It is NOT a seperate model....despite what the malinformed of R/T say. In the US it is marketed as simply the GTI and seperate from the Golf for marketing purposes only as there is no current "Golf" model on sale at the moment, just the GTI.

....the rest of the world refers to the GTI as the Golf GTI

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4319430

They are all based on the same "World Car" global platform.

 

The Golf is coming back as the "Rabbit" name goes away (again).

GTi's are a hoot to drive.

 

dont sleep on a GTI with the 2.0T in it. One of those bad boys with intake, exhaust, and a re-flash(tune) will run with a s2000 all day and probably pull on it pretty decent. (driver dependent)

 

I sat in that very car today. It wasn't half bad, actually... I'd get one, but only the GTI with the 2.0T

 

Still looks like a souped up Daewoo: