Volkswagen unveiled the new eighth generation Golf GTI earlier this year in February and starting today, the UK order books have now opened with prices starting at £33,460. We covered all the new aspects of the Mk8 GTI earlier the year but we’ll run down the specs in this article.

The new Golf GTI is based on the existing Mk8 Golf which was launched last year, with a new modern interior, less physical buttons, more haptics and capacitive controls. GTI fans will be pleased to know that the engine in the new car is roughly the same with a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine producing 242bhp which is on par with the GTI Performance from the last generation, the standard GTI had 228bhp in the old car.

On the inside, the option of a manual gearbox is the default configuration with the DSG offered as a step up, the six speed manual starts at £33,460 and the DSG version starting at £34,960. The tartan seat has been changed a bit, with the current up! GTI and Polo GTI the design is a bit louder, in the new Golf it seems to have been toned down slightly but there are red accent lights in on the dash, in the door pockets and in the centre console too.

Orders start today with deliveries taking place in October for the DSG model and the manual cars starting in November. The online configurator on volkswagen.co.uk is also live today.

Source: Volkswagen UK