The CAR Magazine team was the recent custodian of the heavily armoured SVI Golf GTI, which is capable of withstanding a barrage of AK-47 rounds. It carries a bit of weight to protect its occupants and we have compiled testing data to show the differences this translates to in the real world. 
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Tested in the December issue of 2021, the then box-fresh Golf GTI delivered improved performance from its seventh-generation predecessor. It retained the Volkswagen Group EA888 motor which has been the trusted powertrain choice of the nameplate for several generations and almost two decades. In this configuration, it was capable of topping out at 250 km/h. Our acceleration testing showed the hot hatch sprint to 100 km/h from a standstill in 6.48 seconds. On the other end of the spectrum, the 377 kg heavier SVI GTI, donned with hefty armouring, completed this test in 7.08 seconds. Speaking of mass, the standard model tipped the scales at 1 466 kg while SVI’s creation came in expectedly heavier at 1 843 kg. As a matter of interest, the aforementioned windscreen comes in at R172 000 while the left rear tyre, a Continental SportContact 7, will set the buyer back R4 200.
Related: The SVI Armoured VW Golf GTI Can Withstand an AK47 Assault!
When looking at in-gear acceleration, the standard Golf GTI would manage the 40-60 km/h under full throttle at 1.31 seconds while the armoured model surprisingly completed it in 1.19 seconds. Further up the range, the lighter model fared better, managing to move the needle from 120 km/h to 140 km/h in only 2.68 seconds while the armoured model achieved the same result in 2.85 seconds.
Related: Road Test Figures: SVI Armoured VW Golf GTI
Equally as important as its acceleration abilities is how quickly it can come to a stop. Over 10 stops from 100 km/h to a standstill, the best-recorded measurement for the standard GTI was 2.71 seconds with an average stopping distance of 37 metres. Surprisingly, the armoured model improved on this with a best of 2.57 seconds with the worst being 2.60 seconds, which averages out to 2.59 seconds. This correlated with an average stopping distance of 34.41 metres.
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