Mk7 Golf GTI Discussion Thread

[The One]

Reduction in pulling power? Care to elaborate mate?

[hng]

Hi hng

Just offering my opinion as I've had a CTR in the past and a GTi (albeit not a Mk7):
- Completely different character of the cars. CTR has the screaming NA 4-cylinder that revs up really high. Manual gearbox. Means you have to keep the revs up much higher than normal to keep a decent pace. In the Golf you will find that while it revs very easily to it's redline, this is much lower than the CTR and the car pulls very strongly from low revs.
- The GTi has a nice linear sound all the way to the red line. The CTR changes when that red light comes on and is great and addictive and you won't get that sound in the GTi but the sound of the engine/exhaust with the popping on gearchanging is great too. Just different.
- Interior wise: I found the interior of the CTR to be very well made and using quality plastics. The quality of the plastics in the Mk7 is higher but the design less "adventurous" and nowhere near as "cool" and futuristic as the CTR. Again...different. I found the seats in the GTi to be a bit narrow for me, but I weigh 110kg which is not average. They are otherwise more supportive than the CTR and you can also get leather which, at the time I bought mine, you couldn't on the CTR.
- Refinement: GTi wins hands down. I recently drove a late mode Civic (i.e. newer than the CTR) and the refinement of the Mk7 is miles ahead.

My experience with VW in general over the last 20 years has been excellent. During that time I, and close family, have owned 4 Golfs, a Polo, and 3 Audis. Reliability is not like a Lexus i.e. the occasional thing will go wrong, but apart from a 1.4 engine going on a Golf Mk3 after 16 years and 240.000km we've had no major troubles. My information is that the negative comments about VW stemmed from a rumour that a fatal accident involving a Golf in Melbourne in 2011 was the car's fault. In fact the driver was using a mobile phone when the car was struck from behind by a truck. Also...the car involved was not a DSG. There have been numerous recalls involving a version of the DSG but then again all manufacturers announce recalls all the time...In a nutshell, most people's experience is good but don't expect the perfect reliability of the Honda.

As for ordering, I'm glad to see I'm not alone in planning to order a manual car (ordering a Mk7 TSI manual for our second car in the next few days). I think currently for a factory order, if you ordered now you would get delivery around July. VW of Australia seem to have cars coming all the time though and if they have one coming that is to your preferred spec you could have it sooner.

Lastly, a lot is said about customer service. A lot of people have had bad experiences but it is probably fair to say that on fora such as this one, we tend to hear more of the bad ones rather than the good ones. I personally have been treated differently by different dealerships but then again my experience with other brands has been more or less the same.

Hope this helps you...

Thanks stedes for sharing your experience, that certainly helps.

I agree with what you said about the CTR's engine. It's great and usable on the open roads, but it's not usable in city driving.
It sounds like the GTI's engine is more usable/accessible in daily driving.

I think the CTR's interior is well put together but there is a lot of hard plastic here and there. The GTI's interior in my opinion is more mature/conservative and has higher quality plastic/materials. I also like the leather seat option as well.

I had the chance to drive the current euro civic as well, I thought the interior/refinement level was better than my CTR.

Your opinion on the VW's reliability is pretty much what I have expected. My CTR has been very reliable since I bought it (touch wood).
I personally think generally European cars are more refined, have better performance and use better materials, but they are less reliable than the Japanese cars. But I think the reason for this is because Japanese manufacturers keep using older technologies/engines (that have been tested by time) while the European manufacturers always come up with new technologies/engines.

The new Audi S3 Sportback is also on my list, but I would still like to do some more research about Audi's reliability/customer service.
Lexus is probably still the best in terms of reliability and customer service but the IS250 F Sport's power figures are quite disappointing.

[topcat]

I am coming from a Polo gti 2 years old and I am wondering what the golf gti motor is like. I know my polo wasn't good.

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[REGS12]

Go for it!
I'm on my 3rd DSG Golf now, this one being a GTI. Admittedly I've only done 60,000 kms in each of the others, but they've been totally reliable. GTI is a gem------ after owning a heap of cars, this one make me smile the most.
Be prepared for plenty of attention, because a new GTI will get plenty. I really wanted another GTD but they are not part of the Aus. line up. Now that I have the GTI, I have not been disappointed. Perfomance is better and economy is excellent, though 98 RON is dear. I get under 7l/100kms on a trip and around 8l/100km around town. GTI is a prestige performance hatch at an affordable price.
I did disable that stupid soundaktor though.

[zardoz]

I picked up my new GTI Saturday and have been enjoying it these past few days. Here are a few thoughts that I'd like to share with the watercooled community.

+/- I miss the interior red led's that illuminate your hand over the controls in an otherwise dark cabin.

Have they actually removed the interior control lights from overhead?? This is going to suck! Sunroof time, I guess...

- No GALA, or speed adjusting volume settings I could find.

I would be severely disappointed if this feature isn't there as it's on my RNS510 (and hell, Holden have had it on their base model Commodore for the past 12 years). I'll see if I can find out from my dealer as to what the go is. Perhaps the Discover Pro includes this feature.

[wasabiz]

I was in the market for hot hatches, and I was thinking should I wait for the new civic type R to be released next year, or should i go for the GTI. In the end I decided to have a change from japanese cars and try European, and went for the GTI mk7. Yes it might be slower but I think the golf would be much better for daily/city drive.

p.s. i wanted to see what its like to have an auto car lol

[AdamD]

I am coming from a Polo gti 2 years old and I am wondering what the golf gti motor is like. I know my polo wasn't good.

The EA888 in the GTI doesn't suffer from the same oil consumption issues as the 1.4 twincharger.

[Lem2808]

Reduction in pulling power? Care to elaborate mate?

I have just noticed that prior to re-fueling there is more 'pull' when I get to around 3k revs. Now I have to take it to about 4k to get the 'similar/same' effect. I now have done 950 kms on it. I wonder if the fuel quality it had when delivered is better than BP 98.

[Lem2808]

Perfomance is better and economy is excellent, though 98 RON is dear.

I also put 98 RON in though the fuel flap indicates 95 RON min. Have you put in 95 RON? If so, is there much difference in performance?

[Longy]

I have just noticed that prior to re-fueling there is more 'pull' when I get to around 3k revs. Now I have to take it to about 4k to get the 'similar/same' effect. I now have done 950 kms on it. I wonder if the fuel quality it had when delivered is better than BP 98.

Or dodgy BP fuel from the station you pumped it from? Maybe try another tank of 98 RON fuel from another petrol station, ie Shell Optimax or VPower.