Volkswagen GTI is Finally Available in India

At last it's a happy news for all petrol-heads in the country. The much awaited Volkswagen GTI is officially launched here. It is the first ever VW to bear their iconic GTI badge. Not only that, it is the first hot hatch and the most affordable performance car in India priced at Rs 25.99 lakh (Delhi ex-showroom).



The new GTI is powered by a 1.8 litre, 4-cylinder TSI engine, which delivers a whopping 189 bhp power @ 5400-6200 rpm and a peak torque of 250 Nm @ 1250-5300 rpm. It uses a 7 speed DSG Automatic gearbox (automatic version is only available right now) to transmit this power to the front wheels using a paddle-shift placed underneath the steering column.



From the Polo GT TSI, there are some notable cosmetic changes in this new GTI, like the LED lit headlamp with iconic GTI red inserts, GTI honeycomb grille, dual chrome exhaust pipes and the GTI red coloured stripes and stitching in the interiors. The all new sportier bumper and 16-inch wider wheels even increases the visual beauty of this beast. Like all other premium Volkswagen, they have taken very serious safety measures in this car. It features 6 air bags, ABS, ESP and hill-hold control system too.



The performance figures of the new GTI is quiet astonishing. Top speed of this 1273 kg car is 233 kmph and it can attain 0 to 100 kmph in 7.2 seconds.



The closest competitor of GTI is the 145 bhp Punto Abarth, priced at Rs 10.33 lakh. So, we have to pay an extra 15 lakhs for the extra 45 bhp. Meanwhile the 120 bhp powered Benz A-Class may costs you around 29 lakhs, which in turn makes you GTI, a better option. But Volkswagen has introduced this 3-door avatar as a limited version GTI in India. Surprisingly 99 units of GTI are only available for our Indian market and a selected few will be the GTI owners in India. Not only that, test driving opportunity too is limited and lucky few petrol-heads will be selected by the Volkswagen itself, through their official web channel.