We’ve just got behind the wheel of a right-hand-drive UK Mk.6 Golf GTi for the first time.

And we didn’t have to drive far to confirm our suspicions it will continue the huge success of the Mk.5 GTi thanks to small but significant improvements throughout the car.

Our time behind the wheel was spent attacking the Alpine Handling circuit at the Millbrook testing facility – a mini Nurburgring set in the Bedfordshire countryside.

With its fierce hairpin bends, bumps and yumps it was the perfect place to put the suspension tweaks through their paces and test the pull of the revised engine on its steep inclines.

Turning into the first downhill sweeping bend the Golf instantly feels alive, and after a few laps of the circuit designed to test car’s handling traits to the max, we’re sure there’s an extra precision to be found in the new set up. It feels like the Mk.5 turned up to 11.

Adaptive Chassis Control (ACC) is available as an option, allowing you to cycle between ‘comfort’, ‘normal’ and ‘sport’ modes encompassing adaptive suspension dampers, steering weight and throttle response.

It’s a system we’re very familiar with in the Scirocco, and ‘normal’ offers a good compromise for British roads, while the ‘comfort’ make sense for motorway cruising and ‘sport’ is best saved for smooth tarmac and track days.

A system Volkswagen call ‘XDS’ is fitted as standard, braking a front wheel if it becomes unruly as you power out of a bend, and giving you more traction and control.

It’s a less hardcore take on the proper mechanical limited slip differential fitted to the Megane R26.R and Ford Focus RS, which are altogether more extreme hatchbacks.

Cool and composed

So, the Golf remains even more composed than before on corner exit, and is even more driver-friendly. XDS is a worthy addition to the car and should particularly help owners not used to such an abundance of pulling power from very low revs.

While it’s built to a similar specification, the 2-litre turbocharged engine is new, and produces 207bhp (10bhp increase) and 206lb/ft of pulling power.

It’s not the extra pace which strikes you at first, but the aural boost inside the cabin. Volkswagen has tuned the engine note to perfection and it has a rich exhaust blare when you accelerate hard.

Importantly, it also quietens down when you just want to get home late without waking the neighbours.

It’s available with either a six-speed manual or DSG semi-automatic with the same number or ratios, and it was the latter which took our fancy. Incredibly quick gear changes accompanied by all the right noises from the exhaust, make this a system which is as good as ever.

Is it quicker?

To say the latest GTi feels much faster than the Mk.5 would be an exaggeration – there’s not much in it, and it shares the same 6.9 second 0-62mph acceleration time, while its top speed has grown by only 3mph.

But, the engine does feels cleaner-revving, with an even better spread of torque and power than before.

We’ll have to wait for hot Golf R model for even more pace. It’s expected to use a hardcore version of the previous GTi engine, tuned to more than 260bhp.

Die-hard GTi fans may be disappointed the Golf is no longer at the front of the pack when it comes to power outputs and outright grip, but it seems the GTi is now carving out a niche all of its own.

Although it might sound boring, the GTi is becoming the sensible choice and best all-round ownership proposition by a country mile.

Its emissions of 170g/km are simply sensational - a massive 54g/km lower than the Focus ST and 30g/km lower than the Megane R26 (which is now out of production).

It represents a 19g/km improvement over the Mk.5, and the fuel consumption has improved to a respectable 38.7mpg too.

So it still conforms to the ethos of the original Mk.1 – a model with the performance of a sports car and the practicality and running costs of a hatchback.

Watch the New Car Net Mk.6 Golf video review: