The Mega Mk7 Golf GTI/GTD/R thread

Casati

Lovely car but I’d fear that it’s the type of car that might have your old ‘friends’ calling around in the middle of the night again so make sure you up the security, eg steering wheel lock etc

JoeA3

Perhaps, but my feeling (hope) is that they wanted the fast Golf. I don't think a diesel saloon fits the bill. There's plenty of similar bm's, audi's, merc's in the area and they've had no hassle.

carsfan2

I don’t think the BMW will be the magnet that the R was at all.
It’s a stylish car no doubt but performance wise the golf is another league and for this reason fast golfs seem to be targets for thieves.

DaveyDave

Looks well Joe

JoeA3

carsfan2 wrote: »

I don’t think the BMW will be the magnet that the R was at all.
It’s a stylish car no doubt but performance wise the golf is another league and for this reason fast golfs seem to be targets for thieves.

The VW's are also a big target for a certain scumbag minority (we all know the types I'm talking about) who are attracted to them like magpies to a set of shiny forks. Thieving of expensive parts (e.g. my door mirrors) are getting more and more common and it seems to be primarily VW's that are hit. I know of at least 3 other guys first hand who've had the misfortune of looking out their window one morning to see their car on blocks / missing lights / spoilers / bumpers. It beggars belief. And much like the tradesmen tools thefts that was in the news last week, the Gardai are either helpless or inept at dealing with it.

Of course there's no guarantees I won't have hassle again... touch wood, fingers crossed, etc, etc.

vintagevrs

JoeA3 wrote: »

like magpies to a set of shiny forks.

Is that an actually saying

JoeA3

vintagevrs wrote: »

Is that an actually saying

Possibly not :pac: but you get the idea!

bazz26

I'm no my third BMW and never had any problems with any bits being stolen. Had a Passat CC in between them and scum took tried to steel the front fog light from it overnight. Thankfully they must have been disturbed as they had the bracket off and were trying to force it out of the bumper before taking off The part only cost €45 new from VW ffs.

I'd say if I still had that car they probably would have tried to take the rims too as a Passat and A4 in the area had their alloy wheels stolen one night too. VAG cars with interchangeable parts are a huge target with these scumbags to either put on their own **** wagons or sell on. Those scum are attracted by GTis and Rs for that reason too but you also have the sort that target these quick cars to use as getaway cars in robberies, etc.

JoeA3

I read on the local news wire this morning that 3 fellas were due in front of the judge here in Galway in connection with "an alleged" armed robbery - of a filling station / pub not a million miles from me. I'm wondering if it was my 3 buddies. The 3 left the scene by car (I wonder who's car, the pr*cks!).

Anyway, maybe time to get this thread back on topic. Way too much negative chat and talk of BMW's... all my fault, sorry!

I've read a few more concrete / believable looking stories in the last few days that the MK8 Golf is going to start production by mid 2019 - barely 18 months away. I wonder how far behind the performance variants will be this time. The GTI took about 6 months, the R 12 months, last time round. Maybe VW will focus more on the hybrid side of things in the next generation...

carsfan2

JoeA3 wrote: »

I read on the local news wire this morning that 3 fellas were due in front of the judge here in Galway in connection with "an alleged" armed robbery - of a filling station / pub not a million miles from me. I'm wondering if it was my 3 buddies. The 3 left the scene by car (I wonder who's car, the pr*cks!).

Anyway, maybe time to get this thread back on topic. Way too much negative chat and talk of BMW's... all my fault, sorry!

I've read a few more concrete / believable looking stories in the last few days that the MK8 Golf is going to start production by mid 2019 - barely 18 months away. I wonder how far behind the performance variants will be this time. The GTI took about 6 months, the R 12 months, last time round. Maybe VW will focus more on the hybrid side of things in the next generation...

Joe
You only have the beemer a week and you’re researching the next golf already?
It usually takes me a full month of new car ownership before I start thinking of the next one😀

DaveyDave

What's the ride quality like Joe? I find the Golf is very good (the standard one anyway) and I keep wondering what it's like to step up to something for €40-50k, some cars near that price lack features that even the Golf has and they aren't necessarily very fast either so it must be spent towards ride quality and the overall experience.

Going from my mams rattly, plastic, bare bones i30 to the Golf is night and day in build quality, ride quality and smaller details like the dampened glove box and the bonnet holding itself up and the €20k Golf wouldn't be lacking those qualities, so it's hard to believe they're in the same price bracket.

I wonder how much of a difference there would be going from a €30k VW to something for €50k?

There's something about the side picture of the car that's striking. It looks very long!

JoeA3

DaveyDave wrote: »

What's the ride quality like Joe? I find the Golf is very good (the standard one anyway) and I keep wondering what it's like to step up to something for €40-50k, some cars near that price lack features that even the Golf has and they aren't necessarily very fast either so it must be spent towards ride quality and the overall experience.

Going from my mams rattly, plastic, bare bones i30 to the Golf is night and day in build quality, ride quality and smaller details like the dampened glove box and the bonnet holding itself up and the €20k Golf wouldn't be lacking those qualities, so it's hard to believe they're in the same price bracket.

I wonder how much of a difference there would be going from a €30k VW to something for €50k?

There's something about the side picture of the car that's striking. It looks very long!

There really isn’t a gulf in terms of interior quality. The leather is probably a better quality, the steering wheel feels chunkier and nicer in the hands, the gear change paddles are way nicer and maybe there’s some softer plastics on the doors, but really there’s not a whole lot in it tbh. The Golf, in GTI/R trim at least is really excellent in that department. Sit into a Focus or something Korean from a Golf, that’s where you’ll see a gulf.

The driving position is nicer imo as I already mentioned. But as I also said, the BM is missing some tech that’s standard in a Polo! So it’s swings and roundabouts tbh.

The wheels are 19’s, it’s on MSport suspension, run flat tyres, but it’s definitely more softly sprung than the Golf. Nowhere near as harsh. For example I used to take the child seat out of the Golf when not in use as it used to rattle like crazy! It doesn’t rattle in the BM.

I was used to and did enjoy (most of the time) a stiffer ride, so the BM feels a bit more wafty on the bumps to me. On the move it’s far quieter than the Golf. A lot less (almost none) tyre roar and as is the way with diesels, it revs much lower at cruising speed so there’s little engine noise. It should be a more comfortable long distance cruiser but I reckon if it’s a backroads sprint you fancy, then it would be the Golf every day of the week!

MarkN

JoeA3 wrote: »

There really isn’t a gulf in terms of interior quality. The leather is probably a better quality, the steering wheel feels chunkier and nicer in the hands, the gear change paddles are way nicer and maybe there’s some softer plastics on the doors, but really there’s not a whole lot in it tbh. The Golf, in GTI/R trim at least is really excellent in that department. Sit into a Focus or something Korean from a Golf, that’s where you’ll see a gulf.

The driving position is nicer imo as I already mentioned. But as I also said, the BM is missing some tech that’s standard in a Polo! So it’s swings and roundabouts tbh.

The wheels are 19’s, it’s on MSport suspension, run flat tyres, but it’s definitely more softly sprung than the Golf. Nowhere near as harsh. For example I used to take the child seat out of the Golf when not in use as it used to rattle like crazy! It doesn’t rattle in the BM.

I was used to and did enjoy (most of the time) a stiffer ride, so the BM feels a bit more wafty on the bumps to me. On the move it’s far quieter than the Golf. A lot less (almost none) tyre roar and as is the way with diesels, it revs much lower at cruising speed so there’s little engine noise. It should be a more comfortable long distance cruiser but I reckon if it’s a backroads sprint you fancy, then it would be the Golf every day of the week!

Are you enjoying RWD at all? It’s one thing that would keep me in a BMW. Quattro yeah no problem but 11 years now I’m driving them, it’s hard to think of going to purely FWD again.

JoeA3

MarkN wrote: »

Are you enjoying RWD at all? It’s one thing that would keep me in a BMW. Quattro yeah no problem but 11 years now I’m driving them, it’s hard to think of going to purely FWD again.

Yep I am, the sensation of being pushed rather than being pulled is a good one.

DaveyDave

The back end of RWD sliding is also more fun than FWD understeer

Toyotafanboi

Just a simple question from me, I've no doubt the BMW is loaded with kit but how does it feel going from an auto gearbox with a fully automatic parking brake to an auto gearbox with a traditional handbrake lever?

I know we've always had handbrake levers since the year dot and it's a trivial first world problem but does it feel complicated or cumbersome now that you have to consciously reach for it again as opposed to having to do nothing at all in the Golf.

JoeA3

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Just a simple question from me, I've no doubt the BMW is loaded with kit but how does it feel going from an auto gearbox with a fully automatic parking brake to an auto gearbox with a traditional handbrake lever?

