Best for: Fuel economy
Previous versions of Volkswagen’s long-lived Golf GTI have featured prominently in this line-up of the greatest affordable performance cars, but this one is a slightly different kettle of fish.
Volkswagen went in search of greater handling response and driver appeal with the eighth generation of its hot Golf but had only questionable success in finding it.
Meanwhile, it adversely affected the sweet-riding, easy-to-use temperament that the GTI has traded on for so long, introducing an unwelcome firmness to its ride.
Don’t get us wrong: the GTI is still a good, enjoyable everyday driver. Its 242bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine remains a little short on power compared with the rest of the cars here, but it makes for strong and responsive thrust, which the chassis allows you to deploy pretty freely.
The car’s new firmer springing makes it work better on smoother surfaces than typical UK country B-roads, but adaptive dampers do allow for some adjustment of the ride.
The steering is nicely pacey but still a little light and numb, undemanding in everyday use but not as absorbing as it might be.
In Clubsport trim, the GTI’s key vitals rise to 296bhp and 295lb ft, its final drive ratio is reduced and its suspension is firmed up. It becomes a more grippy, direct and incisive-handling car without losing much by way of everyday cruising habitability – but still not the best-balanced or the most exciting or involving driver’s car in this list.