 What is up you guys, I'll be back to another one. If you're new to the channel, I'm Gulf Pony under new car track SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the brand new 2023 Volkswagen Golf GTI courtesy of Faulkner Volkswagen in Mechanicsburg PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so today we are in this one because there is one major change for the 2023 model year. And now the Golf GTI specifically has been sold in the US for 40 years. And that may or may not have something to do with the major change, I'll be covering that of course. And this one will be competing with the Civic Si, Launcher N and GR Corolla, just to name a few. So ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering feel, ride quality, sound system, exhaust club, all that fun stuff. So having said all that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so there are a few different trim levels for the 2023 Golf GTI. First one being the S starting at $30,530. New trim level for 2023. Here it is, you guys, 40th anniversary edition starting at $33,055. Yes, that's the major change. But anyways, SE trim level, which actually is the one we were in today, starting at $35,330. And lastly, the Autobahn going for $39,070. But regardless of trim level that you go with, power plant on the Golf GTI is going to be the same. Powering the beast is a two liter turbo charge inline four cylinder, putting out 241 horsepower at 6,500 RPM, 273 pound feet of torque coming in at 4,000 RPM. Power is going to be sent to the front wheels through your choice of either a six speed manual or a seven speed dual clutch with paddle shifters, which is the one that we have today. Zero to 60 time is going to come in at approximately 5.1 seconds. Top speed, 155 miles per hour, that's impressive. With MPG numbers coming in at 23 in the city, 32 on the highway for the manual, and then 24 city, 34 on the highway for the dual clutch, taking regular unleaded fuel. I didn't expect to see that when I was doing all my research for this one, so that's pretty cool. But so then before we do any kind of fun acceleration or paddle shifter test here in the Golf GTI, I wanted to mention to you guys the drive modes. There's a little button labeled mode just underneath the infotainment screen. When you press that it's going to give you options like eco comfort, sport and custom, adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response, the gauge colors, also the steering sensitivity, the engine sound. I noticed that immediately and the climate control settings actually as well. So quite a bit. So well done Volkswagen for all those adjustments. But anyways, now that we've got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put the paddle shifters here to the test first and let's see how quickly these paddle shifters are going to react for us here. Oh, it popped, it freaking popped. All right, here we go. We are in full manual shift mode. I just let this shifter back one more time. But three, two, one, yeah baby. Ah, this thing is fine. All right, if I'm being honest, I was in sport driving mode. There was a slight delay to the paddle shifters. I wasn't expecting that because it's a dual clutch, but seriously quick. So what I'm going to do now is give back full control to the Golf GTI, I can't even talk today. And we're going to let the Golf GTI do a quick little acceleration here and let's see how quickly we can get this one year up to speed. All right, in three, two, one. Yeah. Decent grip. Holy cow. This thing is quick. It pins you in the back of the freaking seat, man. This thing is fun. Dude, Boston Autoblog. I know what you're talking about, man. This thing is a fun car. Like it pins you into the back of your seat. That was an incredible acceleration in sport driving mode. The other thing is, I'm just going to mention it to you guys. Now, when you press ambient lighting, you could choose between like five different color themes for the gauges, like yellow, red, orange, aqua, blue. Yeah, this color is called aqua, but that is an incredible acceleration. But anyways, I'm getting off topic. To go along with that acceleration as always, braking is equally important. So upfront, you will find 13.4 inch ventilated front discs. In the back, 12.2 inch ventilated rear discs. As far as that 60 zero stopping distance goes, it's going to commit at 120 feet and since there's nobody behind us, let's sit there. Oh my gosh, this car keeps impressing. It literally won't stop impressing you right now. I feel like a little freaking kid just driving this car for the first time. This is insane. Very, very firm braking feel. So instantly brings you to a stop. The 120 foot number really feels like the one teens, quite honestly. It feels like a sports sedan, quite honestly. So instantly brings you to a stop, not a soft braking feel whatsoever. So huge fan of the braking, but continuing on, touching on suspension and handling up front, you're going to get a McPherson front suspension in the back, independent multi-link rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars, but adaptive chassis control is going to come on the 40th anniversary edition and up. Therefore, we actually do have that today. So essentially what that is, is it monitors each shock absorber individually, not only adjusting to the road imperfections, giving you a smoother ride, but also tightening up the suspension during heavy cornering, really giving you the best of both worlds. At test on ride quality, I'm actually just going to take it out of that sport driving mode and put it in comfort for a little bit here. So it just hit like a little pothole back there and it wasn't that bad actually in that comfort driving mode. Now we'll say as a little disclaimer, cars like this, you are going to feel a little bit more of the road. So expect that, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Certainly not as bad as my heavily modified 2019 for Mustang GT. So I'll just put it that way. Ride quality is doable. That's a good word for it. It is doable in the Gulf GTI, especially for how much fun this car is. As far as steering feel goes, now I'm in comfort driving mode. It's still decent feel to