I know we've always had handbrake levers since the year dot and it's a trivial first world problem but does it feel complicated or cumbersome now that you have to consciously reach for it again as opposed to having to do nothing at all in the Golf.

Haven’t actually used it much. Putting the gearbox in Park is what a lot of owners of these cars do - unless parking up for a while / on a bad slope.

But like anything else you get used to a different setup.

It's very surprising BMW are still putting manual handbrakes and no Acc in cars such as the 420d which would be considered a realitavely high end car when vw and many other marquees such as Peugeot are putting them in their entry level models across the range never mind their high end models.

Not a dig at the spec in the car at all Joe but more wondering why Bmw appear to be leaving out these fairly obvious additions.

Having been driving a golf belonging to a family member the past few weeks I found it a big step down getting back into my own golf with a manual handbrake, maybe in an auto the difference is not as noticeable as you said as you said.

JoeA3

Ah, its just different manufacturers have their own little quirks sometimes. I expect the next generation 3/4 series will adopt an auto handbrake.

And the more "premium" the badge, the more you pay for certain things (or certain things that are standard in Polos cost big money to spec on premium cars). Adaptive cruise is a 7-800 euro option on BMW's (even the new 5 series doesn't have it standard afaik). Same goes for a lot of the Audi range afaik.

Ron Burgundy II

Congrats on the new car Joe. It looks the business, well ware.

Ron Burgundy II

I sent my car in for its final service last week. The dealer hooked up VW Connect, anyone else has it? Seems very similar to what you described Joe with the BMW app, car details, current car location, fuel level etc., but you can't lock the car.

JoeA3

Ron Burgundy II wrote: »

I sent my car in for its final service last week. The dealer hooked up VW Connect, anyone else has it? Seems very similar to what you described Joe with the BMW app, car details, current car location, fuel level etc., but you can't lock the car.

Oh yeah there was talk about that on here before. It’s a dongle they connect to the OBD port isn’t it. Needs to be left plugged into it. Some tin foil hat wearers were worried about it!

This is what the bmw app looks like. Apparently when the car is coming up for service, they will actually ring me to book the car in :
I can also use the app to send map destinations to the car and order upgrades to the infotainment can be done via the app, e.g. get CarPlay activated.

vintagevrs

11L....165km


Feck me! Nice change




Is that locate me service as good as a tracker or could someone turn it off via idrive handy enough?

JoeA3

vintagevrs wrote: »

11L....165km


Feck me! Nice change




Is that locate me service as good as a tracker or could someone turn it off via idrive handy enough?

I must read up on that a bit more actually as I do believe it can be used as a tracker of sorts. You can disable the GPS tracking in the iDrive itself but I believe you can password protect certain settings. I should look into that more!

It's very accurate too... when parked at the house it has the address correct, right down to the house number.

Ron Burgundy II

That's way more advanced than the VW one. The VW one will send you a service reminder/call from the dealer when it's due.

They never told me that they would install it and when I went to collect the car they told me I could ignore it by not downloading the app. I wonder why they're pushing it on customers if all it can really do is tell you where you parked and a few other little aspects. Is there something else VW are using this dongle for?

JoeA3

Ron Burgundy II wrote: »

That's way more advanced than the VW one. The VW one will send you a service reminder/call from the dealer when it's due.

They never told me that they would install it and when I went to collect the car they told me I could ignore it by not downloading the app. I wonder why they're pushing it on customers if all it can really do is tell you where you parked and a few other little aspects. Is there something else VW are using this dongle for?

That's what I mean about the "tin foil" hat stuff. I doubt they're doing anything other than possibly a bit of marketing / pulling you back into them for servicing, etc.

vintagevrs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgvdVjFYJ44

bazz26

So much for this thread going back on topic. Maybe a similar BMW mega thread needs to be created... :pac:

The manual handbrake in 3/4 Series is not the worst when mated with the automatic transmission as the shifter has the parking brake function anyway. You really only need to use the handbrake lever when you are stationery for a lengthy time or parking the car up and getting out. The 5 Series has an electronic parking brake with auto hold function which makes life even easier but my only bugbear is that the car doesn't remember when you last had the auto hold function engaged so every time you get into the car and start it you have to engage the auto hold function again unlike VWs which remember its last setting.

JoeA3

Possibly something that can be coded, so that it does "remember", Baz.

bazz26

Yeah must look into it a bit further.