Jalopnik: Gti

Leave the fur, take the 1988 Volkswagen Golf GTI

Tom Joslin — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST

Although this 1988 Volkswagen Golf GTI commercial was originally aired in Mexico, this is a prime example of dramatic vintage advertising that transcends language barriers. More »

What front wheel drive car is the most fun to drive?

Tom Joslin — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:00:00 EDT

Front wheel drive cars are known for a lot of things, but being fun to drive is not one of them. Most car lovers will agree the FWD configuration can't compete with a RWD or AWD car when it comes to driving enjoyment. Having said that, this weekend we want to know what vehicle can provide the most automotive amusement even though it delivers power to the front wheels? What front wheel drive car is the most fun to drive? More »

All the VW concept cars to see at Wörthersee

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:45:00 EDT

The annual VW bash at Wörthersee is the Volkswagen equivalent of Coachella, only with fewer palm trees and the only Interpol on hand are the off-duty agents in their GTIs. Like in years' past, the VW Group showed several concepts to tease the GTIsti. More »

Volkswagen grants U.S. visa to 35th anniversary GTI, visa suddenly revoked

Justin Hyde — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:30:00 EDT

Car and Driver says Volkswagen will bring the 35th anniversary edition of the GTI — including its sweetened 235-hp turbo-four engine — to the United States. UPDATE: VWVortex says we're getting a version that will look similar sans fancy engine. More »

This is a Nissan GT-R burning to the ground

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST

A group of Malaysian car enthusiasts were on the prowl when a new R35 Nissan GT-R crashed into a Golf GTI, causing moderate damage to the Volkswagen but leaving poor Godzilla a burning, exploded mess on the ground. More »

"As I Merged Uncontrollably Into Morning Traffic, I Recalled My Last Clutch Explosion"

John Krewson — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:00:00 EDT

Welcome back to Garage of Horror, where we share your worst wheeled experiences. Today's installment is something we hate to see in the Garage: A nice story with happy ending from a guy who knows what he's doing. More »

For $3,600, This GTI Pickup is The Real Sport Utility

graverobber — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EDT

In some markets VW called their Golf/Rabbit-based pickup the Caddy. Today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe tees up a GTI-infused version of the little trucklet, but will its price prove a hole in one for you? More »

GT-R, 996, Viper… GTI? Who Wins Season One of The Forum Wars?

Rob Krider — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EDT

Online car geeks got their chance to prove their automotive fanboy claims were legit at the race track during season one of The Forum Wars. The overall winner is not the car you're thinking of. More »

2011 VW Polo GTI: 800 Lbs More Than A Mk1 Golf GTI

Wes Siler — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 EDT

The 2011 VW Polo GTI — a sub-Golf-sized mini hatchback — weighs 2,632 Lbs. The original 1976 VW Golf GTI Mk1 weighed 1,830 Lbs. But, the new Polo hits 62 MPH nearly two seconds faster. Progress? More »

How To Do A Burnout Without Blowing Up Your Clutch

Wes Siler — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:00:00 EDT

Car people! Hear me now and remember me later: Too many clutches have suffered at the hands of untrained hoons. The carnage must stop, and I will teach you how. Onward, to knowledge! More »

GTI Pocket Rocket Demands a Bigger Pocket, Also $10,000!

graverobber — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EDT

Parts cars are the second class citizens of the automotive world. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe GTI is a different kind of parts car though, and from the looks of it, its parts are first class all the way. More »

Welcome To The People's-Car Machine

Sam Smith — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:45:00 EDT

This is Volkswagen's car-shuffling Autostadt storage facility as seen from the top of its massive robotic arm. The 800-vehicle tower acts as a holding tank for completed VWs awaiting delivery. Want to ride it? You can. (Photo Credit: Getty Images) More »

Also On Craigslist, Conan O'Brien's Old Volkswagen For $95K

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Joining The Tonight Show on Craigslist is a person claiming to have Conan's high school era 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI. The price? A Pope Car-like $95,000. And good news, according to the poster it runs "like a raped ape." More »

LeMons Torture Test Results: Volkswagen Golf/Jetta/Scirocco

Murilee Martin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST

Check out that near-perfect three-way split for the VWs! That means you just never know how you'll do when you bring a Golf or one of its cousins to a LeMons race. Will it grenade the engine? Maybe! Will the electrical system poop out? Could be! Or will the car keep buzzing around the track all weekend? It's happened! More »

