MK6 -v- MK7 : Golf GTI

[Mountainman]

When we parked my Mk6 next to a Mk7 and opened the boots to compare the Mk7 is definitely smaller...I think VW are pulling our chains with the bigger boot crap. I cant see how you can drop the floor down of the boot with the rear parcel shelf sitting underneath it.

As a former owner of a Mk6 and now the Mk7 I can ell you that the Mk7 definitely has the bigger boot. It might be slightly smaller with the floor raised if you want to store the shelf underneath (couldn't do that with the Mk6) but 90% of the time we have the floor lowered and it takes a bit more than the Mk6 could.

[Brendan_A]

Thank you Moutainman for clearing that up!

Looks can be deceiving.

[Cantgiveyouthat]

Thank you for the pointer WJ. I did not read that the engine runs at a hotter temperature, but I may have interpreted the article incorrectly or indeed differently to you. I get the impression that you read all the euro articles and then rewrite them with a personal twist. It's not hurting anyone, but it is a bit weird. The Ray thing is proper weird.

I am glad you are pleased with your new car, as I would be; however, this crushing need to justify your purchase is ridiculous.

[Jimi]

It sounds like he just made a well informed purchase to me. He'd driven both before he bought, it's not like he just shot from he hip, bought a mk7 and then tried to defend it

[tonymy01]

I read it like he is a wannabe journalist, and journalists report on what people want to hear, and the near #1 thing most MK6 owners want to know is just how much better the MK7 is, whether to update etc.
Yes the Ray thing is weird perhaps could have said "an associate just purchased blah blah" rather than "neighbour Ray" as none of us care if he is a neighbour or what his name is.

[readerr0r]

Has anyone been tempted by the A3 1.8t Quattro? Carsales seems to show most dealers are listing them for about 3-5K below their retail, you can get an S-Line for not much more than a DSG GTI and 6.8 0-100 isn't bad since it has awd.

[SuperHans]

Has anyone been tempted by the A3 1.8t Quattro? Carsales seems to show most dealers are listing them for about 3-5K below their retail, you can get an S-Line for not much more than a DSG GTI and 6.8 0-100 isn't bad since it has awd.

Its a good price sure, but despite the impressive figures on paper, it doesn't drive, sound or feel anything like the GTI - it feels much more like a 103TSI golf (and even I thought the golf was better tbh)

[WhiteJames]

ESC: Normal –v- Sport

The ESC setting is, like just about everything else on the Golf 7 GTI, accessed via the infotainment centre dash touch screen ‘CAR’ menu. Now that the crucial 1,000km run-in period is over and I’m nearing the 1500km mark on the odometer, I conducted some back to back runs, putting the new Golf 7 GTI Manual into ESC in standard default ‘Normal’ setting and ESC in ‘Sport’ setting.

The drive in the dry was conducted with 4 back-to-back runs with ESC in its default Normal setting, one each for Normal, Sport, Comfort and Individual. Later, another 4 runs with ESC setting in Sport mode were in the same manner: Normal, Sport, Comfort and finally Individual. I’ve made a change to my Individual setting, opting for Normal/Comfort steering, Sport dampers for flat grippy handling, and Sport for throttle sensitivity. I think that the Sport throttle application may change the engine note sound actuator, but can’t say definitely at this point in time (need more miles to be sure).

Playing with the throttle when driving around bends in the Normal default ESC setting has the Golf 7 GTI feeling a bit constricted in terms of exploring the chassis balance and grip levels. The XDS pseudo electronic diff always feels that bit too proactive during corning, with the front inside and inside rear brakes being pinched, vectoring the Golf 7 GTI into turns to keep it on its intended line around bends. It appears that the inside rear wheel is pinched going into bends, which helps set the Golf 7 GTI to point sharply into corners, rather than relying on the mechanical sway bars as was the case in the MK6 Golf GTI. As stated earlier, the proactive XDS/vectoring is a little more noticeable in the DSG version Golf 7 GTI over the Manual-Transmission version & definitely more noticeable in the Golf 7 GTI when contrasted with the MK6 Golf GTI.

There was no real compulsion to disengage the ESC button on the previous MK6 Golf GTI as the MK6 offered plenty of slack with all stability control mechanisms activated, with or without DG Sport springs. Alternatively, the MK6 Golf GTI didn’t offer as much tyre or chassis grip. The MK6 GTI often pinches the front wheel to drag the vehicle further into the corner to limit undertsteer, but without any vectoring of the rear brake as occurs on the Golf 7.

