MK6 -v- MK7 : Golf GTI

[Brendan_A]

Good read WJ. Thanks! Can't wait to get my new GTI.

[andrew7]

Keep 'Em coming WJ! Dare I say you appear keen to wait for the R before making your purchase decision? (and btw why did you choose the Mk6 GTI over the R?)

[WhiteJames]

Why a MK6 Golf GTI over a MK6 Golf R? There's a whole thread about that. I used to own a well sorted MKV Golf GTI with EA113 motor. Ultimately: the new EA888 motor in the MK6 GTI won me over R with older EA113 motor. Other benefits of the MK6 GTI is the better value, lighter weight, cheaper service costs, nicer looks with polished 18" wheels. Golf R was only a couple of thousand more than my GTI and the R rides better than the Golf GTI. The new Golf 7 R is stated to be about 55K on-road … not sure I'd be willing to spend that much for my type of driving re: value for money. Same applies to the PP - GTI in addition to it being DSG only. I can't see me using the benefits of the LSD in the PP - GTI that often on public roadways. Local dealer states that Golf 7 R will come in manual and DSG … perhaps the manual R will be competitive on price with the PP - GTI. Atm I'm still leaning towards a Manual Transmission Golf 7 GTI due to least weight & more engaging drive. My MK6 Golf GTI is not a daily driver atm, same would apply to any new Golf I may purchase. Ideally … I'd like to drive all sports Golf variants back to back, with exception of the Golf 7 GTD, which is not coming to AUS. They do have an R-Line package for the Diesel Golf 103TDI that also includes flat bottomed steering wheel and shift paddles.
WJ

[WhiteJames]

MK6 –v- MK7: Part III


This is now the third part of this review. The third part being the successful sale of my old MK6 Golf GTI with DSG and subsequent purchase of my new White Manual Transmission Golf 7 GTI, which I’m currently running in.


Steering:

The steering in Normal and Comfort mode is the same in term of steering weight (i.e. lightness). Comfort & Normal make the steering feel like there is a bit of slack and delay when turning around bends, but feels to be more natural than the firmer setting of Sport. Sport setting for steering seems to want to return to centre to a greater degree than the previous MK6 Golf GTI with DCC in Sport. I’m figuring that this is in part due to the progressive steering rack in the Golf 7 GTI, in additional to a secondary factor of the Golf 7 GTI chassis body being stiffer, the suspension maintaining a much greater level of integrity during corner in terms of scrub, camber & toe change. When running in the Golf 7 GTI travelling up & down through Kangaroo Valley, it would be ideal to have a setting between Comfort/Normal and Sport in terms of steering weight.

The heavier Sport setting of the Golf 7 GTI requires the driver to maintain a definite & firm grip on the steering wheel, with a natural inclination to self centre to a much greater degree than the previous MK6 GTI. In this respect, the earlier MK6 felt a bit more natural and linear in the heavier Sport DCC mode, despite feeling heavier and less direct with less feel compared to the new Golf 7 GTI. The Golf 7 GTI, despite less overall weight of steering in Sport mode, required more effort just of centre and for small adjustment to steering inputs. Thankfully, the Golf 7 GTI drives with a greater fluidity and directness, covering ground and bends with less driver effort nor any need for constant adjustment to steering line.

Currently, I have the ‘Individual Mode’ of the new Golf 7 GTI set to Sport steering, Normal damping rate and engine in Sport. I may change this on the next drive to Sport dampers & Normal steering firmness as the steering just seems have a more natural feel to it in its softer setting.


Motor:

Now that I have spent close to 400km driving the new Golf 7 GTI in a variety of environments, including city, freeway, tourist routes and mountain climbs, I have managed to decipher that there is a difference between Normal engine setting and Sport setting. The Sport is slightly sharper in throttle response. You’re unlikely to notice this on a short drive, but with extra miles under your belt, the difference is discernable. The difference is noting like the difference factored into the earlier MK6 Golf GTI for throttle response, which was ballistic in its turbine spooling speed compared to the linearity of the new Golf 7 GTI.

