It wasn't even fair.Ĭomparing the old GTI to the new is a futile exercise when there's a thumb on the scale for the Mk8. The simple truth is that fitting the RE-71Rs to the improved GTI allowed it to carry dramatically more speed into corners, offer far higher lateral limits (although the disparity in front/rear grip did make it feel a good bit looser than the Mk 7), and more easily put power down on corner exit.
It was a similar story on M1 Concourse's 1.5-mile circuit – VW released us at 20-second increments on the track, but the Mk 8 drivers were closing the distance on the Mk 7 drivers within four laps. We ran the older hatchback around a short autocross course in 37.9 seconds. Unsurprisingly, the newer GTI and its ultra-sticky front rubber blew the last-generation model out of the water. But there was no other tire available, guys? The stock GTI rubber’s performance isn’t even on the same planet as the RE-71R. We'll give VW the benefit of the doubt here, because COVID supply chain issues are real. But when it came time to prep the cars for this program, the company couldn't source new tires for all six of the vehicles. Unsurprisingly, the newer GTI and its ultra-sticky front rubber blew the last-generation model out of the water.Īccording to Volkswagen, it had been loaning out these Euro-spec Mk 8s to media across the country ( including ) on the factory rubber. It wasn't until we'd already completed a lap of the autocross course in each car – realizing that the performance disparity was way too dramatic – that we looked at the tires. Up front, Volkswagen fitted the Bridgestone RE-71R, a 200-treadwear extreme performance tire that is widely considered the gold standard for competitive autocross. The Mk 8 GTI wore the same tires… on the back axle. These are the original equipment for the current car. The Mk7 GTIs we were testing wore Bridgestone Potenza S001 “max performance summer” tires at all four corners. After half a day of tracking and autocrossing, it's pretty clear the new GTI is better than the old, but this experience did more to show us the value of a good set of tires than an upgraded five-door hatch. What we didn't expect was that a bizarre tire choice would mar this chance to see how VW has improved the world's leading and original hot hatchback.
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