Updated GTI Performance and 1.5-litre Evo engine added to Golf range

Volkswagen’s Golf GTI Performance has been updated, along with the rest of the Golf range, and promises the best performance yet.

The 242bhp Golf GTI Performance is now the most potent GTI available and promises 0-62pmh in 6.2 secs whether delivered by the six-speed manual or new seven-speed DSG automatic gearbox.

It boasts a top speed of 155 mph in manual form, and 154 mph when equipped with the DSG gearbox – thanks to an extra 15bhp over the old model – as well as an electronic front differential for greater traction and bigger brakes with red callipers.

Available in three or five-door configurations, the new GTI Performance is fitted with Volkswagen’s advanced Active Info Display as standard and costs £29,280.

As part of the Golf range update, Volkswagen has also unveiled the new 148 bhp, 1.5-litre TSI EVO engine.

Two versions of the 1.5-litre EVO engine are joining the updated Golf line-up which Volkswagen promises is now the most comprehensive engine line-ups of any UK car model.

With outputs of 148bhp and 129bhp, both are turbocharged four-cylinder units and are available with six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG gearboxes. The more powerful unit is available now with the smaller derivative later in the summer.

Active Cylinder Management (ACM) is an integral part of these new EVO units’ shutting down cylinders when the driver lifts their foot off the throttle.

In the 148bhp unit, two of the four cylinders are shut down while in the 129bhp BlueMotion version, all four cylinders are paused when the car is coasting.

Volkswagen still promises sprightly performance with the 148bhp unit taking the Golf hatch, whether equipped with the six-speed manual or the seven-speed DSG gearbox, from rest to 62 mph in only 8.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 134 mph.

Volkswagen claims a combined economy of 55.4 mpg for the 148bhp 1.5 TSI EVO hatchback in six-speed manual form and 56.5 mpg for the automatic.

The engine is available in the Golf GT and R-Line hatchback trims, and in the Golf GT Estate, with prices starting at £23,445.

The addition of the first 1.5-litre EVO engine and the upgraded GTI Performance mean the Golf range starts with a 1.0-litre TSI-powered S model and then climbs through the SE, SE Navigation, GT and R-Line trims to the Performance Golf range of the GTD, GTI and R and onwards to the petrol-electric hybrid Golf GTE and, in the summer, the all-electric e-Golf.

All these Golf models also include the latest safety systems such as Automatic Post-Collision Braking and a Driver Alert function. Standard on all Golfs from the SE trim upward is Car-Net ‘App-Connect’, which allows easy pairing of selected mobile smartphones with the Golf’s infotainment system.