Volkswagen Golf GTI long-term test: report 2
Once upon a time, the Volkswagen Golf GTI was the pinnacle of hot hatchbacks, and now our deputy editor is living with the latest model to see if that's still the case...
The car Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport 2.0 TSI 300 PS | Run by Darren Moss, deputy editor
Why it’s here To see whether VW’s iconic hot hatch remains the cream of the crop in its latest form
Needs to Be fast and fun, yet pleasingly frugal, be family friendly, and comfortable on long trips
Miles covered 1233 Price £42,780 Target Price £42,780 Price as tested £48,250 Official economy 37.4mpg Test economy 34.1mpg
3 May 2025 – Movin' on up
In the first half of 2024 alone, more than 126,800 people moved house – and recently, I did too. Now, as you might imagine, buying my first home stretched me somewhat financially, meaning that when it came to moving my belongings, I opted to do it myself rather than pay someone else. And that meant my Volkswagen Golf GTI hot hatch needed to become a delivery van.
The 374-litre boot of my car isn’t especially large by the standards of the class – both the Honda Civic Type R and Mercedes-AMG A35 will take more, for example – but the space is usefully square and there’s no annoying lip at the boot entrance thanks to the adjustable boot floor. Even so, I knew I’d need more room, so I lowered the 60/40 split-folding rear seats – easily done using handy toggles on top of the seats – and removed the parcel shelf to liberate every available litre.
With my hot hatch doing a passable impression of a small van, I was impressed at just how much I managed to squeeze in – boxes, clothes, even a large lamp fitted inside without trouble. It was annoying, though, that the folded seats didn’t lie completely flat, so I had to push the first boxes up a slight incline before bolstering them with more boxes loaded into the boot itself.
With my valuable cargo secured, I needed to drive slowly and smoothly over to my new flat – something which would appear to go against the nature of a hot hatch.
Yet this is what I’m loving so much about the Golf GTI Clubsport – when I want to drive quickly, I can, yet when all I want to do is relax into a soft and supportive seat and go home after a long day, unbothered by loud noises or undue drama, it’ll do that too. So with the driving mode set to comfort, driving my car smoothly through the afternoon traffic was no more difficult than in any other family car. I could even soothe my aching muscles with my car’s heated seats along the way.
Of course, when the car was empty again at the other end, I set everything back into sports mode, which made the return journey to go and load up again infinitely more exciting.
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