the steering. Let me actually go ahead and put it back in sport real quick. Does give you a much weightier feel to it. So a much heavier steering feel in that sport driving mode. I actually liked it. That feels really good. So instantly pointing you in the direction that you want to go. So I am a big fan of the steering. Not quite as good as the Integra that I recently drove, but still it's dang good in the Gulf GTI. Touching on cabin noise, you get a lot of that engine noise when you hit the gas, which I personally love, especially in sport driving mode, because it does make a difference when you put it in that sport driving mode when it comes to that engine sound. So I like that. So other than that wind noise or road noise, it's pretty much that bag quite honestly, which kind of surprised me because usually with compact cars like the Gulf GTI, you do get a bit more of that, but when it comes to cabin noise, it's actually really good. You just get that engine sound, which if you're buying this car, it's a good thing. But anyways, then touching on visibility, I can see pretty darn good out the back. I will say those second row headrests are kind of beastly. So on those back two quarters there, that's gonna impede visibility slightly, but having said that, this is a smaller car, so you really shouldn't have any issues with rear visibility. Another thing though, you actually get rain-sensing windshield wipers that come standard for all trim levels of the Gulf GTI. So what that is, is when the Gulf GTI detects any kind of mist or rainfall, it's gonna automatically turn on those windshield wipers for you. So kind of like automatic headlights, it's just one less thing you gotta worry about there. And if you were to go with that Autobahn trim level, it's actually gonna, in addition to that, give you a head-up display for even better forward visibility. So it's gonna display your speed, speed limit and safety features up on your windshield. So get better focus more of your attention on actually enjoying the drive, because this thing is a dang enjoyable drive. But anyways, that about rounds off the performance segment of this review you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2023 Volkswagen Golf GTI. All right, so here she is you guys, the new 2023 Volkswagen Golf GTI finished in Atlantic Blue Metallic. In case you were curious of our exterior color name. So I like that name Atlantic, like Atlantic Ocean. So that's what I'm thinking at least. But anyways, let's go ahead and start where this one is actually made, taking a look at the VIN. First character is the letter W, indicating that this one is built and assembled in Germany as it should be, of course. But let's go ahead and start up front. You got that red accent piece running through the front grille with the red GTI lettering. Definitely very distinguishable for the GTI trim. So a big fan of that. Down below you got that black honeycomb mesh front grille with the LED fog lights incorporated into the front grille. I love that look. So then of course you can see that big intercooler front and center down towards the bottom there. Definitely a big fan of that as well. To the sides, LED headlights with LED daytime running lights do come standard. You get the automatic feature with that as well. Meaning when it starts to get dark at night, headlights will turn on automatically for you there. And if you were to go with the Autobahn trim level only you will get automatic high beams. So if you have your high beams on at night and it senses a vehicle coming in the opposite direction it's gonna automatically dim them back to low beams and when that vehicle is gone it's gonna automatically then bounce it back up to high beams. So definitely a very convenient feature there as well. But that pretty much rounds out the front end of this one. Very good looking, very low hood line as well contributing to this more aggressive look. So let's now go ahead and make our way to the side of the GTI. All right, so now since we are around to the side of this one gloss black windows surrounds do come standard. And actually one thing I wanted to show you on these gloss black windows surrounds real quick is you actually have some Volkswagen lettering. Kind of etched into the doors there. So I think that is pretty cool. Nice little added touch there that they didn't have to do. Of course also you have that GTI badging found on the front fenders that looks good as always. Take a look at the side mirrors. They are body colored power adjustable side mirrors with LED integrated turd signals. They will be heated and actually they come with puddle lights as well for a little added illumination at night. I thought that was pretty cool. And taking a look down at the wheel configurations 18 inch five spoke alloys coming with the S and S E trim levels and then 19 inch black alloys with summer tires coming with the 40th anniversary edition and the auto bond trim. So little difference there. And the one more added thing I really wanted to mention to you guys is with that 40th anniversary edition, you're actually going to get some added 40th anniversary edition graphics kind of found towards the side skirts towards the bottom of the doors I should say. So it's a very cool look actually. I really liked that. But anyways it pretty much rounds out the side profile. So now go ahead and make our way to the back. All right so now since you are around to the back of this one gloss black shark fin antenna all the way to the top there. Just below that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light just below that rear window wiper. You do have some GTI badging found on the hatch itself right underneath of that Volkswagen emblem. So that definitely looks good. LED tail lights do come standard for all trim levels across the board as well for added illumination at night. And then just below it all, I love these exhaust outlets. I think they look so dang good. But dual exhaust outlets with some massive chrome tips. So having said that I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. As always here is that exhaust clip. All right so now since you are around to the back of the golf here when