2014 Volkswagen Golf GTD drive review

A diesel among diesels.

“Pozdamer Platz,” mused your author's companion. "You wanna yell it, like, 'POTZDAMER PLATZ!'” For about 20 minutes, we did just that. We did it in the most grating, Sgt. Schultzian manner possible. Your author on the shy side of 40; his companion a few years over the line, both acting like the metallic teenage chuckleheads we'd been back when Berlin was still two cities. We really should've been blaring Accept to complete the tableau. Upon seeing a sign for Spandau: “Vee are going to Spandau! Vee vant to see the ballet!” If you grew up during the Cold War, this city impacted you in ways you won't even realize until you're actually faced with the place.

If our accents hadn't put the Berlin drivers off, our road manners certainly did. The Euro-spec nav system was calling out distances in meters, which meant a rough translation to yards and then a slightly more accurate one to feet which -- by the time we figured out how far away our turn was -- generally meant, “OH! MERGE! NOW!” We could feel the looks of Teutonic confusion and disdain boring into the backs of our skulls. “Why would somebody drive like this?”

Upon our arrival at Potzdamer Platz, we stood in front of the Ritz-Carlton for a few minutes, looking south across the intersection. Johnny Rotten's insistent yowl from '77 echoed internally, “The Berrr-lin Wall!”

Thirty-one years ago, this place had been very, very different. The wall ran right through it then, and it would stand for eight more years. Thirty-one years ago, Volkswagen put a 70-hp diesel in a sport-tuned first-gen Golf chassis and called it the GTD.

Badical turbo plaidness and the requisite flat-bottom wheel.

After a period of dormancy following the GTD's Mk. 2 iteration, they revived the specification for the sixth rendition of the Golf and threw one into the American press fleet last year to see what die Amis would make of the thing. Apparently, we liked it enough that the seventh-generation Golf will see a U.S.-spec GTD in the lineup, likely for the 2016 model year.

Upon receiving the news, even those of us who hadn't driven the Mk. 6 GTD were saying, “Yes, please!”

What's it Like to Drive?

It's got the latest GTI chassis and features a boosted version of the TDI motor beloved by Autoweek's staffers. That alone is a recipe for excellence. In truth, the new mill shares only bore spacing with the last-generation GTD's oil-burner, though it retains VW's internal EA288 designation. 

At 3,500 RPM, the diesel's putting out 184 hp. A thousand RPM later, it's all over and time to shift. The 280 lb-ft of torque arrive at just 1,750 revs, though it's not an effortless swell of twist to get there from 0. There's a bit of a dead spot at the low end of the tach, but certainly, from 1,000 RPM to the power peak, it's a fun wave to ride.

We opted for a manual transmission model and loved it so much we couldn't bear to swap it for a DSG twin-clutch car. We know what the DSG is about; it's a uniformly excellent cog-swapper that works equally well when paired with a diesel or a gas engine. The manual doesn't feel wholly mechanical in nature, a la a Miata or a Mustang, but its operation is precise and effortless. The clutch could transmit more information through the pedal -- a perennial issue with modern VWs -- but it's otherwise nice to use. Though the brake/accelerator spacing is a bit wider than the previous car's, we didn't find heel-toe downshifts to be problematic.

The interior is exceptional. Add an MMI controller and you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for a low-end Audi. Volkswagen's so-so touchscreen infotainment system has been given an upgrade; the maps are now lovely to look at. To differentiate itself from the GTI, the GTD gets gray tartan seats in lieu of the classic red plaid. The whole experience is one of solidity, taste and quality.

According to VW, the GTD tops out at 143 mph.

“Lighter and larger” seems to be a refrain echoing through most brands in the VW Group, from Porsche on down to Volkswagen itself. The new car is about 200 pounds lighter than the previous model, despite a gain of 2 inches in overall length. It won't feel small on American roads, works just fine in European city traffic and comes off just about the right size on the Autobahn.

We found it enjoyable in the winding hills of the Harz Mountains, too, where it's possible surf the throttle between 1,000 and 4,000 RPM without changing gears. Down in the flats between Magdeburg and Berlin, we ran at 137 mph on a derestricted stretch of Autobahn; the GTD handled it without complaint or any sign of stress. In the mountains, it climbed with aplomb, braked predictably and rounded corners with elan. The electric power steering is accurate and connected, though it does carry a bit of the artificial feel that's so far been endemic to these systems.

In short, it's a thoroughly modern automobile. It's not a spaceship; it's not a glimpse into the future, it's simply a car honed over a period of four decades. You read this publication because you like cars, right? Volkswagen's designers and engineers clearly sweated this one; its air of effortlessness vehicular wholeness is proof of that.

Do I Want One?

Even the GTI isn't the teenager's scootabout it was 30 years ago, and GTD is a step beyond its petrol-fueled brother into maturity. “Sedate” is the wrong word. “Riotous” is the wrong word, too. It's a standout not because it whacks you in the face, because it doesn't. It's a standout because it offers up just about everything a sane person could want in a reasonably affordable vehicle. It's a grown-up, classy, practical hatch; an adult car for former teenage numbskulls with early-midlife concerns and a bit of a jones for life's finer things.

Now, all we've gotta do is hurry up and wait two years.

2014 Volkswagen Golf GTD

On Sale: 2015

Base Price: $27,000 (est.)

Drivetrain: 2.0-liter, 184-hp, 280-lb-ft turbodiesel I4; FWD, 6-speed automatic/manual

Curb Weight: 3,036 lb

0-60 mph: 7.4 sec (AW est.)

Fuel Economy: 28 city/42 hwy/32 mpg (AW est.)