The Golf 7 GTI with all stability control aids switched on in their Normal default setting does not allow the chassis the freedom to roll & lean hard enough on the Dunlop Sport Maxx GT asymmetrical tyres’ harder compound outside sidewalls. XDS pseudo diff and brake vectoring at the rear end of the Golf 7 interferes to electronically adjust the vehicle’s intended line & interrupt the fluidity of the mechanical process of a vehicle about to lean on it’s springs.

My experience with asymmetrical tyres in the past is that they tend to move around a little bit, then firm up once the tyre starts to fold over onto the striffer outer tread block, which returns some grip and stability to the vehicle during cornering.

[WhiteJames]

ESC Sport mode illuminates the annoying to look at icon within the dash speedometer. ESC Sport setting allows greater freedom to more adequately explore the goodness and natural state of the Golf 7 GTI chassis, removing that veil between driver and machine and riding the Golf 7 GTI of the crimping & vectoring feeling during cornering, that fails to completely utilizing the available grip of the tyres.

The ESC Sport setting reduction in proactive electronic interference makes it more demanding for the driver to work the Golf 7 GTI into and out of bends, while at the same time allowing for a more natural progression into and out of corners that is much more fluid. The driver is able to get back to the basics of driving as an art.

ESC Sport also allows the driver to carry greater pace into and out of corner in addition to permitting greater acceleration around apex, providing the driver with the ability to delve deeper into the recess of the Golf 7 GTI chassis ability . The end result is exploring a really fine balanced chassis that is progressive with great mechanical grip that by far allows the driver to test the surprisingly better than expected SP Dunlop Sport Maxx GT Asymmetrical tyre grip levels. ESC in Sport setting not only makes the chassis feel more natural, but improves the steering feeling with less XDS corruption.

The fun factor with ESC Sport is definitely improved, so much so, Sport setting is bringing the Golf 7 GTI fun factor much closer to it’s main rival potential ownership rival, the BRZ/FT86 Coupe twins, when snaking around the tight twisting mountainous roadways. The twin coupes will always have a greater driver/machine connection, but the Golf 7 GTI with ESC Sport setting has a fun factor elevates it to near enough for the driver to walk away with a big grin on this face, without having to endure the negatives of owning a specialized coupe.

The Sport setting for ESC on the Golf 7 GTI imo offers more than enough fun for public roadway use. The grip levels of the Golf 7 GTI are quite a bit higher than the outgoing MK6 Golf. The Golf 7 GTI grip levels are unlikely to be breached in dry weather public roadway driving, not unless your going seriously & stupidly fast or you’re seriously inept. I didn’t feel any need for a completely off/disengagement of the ESC stability function setting, not for having fun on the public roadway at public roadway speeds. The ESC Sport setting also permits greater freedom for power down wheel slippage out of corner or in a straight line.

After conducting my back-to-back ESC Normal –v- ESC Sport review for the Golf 7, it started to rain down. With the inclement weather, I made a B-Line for Garie Beach deep within the Royal National Park (RNP), between Sydney and Wollongong. Access to the RNP is very convenient when you live in the Sutherland Shire.

Garie Beach Road snakes down to the beach, and is generally known for its less grippy coarse chip bitumen surface with a mix of low to moderate speed bends and switchbacks. Some corners have up to 3 different surface textures within the one bend, all with varied grip levels. The last time I drove this route in wet conditions was immediately after I fitted a set of Vollkswagen Driver Gear (DG) Sport Springs to my previous MK6 Golf GTI. In this regard, we’re comparing apples with apples re: grip levels of MK6 –v- Golf 7.

Powering up the wet hillside with 350Nm at my disposal in the Golf 7 GTI showed up enhanced grip levels over and above the MK6 Golf GTI. No doubts about it. Part due to new fancy Golf 7 asymmetrical tyres, improved ESC Sport and XDS calibration, improved optimization of spring to chassis rates, and much more linear power delivery.

The linear power delivery of the Golf 7 GTI makes it a lot easier to feed the power on in measured doses, as opposed to the fast spooling less linear MK6 GTI motor. In wet and damp conditions, the driver has to be mindful of any abrupt or over-judicious throttle application in the torque rich EA888 multi-port injected motor, but it’s a definite improvement on the previous MK6 Golf GTI for wet weather grip levels, despite the extra torque at such low revs. At the same time, you are able to be more ham-fisted with the gas in the Golf 7 with less ESC light flickering.

Generally: heading through the northern part of the RNP, between Garie Beach and Bundeena, the roadway is quite rough in many areas. The Golf 7 GTI, although offering notably improved ride compliance, comfort and refinement over and above the MK6 Golf GTI, can feel a bit too tied down, even in Comfort mode for the rougher sections of the RNP roadways.

