Golf GTI Mk 7 - two months in review
Discussion
Hello all,
Thought it would be helpful to send some thoughts on first two months with my new car - which is a 2015 GTI, DSG.
Overall I am very happy. Car has been used for some B road fun, transporting my family (wife + two kids), daily short drive to train station and four mates on a long round trip.
Positives:
It is much quicker than I expected, low down torque is great. Handling and steering feel also really nice when I am able to properly test it out! Paddles on gearbox work well and allow more controlled driving.
I really like the looks and plenty of gadgets to play with, I still haven't set up the Car Net and Apps. I play music through an SD card and the sound quality is good, much better than Bluetooth.
It feels really well built and a nice place to spend time, including at night.
Room for four adults / my young family, including buggies / bags etc. Pleasantly surprised.
Keyless go is brilliant, why have I never had that before!
My car has the pano roof which makes the interior feel really light.
Pops from the exhaust on full throttle upshifts!
MPG is averaging 35, but I do quite a few shorter journeys. I am happy with the figure given the performance.
Insurance was cheaper than my diesel Volvo family wagon!
Frustrations:
Traction in the wet. I have Bridgestone S001 tyres which get mixed reviews, but under hard acceleration in first and second gears the traction control is very busy. Anyone experience with other tyre makes?
I leave it Normal driving mode most of the time now. Personally, in Sport, I am not a fan of the fake engine noise (it sounds like a diesel) and I find the gearbox too keen to quick down and steering looses feeling.
Auto hold make driving very jerky, especially parking, so I leave it switched off.
I know a few of you are waiting for your cars to come through. Hope they come soon and you enjoy as much as me.
Thought it would be helpful to send some thoughts on first two months with my new car - which is a 2015 GTI, DSG.
Overall I am very happy. Car has been used for some B road fun, transporting my family (wife + two kids), daily short drive to train station and four mates on a long round trip.
Positives:
It is much quicker than I expected, low down torque is great. Handling and steering feel also really nice when I am able to properly test it out! Paddles on gearbox work well and allow more controlled driving.
I really like the looks and plenty of gadgets to play with, I still haven't set up the Car Net and Apps. I play music through an SD card and the sound quality is good, much better than Bluetooth.
It feels really well built and a nice place to spend time, including at night.
Room for four adults / my young family, including buggies / bags etc. Pleasantly surprised.
Keyless go is brilliant, why have I never had that before!
My car has the pano roof which makes the interior feel really light.
Pops from the exhaust on full throttle upshifts!
MPG is averaging 35, but I do quite a few shorter journeys. I am happy with the figure given the performance.
Insurance was cheaper than my diesel Volvo family wagon!
Frustrations:
Traction in the wet. I have Bridgestone S001 tyres which get mixed reviews, but under hard acceleration in first and second gears the traction control is very busy. Anyone experience with other tyre makes?
I leave it Normal driving mode most of the time now. Personally, in Sport, I am not a fan of the fake engine noise (it sounds like a diesel) and I find the gearbox too keen to quick down and steering looses feeling.
Auto hold make driving very jerky, especially parking, so I leave it switched off.
I know a few of you are waiting for your cars to come through. Hope they come soon and you enjoy as much as me.
Mitch16 said:
Hello all,
Frustrations:
Traction in the wet. I have Bridgestone S001 tyres which get mixed reviews, but under hard acceleration in first and second gears the traction control is very busy. Anyone experience with other tyre makes?
I leave it Normal driving mode most of the time now. Personally, in Sport, I am not a fan of the fake engine noise (it sounds like a diesel) and I find the gearbox too keen to quick down and steering looses feeling.
Auto hold make driving very jerky, especially parking, so I leave it switched off.
I know a few of you are waiting for your cars to come through. Hope they come soon and you enjoy as much as me.
I'd agree with most of what you've said, my wife is on her 3rd MK7 gtiFrustrations:
Traction in the wet. I have Bridgestone S001 tyres which get mixed reviews, but under hard acceleration in first and second gears the traction control is very busy. Anyone experience with other tyre makes?
I leave it Normal driving mode most of the time now. Personally, in Sport, I am not a fan of the fake engine noise (it sounds like a diesel) and I find the gearbox too keen to quick down and steering looses feeling.
Auto hold make driving very jerky, especially parking, so I leave it switched off.
I know a few of you are waiting for your cars to come through. Hope they come soon and you enjoy as much as me.
I've not tried a performance pack car but wonder if the diff makes a difference to the traction issues, my old vrs dsg had the same problems.
Normal mode is the first thing i do when i get into the wifes car, the sport engine noise grates on me too!
Auto hold makes more sense in a manual than a dsg, in a manual its a great feature, in a DSG car it seems pointless as when in drive the car won't roll back anyway!
