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The Mega Mk7 Golf GTI/GTD/R thread

carsfan

Any body with either of these able to advise on what the real world economy is of these?
There is not much between them in purchase price.
The gtd 625 euro more.
I do 25000km a year and really would prefer the gti but my head tells me the gtd is what I should be looking at.
I've only driven the gti and found it very entertaining.
Dealer says resale is the same for both of them. There is only 90 euro difference in road tax and insurance the same so fuel costs are the main financial difference.

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Ron Burgundy II

Nice post Vintagevrs

@Paddy - really interesting car, but lack of dealership support must be affecting sales. Seems only one garage in Dublin has the setup to maintain it should something outside of a general service be required.

Looking forward to reading your review.

JoeA3

Neilw wrote: »

I'm very happy with the car bar one thing, the lights are poor.

By far the worst lights I've had on a car in a long time, last car with halogen lights and lidl bulbs was better.
They have improved slightly but are still not up to the standard xenons in other cars provide. I even paid extra for dynamic lighting which makes them more disappointing.

There are good reports of people swapping the standard xenon bulbs for philips extreme vision xenon bulbs so I may go down that route.

On a positive, it's a really nice car to drive, plenty of power, well put together.
It would be nice if it made a little more real noise, the exhaust note is very tame.

Have you tried adjusting the height of the dipped beam? All you need is an Allen Key. Very simple and I've read good reports from people who've done it.

carsfan

That's a very comprehensive review vintage, thanks.
Would you change anything about the spec you have?
Do you feel it's worth the relatively small premium over a gti?

vintagevrs

I am very happy with my spec:

Options I added were:
Paint - Defo would keep the black
DSG - I would like to drive a manual for a week or two, but I am sure the DSG is the better option.
5 door - needed
Keyless - Great feature - worth the money. Also adds push button start which is nice.
Pretoria wheels - only €130, worth every cent.

Things I would like would be the Sunroof, bigger infotainment screen and upgraded audio. None of which I could justify the cost of. Quite happy without them tbh.

vintagevrs

Regarding the premium over the GTI, it's a hard one to call what that actual premium is. Slightly higher running costs and probably loose a bit more on deprecation but not a massive amount I would say yes it is worth it. Purely for the fact if I had went with a GTI I would always be wondering what the R would be like.

I read on an R forum yesterday that a member put a vbox in his car to measure acceleration. He also owns a Porsche and did the same:

Stock Golf R 5dr DSG running factory Continentals
0-60mph.... 4.25sec
1/4mile.... 12.9sec @ 106.9mph

Cayman GTS PDK running PZeros
0-60mph... 4.3sec

Ron Burgundy II

I like the grey in the Golfs... in saying that I bought a black Golf :pac:

Amazing performance results for the Golf from that test. As a matter of interest what do VW specify as the cars 0-61 time?

vintagevrs

Think VW numbers for 0-100kph are 4.9 for the DSG and 5.2 for the manual.

Donnelly117

vintagevrs wrote: »

I am very happy with my spec:

Options I added were:
Paint - Defo would keep the black
DSG - I would like to drive a manual for a week or two, but I am sure the DSG is the better option.
5 door - needed
Keyless - Great feature - worth the money. Also adds push button start which is nice.
Pretoria wheels - only €130, worth every cent.

Things I would like would be the Sunroof, bigger infotainment screen and upgraded audio. None of which I could justify the cost of. Quite happy without them tbh.

Great review, unreal car! I think I have seen it once or twice, unless there is a second black R with the pretoria wheels knocking around Cork.

I think Ive seen it on Facebook in the background of a few pics of someone I know, that or there is a second one in cork!

vintagevrs

Not me

ondafly

anyone get a dyno done ?

http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-vs-competition/34049-mk7-vw-gti-lying-through-s-grill.html

carsfan

I love the look of the black R you have vintage. In fact it was your previous pictures with the Pretoria alloys that were edging me towards one.
The sunroof and the pro nav are the two things I'd like also but wouldn't pay for.
Much as I love cars though I think the fuel economy would annoy me.
Can't have it all I suppose...

Neilw

JoeA3 wrote: »

Have you tried adjusting the height of the dipped beam? All you need is an Allen Key. Very simple and I've read good reports from people who've done it.

