GOLF GTI MK4

About the Golf GTI Mk4

The Mk4 GTI looked like a better-built Golf, and that was the problem. It launched in 1998 with two petrol engines making the same 150 PS, a 1.8 five-valve turbo and a 2.3 V5, wrapped in a body that had shed almost every visual GTI cue. Myrtle wood trim and a standard sunroof didn't help. Hagerty calls it a compromised effort that was more Golf than GTI. The fix came in 2001 with the '25 Years of GTI': the 1.8T at 180 PS, a six-speed manual, polished 18-inch BBS wheels, red calipers, 10 mm lower, two doors only, 3,000 units. The 1.9 TDI version reached 150 PS along the way. Only 164,859 Mk4 GTIs were built, about half the Mk3's total.