VW Hits Back At GTI Track Durability Criticism From Hyundai's N Boss
It seems Albert Biermann - boss of Hyundai’s fledgling N department - has been rather outspoken this week. Not only has he had a moan at Nurburgring records (they’re a “waste of time,” he said) - the former BMW M man also took it upon himself to have a pop at the VW Golf GTI.
“There can be [Golf] GTIs that are suitable for the track driving, but if you take the standard GTI, it’s not like that,” Biermann told Australian journalists the Detroit Auto Show. “It’s a great car…but after two laps the fun is over,” he added. When pressed as to what he thought would deteriorate over those two laps, he said “everything.” Ouch.
Naturally, such audacious comments didn’t go unnoticed at camp VW. According to Motoring, VW Australia managing director Michael Bartsch has responded. “Extraordinary claims are being made for supposed rivals that are not yet on sale,” he said.
“While any skunkworks can turn out a track day special, the expertise and experience required to engineer a GTI or an R - cars that also excel in the real world - is rather more hard won,” he went on to say.
Will that be the end of it, or is this just the start of a war of words between the two brands? We’ll have to wait and see. For now, Hyundai N is readying the new Veloster N for a launch in the USA this September, while in Europe the I30 N is on sale now, with an Australian market debut happening later this year.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Nurburgring records is a waste of time but then bash cars that supposedly can’t do more than 2 laps..?
Makes sense
Track driving and chasing record times are two different things!
If it’s after two laps of the Nurburgring then I’d be happy
Two laps on the Nurburgring but the point is that the GTI isn’t good on track at all according to the head of the N Division
In other news, certain competitors have lashed out against Disklok this week claiming the device to be “finished after one hit”. Disklok responded to the bogus claims by saying “It is difficult to make a device which defends a car and is simple to use, so far we are awaiting competition.”
Finished after one hit? I bet that “hit” would destroy the car.
I bought a car cheap before as someone had a dislock and lost the key. Worst 2hrs of my life trying to get it off 😂
#cheekydisklok
Oh how many car channels will milk this and do a head to head. lol
Well, it wasn’t on track, but… https://www.carthrottle.com/post/vw-golf-gti-vs-hyundai-i30-n-can-the-newbie-beat-the-establishment/
Well, he didn’t provide proof it doesn’t melt after two laps and went on about it being a great daily driver.
The GTi is a everyday hot hatch designed to work in the real world. It’s never been claimed to be a track day weapon.
Hell our work A45 struggles on track after a handful of laps.
It’s like me telling biermann his N cars lack house moving luggage capacity prowess.
Only one way to settle this. A shootout proving who is best once and for all - VW Golf GTI vs Hyundai i30N. Winner gets crowned King of the Hot hatches for the day.
Nope GTI Clubsport VS. i30 then we will see whats up.
The Golf GTI is not a track car. Period. If you want track performance, you can buy far more performance in the form of a Golf R, Civic Type R, Focus RS or plenty of other cars for just a little more money. The GTI is for those who don’t want too much power and simply want a fun daily that isn’t too overboard.
I’d argue that guys like me who drive GTI’s drive them because we can’t afford R’s and R32s! Definitely not because I don’t want too much power haha
This guy needs to chill. Who’s he after next, MINI and Ford for their cars? Might as well go after Porsche or something.
I mean…this is the ex vp engineer of BMW’S Mseries…his criticism actually holds merit
That’s a bit ironic then considering a lot of m cars can’t handle more than a handful of laps before the brakes give out.
I mean… Yeah, but he also left BMW M, and now works at Hyundai, not exactly known for fast cars… Which have chosen to name their “motorsport” division as “N” with a logo that looks like VWs “R”, AND claims Nurburgring records are useless…
“Extraordinary claims are being made for supposed rivals that are not yet on sale,”
Enough said hahahaha