No I haven't tried adjusting the beam.

With the dynamic lights it seems like there is little difference between low and high beam, when the car switches to high the mask system seems to just uncover part of the bulb. It doesn't get any brighter.

JoeA3

I don't think I'd change much spec-wise if I were ordering again either. Options I spec'd were:

Pretorias - for 130 quid, you have to spec these. Far nicer and far easier to maintain.
keyless - would not have a car without it again - although some aspects of it's implementation could be better.
Leather - silly money, but I really like it, it lifts the interior feel significantly (over and above my cloth-seated GTI). And the heated seats are awesome.
5-door - essential. The car loses nothing looks wise (in fact from some angles it looks more purposeful than the 3 door) imo and it just makes the car a million times easier to live with.
DSG - I had a string of manuals and wanted to see what the hype was with DSG. I'm very happy with it but do sometimes long for the manual too. The manual box in my GTI was very slick.
Paint - Lapiz. This colour gets so much attention and rubber necking, it's incredible. Loads of people ask me about it all the time, admiring the colour. I've never had that with any car before. It really does stand out - but I understand some would rather not to stand out :pac:

Options I considered...
Nav Pro. Could not justify the cost. 1300 quid I think? FFS, you'll get a 4k 55" top end TV for that. Stupid money. I never use the Nav so it'll have been a huge premium for a slightly nicer screen.
DCC - didn't have it in the GTI and going up to 19's, I wondered if I should get it. I didn't and I don't notice any difference in ride comfort from the GTI. It's fine.
Sunroof - any car I ever had with one, it eventually rattled and buzzed. I kinda like the enclosed dark interior too. And the "pano" roof looks weird when it's open - a bit like a Sh1troen 2CV!

I'll probably get App-Connect (Apple CarPlay) retro-activated in the near future. The dealers are able to do it now - at a cost of course.

blingrhino

Think i would add the pan roof next time.

keyless standard if you go for the tech pack,€161 i think.

Ron Burgundy II

I think the nav in the Golfs is pants.

It tried to send me the wrong way on a one way road (Barrack Street) in Cork City. This one way system has been in place for a number of years.

Another day I set the nav for Blackrock when I got to the junction by the CSO it decided that the best route was through the CSO carpark

. Which has a gate on the other side so no way out.

I don't trust it.

Anyone else experience issues with it.

vintagevrs

Yeah I agree with the nav being pants. It's tried to take me some interesting ways when the route should have been obvious. Carplay/Android Auto will make it redundant.

Ron Burgundy II

I think I have carplay on the car, just need to get it activated??

Do you think its worth doing?

JoeA3

The only thing I like about the Nav is that it shows up in the MFD (the screen between the speedo and rev counter). I often have the MFD on that screen, showing the compass, current street/road name...

But I don't often use the Nav for it's actual purpose.... I suppose I usually know what direction I'm going :pac: From my limited use of it, I agree its clunky and just not that easy or effective to use.

carsfan

Have to agree the nav is poor enough.
Is it better with discover pro or just bigger screen?
Don't rate the xenons either. Better than halogens but not as bright as other cars I had.

JoeA3

carsfan wrote: »

Have to agree the nav is poor enough.
Is it better with discover pro or just bigger screen?
Don't rate the xenons either. Better than halogens but not as bright as other cars I had.

The Nav is the same in the Pro, maybe very slightly better graphics, but functionally the same.

Nonoperational

The GTD is going very well, 3k on it so far. Very impressive. However the R is always tempting me.

What sort of penalty is there for going back after 1 year on a PCP deal?

JoeA3

Nonoperational wrote: »

The GTD is going very well, 3k on it so far. Very impressive. However the R is always tempting me.

What sort of penalty is there for going back after 1 year on a PCP deal?

None! It's no different to any other loan. You'll roll into another PCP arrangement in the new car. You aren't restricted to waiting 3 years at all.

Nonoperational

But would I be hammered more with depreciation in year one? Like I reckon the GFV after 3 years of 14k is quite good, but after year one would they hammer me?

JoeA3

Nonoperational wrote: »

But would I be hammered more with depreciation in year one? Like I reckon the GFV after 3 years of 14k is quite good, but after year one would they hammer me?

