My thoughts after 3 days with the GTI

[JohnA]

I have now owned the GTI for 3 days and have clocked up 250km.

Having come off 2 previous WRX's, a my 00 and a my03 i was interested to see how i would enjoy this car.

First up the most obvious.
Built quality.
The vW has it all over the WRX. Fit and finish, equipment levels, everything about it is just so much better.

Power. The WRX wins in outright power, however i think on a track it won't be a huge difference and the GTI could find the endge. Stock for stock of course.

Transmission, cannot compare as the WRX was manual and the GTI is DSG

Daily driver. The GTI wins out again. The wrx had nothing bellow 3000 rpm. If you got caught in the wrong gear, it was useless. Turbo lag was annoying, and to get a good launch off the lights, you had to punish it.

Grip and handling. I feel the GTI has better handling. Steering is more precise, however the WRX i feel has it on grip levels. Would be interesting to compare the new R20 though.

If i was after another boy racer, i may have opted for a second hand STI, however, as a complete package, i feel the golf wins hands down.

I am now glad i went down this path, and think i will stick with these for a while longer.

A couple of annoying little things though that i have found so far.

1: Wipers.
of course not just with the golf, but the rain sensing feature i do not like. Just goes on for no apparent reason. Even changing sensitivity to minimum still activates them at times.

The other thing i do not like about the wipers, is that you have to put them in service mode to lift them off the windscreen.
Too easy to forget, and try to lift. Ir if you take it to a normal mechanic, who knows nothing about the feature can be a recipe for disaster.

2: Paddle shifters too damn small and wiper and blinkers close to them. With big fingers there is not much room there.

Also not sure i like that they turn with the steering wheel. I think i would prefer them at the constant 9 and 3 position

do not think i have discovered every feature as yet though, but having fun finding new things.

[nicandlance]

I didn't know about service mode... what is that and does it apply to the whole range of Mark 6?

[Brendan_A]

All MK5 and MK6 have it. It is where the wipers face the roof so you can change the wiper blades.

[Corey_R]

No only change the wiper blades, but easily lift them off the screen so you can clean them and the screen

[Stump]

Interesting thoughts John....

I say interesting, because I have also just stepped out of a WRX. Had my new baby for 2 and a half weeks.

So far, I have it ahead of my WRX on all counts....performance included. (rex was stock too)
Fuel consumption is streets ahead, that may change once it's broken in and I start driving it.....
I have a manual, and find it too, to be superior to the Subie. Sure, the clutch does feel light, but I find I'm changing gears smoother than the WRX..Much easier to get off the line..I guess the apparent lack of lag helps too..

I've ticked up just over 1000 ks in this time, still finding new, interesting things.. and still yet to finish reading my manual.

I plan on keeping her for a good, long time.......and am so pleased I made the choice.

[gerhard]

A couple of annoying little things though that i have found so far.

The other thing i do not like about the wipers, is that you have to put them in service mode to lift them off the windscreen.
Too easy to forget, and try to lift. Ir if you take it to a normal mechanic, who knows nothing about the feature can be a recipe for disaster.

Not quite sure why you would ever consider taking the car to a "normal mechanic", for wiper blades or anything else.

Please don't consider taking this car to such a place

[JohnA]

Not quite sure why you would ever consider taking the car to a "normal mechanic", for wiper blades or anything else.

Please don't consider taking this car to such a place

I wouldn't, but i m sure there are people who might. Besides that fact, if people do not read the manual and just try to lift the wiper arms to wash the car, i can see them damaging the paint work

[JohnA]

Interesting thoughts John....

I say interesting, because I have also just stepped out of a WRX. Had my new baby for 2 and a half weeks.

So far, I have it ahead of my WRX on all counts....performance included. (rex was stock too)
Fuel consumption is streets ahead, that may change once it's broken in and I start driving it.....
I have a manual, and find it too, to be superior to the Subie. Sure, the clutch does feel light, but I find I'm changing gears smoother than the WRX..Much easier to get off the line..I guess the apparent lack of lag helps too..

I've ticked up just over 1000 ks in this time, still finding new, interesting things.. and still yet to finish reading my manual.

I plan on keeping her for a good, long time.......and am so pleased I made the choice.

I have not pushed the golf to its extremes as yet, however it still feels to me the the WRX has the edge. Maybe its because of the kick in the pants when the turbo kicks in compared to the more even power flow of the golf.

[Axis]

I didn't know about service mode... what is that and does it apply to the whole range of Mark 6?

