2009 Volkswagen Golf GTI MkVI revealed
September 26, 2008 by Karl Peskett
Volkswagen has taken the wraps off its latest GTI, the Mark VI. And looking at the photos, it’s an impressive piece of kit.
Due to be revealed to the public at the Paris Motor Show in a few weeks, the new GTI continues on the nameplate’s heritage, while further advancing in the fields of power, safety and style.
You’ll notice the traditional font has been carried over for the GTI badge on the front, while the interior still uses the tartan theme for the seats, paying homage to the original.
Under the bonnet is an upgraded version of the ubiquitous 2.0 TFSI, this time putting out 155kW for a 0-100 sprint time of around 7.2 seconds. The folks at Volks are notoriously conservative, so it should be better than that. Torque is unchanged at 280Nm.
Top speed is apparently 239km/h, with a fuel consumption of 7.5-litres/100km. New springs, dampers and stabiliser bars are also used, meaning most of the suspension has been completely redesigned.
Combine that with the new XDS differential, which is said to aid traction punching out of corners, and you’ll find a car which should prove better on the track than the Mark V.
Of course the interior follows the Mark VI theme, with GTI highlights, such as the flatbottomed steering wheel and additional bolstering on the seats. In all, we think it looks pretty darned good.
Tell us what you think about it. How will it fare in the Australian market?
Print it: 
I like it.
Understated car designs with smooth subtle line always look better and tougher to me.
This is one of the only front drivers I like.
I think it has lost some presence / menace at the front…
I have no doubt Mk6 Golf will be a great car, and i would love to own one, but i really is a Mk5.5 not Mk6. Looking at these new GTI photos, it’s really hard to notice what has changed. Even the wheels look almost identical to the last GTI, they could’ve at least given it a new set of wheels. Engine wise, it’s pretty much the same as before as well.
Awesome looking car, faster would have been better! But then again the old one is faster than a WRX around a track so it is not so important.
I think it will sell very well. How many of these will be re-chipped though?
Lose the tartan and I’ve found my wrx replacement……
I prefer the more distinctive front of the current model, this one is not an agressive enough differentiation from the standard MKVI. I also prefer the current steering wheel design. The rest of the interior looks smart.
But it will still sell really well, there isn’t any real competitor.
And they go like the klappers :)
Do want!
Thats a really nice mix of comfort looks and performance.
It think it looks very good especially from the front with that slightly more swept look. I’m a bit undecided on the touareg style tail lights though. Lets hope the Aussie dollar holds up and they arrive here at a competitive price.
I find it very dull. There’s nothing exciting about the look of it. The previous model looked better. As Alan said, they could’ve at least given it some new wheels to differentiate it a bit. And that tartan OMG… what’s going on there? That belongs in the seventies, it’s not a good look.
Get your orders in now if you want delivery with in the next six months. Big following on these and the die hard GTI lovers will fall over themselves to secure one.
I think the evolutionary changes are fantastic, especially the details like the casing around the headlights (was hoping for LED running lights though).
Does anyone know when the Mark VI Golf and GTI is expected to be availible to purchase in Australia?
I would rather have the a new Scirocco, however if they are not going to bring it to Australia, then this is my next car.
Carl, if you understand the GTI, then you understand the tartan. It’s called heritage.
Mind, the leather seats in the current Mk5 GTI are very nice. ;)
@John, I wouldn’t expect to see the GTI in Australia until the second quarter of 2010. Which is why VW Aus secured 300 Mk5 Pirelli GTIs to tide them over until the Mk6 arrives.
Oops, sorry for being a three post nutbag, back to John’s question of when the regular Mk6 Golf will be on sale in Australia … April-May 2009, or thereabouts.
Looks like they took the w12 design looks alright, interior looks smick. Looking forward to driving one when it arrives….
(Heh anti-spam was Audi =p)
Wonder why they limited the torque to 280Nm? One would think with a fancy new front diff they could have taken liberties and raised the torque to 300+Nm.
