WATCH: How fast is the Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI?

It was a long wait for the much-anticipated Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI to finally show its face in South Africa. The wait to see how fast it really is, is going to be much shorter.

The Citizen was privileged enough to secure a Golf 8 GTI on test in the very first week of September, the same time the first customers took delivery of the vehicle which arrival was severely delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The GTI and all-wheel-drive R model are the only derivatives of the eighth generation Golf that will be offered in South Africa.

Armed with Road Test Editor Mark Jones’ trusted Vbox timing equipment, we made our way to Gerotek earlier this week to put the Golf 8 GTI through a proper high-performance test.

Powering the latest generation of Wolfsburg’s iconic hot hatch is a four-cylinder, 2.0-litre turbocharger petrol engine. It produces 11 kW of power and 20 Nm of torque more than its predecessor for a total output of 180kW/370Nm. The grunt is sent to the front wheels via a seven-speed DSG.

ALSO READ: Golf 8 GTI: Was Volkswagen’s latest hot hatch worth the wait?

Volkswagen claims the R669 300 Golf 8 GTI can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.4 seconds. It’s interesting to note that the German carmaker claimed a similar number for the Golf 7.5 GTI, a vehicle that recorded a best 0 to 100 km/h sprint time of 6.58 seconds during The Citizen’s test in 2017.

From what we have seen during testing, we can safely predict that Volkswagen’s claimed time for the Golf 8 GTI is definitely under threat this time around. In fact, we might just be in for a surprise. But to make sure our eyes where not deceiving us, we would like to verify all the numbers first before announcing them. Be sure to watch this space over the next week.

For more information on the Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI, click here.