Debuting in the US at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, the new 2010 Volkswagen GTI features an all-new exterior design as well as improved interior design. The hatchback now sports 17-inch alloy wheels and fully-independent sport suspension with six-speed automatic transmission with Triptonic and sport mode.
The new GTI comes with an engine that produces 200 HP at 5,100 rpm, which is quite difficult to achieve during tight maneuvering. The maximum torque produced is 207 foot-pound at a range of 1,800 rpm to 5,000 rpm. Unfortunately, testing has proven that sometimes the engine speed drops to low for the twist to come right away.
Perhaps the most welcomed improvement is the modernized cabin. The GTI now supports digital audio hook-ups like those we usually found in Audis, and there are also several connectors for USB, mini USB and iPod. It also has the standard 3.5mm audio plug. Volkswagen also introduces an touch-screen interface specially made for browsing music on your iPod, which is quite simple to use. The amount of storage available is quite large — 20 gigabytes, or approximately 5,000 mp3s.
The Volkswagen audio system also allows user to copy MP3 files from various sources, which is quite different from other cars with onboard music storage. Interestingly though, the interface for the hard drive doesn’t show MP3 files by their ID3 tags. Thus you can only choose songs by folder and file. There is also an option for connecting Bluetooth devices as an alternative music source and also a Bluetooth phone system.
The 2010 Volkswagen GTI is a definite improvement over the old model. It comes in two models: 2-door and 4-door. The 2-door is sold at $23,664 and the 4-door at $24,269.
Volkswagen GTI is always cool and small…