it comes to opening that rear hatch there's a button of course on the key fob to unlock it. But the way to actually open it up is press in on the upper portion of that Volkswagen logo and then lift up. That is one of the coolest ways to open up a trunk or a hatch of a vehicle. And if you're not familiar with Volkswagen you're not gonna know that. So I absolutely love that. But anyways once opened up cargo capacity comes in at 19.9 cubic feet. If that was not enough space of course the rear seats do fall down. There's a 6040 split bumping that up to 34.5 cubic feet. There is some LED cargo lighting back there. They didn't have to do that. Most manufacturers will still give you halogens back there. So I like that. Grocery bag hooks to my surprise. You typically only find those in SUVs. So very refreshing to see them in this thing. Also you're gonna find some tie-down anchors. Another one of those things you a lot of times won't find in this kind of car. And if you were to lift up underneath of that cargo floor you will find a spare tire but there's actually a little bit of in-floor storage in there too to maybe put an ice scraper or a tire inflator kit or something like that. So a lot going on in the cargo here. And of course you got the cargo cover as expected back there too. But then making our way up to the rear leg room that comes in at 35 inches even for reference. I mean even six feet tall. This is me sitting behind my own driving position. Of course rear center armrest with cup holders does come standard rear ventilation actually also coming standard. So I like that. There is a little bit of storage just underneath of that rear ventilation. Then there's a couple USB-A charging ports actually as well. And then to my surprise if you actually were to go with the Audubon trim you can actually get heated rear seats coming standard back there without Audubon trim as well to spoil the rear passengers a little bit. So I thought that was pretty cool. Then making our way up to the front seats manually adjustable cloth seating coming with the S the 40th anniversary edition and the S-E so you might be wondering why do we not have that cloth seating? Well, there is an optional leather package for the S-E trim level. I think it goes for $1,225 from correct. But that does give you the leather seating that we have today. And I love this leather seating by the way. You got the GTI badging found in the upper portion and they're all one piece too. So there's not a separate headrest which I think looks so dang good in this car. Anyways, 12 way power adjustable driver's seat for the Audubon trim level and that Audubon really gives you everything else like a power adjustable passenger seat, heated and ventilated front seats, leather seating and that's basically all that we have today here on the S-E because we got that package. So do want to mention that we do have heated and ventilated seats. I got the heated seats on because it's in the 30s today 31 degrees that is freezing but the seats were plenty comfortable. There's lumbar support as well. So certainly didn't have any issues finding my perfect driving position but let's now go ahead and take a look at the steering wheel. It's tilt and telescoping. It is leather wrapped and it is actually heated for all trim levels across the board. To my surprise as well. I'm not sure why I didn't turn that on. There you go. Just turned it on. That is freaking nice. I need that heated steering wheel on a 31 degree day here. And that 10 and two grips are definitely bolstered on the thicker side of things. And I like the GTI lettering found at the bottom and it is a flat bottom steering wheel. I feel like I can go on and on with this thing. Then make your way to the startup. I really like this key. It's a heavy duty key. You got your Volkswagen logo on the one side. Lock on lock and the button to pop the rear hatch on the other side. But it is all keyless entry with a push button start. So all I'm going to do here is simply put my foot on the brake and press that silver engine start button located just in front of the park button. So by the way, let me touch on the shifter real quick to put it in a drive. You simply put your foot on the brake and pull the shifter towards yourself to put it in reverse again, foot on the brake, push it towards the start button and then to put it in park. That's what the P button is for. So a little bit different shifter than most of the manufacturers out there. But now let's go ahead and take a look at the gauge cluster. This is one of my favorite parts about the Golf GTI. First thing you notice when you first get in this thing. So it's a 10 and a quarter inch digital gauge cluster. So that's great. But then if you were to go with the infotainment screen, you go to ambient light, you can actually completely adjust the colors not only of the gauges, but the ambient lighting as well. So I'm going to do that. I'm going to show you guys there's red, there's blue, which is called desire. There's aqua, which is called eternity. There is infinity, which is an orange and vitality, which is a neon yellow. I think that's probably my favorite. And then you can adjust the brightness as well. So love, love the gauge cluster in this thing. One of the best looking gauge clusters I've seen in quite a while, just because you can completely change the colors of this thing. And in typical Volkswagen fashion, there is a view button actually on the right side of the steering wheel where you can choose to display a heck of a lot more as well. So this is essentially like Audi's gauge cluster more or less. You can completely make the gauges all a navigation setup if you want to. If you keep hitting that view button, there's safety information, there's your traditional gauges, there's a full digital gauge cluster. These are the best gauges at this price point available right now today. I'm just going to put that out there in the past 700 plus cars that I've driven. These gauges are phenomenal at this price point. They are the best without a doubt. Love it, Volkswagen, you crushed it. Well done. So to make our way to overall interior quality, there is a power panoramic sunroof coming