Additionally, with the rain coming down on rougher B-grade roadways, there does seem to be some squeaking from the rear tailgate rubber seals. Someone else brought this issue up earlier on in an alternative review. I’m betting that the rain filtering down form the roof of the vehicle is working its way down & out through the rear tailgate, causing the rubber to squeak upon some chassis flex when the roadway is rough. Not a big issue, but could be a nemesis for the Golf 7 MQB platform. To be sure, I’ll be best advised to remove all the water bottles in my door cup-holders, as most of the time it the water bottles that make most of the squeaks. The Golf 7 GTI is much improved for interior squeaks & chassis rigidity, especially free from squeaks from the B-Pillar and rear multi-link suspension when loaded mainly on one wheel.


Other things worth noting is that in the Manual Transmission Golf 7 GTI, should you stall the vehicle, it automatically starts once you depress the clutch. Another point that seemed to crystallize is that even though you’d be able to switch off or totally disengage stability control on other VAG products, I doubt that you’d be able to completely disengage the XDS pseudo electronic diff or rear end vectoring as these measures now seem to be included in the overall chassis design/tuning. In hindsight, the preceding MK6 Golf GTI’s stability control system when completely engaged seems to sit somewhere between the XDS/Vectoring/ESC Golf 7 system in its Normal to Sport setting for having some fun & driver engagment out on the tourist route. Finally, it’s well worth noting that the cost for me to update from MK6 Golf GTI to Golf 7 GTI was $13,500 … in other words … peanuts.

WJ

[WhiteJames]

Interesting to note that the Golf 7 GTI has a speed restrictor function. The driver is able to set the max speed of the Golf 7 GTI so that the vehicle does not exceed that speed. This is not a speed warning chime, which the Golf 7 GTI also has, with mine set at 130kph, but actual speed restrictor.

As noted, as the Golf 7 GTI’s new MQB chassis is able to carry higher speeds during cornering, the standard default setting for the ESC intervention errs on the side of caution, cutting in earlier. I wouldn’t say that the Golf 7 GTI’s ESC/XDS/Vectoring enables at a lower speed than the preceding MK6 GTI, but definitely activates earlier prior to the driver nearing the threshold of the available level of tyre grip. As stated earlier, this takes away the ability of the chassis to work on its springs & sway bars making for a less mechanical feeling to the drive experience, not to mention failing to allow the tyres to work to their full capacity during cornering. The MK6 Golf GTI: It was a case of ESC either on/off with no Sport function ESC calibration.

It appears that the ESC Sport function is designed & calibrated for ‘Sporty’ driving and imo, ESC Sport is best engaged for sporty driving. Although it’s nice to know that in ‘Normal’ default ESC setting, the stability control mechanisms are more proactive (ESC, XDS & Rear Vectoring) in conjunction with each other, making for a safer overall drive and should any evasive action be required. I’ve also noted that there is less evidence of the sidewalls being worked to the degree that the preceding MK6 Golf GTI would work them, and definitely much much better than the MKV Golf GTI, that would lean quite heavily on its outside front tyre during Sporty cornering.

In terms of thermal dynamics: I drove to the Sydney CBD on Sunday. No peak hour traffic, but always traffic around and into & out of the CBD. The oil temps seemed to hover around the 109 degrees, as stated earlier to reduce friction, which can be felt with a freer spinning motor, now that the Golf 7 GTI has some miles on it. This is in contrast to about 1 dozen hill-climb drives that in every case, bar one, had the oil temps sitting on 111 degrees. Ultimately, only a 2 degree variation in range from urban inner city driving to loading up the motor during a 15-20 minute mountain climb. Also may explain why Golf 7 GTI uses less fuel under load, as the motor is being kept within its optimal oil temp/heat range.

I’ve driven the Renault Sport Megane RS250 and would agree that it’s the ultimate general production hot-hatch in terms of grip levels, speed & driver involvement. Most media reports indicate that this is still the case when the RS265 Renault Sport Megane is compared to the GTI – PP with LSD. My Manual Transmission Golf 7 GTI with ESC in Sport mode is a great leap forward over the MK6 Golf GTI on DG Sport Springs, and brings the Golf 7 GTI much closer to the Renault Sport for grip levels, cornering ability and driver involvement with much improved ride and refinement levels (ESC Sport that is). Leads me to think that the difference between the Renault Sport RS265, GTI – PP and Std GTI (MT) will not be a huge chasm as a daily driver on the street, as this drive.com.au Car of the Year article will attest to:

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/d...127-2y9bt.html

I reckon the manual trans Golf 7 GTI would have come that bit closer to the 86 Toyota Coupe re: less weight up the front for slightly sharper turn-into corners & greater driver engagement. The article is definitely on the money for enhanced refinement, comfort & grip levels.