Driven: 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI Is Still The Hot Hatch King

Hot hatches come and go in the US, but the Volkswagen Golf GTI remains a regular fixture. Like the Mazda MX-5 Miata, it has been hard to beat and has just kept on selling over the decades. The Golf GTI, however, now enters its eighth generation and carries over the Mk7's 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, now making 241 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. It's an incremental upgrade (just an extra 13 hp and 15 lb-ft of torque) but evolution rather than revolution is the Golf GTI's magic ingredient. It remains a useful but fun-loving front-wheel-drive hot hatch, with its power managed through either a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. However, the Mk8 rolls on an updated version of Volkswagen's MQB platform and features revised suspension and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. The promise is an evolution of handling and dynamics wrapped in subtle yet stylish bodywork.

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