India, June 19 -- The Volkswagen Golf GTI needs little introduction. It is one of the most storied names in motoring history, the car that essentially invented the hot hatch genre in 1976. Half a century later, the formula remains the same: Take a sensible family hatchback, drop in a proper performance engine, sharpen the chassis, and make the whole thing practical enough to live with every single day.

Volkswagen handed me the keys for a weekend, so I whisked it the GTI off to Mahabaleshwar, and from the first kilometre, the GTI made a strong case for itself.

The 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder makes 265 horses and 370Nm, channelled through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to the front wheels. The engine pulls cleanly from low rev...