Volkswagen Golf GTI

The iconic hot hatch took on a harder edge with its eighth generation, at the expense of its intoxicating blend of everyday performance. Can this facelift make it a better GTI? The new Volkswagen Golf GTI is not electric and it’s not a hybrid, not even a mild one.In fact, it seems to carry on in much the same way it has done for nearly 50 years, being a simple but sensible take on the hot hatch that’s received incremental, pointed updates with every new generation and mid-cycle facelift. Viewed logically, this latest GTI should be the best there has yet been.Of course, the ‘new’ Golf GTI isn’t entirely new. The Mk8.5 is the updated version of the Mk8, which arrived in 2021 to hardly universal acclaim. It suffered from the Mk8 Golf’s general cabin tech problems, as well as a suspension tune that was uncharacteristically hardcore for what has always been a more grown-up take on the hot hatch.A face-off with the Toyota Corolla and Peugeot 308 showed that the standard Golf has returned to the top of the class – even if the Corolla won on penalties. Can the GTI manage the same?