with the SE and the Autobahn trim levels. Automatic climate control also comes standard, meaning you just set a temperature that's going to automatically hit that for you. Do want to mention though, TriZone climate control is going to be available. Stainless steel pedals are going to come standard on all trim levels across the board. So I like that. Wireless phone charger also coming standard on all trim levels across the board. That's going to be that rubberized thing just in front of the engine start button. So your phone doesn't slide around up there. And be a lighting also coming standard. I just gave you guys those colors. That is amazing as well. Now I will say, wouldn't have minded if they made it a bit brighter. I still think Mercedes-Benz is the benchmark when it comes to ambient lighting. BMW is good too, but Mercedes-Benz does it so bright. If they could make that a bit brighter. I know it's the daytime and all that, but still wouldn't have minded if that was a bit brighter for any future cars, Volkswagen, if you're watching this. But anyways, just to the right of the shifter, you do have a little bit of rubberized storage there. You got a cup holder behind everything there. 12-volt power outlet. And within the center armrest, there's a tiny little bit of storage, not a ton, but it'll get the job done there though. But there is a lot of a hard touch plastics on the actual doors. So wouldn't have minded if they gave that a design rather than just finishing it in the matte black. So I think that would look a lot better. Maybe a honeycomb design that you used on the front grille. Bring it on to the actual door here maybe, just like you did just above there. It actually looks like that has that design. We also have a frameless rear view mirror with a compass up there and homelink controls up to three different garage doors as well. So overall though, interior quality is plenty fine. For me, I certainly wouldn't have any issues. So especially these seats, I am definitely a big fan. But now, let's go ahead and take a look at the infotainment screen. And so there is a little square on the left side. If you're pressed that, that's essentially gonna be your home screen in case anybody was curious. But eight-inch color touchscreen display does come standard. Bluetooth and audio streaming of course, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. You got your ambient lighting colors up there. You got some vehicle information if you wanted to check that out. There's your heated and ventilated seat buttons up there as well. If you slide it to the right, you got some vehicle information, your navigation information as well, which can take up that entire screen if you wanted to. And of course your radio information as well. So when it comes to the sound systems, there's a couple of them. You got a seven-speaker sound system that comes standard and then there is an optional nine-speaker Harman Kardon sound system. And actually, we got that option today. This thing is fully loaded. So having said that, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and turn on the radio, see what we got playing today. And let's test out the clarity of this one. Dude, that was incredible. That was an incredible sound system for the Golf GTI. So well done, Harman Kardon. You crushed it with this car. So plenty of bass. The clarity was really what impressed me. It was crystal clear. And honestly, this isn't that big of a vehicle. So really to have nine speakers and a vehicle of the size, it's really overkill. So incredible sound system without a doubt. You're not going to be disappointed with the Harman Kardon. So last thing I want to mention to you guys on the infotainment screen is of course, when you to put the Golf GTI in reverse, you will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board, which is always is going to lead us into safety. And so first, let me start by saying IIHS top safety pick, which is a very good start right there. Front side, side current airbags do come standard. In the back, you can have latch, AKA lower anchors to tether their children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, front and rear parking sensors. That's pretty cool. And lane change assist as well. So overall, when it comes to my final thoughts here of the Golf GTI, for one, the driving dynamics overall are great. And that includes that impressive acceleration, includes the very firm braking feel, heavy steering feel, like all of that is what you look for in a car like this. Multicolor ambient lighting is great as well, especially the gauge cluster. The gauge cluster is absolutely amazing. So they 100% knocked it out of the park there. I do like the new trim level for 2023 as well. I like that addition. I like the graphics on the side of it. We don't have it today, unfortunately, but I do like that they included that for 2023. Stars are for improvement goes. I guess I got two things here. Again, with the door, they need to ditch a lot of this matte black plastic and just at least replace it with a plastic with a design to it that would look so much better. And then also with the ambient lighting, the gauge cluster is great. Don't change that at all. But with the ambient lighting, that needs to be brighter, especially for this type of vehicle. I think people would really appreciate a brighter ambient lighting in the Golf GTI, kind of like Mercedes or BMW does. So that would be the benchmark I would be shooting for in this thing. So other than that, this is a wonderful car. I had a blast reviewing it. Let me know what you guys think of the Golf GTI in the comments section below. And that is about it for this week. You guys, thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen. If you wanted to see what car is coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube, be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews, that's what we do here on this channel after all. Do appreciate you guys watching more than you know, and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay, go cue the bloopers. These things are kind of really cool. Like really cool, really cool, so cool. Stay, okay. So much fun, so much fun.