Mind you, if current GT TDI has 350Nm and has no real problem.
Just seems overtly conservative if you ask me.
Is DSG still limited to only 350Nm torque level engines?
At any rate, I think its great looking, very understated, for want of being a Golf hallmark =p
Wonder when they’ll release the further higher powered diesel models as for GT TDI. Would be interesting how powerful they’d make it.
The reason the kept the torque so low is so it can be as fuel efficient as it is. If you look at the WRX, MPS or EVO, you will see they drink a heck of a lot more due the high torque…
The diff between these cars and the golf, is that Golf knows how to deliver power.
I’ve hankered over gtis for years and understand the tartan, but really it should have gone the way with the TR7.
I can’t make out any dimples in ‘golfball’ gear knob in the pics though. Is it still there?
Bit surprised by the low kws/torque also.
U can see that Porsche are running the show now ["the laziests car designers in europe" lol] as it looks far to much like the outgoing model.
All thats really new is the powertrain, which is taking a leaf out of the Italians book, and fitting forced-induction small cc engines into said vehicles.
Also FINALLY better built [yes they where plenty of bad reports and issues] and quicker built, so thats a leaf out of the Japanese book.
Good copying everywhere! :-)
Will sell well, its a Golf.
Cheers
T.N.F.P
Porsche has NO influence on this car, the design was finished BEFORE the ownership changes.
The powertrain is a copy of the Italians ????? What crap. The GTI has the same capacity 2.0l turbo as the outgoing MKV. GTI has been turbo for a long time, absolutely no influence from Italy.
It will sell well. VW is now no 3 in the world, behind Toyota/GM who are arguing semantics over who is number 1.
i love it. nice evolution from the mark v. tartan seats look the goods (although the leather option can get rid of that), they sure knew style back in the 70’s. just a little disappointed the torque remains the same. 320nm would have gone down a treat
good car…only problem is spare parts and service costs.just talked to a bloke who has a vw transporter.his wife lost the vehicle’s ignition key,and guess how much vw want…OVER $500…OUCH
Liam……must be a new Carl coz i didn’t post that first comment!!!
Looks OK but hate the wheels.
I hate wheels that bow out or have no lip. First time you park too close to a kerb they are ruined.
I just don’t get the fashion with wheels now, so impractical
I like the tartan because its what they had in the seventies. Its a new variation of an old fashion and thats, apparently, fashionable. The thing that I hate the most about this car (not just GTI, but all the new golfs) is that Volkswagen started making the MK6 earlier because the MK5 was costing too much to make. Kind of gives the impression the qualities gone down even if it hasn’t.
I Love the little chrome lids on the headlights.
What’s the huge bold writing about the site administrator all about?
I’m really impressed with this. Nice styling, just a better car than before, very impressive fuel consumption too.
The thing im less than impressed with is that power rating, doesn’t seem to be keeping up with the current hot hatch pack. Nothing a ECU tune can’t change, but still.
The current GTI does look “meaner” than the MKVI GTI.I like the twin exhausts at the rear.The interior looks quite nice.
It certainly is understated-a lot!.I think people will be able to buy the base model,put on some stylish rims and voila`,it could easily match the GTI “sporty” looks.
Again it seems enthusiasts are going to dish out more money to chip the GTI because very little has change in the power/torque figures.The GTI MKV must be the most chipped car on the road -speak volumes about what drivers really think of the engine performance attributes of their GTIs.
I tend to disagree on the high sales prediction.Reason being is that the Golf GTI MKIV was such a woeful “performance” hatch that people were clambering to buy the higher performing GTI MKV when it was released.Therefore,because there isn’t going to be much difference in performance etc., between the GTI MKV & MKVI people MAY keep their GTI MKV longer or alternatively,buy a competitor’s car.
Anyway ,I want to first see it in the “flesh”before my final opinion.