Of course, but that's nothing to do with PCP. The biggest hit depreciation wise on any new car is the first 1-2 years.
I'd guesstimate that after 12 months they'll value your GTD at about 33-34k. Which means changing like for like would cost you about 7k. And upgrading to an R about 10-12k.

You'd be back to square one, new PCP arrangement, new GFV and possibly slightly higher monthlies.

vintagevrs

If you change now and your current car is on PCP. The dealer will give you a value for your car, this is the trade value independent of how you paid for the car. You effectively clear the outstanding amount on your PCP with this. I asked my VW dealer a few weeks ago how much would it cost to clear my pcp. He checked and told me over the phone. By him doing that, I also get a letter in the post. If you were to pay off the outstanding amount, you end up actually paying less interest than you would if you went the duration of the three years as you are borrowing over a shorter period. Consumer credit act 1995 was mentioned beside the rebate.

Hope that helps.

Nonoperational

Interesting. So say he valued it at 33k after a year, it would depend on my monthly repayments what it would cost me to clear it... I pay quite a bit monthly and paid a small deposit.

TheBazman

Quick R review

Got mine in early Feb 2014, so have it almost 13 months
Lapiz Blue
19" Cadiz Wheels
Leather
DSG
5-door

What would I change spec-wise?
Probably only Prets for the Cadiz - I like both but on balance prefer the Prets
DCC - not sure I would be bothered
Larger screen/discover pro - maybe but happy enough with the current one
Colour - Like the white but would probably stick with the Lapiz

Mine was a little early so didnt get the driver mode select. Again I'd like to have it but not particularly bothered that I dont.

Current mileage - 25k kms
MPG - Around 27mpg - you can get low - mid 30's - you would get that if you were to drive on a motorway at around 90kph. The problem is that you are generally doing a fair bit more than that - hence the mpg suffers.

Thoughts
Love the car - really like that it is what it is but isnt too shouty (yes it has 4 exhausts but other than that i think it's reasonably subtle)
Grip - my other car is a 535d and the TC light is on more than it is off. The Golf just grips and goes.
Ride - Even on 19's with no DCC I have no issues.
Boot - yes it's a bit small but I rarely have a bootful of anything so little impact for me.
Overrun (ie fart

) - stuff like that you don't get in a diesel
Performance - It's plenty fast - especially if you wanted to rag it on a country road it would leave most anything behind. On a motorway it's probably on a par with the 535d (remapped).

Negatives - I think it could do with another gear - just for the motorway miles. There are times that you are doing 120kph..ish and it's revving higher than necessary for that type of driving. This would also help the mpg.

Not just with the R, but with all hatchbacks I guess - they get so bloody dirty at the rear. You wash it and within a mile of leaving the house it's filthy again.

Costs
Tax - so it's 570 which is a lot today I guess but given the 535d is 1500 odd it's hard to complain too much
Servicing - only one service so far which was included in the pack so zero cost there.
Tyres - After 25k km the fronts are getting close to changing but there's still a bit left in the rears. Ringing around I can get Contis for 207 euro (although others were quoting 230/240). There are cheaper brands but not going down that road. For comparison the 18" runflats on the 535d are around 220 euro.

vintagevrs

You need to find out how much it will cost to pay off the PCP agreement you are currently on. If your deposit was low, this number could still be quite high. You will have a rough idea of how much you have paid so far, but ring your dealer, takes them 2 secs to check.

Then get a trade in price for your car and see how the two compare. If your trade in price is higher than the amount needed to clear the PCP agreement, then that could be a deposit for an R. I doubt so early in your PCP, with a low deposit there will be much equity using a dealer trade in price.

Nonoperational

Yeah well it will be next Jan at the very earliest. I am really liking the GTD I must say, it's an impressive car. The R is just the evil angel on my shoulder urging me on!

JoeA3

Agree with Baz there on a couple of points -

The rear end is brutal for dirt. I'm meticulous about keeping the car clean but even I have lost the will to do it in the last few weeks. This winter has been really shockingly bad, the roads around me are in bits with potholes and half arsed attempts to fix them with loose chips and tar. Hence my cars also covered in tar spots.... Last time I washed it I had to de-tar it and I'll have to do it again...

And yes, at motorway cruising speeds it does feel like it could use another cog.