2017 Golf GTi DSG
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zedx19

Original Poster:

2,981 posts

156 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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Previous car thread here, which I'll touch on -> https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

So after nearly 4 years with a 5 cylinder ST I decided it was time to move on. I'd had massive fun with the ST, it was utterly reliable and huge fun down B roads, making sounds reminiscent of Group B rally cars. It was never the finest handling thing, the interiors are a bit low rent but purely as a fun B road blaster I still thing it's hard to beat. My wife was nagging at me to "Grow up" and get out that silly, loud boy racer car. I'd also come a long way career wise with a promotion to director coming April time. So I thought I'd get something a tad more sensible and less shouty when I arrive at clients offices, when face to face meetings return anyway.

So here we are, a 2017 MK7 Golf GTi DSG with optional 19" Brescia alloys and tartan interior






For me, a GTi needs tartan, it needs to be 5 door for practicality (I have 4 kids) and I wanted DSG. Just so happened that one of my closest friends was trying to sell his in this exact spec, so BACs him the cash and collected last week at a very good price.

Not really driven it in anger yet, but when I did I was surprised at how quickly it picked up pace, considering the relatively low BHP figures. It's obviously very nice inside, well made, well equipped and easy to drive. See how I get on when restrictions are lifted and I can get back to some travelling for work.

scoey1001

857 posts

97 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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Looks great, I also have a White 5 door dsg with tartan interior but mine is almost 10 years older. Really are excellent all rounders, any plans for modifications remap etc?

Alfahorn

7,800 posts

224 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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Nice car OP. I agree the GTI has to have tartan. It actually also ages better than the VW leather.

Martyn76

764 posts

133 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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I keep looking at GTIs, I see it has the red GTI lettering on the boot lid, is it a Performance model (245hp)?

Aunty Pasty

785 posts

54 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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Martyn76 said:
I keep looking at GTIs, I see it has the red GTI lettering on the boot lid, is it a Performance model (245hp)?
Yes the red lettering indicates the performance pack (amongst other things).

Very nice. I've got a 66 plate (pre-facelift) PP model. I do clean my own car but can't keep the exhaust tips clean like in this example.

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,981 posts

156 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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I did tweak my previous ST, sports cat, map, RS bits and bobs on it but that car felt like it needed more. I'm not entirely sure a GTi should be tweaked, I see it as a great all rounder and any tweaks will just make part of it better, part of it worse. Will see how I get on with it though, it certainly feels perky and I was worried it might feel sluggish after my ST which was around 270bhp.

Not a Performance Pack one no, just a normal GTi as far as I'm aware?

One thing that I have found annoying, VW building things into the car then expect the customer to pay to "unlock" them. It has a button for voice control, you press it, "Voice control not unlocked, contact VW", I contact VW, "That'll be £307 sir". There's a "App Connect" option which allows you to use carplay/android auto, press the button, "App connect not unlocked, contact VW", "That'll be £250 to unlock sir". No hardware required, just software! Place down the road will unlock both for 100 quid.

scoey1001

857 posts

97 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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Look into obdeleven. You can do quite a lot of mods/coding with it, not sure if it does the ones listed above but it could well do.

Also it should be a performance pack with the red badge I think. Has more bhp, limited slip diff and bigger brakes. Have you got driving modes? If so there should be an option to lock/unlock the front differential, one way to tell.

Edit: Dsg with performance pack will be 7 speed rather than 6.

Edited by scoey1001 on Wednesday 3rd March 16:03


Edited by scoey1001 on Wednesday 3rd March 16:06


Edited by scoey1001 on Wednesday 3rd March 16:07

Court_S

14,343 posts

193 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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Looks nice OP.

The Mk7/7.5 GTI is a cracking looking car that covers a lot of bases. I came pretty close to buying a TCR.

The options built in as standard that they want you to pay for a bit annoying. My vRS was the same too; hardware there as stock but they expected a few hundred quid for it to be active.

HCB95

34 posts

120 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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Great allrounder. I had a three door March 18 PP, I really enjoyed the ownership experience. Moved on to an S3 but the GTI is a very fine machine.

rob_golfgti

87 posts

213 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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My understanding is that the PP came with silver or red badges.
My 2014 PP had a silver badge which I’ve now replaced with a red one.
Quickest way to check if it’s a PP is the larger front callipers with the Gti sticker on them.

Ashtray83

578 posts

184 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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Martyn76 said:
I keep looking at GTIs, I see it has the red GTI lettering on the boot lid, is it a Performance model (245hp)?
Looks to be a mk7 not 7.5 so the gti is 216hp pp model is 230hp.. as far as I’m aware the badge colouring depends on the body colour my mk7 pp in red has a chrome badge fantastic cars and I love mine hope the op will to

Dannbodge

2,289 posts

137 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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Like the GTi, if they weren't so expensive I would have got one instead of the Leon cupra.

These have an overboost function if I recall.

SKM1984

215 posts

165 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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I'm not sure if its the angle of the pictures or whether the car has been lowered?

The arch to tyre gap looks much smaller than mine

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,981 posts

156 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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Pretty sure it's not a PP, looks like someone else probably stuck red badges on it? It's 6 speed, there's no GTI calipers, there's no diff lock option in drive mode. Not that I'm bothered, I knew it was a regular GTi, the price was very low, I couldn't justify chucking another few grand for a diff and bigger brakes.

Also not lowered as far as I'm aware, my drives sloped so it may just be how it sits on the drive.

Noticed this morning the indicators in the wing mirrors are sequential, this standard or has someone coded this? Been looking into coding, all the solutions seem expensive though and you have to buy credits to do anything?

scoey1001

857 posts

97 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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zedx19 said:
Pretty sure it's not a PP, looks like someone else probably stuck red badges on it? It's 6 speed, there's no GTI calipers, there's no diff lock option in drive mode. Not that I'm bothered, I knew it was a regular GTi, the price was very low, I couldn't justify chucking another few grand for a diff and bigger brakes.

Also not lowered as far as I'm aware, my drives sloped so it may just be how it sits on the drive.

Noticed this morning the indicators in the wing mirrors are sequential, this standard or has someone coded this? Been looking into coding, all the solutions seem expensive though and you have to buy credits to do anything?
On the obdeleven i mentioned above you get free credits for logging in and for watching videos, not as tiresome as it sounds and you very quickly build them up. I bought the standard version for £40 and you can do loads with it.

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,981 posts

156 months

Wednesday 26th May 2021
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Coming up to 3 months with this now, not really done many miles still in it, 2k ish. Had an oil and oil filter service, changed the air filter for a ram air panel filter, removed the snow guard for a bit of turbo noise. Also changed the boot drain pipe which had corroded, easy and cheap to do myself.

Not much to report on it really, it's just a fantastic all round hot hatch. Corners and roundabouts are fun, surprisingly playful and never seems to wash out, the front grips more and tugs you in when you apply power mid corner, it's a lot of fun. Wish there was a bit more engine/exhaust noise tbh, but I still want it to be silent for day to day driving. Even in Sport mode it never makes much noise imo, apart from DSG farts when flat out.

Do have the occasional low speed rattle, mainly when I reverse onto my drive, sounds like top mounts? Checked myself, found no play, had my local mechanic check when he serviced it, can't find any play in any of the suspension, all seems fine.

Also thinking about getting Carplay activated, just finding the time to visit a specialist to get it coded for 100 quid.

Photo of it in my office carpark with 2 apprentices cars, M135i and a Clubsport...



Edited by zedx19 on Wednesday 26th May 09:52

ahenners

617 posts

142 months

Thursday 27th May 2021
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How much do the apprentices get paid?!

Court_S

14,343 posts

193 months

Friday 28th May 2021
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ahenners said:
How much do the apprentices get paid?!
It was always the young uns who had the best cars in our office; guess that’s the joy of your first proper job and living at home without responsibilities.

Glad to hear that it’s treating you well OP.

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,981 posts

156 months

Wednesday 16th August 2023
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Big change on the GTi, managed to kerb a Brescia and crack another with all showing signs of white worm, diamond cut alloys are a nightmare. So I've taken them off and plan on selling them on after they've been refurbished. I've gone for these, which I need to finish off with wheel nut caps and VW centre caps, gun metal grey 19" Pretoria wheels. Apart from that, the GTi has given me no trouble, now on 63k ish, still love driving it down the B roads but its equally a great at long distance motorway treks.



tvrfan007

413 posts

190 months

Friday 18th August 2023
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Looks very nice on the Pretoria wheels, I always liked them. If you managed to crack a Brescia you're going to need to tread lightly with Pretorias from what I've read!

Diamond cut are depressing, my Santiagos all look a bit worse for wear and I run winters!