The tartan maybe the Golf’s heritage and that’s all well and good, but it still doesn’t change the fact it looks a trifle ummmmm, how do I put this, errr, down market, even a little bit, ahhhhh, Daewoo-ish. There I said it, it’s out now.
Wooden spoke wheels are every cars heritage, but we don’t them any more either.
Gorgeous looking car. The V’s grille gave the car a bit more presence and aggression than this one, but non the less, still a brilliant little package.
Golfschwein Says:
September 26th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
What’s the huge bold writing about the site administrator all about?
One of many bugs introduced with the revised website. The first time I loaded the new website in IE7 the other day, the whole layout was garbage. It looked OK in Mozilla.
When I clicked on the “Contact” button to send an e-mail about the problem, the link was broken.
Caradvice really should lift its game in this area and TEST before going live. How hard is it to set up a test site and browse it? Answer – dead easy. How many people test web sites on their LAN rather than over the web – most. Do things work on LANS that don’t work over the WEB – definitely.
“The site administrator needs to manually configure his site address in the plugin configuration file!” in huge bold font is clearly something that has not been configured properly on the web server. (Sounds like an Apache error to me)
This GTI is world ahead of the current box-looking one. Current GTI looks dumb and not-agressive at all, how can people say that V is better than this VI.
Guess all the Scottish people will love this one hahaha, but I reckon it’s a goer.
Good job VW.
To Melbourne Jester:
People that actually own MKV GTIs have said that the VI does not have the aggressive look of the MKV-I agree with that opinion.
Apart from the mags.and the red line on the front-there isn’t much visually distinguishing it from the non GTI version.
Pretty darn cool but too expensive for the masses, also most prefer the economy of a diesel, so the sales have suffered a bit. Ok I guess if you want obscurity as most do.
I like it. I just got my MY08 WRX though so it’ll have to wait. :)
I own an mkv gti and i think this one looks pretty good, the rear has a more mature look to it but im not sold on the front, perhaps that look was better suited to the W12 concept, nice interior also – im sure itll sell nicely
I’ve got a mkv gti and love it to death and I think this one also looks good but not as aggressive from the front!
I didnt like the mkv golf when that came out but i love it now , so the mk6 will grow on me , love the rear end, just the front lets it down!!
I own the Mk5 GTI and think it craps on this looks-wise.
Im really only envious of the (by the looks of it) cd changer controls on the steering wheel…somthing sorely missed on my Geet…doh!
I don’t think they needed to do much as far as performance, they had the perfect balance between fun and practicality. They did however need to work on the look of the dash.. and they have. The mk5 was dull and grey from left to right, they have made the cabin a much friendlier place for the eyes.
p.s. don’t knock the tartan, it gives the interior a bit of personailty. If you don’t like it stop whining about it and pony up the cash for the leather.
In a way I’m glad they’re not making a MK VI R32, the current one looks better than this box and the one I plan on buying will stay at the top of the food chain for quite some time.
I know about the GTI-R though… which is a faster version of the GTI, but it will still sound like a 4 banger which is nothing compared to that epic sound that comes out of the back of that little R32.
Golf GTI is a piece of sh*t!!!
Slow and heavy front wheel drive with a small piss weak turbo.
It’s for old people who can’t drive manual.
VW is for people who can’t afford a REAL european car like BMW or Merc.
Hi Rexy,
You Are just jealous! Have you Seen a fifth Gear review shootout about GTI MK5 smashing WRX08 in race track by 2 seconds ? Why don’t you navigate to youtube and learn something KID.
‘Slow and heavy front wheel drive with a small piss weak turbo.’
Are you sure???? Stage 1 chipped Golf GTI produce 180kw+ with 400nm Torque, If it has 4wd it will smoked any WRX STI in this world.
You are just a complete idiot that embarrassed yourself.
‘It’s for old people who can’t drive manual.’
DSG is a bugati Veyron technology, They used this In Touring car, F1, Rally etc. Only Old man like do not know anything about today’s technology.
Peace out