Ofer Levin GTI

Hello, I’m Ofer. I’m a driver living in Israel. I am a fan of cars, engines, and driving. You can read my blog with a click on the button above.

What The GTI Buzz is All About

It all started when Volkswagen launched the iconic and ever-popular VW Beetle. This car was so popular that it was in production for over sixty years! Then the VW Golf arrived. Initially built to be the front-engine version of the Beetle, the Golf has grown to be one of the most popular cars of all time – especially the ‘hot hatch’ version of it, the GTI. Here are some cool facts about Golfs and GTIs:

1. A LOT of Golfs have been sold – With more than 30 million Golfs produced between 1974 and 2013 VW Golf is the 2nd best-selling car of all time in the automotive industry.

2. The GTI is the top seller – The GTI is the brand’s best-selling model ever.

3. Nobody knows how it was named – Rumour has it that Golf was named after the wind current Gulf Stream and that this naming convention continued with Jetta (Jet Stream), Scirocco (Sirocco) and Passat (Trade Wind), but nobody really knows.

4. The Golf GTI was conceived after hours – The ‘hot hatch’ version of Golf was developed in evenings and on weekends by a group of engineers working on improving the car’s performance.

5. GTI was planned as a limited series – Although only 5,000 GTIs were going to be produced, over 2 million of these iconic cars have been sold.

6. The new GTI can almost drive itself – The new GTI can drive semi-autonomously at up to 60kph.

7. The latest GTIs offer programmable modes – These modes are ‘Normal’ and ‘Sport’ but both can be tweaked to suit your driving mood.

8. GTI stands for Grand Tourismo Injection

9. GTIs are fast - The ‘Design Vision GTI’ has a top speed of a whopping 300km/h!

10. GTIs have doubled in power – The first engine of the first Golf GTI produced 109 horsepower. The 7th generation GTIs send a total of 218 horsepower to the car’s front wheels.