Hop into a 1984 Rabbit GTI for $4,500!

graverobber — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Hot versions of mundane econo-boxes preceded the Rabbit GTI, but none became iconically emblematic of the breed as did the VW. Today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe wants to know if this '84 puts a rocket in your pocket. More »

Automobile Picks 2010 VW GTI As "Automobile Of The Year"

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:40:00 EST

Automobile Picks 2010 VW GTI As "Automobile Of The Year"" alt="Click here to read Automobile Picks 2010 VW GTI As "Automobile Of The Year"" src="http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2009/11/2010_vw_gti.jpg"/>

The 2010 Volkswagen GTI nabbed the title of "Automobile Of The Year" for the second time in five years because of its "blend of athleticism, practicality, and performance." Talk about VeeDub fan-boys. [Automobile] More »

VW Voluntarily Recalls 13,500 Vehicles Over DSG Transmission Woes

John Krewson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EDT

VW of America says a small number of Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, GTI, and Eos models built between September 2008 and August 2009 may have faulty DSG transmissions and has recalled 2009 and some 2010 vehicles. [PRNewswire] More »

1987 Citroën CX25 GTi for a Cheese-Cutting $6,500!

graverobber — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EDT

Old cars can be a challenge to maintain. Old French cars that were never officially brought to the U.S. can be extra challenging. Today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe has a GTi that's one of the extra-est. More »

ABT-Tuned VW GTI Catapults Jets With Enhanced Turbocharger

The Auto Insider — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:15:00 EDT

This clever ABT-tuned VW GTI advertisement from Asia reminds us why turbocharged cars are so much fun once they spool up their snails. Apparently they're powerful enough to launch jets off an aircraft carrier. Whodathunkit? More »

Some Of The Classic British VW Commercials We Missed Last Week

Murilee Martin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EDT

We had the predictable uproar about all the great VW ads we overlooked in our 20 Classic Volkswagen Commercials post last week, because VW has always done great advertising and you can't possibly cover everything. More »

Jalopnik's 20 Favorite Classic Volkswagen Commercials

Murilee Martin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:30:00 EDT

The Datsun ads were fun, as were the Toyota ads, but it was Volkswagen that first made an art form out of the automotive television advertisement. More »

VW Unveils Berry-Flavored Golf GTI, Polo Wörthersee Concepts

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:15:00 EDT

The flashy red paint-jobs, slightly lowered suspensions, co-branded SonyEricsson phones and "Berry White" interior piping of the VW Golf GTI and Polo Wörthersee "concepts" are supposed to invoke a fire — but we just see smoothies. More »

What's This Engine Bay?

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:00:00 EDT

Test out your automotive intellectual fortitude by figuring out what car this is before you click through. Sure, you'll say you got it right in the comments, but you'll know the truth. More »

2010 VW Golf GTI: New Look, Same Car

Andrew Didorosi — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:06:34 EDT

We've got hot live photos from this year's New York Auto Show - and nothing is quite as hot as the 2010 VW Golf GTI Mark VI. More »

PCH, LeMons Hot Hatch Edition: Corolla FX16 or Volkswagen GTI Turbo?

Murilee Martin — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! After a 24 Hours Of LeMons race, I like to do a PCH pitting the #1 and #2 cars against each other, but this time it's going to be a bit different. You see, the #2 car in Houston was a 2nd-gen Camaro, and they're really easy projects- cheap, simple, and with ridiculously easy parts availability. That means we'll be going for a Japan-versus-Germany 80s Hot Hatch Challenge today, and you Camaro fans can console yourselves with the fact that you can fix most problems on your cars with a pipe wrench and zip-ties.
More »

2009 Volkswagen GTI Drops In On Paris, Brings Two Extra Doors

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:46:00 EDT

We finally have live shots of the pre-revealed 2009 Volkswagen GTI and, not surprisingly, it looks like a 2009 Golf VI with a bit more edge. This time we get to see the two extra doors for the five-door GTI, which looks rather fetching in hot red. The lower, wider air dam and the red trim are clear indicators that this hatch means business. Combined with the wide-spoke wheels this is clearly a GTI. And under the hood? More »

