 Love him so when he flips that dough, he's pizza boy USA. What is up you guys? Welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I am Gold Pony. I do new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube and today we are in the new 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Courtesy of Hanover Volkswagen in Hanover PA. And so I do try to review this one every single year. The reason being is this car is one of the few out there to this date with some character in it still. For instance, the available plaid seats that we have today, that is awesome. Golf ball shifter if you go with the six-speed manual, hence the name Golf. So it's things like that that make this car so much better when you compare it to its competitor. So I do love it. And not to mention there are of course plenty of changes for the 2020 model year, which I will be going over all of them for you as well as testing everything out about this thing. So what do you 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 2020 Golf GTI, first one being the S starting at $28,595, which by the way is a $1,000 increase over the 2019 model year. SE trim level starting at $32,195. And lastly, the Autobahn starting at $36,495. And so regardless of trim level that you go with though, the power plant on this little beast is going to be the same. Powering this one is going to be a two-liter turbocharged and intercooled inline four-cylinder engine, putting out 228 horsepower at 6,300 rpm, 258 pound-feet of torque available at 3,300 rpm, power sent to the front wheels through your choice of either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual clutch, which by the way adds $800 to the bottom line, but that is actually the transmission we have today. And if you were to go with that seven-speed dual clutch, you will get paddle shifters that come along with that as well. So you guys know we will be testing those out in a little bit here, but overall zero to 60 time, car and driver puts it at approximately 5.7 seconds, top speed 155 miles per hour, which is really a good bit for the size of the car that this is. And MPG numbers coming in at 24 in the city, 32 on the highway, actually regardless of which transmission setup that you go with is going to be the same, but either way taking regular unlit fuel, aka 87 octanes, that's a huge plus too. But before we do any kind of paddle shifter test or acceleration test, I did want to mention there are several drive modes for the Golf GTI. The drive mode button is located just to the left of the shifter. And so when you press that, you have modes like eco, normal, sport and custom, essentially adjusting things like throttle response, steering sensitivity, suspension setup actually. And the shift points, if you were to go with the DSG obviously, obviously if you went with the six-speed, you're going to be adjusting your own shift points, but nonetheless. I do think you guys know what that means. I think it is time. Let's go ahead and push the shifter all the way to the back. That is going to give me that full manual shifting mode here. And it actually does tell you your gears on the digital display front and center here. So that's kind of cool. But let's go ahead and test out the paddle shifters here. I just want to see how quickly they react for us, see if the car actually decides to shift for us when we're in full manual shift mode. Some of them do. So let's go ahead and test all that out and we'll see what we get. All right. So now coming up to a red light, let's just do a quick little paddle shifter test here. I'm not going to get up too high in speed here. Speed limit is only 25, but still do want to see how quickly they react for us here. So here we go. Yes. Paddle shifters are instantaneous as expected really. Anything with the dual clutch, it's going to be insanely quick reaction times as far as shifting goes. So yeah, paddle shifters are 100% on points and no issues there whatsoever. But let's now give control back to the GTI here. I'm just going to slide the shifter back one more time. It's going to give control back to the car and let's now go ahead and do a quick little acceleration test here with the car having full control and let's see how quickly we can get this one here up to speed. Got it straight away here. Let's hit it. That's not bad. Oh my goodness. That is definitely not bad. Plenty of an acceleration actually pleasantly surprised me there. I was expecting much less to be quite honest, but yeah, that was actually quite nice. I enjoyed that. I will say I still feel like the six speed manual and the Golf GTI at least is a little bit more enjoyable than the DSG all that. That DSG is quick. Don't get me wrong. I just feel like the manual is done so freakishly well in the Golf GTI. I feel like it test drive the manual every year. Obviously I don't have that this year, but still both transmissions are actually quite amazing. I'll give it to Volkswagen there. I do think I prefer the six speed manual. That might be personal preference honestly though for this one at least because both are equally nice. But still anyways, two going along with that acceleration. As always, braking is equally important. And so you will find 13.4 inch ventilated front discs and the back 12.2 inch ventilated rear disc. There are red brake calipers for all trim levels as well. That's pretty cool. As far as the braking feel goes, it's actually very, very nice. Instantly stops this thing. Actually had a yellow light pop up on me back there where I was going through downtown and this thing immediately brings you to a stop. So I absolutely loved that. Touching on suspension and handling a little bit. Up front you're going to get a tight front suspension in the back multi-link rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars. And perhaps the best part though, at least if you go with the auto bond trim levels, you will get an adaptive damping system. And so that's really the best of both worlds. It's not only going