Keep in mind that its not a "Service Mode" for the whole car. It just relates to the windscreen wipers. I use it to lift the wipers off the windscreen when washing the car.

With the Ignition on just tap the wiper wand down a notch and let go. The wipers will go vertical and allow you to then lift them up off the windscreen and they'll "lock" into place (like normal wipers do from the horizontal position).

Only slightly annoying thing is to remember to keep the chamois handy when you've finished the rest of the car. As soon as the wipers move back down to the horizontal position there's a good chance you'll leave a water streak on the windscreen so you'll need to deal with that

A bit more on topic, I've personally found the auto-wipers to be quite good. Its a bit of a shock in functionality compared to the intermittent I was used to. They do seem sporadic, sometimes going flatout and other times with big breaks... but it matches the water on the windscreen pretty well. I'm amazed they work so well at night time!

PS - I don't have a MKVI... just got a MKV Pirelli - I can't help but read this forum too tho!

[JohnA]

One other thing i noticed last night.

I thought i was going mad, but i am not

i like the headrest (leather seats) all the way down, but have noticed after a few drives it has risen?

At first i thought i am just imagining it, never put it all the way down. So did it again yesterday, and last night after driving to work and parking the car, yep, sure enough, it has popped up again.

Anyone else found this?

[Corey_R]

Are you REAAAAALLY short?
Cause if not, then the head RESTRAINT probably shouldn't be all the way down. Refer to the manual on how to correctly position it.

But maybe you are putting your head against it and that is pushing it up a bit? I know it is angled forward towards the top so maybe if you are a bit short, and you pushed back, that would lift it up?

[JohnA]

i am 177cm so wouldn't call it realllllllly short

i'll have a quick read of the manual to see what it says. May have to sit on passangers side for a few trips to see if it does the same

[Johnbu]

JohnA...

congrats on the car.

one question, you wouldn't happen to live (or use to) in the northern suburbs and were involved in car stereos, say 10 years ago?

[JohnA]

JohnA...

congrats on the car.

one question, you wouldn't happen to live (or use to) in the northern suburbs and were involved in car stereos, say 10 years ago?

Yes, that would be me

[ricksterrr]

Just to add my own experience with the GTI after a week of ownership...

My path to owning the GTI is way different from JohnA as I actually upgraded from a run of the mill japanese car (current gen Honda Civic Sport) and not from a performance car so obviously the impact of the GTI was quite profound.

Upgrading to a GTI from an ordinary passenger car, I feel that it is a huge step up in almost every aspect. The driving experience, the quality, the technology and the little touches that the Golf possesses makes it vastly superior to the Civic. It is certainly not cheap and it wasn't the smartest financial decision that I have ever made when I could have invested my savings in non-depreciating assets, but I have absolutely no regrets in making the switch.

The very first impression I got was how refined it was for a hot-hatch.

The way that the maximum torque can be accessed very low down in the rev range makes it very flexible, steering is precise and accurate and the suspension - whilst stiff - is still surprisingly compliant around our rough metropolitan roads for a hot hatch (in fact slightly more comfortable than the Civic, although there is some road noise from the tyres). It didn't take long at all to get used to the DSG and once it gets going it's incredibly smooth on both upshifts and downshifts. The farts that it makes on an upshift is just simply freaking brilliant. I was afraid of rattles after reading about how they generally plague VWs but I've yet to hear one and I really like the subtle GTI styling cues as I am very much a fan of Q-cars. Engine doesn't sound as good as my mate's Mk4 R32 but the notes that it produces still manages to excite and further enhances its personality.

Unfortunately I've yet to really test its capabilities on more open twisty roads as I am still running it in but I reckon at my driving level I may never get close to reaching its limits. So as it is now in stock form, it is more than enough to keep me smiling from ear to ear for a very very long time. It's the first car that I've ever owned that makes me want to drive it for the sake of driving, and not because I want to get to a certain destination.

A couple of minor niggles...
- One of the parking sensors on the front bumper when engaged, seems to regularly detect some sort of object in the way even though there is nothing there.
- The paintwork on bottom of the sideskirts, next to the plastic seem strangely rough and inconsistent.
- I can also hear the wastegate rattling noise on moderate acceleration, however I feel that it's subtle enough that I personally don't find it too annoying or intrusive. It is subjective though, so for some it may drive them up the wall.
- The front armrest sometimes doesn't close properly after being lifted, so I find myself lifting it back up, jiggling/adjusting it a bit and attempt to close it again a couple of times before folds completely down

Apart from that, there is nothing major that I've come across that detracts from the overall experience of owning a GTI. A happy owner here!!