2009 VW Golf GTI Drops Ahead Of Paris

Wes Siler — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:50:00 EDT

Like the 2009 VW Golf VI, the 2009 VW Golf GTI is a lot like the old car, just a little bit better. Power comes courtesy of the same EA888 2.0-litre turbo used in the Edition 30 MK V, making 207 HP and 206 Lb-Ft. Looks-wise VW wanted to make the new GTI looks lower and meaner than the MKV. Thank the wide lower air dam for that. Of course, the question in everyone's mind is: how fast is it? More »

Kleine GTI, Now With 16 Valves For 1987!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EDT

VW's "Kleine GTI" series of ads, starting in 1984, was still going strong three years later. Those crazy Wolfsburgers went and doubled the number of valves for that year, giving America's Members Only-clad sorority girls 123 rampaging German horses under the hood. More »

2009 VW Golf GTI To Get 211 HP, GTI-R To Replace R32

Wes Siler — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT

VW insiders have revealed that the company plans to launch a 2009 VW GTI soon after the release of the 2009 VW Golf. The new GTI will use a 211 HP 2.0-liter four-cylinder, gaining 11 HP over the current model, but still far short of rivals like the 2008 MazdaSpeed3 and 2009 Subaru WRX. A more powerful GTI-R model will replace the R32 and rival the Japanese competition with 265 HP and 4WD. But why is the six-cylinder model being dropped? More »

Three Deuces And A 4-Speed? Kleine GTI For 1984!

Murilee Martin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Yes, it's a German version of the 1964 Ronnie And The Daytonas song "Little GTO," and while the '84 GTI had a throttle body instead of three deuces and an extra gear on the transmission, it was just like the GTO! This ad came out around the time that the Reagan Administration said it was cool to show total hoonage in car ads again (after a moratorium on car-ad jumps and burnouts that lasted through most of the Malaise Era). These things sold like crazy in California, but by now most of them have disappeared. More »

Volkswagen Tiguan To Be Marketed As The Compact SUV 'GTI' Instead Of The 'Expensive' Compact SUV

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:40:00 EDT

The Volkswagen Tiguan is headed this way to compete in the highly competitive Compact SUV segment, which includes the likes of the Honda CR-V, RAV4 and Ford Escape. The sharp-looking SUV has a lot going for it, including the beloved turbocharged 2.0-Liter fourbanger found in a wide range of Audi and VW products. Unfortunately for VW, a weak dollar and features designed to meet the high expectations of the European market mean that the Tiguan is going to start at $23,850 and top out for $29,515 for the AWD version. That's about $1,700 more than the fully-equipped AWD Honda CR-V, the class leader. But VW has a plan for selling the thing: tie it to the popular VW GTI. More »

1987 Peugeot 505 GTI: A Real Sporting Appeal Car

Murilee Martin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Looking for a car with stepless fan blower speed? The '87 Peugeot 505 GTI has you covered! The well-dressed gentleman in this ad (which seems intended for the Canadian market, judging from the "zed" pronunciation of ZF) appears to be a somewhat bewildered car thief who just grabs any parked car that appeals to him. Some nice dirt-road hoonage, too. Too bad Peugeot pulled out of the North American market just a few years after this ad. More »

Hot Hatch Showdown

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EDT

With auto show season officially, mercilessly and thankfully over, the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage stands to be full in just six weeks. A short time by any standard, but especially so when distilling over a hundred years of automotive excellence into just 50 vehicles. Two weeks ago saw the induction of the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, a car so finely crafted only a communist would disapprove. In this week's edition, we switch gears entirely. Compact, lightweight automobile construction, responsive suspension, spicy engine and a slick manual transmission. It's a simple formula which, if done properly, not only results in a car with character, but one which transcends the bottom-of-the-barrel genre and becomes something of legend, something which can ascend to the level of fantasy. This week, we examine the hot hatch. More »

Proton R3 Satria Mixes Malaysian Style With Lotus Tuning For Aussie Buyers

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:45:00 EST

In addition to building a car for the Islamic world, Malaysian car company Proton also builds a number of cars for the Australian market, including the popular Satria GTi. As a way of previewing the next GTi, Proton will be showing off the R3 Satria, which was tuned with the help of Proton's motorsports arm. If you're not moved by the thought of a Malaysian company's tuners, we'd remind you that they borrow expertise heavily from Proton-owned Lotus. Though details are scarce, it sure looks mean enough to be a successor to the GTi. Press release below the jump. More »