I can confirm problem with traction in the wet is no better with the performance pack, mines also got Pirelli tyres which I'm not overly impressed with in the damp. Going to try Goodyear Eagle F1's next, found them good on my old car.
I agree the fake engine noise is a bit crap!
I've got it in manual, sometimes I find the gear shift a bit stiff/notchy...anyone else?
Here's mine
I agree the fake engine noise is a bit crap!
I've got it in manual, sometimes I find the gear shift a bit stiff/notchy...anyone else?
Here's mine
Another DSG GTI owner and I agree they are great cars.
Surprised by the comments on autohold though, I just leave it alone and it does it's thing perfectly, when coming to a stop it just holds the car and stops it creeping forward rather than rolling back like a manual would.
The radar cruise works really well in traffic with the dsg box and the autohold on too. It will completely bring the car to a stop when it detects the traffic has stopped, press the res button and it will move away again. You need to trust the technology but it's great in crawling traffic.
I have a PP and it does struggle in the wet especially with bridgestones on. I'm going to try some pilot sports next as mine are down to 3mm all round after 22k miles.
Surprised by the comments on autohold though, I just leave it alone and it does it's thing perfectly, when coming to a stop it just holds the car and stops it creeping forward rather than rolling back like a manual would.
The radar cruise works really well in traffic with the dsg box and the autohold on too. It will completely bring the car to a stop when it detects the traffic has stopped, press the res button and it will move away again. You need to trust the technology but it's great in crawling traffic.
I have a PP and it does struggle in the wet especially with bridgestones on. I'm going to try some pilot sports next as mine are down to 3mm all round after 22k miles.
marcusgrant said:
I can confirm problem with traction in the wet is no better with the performance pack, mines also got Pirelli tyres which I'm not overly impressed with in the damp. Going to try Goodyear Eagle F1's next, found them good on my old car.
I've got Pirelli's on my VRS 230 and concur - absolutely rubbish in the wet / damp. It's not as if the grip breaks away, it's just not there in the first place.I'll be going for the same (F1 Asym3) when they need replacing, and will probably do all four.
Only 2 days in with mine, but made up with it so far. Pano roof really makes a difference as Mitch says. I'm just waiting for the leaks and rattles;-) I'm finding the ACC somewhat nerve wracking, and I get cramp in my right leg covering the brake 'just in case'. I'm too old to put my trust in modern tech! Only niggle so far is that the 'mode' button is obscured by the dsg shift, obviously set up for lhd.
stuart_83 said:
marcusgrant said:
I can confirm problem with traction in the wet is no better with the performance pack, mines also got Pirelli tyres which I'm not overly impressed with in the damp. Going to try Goodyear Eagle F1's next, found them good on my old car.
I've got Pirelli's on my VRS 230 and concur - absolutely rubbish in the wet / damp. It's not as if the grip breaks away, it's just not there in the first place.I'll be going for the same (F1 Asym3) when they need replacing, and will probably do all four.
I've changed to the Goodyear Eagles much more grippier and very quiet.
been a while since we've had a two wheel drive car so will be interesting to see how we find it - never had an auto and front wheel drive before either!I found the traction to be poor on my GTD DSG with the factory Bridgestones. Changed for Avons in the Summer which seemed an improvement at the time but now back to being poor particularly in the wet/ damp. I don't understand why it's so bad for this, I had a Mk5 GTI a few years ago running on Dunlops up front which never struggled for grip ever.
My Auto Hold has been playing up a lot recently too. Quite often it won't apply on hills and the car will roll back slightly then apply the EPB itself. Then on flatter surfaces I've had problems with it applying but giving a message saying 'Press brake pedal'. The worst has been this week when it's failed to release and kept the brakes on whilst I've been trying to pull away
Lovely cars otherwise!
My Auto Hold has been playing up a lot recently too. Quite often it won't apply on hills and the car will roll back slightly then apply the EPB itself. Then on flatter surfaces I've had problems with it applying but giving a message saying 'Press brake pedal'. The worst has been this week when it's failed to release and kept the brakes on whilst I've been trying to pull away
Lovely cars otherwise!
Another pp owner here, had it exactly 3 years now from new. Came with Bridgestones fitted from the factory and they were awful! Replaced them after about 9k miles for pilot sport 4's and it immediate transformed the grip on setting off, especially in the wet.
Now the tyres are half worn, I'm noticing it's not as grippy as it was.
Still very happy with the car, it's a perfect spec for me and drives great. Can see me keeping it at least a couple more years.
Now the tyres are half worn, I'm noticing it's not as grippy as it was.
Still very happy with the car, it's a perfect spec for me and drives great. Can see me keeping it at least a couple more years.
Good question, I've been looking at options and trying to work out if I need one or not.
In the first 3 years it's had new rear disks and pads due to excessive noise, a new rear speaker and the water pump mounting replaced due to a leak, so touch-wood, nothing much so far.