I’ve been keeping the revs to about 4,000rpm for the first drive and will continue to do so until at least the 1,500km odometer mark. Under load, between 2,000-4,000rpm, the Golf 7 GTI motor sounds very gravelly, very much un-like the racy sound track of the earlier MK6 Golf GTI. The engine note and noise of the new Gold 7 GTI is a disappointment after owning the previous MK6 GTI. Coming down through the Kangaroo Valley and Macquarie’s Pass, just inland of Wollongong, did have the Golf 7 GTI giving hints of the racy soundtrack of the previous MK6 GTI, but this was not under load. Under load, the Golf 7 GTI has taken a step backwards.

You can definitely feel the extra torque down low in the Golf 7 GTI, with the 7 having no issue pulling up reasonably steep gradients in gears as high as 5th, which would have the MK6 struggling.

[WhiteJames]

Chassis:

I opted to purchase the lightest Golf 7 GTI on the market as I figured that the other two variants, Golf GTI PP and Golf R, will both add weight over the front axle. This inhibits initial turn-in into bends, taking agility and the fun factor away. I’ve come to the conclusion that extra weight is basically an 80/20 rule: You’d want the extra grip of the GTI PP or Golf R 20% of the time, the remaining 80% of the time you’re just carrying extra weight you don’t need.

Being mindful that I’m in a gentle run-in phase when driving the Golf 7 GTI, during the steep hill-climbs of Kangaroo Valley didn’t have the XDS+ intervening too obtrusively. GTI PP would be better, but I’d still prefer the lighter front end of the STD GTI that turns in faster & sharper. Going downhill snaking around the myriad of bends, where fast or extreme throttle application is much less required on power out did not have me wanting an LSD of the PP nor the AWD of the Golf R. I’d much prefer the lighter weight of the STD Manual Transmission GTI.

The lighter weight of the STD Golf 7 GTI, especially at the front end in contrast to my previous front heavier MK6 GTI with DSG is a highlight when muscling the new Golf 7 GTI into corners, whether going uphill or downhill. I enjoyed having that more instantaneous turn-in of the chassis, in addition to greater mechanic mid corner grip, ability to stick to and hunt for the mid corner apex and notably improved power out propensity.

One particular corner heading down nearby Mount Kiera, just north of Wollongong, a long downhill sweeper, proved to me just how much better the Golf 7 GTI works the tyres and the reduction in understeer bias over the earlier MK6 GTI. This used to be a great corner in my much older first MKv Golf GTi with aftermarket springs, dampers and H&R adjustable sway bars adjusted for a little bit of oversteer with front bar on soft and rear on hard with the chassis pivoting around the mid-point of the chassis, just like a skier changing direction on a downhill snow slope.

The new Golf 7 GTI is not set up to be as neutral in the chassis, but is getting closer to a neutral chassis balance over that of a standard MK6 GTI, and definitely a lot less understeer biased than the first MKV Golf GTI, Golf R32 and Golf R. The advantage of the Golf 7 GTI is that you don’t have all the negatives that come with aftermarket adjustable sway bars. This corner and similar long constant radius sweeping corners really put a smile on my dial and only cemented my decision to upgrade from MK6 GTI to Golf 7 GTI. It’s also apparent that the tyres are working much better and harder with less tyre scrub with greater composure. The stiffer chassis of the Golf 7 GTI allows for stiffer bushing & a greater degree of consistency in suspension geometry under load & duress. I'd say that the suspension bushing is also stiffer, like going from a MK6 GTI to an Audi TT-RS or similar.

I had the suspension and steering in Sport mode during my drive from the dealership on the North Shore down to the Sutherland Shire to experience the worst that the Golf 7 GTI had to offer in terms of city & urban ride comfort. The ride comfort is much improved over the previous MK6 Golf GTI and certainly liveable at city commuting, although I’d be incline to run the Normal setting which notably improves ride comfort, especially over expansion joints in the roadway. Be mindful that the electronic dampers gain greater force as speed rise in the new Golf 7 GTI – the damping rate does not stay uniform.

Alternatively, the lower end of Kangaroo Valley nearing the township of Nowra had the Golf 7 GTI in Comfort setting due to the poor state of the rough B-grade roadway. The ride refinement is improved with little loss in chassis control. Sometimes the rebound rate is a bit wallowing compared to the compression rate when striking bumps and undulations, but this was apparent in the MK6 Golf GTI with DCC suspension tune … feels like the rebound rate is reduced at twice the rate of the compression rate when going from a harder setting to softer setting for the dampers.