Automobile Magazine All-Star Cars Revealed, Refuse To Hand Over The Crown

tingwall — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:00:00 EST

It's the time of the year when everyone and their grandmother hands out a "Best Car Ever...of the Year" award. Just over a week ago Motor Trend named their Car of the Year. We already showed you the Car & Driver top ten for '08 and now Automobile Magazine has released their category-less Automobile All-Stars list. However, Automobile's picks reveal that the 2008 model year might not have been an All-Star year for new cars. Seven of the ten cars are carryovers from last year (or was 2007 just that good?). Click through the jump to find out who the newcomers are and which seven titans kept their titles. More »

Motive Mag Compares Super Turbo Toybox Potential!

Ray Wert — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 19:00:00 EDT

The folks at Motive magazine that's not a magazine have a neat little comparo review of sport compacts or as they put it: "sixteen cylinders and four turbos for 1/13th the price of a Veyron." Why they've got to compare everything to a Bugatti Veyron, we've no idea, but it's a good read especially as it gives Mopar meatheads a chance to to see how the latest member of the SRT tribe, the anything-but-cute Caliber, handles the pressure. Unfortunately, even with 285 HP and 265 lb-ft of torque, the Dodge-loving folks out there may find out the importance of a full TCS-off mode and why the limited-slip diff from the old Neon SRT4 probably shouldn't have been parted with on the new pocket road rocket from the Hemi-powered brand. Check out the fully enjoyable review over at Motive. [Motive] More »

The Volkswagen GTI W12 Concept, Now With Engine Music

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:53:00 EDT

From up close, the turbocharged W12 engine Volkswagen shoehorned into its GTI W12 concept car is probably a visceral experience, not unlike that millisecond before a jungle cat grinds you into meat by-product. In this video, you won't see the steroidal hare perform any feats of strength, like jumping over buses or dodging 75mm antitank rounds. It's all about the motor in all its whooping, coughing glory. Good morning. – Mike Spinelli More »

Madness in the Middle: VW GTI W12 650 Reveal

Jonny Lieberman — Sat, 19 May 2007 13:00:00 EDT

The phone rang. "Dude!" my buddy yelled. "What is that thing?" He was talking about this video of the new 650 horsepower W12 GTI concept car which Davey's been all over for the last few days. Yeah, the one with the jacked-up dual-turbo Bentley mill in the middle. And we've been asking ourselves why on earth would Volkswagen create an AWD, mid-engined Golf with that much horsepower? Specifically, that much horsepower? The all too obvious answer comes after you jump. (Thanks to Zero Customs for the video) – Jonny Lieberman More »

More On the Stonking W12 Turbo Golf From Hell

Davey G. Johnson — Thu, 17 May 2007 19:00:00 EDT

When we ran across the W12 GTI this morning all we had to go on were our rusty German skills. Now we've got, at the very least, a translated press release in hand, as well as more photos of the Rabbit with the heart of a Continent(al). The mid-mounted engine is longitudinal, for added Countach-type radness, and it scoots to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. And who doesn't want a Golf that'll top 200? We want one. We want one very, very much. More, in fact, than we want a golden bust of Peter DeLuise from his 21 Jump Street days. Press release after the jump. – Davey G. Johnson More »

So Effing Great We Can't See Straight: Golf-Bodied 928!

Jonny Lieberman — Thu, 17 May 2007 16:15:00 EDT

Up until 20 minutes ago, if you would have asked us what the coolest car we'd seen all day was, we would have answered, "The 650 hp mid-engined GTI Davey G did a post about." However, reader Ed D has has changed all that. Behold! The ultimate sleeper, well, ever. Yes, they took one of our very favorite cars (that, by the way, will probably be showing up in the Fantasy Garage) and quite literally stretched a Mk1 Golf's body around it. All the glass is custom and we would imagine it (maybe) weighs a little less than the Porsche. That's all we know. And really, all we need to know. One more great pic after the jump. – Jonny Lieberman More »