More photos here:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/24/breakin...i-mkvi-surface/

I like the new dash and especially the new wheel.

You lost me at electronic LSD.

Electrodes are inserted into your brain, making you see trails and have sex with random hippies in a giant mudpit.

It's actually similar to Saab's eLSD, except it doesn't make you compulsively rub velvet and eat candy.

Looks pretty sharp...wonder if the 2.0T is the new EA888 motor or if it's soldiering along with the current engine.

Looks great I think.

Looks absolutely fantastic. I really like what they've done with the side skirt. And the interior, really tit. I agree, that steering wheel is so chunky, it looks brilliant, and the gearlever too. The front grill looks like it came straight off the W12 650 concept. But I guess they already had this car in mind when they built that, so you could say that the 650 used this GTI's grill.
I do think they need to change the wheels. As cool as these are, they need something new.

Very much a case of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Should be near the top of the class for sure. My one gripe, I still think it's too big, and bulbous-looking for a hot hatch. I prefer the smaller breed of pocket rockets now.

I do like it but it is very similar to the 'rocco. Also I think those wheels sorted the old model and now they need a new option. They look really small to me in the OP picture, maybe it's the vast white door and panels in between.

So they still refuse to put a real LSD in one. It looks like a MKV with a new front slapped on it. I have a feeling that it will not drive all too differently from the MKV as well. I guess I was expecting something radical and this is just meh.

I don't mind evolution in models...it works. Look at Porsche. If VW would go ahead and fiddle with the GTI every couple years and just keep making it a little awesomer every time around I would not complain one bit.

As for the LSD not being "real"...you have to realize that real, full-on mechanical limited slip diffs have major affects on street driveability, though they do have the best performance. No manufacturer is ever going to put a "real" racing LSD into their road cars, nobody would buy the damn thing because they're loud, they make starting from a dead stop extremely difficult, and they introduce major torque steer issues in any FWD with respectable power.

So, when you back off from the full-on racing LSD, you get into some mechanical LSDs that are tuned more for street use. These are also pretty aggressive and have maintenance issues. So many manufacturers go another step down and go to viscous LSDs, which are even more user-friendly but even more worthless for real performance.

I don't know where the eLSD fits in in that spectrum, but I can guarantee that much of the reason it was chosen was to increase performance while still offering street drivability that is acceptable to the buying public at large.

In my experience, ELSD is a fancy way to say brakes actuate on wheels that spin during power over. IE: Teh Lamexorz.

It could be that it has a Ferrari style electronic diff that actually works in a sporty sense, in that case, I take back my words.

Saab's eLSD is an electronically-controlled Haldex clutch thingy, not a braking system. Not sure if this is the same.

Dr. Strangelove, what you're thinking of is called ABD (automatic brake differential) and has been around in the VW lineup for a decade. It's part of the traction control system. I'm sure VW wouldn't just change the name of it and that this eLSD is, in fact, some sort of electronically controlled LSD like the Saab's.

I love current generation GTI's styling, but this I actually dislike. I thought they were going to go in the 'Thunder Bunny' direction, and I guess they have with the more gaping front spoiler, but I don't like it anymore. That steering wheel, however, is truly sexy.

that steering wheel and the shift knob are really cool. It has a more sporty looking interior than all the other generation imo.

WTF is a Thunder bunny?

Thunder Bunny was a VW showcar.



I think with the MkVI they wanted to go less "gaping mouth aggressive" and more "sleek and wedgy sinister".

HHMMM loud rabbit, makes more sense now. The white brake calipers look sweet, but we all know that was a horrible idea. Overall the car is a looker.

It should be a freaking factory option like with a mini!

Oh Snap! Factory pimped auto.

You can actually order your MKV with that body kit on it...