Mk7 Golf GTI Discussion Thread

[ihawk]

Thanks guys for your feedback on the bi xenons. Im a lot more excited now! And I hope they do that little dance when you start the engine

[ihawk]

Gti vs Merc A250
Did any of you consider the A250 before buying your GTI? I'm just curious as to your reasons for favouring the GTI. I guess for me it wasn't just the price difference but more because of the proven pedigree of such a legend. I believe the GTI to be a much more fun and exciting car to drive and its understated looks suit me better. The merc salesman presented a very convincing argument, mostly about advanced safety and how the brake discs are always kept dry blah blah blah but at the end of the day the car you drive may as well excite you each time you turn the key. I also suspect the lower price point of the new mercs is quickly made up in higher service costs.

[Jimi]

The GTI is faster, drives better and is $10k cheaper if you go for the near poverty spec like I did. Made it an easy decision. I'd rather stretch to an R or an S3 rather than have the A250

[macdub]

Gti vs Merc A250
Did any of you consider the A250 before buying your GTI? I'm just curious as to your reasons for favouring the GTI. I guess for me it wasn't just the price difference but more because of the proven pedigree of such a legend. I believe the GTI to be a much more fun and exciting car to drive and its understated looks suit me better. The merc salesman presented a very convincing argument, mostly about advanced safety and how the brake discs are always kept dry blah blah blah but at the end of the day the car you drive may as well excite you each time you turn the key. I also suspect the lower price point of the new mercs is quickly made up in higher service costs.

Hi ihawk,
I have a current polo GTI and waited long to check out the new GTI. I was disappointed and went ahead A250 way. There were number of reasons I opted for A250.

Price difference - with the options I wanted, the difference between 2 cars was minimal and as I already had VW, thought it would be a different experience with a 3 pointed star.

Looks - I also like understated look and I do like new GTI too but A250 looks better in my opinion. Nothing wrong to desire for your car to look good when you spend that much money. Also, I thought I will be bored with the golf interior very soon coming from the polo GTI. I have also realized that the dial on side to control the screen is more user friendly than than the touchscreen in golf.

Music - I love music and quality of music is very important for me in the car. VW had no option for quality audio and Merc has an outstanding HK system with a reasonable price. I know I can go aftermarket way in VW but just too much a hassle. Also, as an iphone user, the system works great in A250. I can't believe VW has taken out the MDI (correct me if I am wrong)

Drive - GTI might win by small margin here but A250 is a delight to drive too. I took it for a spin twice and loved it. Love the exhaust note, precise steering, excellent seating position and nice seats too.

Inclusions - huge panaroof, xenons, led taillights, park assist and lot of safety features all standard with A250. In terms of overall package, A250 is miles ahead than GTI.

Also I get 3 year free servicing and flexible finance package with their agility finance.

I love VW and VW has introduced me to the joy of driving as Polo is my first sports car. I so wanted to go with golf GTI before its release but when I saw it, it did not excite me and also did not make much sense financially. I personally think that the pricing of new GTI is not right.

[jdbrown1953]

Thanks guys for your feedback on the bi xenons. Im a lot more excited now! And I hope they do that little dance when you start the engine

They certainly do the dance on start up

[DoggieHowser]

I thought the sales guy at Austral VW was quite shoddy. Pretty uninformed about the car etc and generally seemed really impatient.

The 5" sat nag looked really small in all that space on the console and seemed a bit unresponsive.

The Merc sales person down the road was much more familiar with what Merc was offering and was genuinely much nicer to deal with. The A45 AMG looked bloody incredible. And didn't need any new options - though you'd still have to wait 6 months for the car.

[samps]

The A45 AMG looked bloody incredible. And didn't need any new options - though you'd still have to wait 6 months for the car.

It's now more like 10-12 months.

[Brendan_A]

The 5" sat nag looked really small in all that space on the console and seemed a bit unresponsive. .

The sat nav is 5.8" not 5".

[DoggieHowser]

The sat nav is 5.8" not 5".

So it's larger than the RNS510? Like I said, it just looked small in the big expanse of plastic around it.

[Brendan_A]

I thought rns510 was 5.8" too?

[DoggieHowser]

I didn't really take it out to measure it was just an overall impression

[DoggieHowser]

RCD 510 : Volkswagen UK

Hmmm VW says the RCD510 is 6.5"?

No mention of the RNS510 though.

Discover Navigation : Volkswagen UK

Discover is 5.8" though.

[Brendan_A]

At least the sat nav is nicely integrated and not just glued to the center of the dash in the A250.

[readerr0r]

RCD 510 : Volkswagen UK

Hmmm VW says the RCD510 is 6.5"?

No mention of the RNS510 though.

Discover Navigation : Volkswagen UK

Discover is 5.8" though.

The RCD510, RNS510 are the same size each at 6.5inch and from what i know the disco nav is 5.8. Thats not too bad but I just wish the screen didn't have such a low resolution, going from the RNS510 to the discover nav is a big step back imho.

Check out the Discover Pro in the Skoda Octavia Elegance, it's massive, crisp and really really fast. The GTI should have it, and I'm hoping the Octavia RS gets it (it will get it as an option at least)

[DoggieHowser]

At least the sat nav is nicely integrated and not just glued to the center of the dash in the A250.

I actually found that position to be far more useful when you need to check the map readout easily.