Which is the best VW Golf GTI ever?

The Volkswagen Golf GTI is a car as iconic as the Porsche 911. Since its debut in the 1970s, it has shown the world how relatively affordable, family-friendly performance car transport should be done. The very first Mk1 GTI was brilliant and, over the years, many subsequent generations have reached similar highs.

Now, more than four decades since its introduction, we thought it time to try and pick out the best of all. We parked some generations, as we knew they weren’t up to scratch: sorry, Mk3, Mk4. The Mk6 was also too similar to the Mk5, so pointless to include. We thus had the Golf GTI Mk1, Mk2, Mk5 and Mk7, and a day at a rainy test track to find out which was the finest.

The biggest contrast out of all of them is the tiny Mk1. It seems like a city car compared to the newest models. Its 1.8-litre engine puts out a measly 112bhp, but as it weighs half a tonne less than the heaviest, it isn’t slow. It feels faster than you may expect, in fact, helped by wonderful engine smoothness and a motor jam-packed with character.

The handling ages it, though. It quickly loses composure and the brakes are terrible. No such worries with the sophisticated Mk2 GTI, a very complete car that was a star of the red-braces city brigade in the 1980s but, unlike them, has aged well. Indeed, it might just be too mature for its own good: dare we actually call it a bit dull?

12 years and two dismissed generations on, we come to the Mk5. By now, the Golf GTI had a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, putting out nearly 200bhp. This was Volkswagen’s apology for the two duffers that had gone before it. And boy, compared to the early models, it feels fast. Almost contemporary-level fast, and with engaging handling that aces both the two earliest cars.

It’s more fun than either of the originals and this was perhaps the surprise of the day for us. Not that the Mk7 was a disappointment, though. A few more years of progress have made it faster yet even more refined, while the handling is even more engaging than that wonderful Mk5. Just as the best Golf GTIs have always done, it delivers everything you could ever ask of it, always with a pleasingly sporty and engaging flourish.

The two new cars are so good, it’s hard not to place them ahead of the two originals. That’s progress for you: the Mk1 and Mk2 are great classic cars, but they’re no longer the everyday greats they once were. For that, you need a brand new one: better still, you need to spend from just £5000 on a clean Mk5, to grab yourself the bargain of the century.

Nearly all Porsche 911s are wildly priced these days. The Volkswagen Golf GTI is, however, an iconic legend you can still afford. Grab a Mk5 and snare yourself a classic in the making that’s still able to deliver nearly all the fun and sophistication of a new one. It’s little short of a steal.

Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk 1 1800

Engine 4 cyls in line, 1781cc, petrol
Power 112bhp at 5800rpm
Torque 105lb ft at 3500rpm
Gearbox 5-spd manual
Kerb weight 860kg
Power-to-weight ratio 130bhp per tonne
0-62mph 8.8sec
Top speed 114mph
Length 3815mm
Width 1628mm
Height 1394mm
Wheelbase 2400mm

Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk 2 8v

Engine 4 cyls in line, 1781cc, petrol
Power 112bhp at 5500rpm
Torque 115lb ft at 3100rpm
Gearbox 5-spd manual
Kerb weight 907kg
Power-to-weight ratio 123bhp per tonne
0-62mph 8.7sec
Top speed 118mph
Length 3985mm
Width 1680mm
Height 1405mm
Wheelbase 2475mm

Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk 5

Engine 4 cyls in line, 1984cc, turbo, petrol
Power 197bhp at 5100rpm
Torque 207lb ft at 1800rpm
Gearbox 6-spd manual
​Kerb weight 1336kg
Power-to-weight ratio 147bhp per tonne
​0-62mph 7.3sec
Top speed 146mph
Length 4216mm
Width 1759mm
Height 1466mm
Wheelbase 2578mm