Overall, the Golf 7 GTI makes it much easier work to cover ground than any previous MK6 Golf variant before it, which is less taxing on the driver.


Interior:

The interior ambience is similar to the MK6 Golf. The Bluetooth connection for my iPhone is great and the SatNav has different graphics for day and night, in addition to 2 dimensional flat or vertical views. The stereo quality is similar to the MK6 Golf GTI, perhaps a little better in addition to improve quietness of the Golf 7 GTI interior, despite the intrusion of the gravelly engine note at lower revs when the motor is under load.

Route:

I covered about 360km for my first run-in drive with an average speed of just over 60kph and using 7.5 litres/100km. The economy is nothing to brag about at the moment, but it did involve a city commute and lots of hill-climbs thrown in the mix. Overall, I’m happy with my purchase. I would’ve liked to add the adaptive cruise control, but there was nothing available in AUS with Manual Transmission. A couple of things I need to work out on the new Golf 7 GTI: a. Whether the passenger’s side mirror has a dipping function when the GTI is put into reverse; and, b. Where I can purchase a cord/adaptor to plug in my iPhone into the 3.5mm jack to re-charge my iPhone while driving.

WJ

[Idle]

The left mirror should dip if you move the adjustment switch to the "L" position (at least, my diesel Highline does, so I'd expect a GTI to be the same.)

[tonymy01]

Are you sure some of that "gravelly" engine note you talk about isn't the artificial Soundaktor (assuming the mk7 has one like the mk6, mind you, you say the mk6 sounded racy which also could have been the Soundaktor).

[WhiteJames]

Thermal Dynamics:

The drive from Sutherland Shire to Wollongong, then upwards for the 25km to the township of Robertson, through Macquarie Pass shows the difference in thermal dynamics between the old MK6 Golf GTI and new Golf 7 GTI that has the turbo exhaust manifold cast into the head, which includes water cooling jackets.

The old MK6 Golf GTI oil temperature would fluctuate between about 93 degrees to 115 degrees on this drive. That’s a difference of over 20 degrees in fluctuation in oil temp. The MK6 oil on the highway would generally sit around 95-98 degrees in Sydney weather.

The new Golf oil temp on the same drive fluctuates between 103 degrees to 111 degrees, obviously with the 111 degrees being struck towards the end of the 20 minute hill-climb. That a difference of 8 degrees in the new Golf 7 GTI, much less than the older MK6 version. The Golf 7 GTI oil temp generally seems to run higher & hotter than the old MK6, with oil temp consistently hovering around 106-107 degrees, in both city, highway and tourist route driving.

I think this would be a good thing for turbo longevity with constant oil temps in addition to allowing Volkswagen have higher torque output in the Golf 7 GTI, not to mention consistency of oil quality over the 15,000km service intervals.

It really is a good feat to have the Golf 7 GTI both ride better with greater refinement, despite losing weight, and step up the handling agility over and above the previous MK6 Golf GTI.

I’ll have to have a look at the owner’s manual re: auto dimming mirror function as the dealer was unsure whether the GTI did or didn’t have this function. The small front quarter window was not tinted as this area was too small to adequately tint.

I doubt that the sound actuator is making the gravelly engine note noise as I’ve been keeping the revs under 4,000rpm, which would not engage the sound actuator imo. The engine in the Golf 7 GTI is definitely not as characterful as the motor in the MK6 version.

The Golf 7 GTI sits somewhere between the older MK6 GTI and a Golf GTD, only a lot smoother and linear in power delivery, without the extra weight over the front axle.

WJ

[Paul_R]

Re the dipping left mirror in reverse: you need to adjust the mirrors to where you want them with the car not in reverse then put it in reverse, turn the selector to the left and adjust that mirror to where you want it when it dips. Mirror should then move to that position when in reverse AND the selector in left position. If the selector is in the middle it won't dip when in reverse. That's what the Mk 6 (and wife's CX-9) does anyway.

[mfl]

I always found the steering wheel in the mk6 GTI, one of the best I have used and seen and the engine note a disappointment.

A thinner steering wheel and less racy exhaust note, seems like backward steps in my view, but I get the feeling I am must be on the fringes of GTI owners, as I also want a mechanical handbrake and ESP that can be fully switched off.