‘... and if you need
these on, you’ve
been gone too
long.’ CAR’s JT
briefs Nathan
Horn on the M2118 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | APRIL 2019
THE BUYING DILEMMA
‘Whatever I go
for next, it’s
got to be fun’
‘I just love it,’ says reader
Nathan Horn of his Mk7 Golf
GTI. ‘In fact, it’s hard to think of
anything I don’t like about it.
Although...’
The aeronautical engineer has owned
his Golf GTI for nearly two years, and the
time is drawing near to find a replacement.
While the GTI is a fun steer, it’s still one
of the most strait-laced performance cars
you can buy and Nathan can’t help but
hanker for something a little faster and
more exciting.
‘Whatever it is, it’s got to be fun. I could
potentially take a small drop in practicality
if it’s significantly more exciting to drive.’
Versatility is important, though: ‘The
nice thing about the Golf is that in winter
you can cruise to work without thinking
it’s going to put you in the ditch, but when
it’s dry you can put the hammer down and
really enjoy it. It’s not that expensive to run,
and I haven’t had any problems with it.’
This Golf was Horn’s first brand-new
buy, taking advantage of the then-
imminent Mk7.5 facelift to get a deal on
the Mk7. ‘I wanted a three-door with the
Performance Pack [extra power, brake
upgrade, limited-slip diff] but ended up
with a standard five-door. But having not
driven one with the Performance Pack I
don’t miss it.’
Hot hatches loom large in Nathan’s
car-buying history. His first car was a Mk3
GTI (not the breed’s high-water mark),
followed by a brace of Mk2s (much better).
A Seat Ibiza Cupra and a Renault Megane
RS 225 (‘really fun to drive, just felt like it
was going to fall to bits’) followed, together
with a Mazda MX-5 Mk1 project car
(modded first with ‘cheap, nasty coil-overs,
then higher-quality ones’, plus a turbo
conversion) for road and occasional track
use. But he maintains the Mk7 GTI is the
most fun of all the cars he’s owned.
Horn’s budget has grown ever so
slightly from the high twenties the Golf cost
to a low-thirties cost-cap. Let’s see what he
makes of the trio we’ve come up with...