Just a week after reviewing the Golf 1.4 TSI, Volkswagen then offered us a chance to have a go in its dearer and sportier sibling, the Golf GTI. A full review of the latter will follow soon, but for now, we shall look to tackle the simple question – which one should you go for, given the choice?
VW launched the Mk VI Golf in Malaysia with the GTI first, which now sells for RM211,060 on-the-road not including insurance. The 1.4 TSI is a more recent introduction and can be yours for RM156,758 under the same pricing terms, cheaper if you opt to do without the Light & Sound package which came with our earlier 1.4 TSI test car.
According to Volkswagen personnel, and this is something that has always amazed their principals in Wolfsburg, Malaysia is the only market that sells more GTIs than the run-of-the-mill models. You see a lot of Mk V GTIs on our roads, but many probably don’t even know that there was also a Mk V Golf 1.6 sold officially alongside the GTI.
Is this trend set to reverse with the Mk VI? Potentially yes. While the GTI remains brilliant as ever, the new entry-level 1.4 TSI is found wanting in neither performance nor equipment. No doubt the GTI will leave the 1.4 for dead on a clear open highway, but the gap shrinks when you try to play chase in trunk roads.
The GTI opens its hand with 210hp @ 5,300 – 6,200rpm and 280Nm @ 1,700 – 5,200rpm. In comparison, the 1.4 TSI has to make do with 158hp @ 5,800rpm and 240Nm @ 1,500 – 4,500rpm, which is not too shabby at all. Both cars deploy their power to the front wheels via dual-clutch transmissions, but the 1.4 TSI gets a 7-speed dry-clutch unit in contrast wit the GTI’s 6-speed wet-clutch box.
Equipment-wise, the 1.4 TSI gives little away to its bigger brother. Leather trim and lumbar support are omitted from the seats along with seat-heaters. No big loss there, but the GTI’s electric driver’s seat would indeed be missed. That aside, the 1.4’s kit count almost matches the GTI’s blow-for-blow. In fact, the 1.4 even gets auto cruise which the GTI does without.
Where you would expect these two cars to differ by a great margin is in the aspect of driving dynamics, that is exactly the reality. You don’t even need a test drive to confirm this – the GTI is faster, firmer, and tauter than the 1.4, but here’s the caveat: the 1.4 itself is a pretty fast car, with bags of pace usable along straight lines and bends. In the 1.4, you will be slower than the GTI for sure, but you won’t be at all slow.
For day to day driving, the Golf 1.4 TSI is more than enough to meet your needs, being more comfortable, slightly more refined and more economical than the GTI. The GTI is the better car to drive for sure, but the 1.4 is probably the better car to live with.
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