Twist the key and you get no special tingle, no special noise, no special feeling. In fact it sounds an awful lot like a diesel when cold,

The GTI is always ready and willing to go -- even if you're in the wrong gear. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

making any first experience seem a bit anticlimactic. Step on the throttle, and for the first second you may even think it's a TDI; the single, quick-spooling turbo providing that immediate kick of torque right from idle. A split second later, all the power comes pouring out - this engine means business. At 1,500 rpm the main punch is, for the most part, already there, and at 1,800 rpm all 207 lb-ft of torque are ready for use at your discretion. Unlike a manic VTEC-powered Honda, the car isn't picky about what gear you're in; the surge of torque simply whips you up to speed. Come to think of it, the GTI doesn't so much have a torque curve; it's more of a torque "straightaway" if anything.  

Once you're on the move, things start to pick up. The 2.0T engine starts to sound more

300 km/h (180 mph in USA) speedometer seems optimistic, Uncapped it can hit 225 km/h (140 mph), (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

substantial than in any other application; the faint, gurgling sound that afflicted the Jetta and Passat remedied by a new exhaust system that produces a deeper, throatier and infinitely more pleasing burble that passes through presentable twin tailpipes. If you listen very carefully, you can even catch the turbo's whoosh as pressure builds. And when not thrashing it about, the GTI is surprisingly refined. Because the gearbox's six-speeds are well judged, it avoids the insidious trend of overly short ratios; sixth at 100 km/h (62 mph) is a tick over 2,300 rpm, and 120 km/h (75 mph) is well under 3,000 rpm, ensuring you'll never be deafened, or annoyed to insanity's edges by overly high revs while maintaining highway speeds. The tall-stacked gears also contribute to making the GTI cheap to run; if you take it easy it uses about as much fuel as the original.

Any company can stick a fairly good engine in a car and call it a day, but it takes

At last, a sense of re-connection with the road. GTI's turn-in is poised and tight. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

a lot of talent to deliver perfect cohesion with the steering, especially if the car's front wheels must drive and steer simultaneously. If anywhere, the GTI really needs to shine here in order to make up for a decade and a half's worth of slag... and boy does it ever! Compared to the Jetta, which is light and woefully short on steering feel, the GTI's steering is weighted much heavier, its electromechanical assist tuned to eliminate the traditional vague feel around the dead centre mark. I like how you can really stick it right in the corners, and it responds to input of feet and hands, the car doing its all to hang onto the pavement. It translates well; the GTI has that playful enthusiasm, the "let's get to it" attitude and charm that was completely missing from previous models.

But

Yes! A sport car that actually rides properly! Gentlemen, give yourselves a pat on the back. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

I think the biggest thing for me about the GTI is the work that VW has done on the suspension. The expensive, new five-link rear suspension keeps the back end firmly glued to earth, so you don't get any of that silly three-wheeling action through the bends, or squirminess under heavy braking. Yet, at the same time it won't shatter your teeth, grind your bones into dust and send you to an osteopath as an Audi A3 on equally large 17-inch wheels would. It has the ability to filter out surface imperfections better than most Benzes, and bears the straight-line stability and body control of BMWs costing twice the price: this is the corollary of a very, very good suspension. Its development, it appears, took place on a surface that wasn't precision-ground glass, which helps a whole lot for the rest of us who live in the real world, far away from the flawlessly smooth autobahn. It's something Audi could really learn from.