Volkswagen Golf GT Sport 1.4 TSI (DSG) Review
Boys Night Out

Text by Andy Hum. Photos by Amery Reuben
24 May 2007

All three cars were lined up, their wheels just nicely behind the last millimetre of the thick white paint. Behind those lines, there was total torque of 710 Nm ready to twist up the tarmac, and 555 rampaging horses waiting to put their horseshoes down. Behind the wheels and pedals of those numbers were a few, very wide ear-to-ear grins, absolutely pinned to our faces as we glanced eagerly at each other. Boys will be boys.

The lights turned green, a quick check for safety and off went the two other cars. The Golf sat back in a little contemplation for a good second or so.

The familiar rubbery chirp echoed, followed by bassy grunts from the 5 and 6-cylinder engines. A quick glance to the right only saw the BMW 525i running alongside, and then away from a 170hp, 2.4 litre Fiat Stilo Abarth equipped with a 5-speed semi-automatic gearbox.

The GT wasn’t around...yet

As we sat in the cars, sucked into the backrests of our seats, we had that split second of a final chance to think about why the Golf was so slow. And then that well-known whistle intruded our thoughts.

Barely into the mid-range of first gear, the Golf GT blasted by with such ferocity that it turned our smug chuckles into wide-open, gaping mouths filled with awe.

Here we were, sitting rather embarrassed with defeat now, in a car whose engine has a whole litre’s worth of advantage, not to mention that it also weighs almost 40 kilogrammes lighter.

That was it for the Stilo then, for it was dispensed with, in a mere matter of a second.

Then, watching the Golf trying to keep up with the BMW then, was a bit like watching the scene in “Jackass” when the fat man was chasing the little guy down the streets, both only wearing their knickers. They were both almost as quick as each other, but Roly Poly just could not capitalise on the small one. (ed. Thats a 230hp, 2.5 litre BMW engine that was re-chipped by an aftermarket tuner, mind you)

There was barely any word to describe that whole loss. We were put to shame.

Later on, as we all sat down for a bit of snacks, it was revealed that the Golf GT did have that momentary lag before setting off. But that did barely anything to hold it back as its 240Nm of torque took over from 1,750 rpm, leading it all the way to 4,500 rpm, after which the stampede of 168 horses broke in at 6,000 rpm.

Then, without even as much as a hint of a jerk, the DSG kicked the gear into second. The revs dropped down a little, and then sprang right back up again as though the tachometer was operated by Mexican jumping beans on steroids. And to think that there are people out there who still think “it’s just a fancy 1.4”. Yeah, right.

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