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After many false starts and a couple delays with delivery I finally took delivery of my MK7 last week. Here are a few observations after my first week (500 kays) with the MK7.
Styling
Exterior: Overall the car look much more aggressive and sporty than the MK6, with the lines in bonnet and the lower front grill/bumper. Also the position of the front wheel further forward has a nice look about it. The fuel cap and rear lights with their sharp lines I think all contribute to a sportier look. I went for the optional accessories 18" 'Rotary' wheels which I'm delighted with as they match the Limestone Grey colour so well.
Interior: I've got the Highline model and the interior is like the cabin of a cockpit at night. The ambient lighting in the footwells, behind the door handles, the strip down the door in the piano black inlay and around the main console are fantastic and really add a touch of class. I like the flat-bottomed GTI styled steering wheel for its leather feel, functionality and good looks, interesting that they have introduced this across the range. The centre consoles
Driving Experience
Gearbox: This is my first DSG and I'm very impressed. I'm not a fan of conventional auto's or the newer CVT's but coming from manual car's the DSG is not that far a move. The gear changes are seem-less going up the cogs and when coming down I quite like the engine breaking being provided. Thou there are times when I don't like it, for instance on take off it seem to change into 2nd too quickly and there have been time's when doing 60km/h ~ it coasts a bit in 5 gear and you have to tap the breaks to force it to come down a gear and get a good Rev range. Also if you want to drive it hard, drop it into 'Sports' mode and it'll REV as really high in each gear getting you off the lights really fast. I must admit, I'm still bedding in the car so have only tried this once.... OK twice
Diesel Engine: Torque, Torque and more torque !!! You won't be found wanting when overtaking or as I did today a nice drive up Mount Tambourine was like water off a ducks back. The car is still bedding in so fuel economy isn't as good as advertised, I'm averaging 6.3l/100k this is about 60% highway 40% city. I'm hoping for low 5l/100k when everything settles down.
Handeling: On the default 17" Highline wheels (which I am selling) the ride was firm but not too bad, upgrading to the 18" Rotary and Michelin PS3's has stiffed it up much more but not unbearable. Whatever suspension tech that was borrowed from the Mk6 GTI combined with the newly positioned front axel and precision steering makes this car eat corners. It was so much fun driving up Mount Tambourine today.
Other Notable Features
Park Pilot: Part of the Driver Assistance Package, it handles all the 'Happy Cases' fine, both bay and parallel parking. To be honest I've only used this to show my friends and family and can't see myself using it on a daily basis only if I'm parallel parking in a tight spot in the city in traffic.
ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control): Fantastic !! I was told to avoid using cruise as much as I can when bedding in the car but on the times I've used ACC, I've been very impressed how it handles cars coming in and out of your lane, braking and accelerating to match the car in front all within your defined speed-limit. I've read a few complaint on threads here saying that they don't like the steering wheel controls but I thinks they're extremely easy to use.
Road Noise: None, I find it hard to pick up any road nose at all, the car is really well sound proofed. I only noticed the sound of the diesel engine when let my girlfriend parking the car tonight when I checked our post box. It's very rare to hear engine noise in the cabin.
Bluetooth: It's great to actually link two devices via Bluetooth to the Entertainment system. I need to have my phone on all the time whilst my girlfriend streams music from hers. It's great having the phone book synced as well giving quick access to contacts in the console without having to touch the phone.
Sat Nav: Pretty good as in car systems go, I love the may the directions are also displayed via the MFD in the drivers view very handy.
Self-Dimming Rear View Mirror: Fantastic feature. Where I live there are plenty of speed bumps, so instead of getting blinded by the car behind the mirror dims to prevent this. It's these little attention to detail quality features that make a good car great.
Auto-Headlights: Have you pulled out of a petrol station or undercover carpark only to discover 5 min's later that your lights are still off ? Well lucky you the Auto-headlights is the perfect feature which detects when to turn your lights on/off depending on the conditions. I just leave my lights on auto all the time.
Things to do:
Tinting: Must get some nice tinting done in the next week or so. Haven't done enough local research into brands etc, any Brissie recommendations from MK7 owners would be great.
Chrome Tailpipes: Looking to try and get my hands on some black chrome Skoda yeti tailpipes. I've herd they are compatible with the MK7 but much cheaper.
Rear LED Number Plate lights: I've seen these on other German cars and they look fantastic. I've heard many stories about errors being displayed on the MFD etc so I'm worried about this install. Yet to purchase.
Originally Posted by Mountainman
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