I've always been dubious about 3rd party warranties, they always seem to have a get out clause, but the vw one isn't cheap, though it has excess options to keep the premium down.
In the first 3 years it's had new rear disks and pads due to excessive noise, a new rear speaker and the water pump mounting replaced due to a leak, so touch-wood, nothing much so far.
I've always been dubious about 3rd party warranties, they always seem to have a get out clause, but the vw one isn't cheap, though it has excess options to keep the premium down.
Traction in the wet isn't a problem. It's simply the same as it is on every other 2WD car...the tyres aren't great don't get me wrong, but I think the car does a decent job of scrabbling around in the wet.
The first thing you have to do is at least get the car in ESC Sport. This turns ASR off and knocks the ESC down a level. With ASR on, it cuts the power massively! It keeps power smooth, but literally strangles the cars performance. With ASR off and ESC in sport you can have a little slip, but not too much - I find it fun! Also being turbo it's quite fun having to get on the throttle really early in order to get the boost ready to pull you out of the corner! Being used to a big NA V8 recently it took some adjusting...
Wheel hop - yes. This is very bad.
The first thing you have to do is at least get the car in ESC Sport. This turns ASR off and knocks the ESC down a level. With ASR on, it cuts the power massively! It keeps power smooth, but literally strangles the cars performance. With ASR off and ESC in sport you can have a little slip, but not too much - I find it fun! Also being turbo it's quite fun having to get on the throttle really early in order to get the boost ready to pull you out of the corner! Being used to a big NA V8 recently it took some adjusting...
Wheel hop - yes. This is very bad.
russy01 said:
Traction in the wet isn't a problem. It's simply the same as it is on every other 2WD car...the tyres aren't great don't get me wrong, but I think the car does a decent job of scrabbling around in the wet.
The first thing you have to do is at least get the car in ESC Sport. This turns ASR off and knocks the ESC down a level. With ASR on, it cuts the power massively! It keeps power smooth, but literally strangles the cars performance. With ASR off and ESC in sport you can have a little slip, but not too much - I find it fun! Also being turbo it's quite fun having to get on the throttle really early in order to get the boost ready to pull you out of the corner! Being used to a big NA V8 recently it took some adjusting...
Wheel hop - yes. This is very bad.
He's correct, once on the move the grip is very good, it's setting off from standing which is the issue - more so when wet. The first thing you have to do is at least get the car in ESC Sport. This turns ASR off and knocks the ESC down a level. With ASR on, it cuts the power massively! It keeps power smooth, but literally strangles the cars performance. With ASR off and ESC in sport you can have a little slip, but not too much - I find it fun! Also being turbo it's quite fun having to get on the throttle really early in order to get the boost ready to pull you out of the corner! Being used to a big NA V8 recently it took some adjusting...
Wheel hop - yes. This is very bad.
I came from an r32 which had incredible grip from stationary. I don't remember cars I had before that being quite so quick to spin the front wheels.
I use http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?board=117.... but there is still a fair few with R's on there.
I've had my manual PP for eight months from new; I agree with most points already made. The best thing about the car is its versatility - it does most things very, very well including being a fun drive when conditions allow (not much recently, roll on decent weather). I think the build quality is good, performance is all you can need or use on public roads, mine has no squeaks or rattles, and the spec level (mine has DCC and Dynaudio) is spot on. I like the understated looks too.
Any negatives? Well, traction from stationary in the wet isn't great. The engine noise (I've turned the sound simulator down to zero) isn't especially nice, and.....that's it.
I have no desire to change which is unusual for me. I normally get bored after six months; looks like this one is a keeper.
Any negatives? Well, traction from stationary in the wet isn't great. The engine noise (I've turned the sound simulator down to zero) isn't especially nice, and.....that's it.
I have no desire to change which is unusual for me. I normally get bored after six months; looks like this one is a keeper.
Brave Fart said:
I've had my manual PP for eight months from new; I agree with most points already made. The best thing about the car is its versatility - it does most things very, very well including being a fun drive when conditions allow (not much recently, roll on decent weather). I think the build quality is good, performance is all you can need or use on public roads, mine has no squeaks or rattles, and the spec level (mine has DCC and Dynaudio) is spot on. I like the understated looks too.
Any negatives? Well, traction from stationary in the wet isn't great. The engine noise (I've turned the sound simulator down to zero) isn't especially nice, and.....that's it.
I have no desire to change which is unusual for me. I normally get bored after six months; looks like this one is a keeper.
Feel much the timeAny negatives? Well, traction from stationary in the wet isn't great. The engine noise (I've turned the sound simulator down to zero) isn't especially nice, and.....that's it.
I have no desire to change which is unusual for me. I normally get bored after six months; looks like this one is a keeper.
You own yours otutright? Cash purchase?
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