantly remind myself, from a mere 1.4-litre.
The Golf’s chassis, we already know, is a great one. The GT isn’t as firm-riding as its uncompromising GTI sibling, but on challenging Italian mountain roads, it feels every bit as nimble – in fact, the extra compliance is probably a boon on the more broken stretches. You’d probably only notice the GTI’s extra 27hp and more focussed chassis setup in flat-out, ten-tenths driving.
Pity then, that the Golf GT looks more like a standard Golf 1.6 than the glamorous GTI. It may hide its light under a bushel, but under that sober exterior, the GT is as much of an enthusiast’s delight as its more overtly sporty stablemate.
Shopping trip in Rome or a day in the mountains with the Golf GT? No contest. 
