2001 Volkswagen GTI VR6 Road Test
I want this car. To put things into perspective, I've driven almost every car made by every manufacturer selling cars in Canada. I want this one. Why? One reason is I can afford it. The other, it's as good or better than cars costing three times as much. Performance. That's what the GTI is all about. At first glance the massive 17" 5-spoke rims on low profile rubber tell you that this VW's not a garden variety Golf. Its handling is stunning. The rack and pinion, power assisted steering reacts immediately with minimal input. Just point it and go. At city speeds, 90-degree corners can be negotiated without slowing at all. Out on a winding highway the suspension truly shows its form, staying flat even when tossed from side to side. The suspension setup incorporates nothing new, just independent McPherson struts, coil springs, telescopic gas pressurized shocks and a big, fat 21mm stabilizer bar up front. In the rear a simple independent torsion beam axle, coil springs, the same shocks and an 18" stabilizer bar. The devil is in the details, and in this case Volkswagen's technicians have tuned it to near perfection.