to read the roads and perfections giving you a smoother ride, but it is also going to firm up the suspension during heavy cornering. Again, giving you the best of both worlds a little better handling there as well. So that is definitely something to consider. Also a VAQ limited slip front differential lock for all trims as well. Essentially sending power to the wheel with the most grip. That's always a plus as well. As far as ride quality goes, just cruising down these very actually smooth roads right now. It's been perfectly fine. It's pretty much as expected for a compact or subcompact car, whatever you were, consider the Golf GTI. But ride quality is definitely fine. Steering feel is pretty darn nice actually. Much heavier steering feel in the sport driving mode that I've left it in my whole test drive so far today. So that is definitely on point. As far as cabin noise goes, you do get a little bit of road noise. It's pretty much expected for this segment though. So no complaints from me there just because I would expect that. I love the engine noise. You guys can hear that. Absolutely amazing engine sound when you hit the gas. That is a huge plus when it comes to cabin noise. Now touching on visibility, I can see perfectly fine out the back. Probably one of the better visibilities I've experienced lately. So visibility is 100%. Rain sensing windshield wipers actually come standard on all trim levels as well. So that's going to help better keep rise on the road to get better enjoy the drive and the Golf GTI. So that is a huge plus of course as well. But that about rounds off the performance segment of this review. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of this white silver metallic 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI. All right, here she is you guys, the new 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Let's go ahead and start up front on this one. Red trim accenting being found on that front grille along with GTI badging of course to the sides. Halogen headlights will come standard on the S trim level which by the way, I don't think I said that yet. That is the trim level that we do have today. LED daytime running lights coming standard with that and you will actually find fog lights for all trim levels down below as well integrated into the bottom portion of that front bumper. LED adaptive headlights coming with the SE and Autobahn trim levels. Meaning when you're going around the bend at night those headlights will swivel based on your steering angle better help illuminating what is around that bend so you don't hit any wild animals or people or anything like that of course. Then make your way to the side GTI badging found on that front fender as always black window surrounds coming standard. Taking a look at the side mirrors they are power adjustable body colors side mirrors with integrated turd signals. Then take a look down at the wheel setup 18 inch five spoke alloy wheels coming standard for all trim levels down there as well. But then let's go ahead and make our way to the back. You do have a small gloss black shark fin antenna found on the very top of the Golf GTI but just behind that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light just behind that you have that rear window wiper. Of course GTI badging found on that rear trunk lid. LED tail lights coming standard for all trim levels that's definitely a big plus. And just below it all dual exhaust outlets with large chrome exhaust tips dual exhaust tips. So I think you guys know what we have to do next as always here is that exhaust clip. It's up and now since we are around back of the Golf GTI when it comes to opening that rear hatch there actually is a button on the key fob to unlock it if you like simply press that. But perhaps the best way to go about opening that rear hatch and really the only way is you lift up within the Volkswagen logo. And if you guys are familiar with the Golf you already know this but if you're not this is probably the coolest thing ever because there is no button back there for the liftgate it is just something you lift up. You push in on the Volkswagen logo it's kind of like hidden like a spy kind of car so that is pretty cool. But anyways I'd say you're gonna go ahead and open up that rear hatch but once opened up cargo capacity is gonna come in at 17.4 cubic feet which actually is a pretty darn good amount for the size of this thing. There is a rear cargo area cover back there and if that was not enough space for you there is a 60-40 split meaning the rear seats do fold down for even more space if you needed it back there. Then make your way to the rear legroom that is gonna come in at 35.6 inches. So for reference I'm an even six feet tall this is how much space I have back there. By the way this is me sitting behind my driving position just in case anybody is curious I never alter the front seats to make it look like there's more space or anything like that. So this is legitimately how much space I have behind myself essentially. But rear passengers actually have it quite nice especially for the segment rear ventilation. You almost never see that in this size of a vehicle because quite honestly you probably don't need it so that's gonna be there. Rear center armrest with cup holders also coming standard back there and front seat back map pocket so you can put all your maps back there although nobody of course is going to use any of those anymore. Anyways making our way up to the front seats Clark plaid cloth seating surfaces coming standard with the S again absolutely love it. They're actually bolstered very nicely too and they are quite comfortable so definitely a huge fan of the seats there. And to go along with that even on the base S trim level that we have today we still get heated front seats coming standard. Those buttons are located just above the climate control buttons in front of the shifter there but I love that heated front seats come standard on the S as well. Leather seating can be found with the SE trim level and you will get on top of that a 12 way power adjustable driver seat with power lumbar if you were to go with the auto-bond trim. And take a look at the steering wheel it's definitely finished quite nicely it is tilt and telescoping and is leather wrapped for all trim levels. You do have a flat bottom with the GTI badging found towards the bottom portion of that steering wheel. And I like the red stitching accents throughout the steering wheel too it's definitely a nice steering wheel and I feel like it's a little bit thicker than a lot of other Volkswagen's which is a definite plus in my book as well. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the startup let me first start by showing you guys the key here. It is actually a GTI specific key you have that lettering on the one side but then all of the buttons essentially are all located on the other side of the key lock unlock that button to unlock the rear hatch and it is a switchblade key if you were to go with the S trim level but if you were to go with the SE and auto-bond that is going to give you that keyless access with a push button start if you wanted to go that route but again that's with the SE and the auto-bond trims only but since would you have the S trim level all I'm going to do is simply put my foot on the brake and turn the key. And so but once started up tachometers on your left speedometers on your right there is a small digital display front and center to control what is on that digital display there are actually steering wheel mounted controls found on the right side of the steering wheel that's going to give you a ton of different things though things like a digital speedometer if you wanted it safety information, audio information, bluetooth information how many miles you'll have left until you hit empty when you need your next oil change and the list goes on outside temperature is another one so tons of things you can actually check out although it's a small digital display it's got everything you need so that's really all that matters take a look at overall interior quality of panoramic sunroof coming with the SE and the auto-bond trim levels illuminated door cells coming standard for all trim levels along with interior ambient lighting dual zoom climate control can be had with the auto-bond trim level only and overall quite honestly it's pretty much as expected it definitely gets the job done nothing too fancy of course just in front of the shifter you have a usb charging port and a little storage area there just behind the shifter you have a 12 volt power outlet dual cupholders there's actually a little bit of storage space just under the center armrest here as well so overhead sunglass holder up top as well but overall it is pretty basic pretty to the point and it gets the job done and really the Clark plaid seats make it all worthwhile in my opinion but let's go ahead and take a look now at the tech display six and a half inch color touch screen display coming standard that is what you're looking at right now and there is an eight inch color touch screen display available either way you get bluetooth and audio streaming either way android auto and apple car play even in the s trim level meaning if you have a smartphone simply hook it up to the golf tti and you have free navigation displayed up on that screen as well as the ability to liken this like your pandora song so that is definitely a huge plus in my book factory navigation system coming with the auto-bond trim of course you could check out some weather and fuel price information up there as well along with your radio settings so by the way here it is when it comes to the sound system six speakers are going to come with the s and s e trim levels however if you were to go with the auto-bond you will get an eight speaker fender sound system with a subwoofer and 400 watts and so that of course is not the one we have today so let's go ahead and turn on the radio see what got playing this morning and let's test out this six speaker sound system that we do indeed have here today sure everybody driving by I thought it was absolutely insane right there but dang that was old school it's certainly loud enough i'll give it that not a whole lot of bass going on but it is a six speaker sound system so it's pretty much as expected really you get this car for the driving enjoyment and to be quite honest the engine sound does it for me anyway so that's good enough but then the last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on that tech display at least is when you do put the Golf GTI in reverse you will find a rear view camera for all trim levels across the board letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety so let me first start on this one by saying the Golf GTI is an IIHS top safety pick when equipped with LED headlights so therefore the S is not a top safety pick because it has the halogens but nonetheless it is a top safety pick with the LEDs but front side side curtain airbags coming standard in the back you're going to have lash aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats also standard tire pressure monitoring system but also standard a ton of advanced safety features including forward collision warning with autonomous emergency braking blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert that's the little car icons in the side mirrors letting you know who was in your blind spot pedestrian monitoring system also coming standard as well and if you went with the autobahn trim level that's going to add a couple other things including lane keep assist system and adaptive cruise control ain't so but anyways that is about it for this one you guys hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did making it so feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen there if you like be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews that is 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