Never before were the letters G T I put on a Golf convertible
Well.. not by VW
There were some cap wearing guys who did..
There was a GLI, which was a MK1 Golf convertible, with the engine of the GTI
But that was it.
Back then they didn't have the techniques to get the chassis stifness a GTI needs
They claim they've done it.. And the biggest question is whether they succeeded to make a true roofless GTI
It is a lot heavier than the normal GTI
141 kg!
Will this extra weight ruin the GTI?
Those kg's do come with some downsides
You get to 100km/h 0.4 seconds slower
The topspeed of 235km/h is 3 km/h lower
AND you really have to pay for them
There is a €6.000 gap between the manual GTI and the manual GTI Convertible
I think it is a lot of money to "upgrade" a golf
If you look for 4 seater competitors
you have the 2.0T EOS
with prices starting at €47.000
I was amazed it was thát expensive!
Or you could go for the A3 with 10 BHP less
I've driven the A3 for a while
and I can tell you this car has a better interior
And there is the John Cooper Works Mini
These cars are the only competitors I can think of..
When the Golf convertible was released
there already was a 210 BHP version
there wasn't a gti..
I think that's a bit strange
That car was for sale, but only for a few months
VW silently replaced it with this GTI
I can imagine you feel let down if you own one
You were the first to buy one, an early adapter
And out of nowhere there's a GTI available!
I think VW should offer these people to trade their cars for GTI's
I don't know if VW did this or not..
But I think it's common courtesy
This GTI steers better, is stiffer
But it doesn't handle as good as the normal GTI
Which is a car that should get an 8 for every aspect
A really great car
This one however isn't that allround..
the weight pushes the car into understeer in faster corners
steering is just a little less nice
But.. if you're looking for a "Hothatch convertible" this really is a great choice!
