A new GTI is still a year away and VW isn’t ready to let us drive it, so we call shotgun to get an early look at the eighth generation of the iconic hot hatch.

Shotgun is not the seat I’d usually choose when it comes to the Volkswagen GTI—a car that exists to please drivers. But this is the eighth-generation model, not due to reach U.S. dealerships until late 2021, and VW won’t let me drive it yet. Still, I’ve got one of the world’s best test facilities all to myself for the next hour or so and a chauffeur. I’ll make an exception.

After filling out enough paperwork to see Donald Trump’s tax returns, I am allowed inside the heavily guarded perimeter of Volkswagen’s vast Ehra-Lessien proving ground near Wolfsburg, Germany. Karsten Schebsdat, VW’s head of driving dynamics, takes the wheel. With me as his passenger, he fires the new GTI flat out along a seemingly never-ending straight: ultrasmooth, four lanes wide in places, and a mesmerizing 5.4 miles in length.
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