The Mega Mk7 Golf GTI/GTD/R thread

carsfan2

GustavoFring wrote: »

Did a deal on that Cupra ST. All going to plan I should have it Saturday. Not saving anything on buying here, with VRT it's the opposite actually, but it's a really nice spec that I probably couldn't find here even if there was one for sale. Bucket seats, upgraded wheels, front and rear sensors, nav, reversing camera, seat sound, lane assist, black pack.

We’ll wear.
Looks class.
Are they shipping it to Ireland for you?

GustavoFring

carsfan2 wrote: »

We’ll wear.
Looks class.
Are they shipping it to Ireland for you?

No, they have a driver but he can't work at the moment so getting it brought down myself. Kinda prefer that too tbh.

hooch-85

Lovely car. Best of luck with it, interested to hear how it stacks up compared to the 330d.

bs2014

hooch-85 wrote: »

Lovely car. Best of luck with it, interested to hear how it stacks up compared to the 330d.

Where did you buy her? If you buy her up north, get her inspected independently. From my experience, they do SFA to the cars (ie brakes wear and tear items) and once the cars cross the border they don't give a hoot. Hopefully not everyones experience of buying north is the same as mine. Just a lesson I learnt.

hooch-85

bs2014 wrote: »

Where did you buy her? If you buy her up north, get her inspected independently. From my experience, they do SFA to the cars (ie brakes wear and tear items) and once the cars cross the border they don't give a hoot. Hopefully not everyones experience of buying north is the same as mine. Just a lesson I learnt.

Ah here, are you still winging over the 6 month old brake discs that you done 18k on that you had to pay to replace like everyone else would.

GustavoFring

bs2014 wrote: »

Where did you buy her? If you buy her up north, get her inspected independently. From my experience, they do SFA to the cars (ie brakes wear and tear items) and once the cars cross the border they don't give a hoot. Hopefully not everyones experience of buying north is the same as mine. Just a lesson I learnt.

Bought from a main dealer. Got the appraisal sheet and all that. It's going to be checked over before it leaves the place.

Muppet Man

Well wear Gustavo - thats a smashing looking car. It will be a rare enough site on these roads I think. Sorry If I missed it, but presume it was an NI purchase?

Killinator

Those seats in that Cupra are just feckin sublime looking!

GustavoFring

Muppet Man wrote: »

Well wear Gustavo - thats a smashing looking car. It will be a rare enough site on these roads I think. Sorry If I missed it, but presume it was an NI purchase?

Yes, between needing a car soon ish for going back to work and the current restrictions it was just easier to coordinate. Admittedly not having seen it yet is a big thing but it's been really straightforward and the dealer responsive.

tossy

Well wear. It’s a great looking example.

bazz26

Well wear Mr Fring, it's a fine car.

SaintsYB

Well wear! I love the Cupra ST. It's such an overused saying but a car like that is really all the car you could ever need.

DaveyDave

Sounds like you got a nice spec, looks like a lovely motor too. I really like the look of those alloys, colour goes well with it and you can't go wrong with an ST. The seats are a nice touch.

Happy motoring

GustavoFring

Thanks lads. Fingers crossed it's not a total shed! Putting a lot of faith in other people and I'm too picky for my own good. It's a really strange experience buying a car sight unseen. I've done it before for others but never for myself.

Leonard Hofstadter

Looks lovely, best of luck with it! Manual too for extra brownie points !

carsfan2

This is quite interesting I think, maybe he is a little pedantic but he is correct.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X48c9lFX3NY&t=329s

Wailin

That is quiet interesting and very disappointing from VW, but not really surprising. They lost billions with the emissions scandal and trying to claw back anyway they can. Keep your mk 7's lads!

The touchscreens can be tedious to use when on the go ......... no bonnet strut is scabby alright also.

bazz26

I'd say in years to come when EVs become the norm they will try and replace the Golf with the ID 3 so along with the cost of dieselgate I'd say they are cutting back on investing in a model that they will have a similar EV competing in the same segment.

Casati

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

Looks lovely, best of luck with it! Manual too for extra brownie points !

Lovely looking Cupra there, the wheels won’t be easy to clean but look class and see it has the speaker upgrade which is good as the standard ones are rubbish. Hopefully she is not too hard on petrol

hooch-85

The manual cars seem a bit better in fuel. I get around 32mpg average in my Golf R, on a steady run I can get up to 38. The Cupra should be a bit lighter, I'd say mid 30s on average.

Truckermal

I seen that Cupra on Copart some time ago it got a bad roll but looks like a good enough repair...

Killinator

carsfan2 wrote: »

This is quite interesting I think, maybe he is a little pedantic but he is correct.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X48c9lFX3NY&t=329s

Although there's a few genuinely cheap bits on the Mk7 it's still a bit unfair to compare a regular Golf Mk8 to a Golf Mk7.5 R

bazz26

The things that guy focused on were not unique to the R though.

Removing the gas struts is a prime example of cost cutting especially when the new Octavia which is positioned lower down the VAG brand hierarchy gets them. As I said earlier the cost cutting to me seems so as they try to launch and establish the ID3, once that takes place I reckon the Golf's days are numbered, at least in non performance guise anyway. There may not be a Mk9 Golf, we could just get an extended life cycle of the Mk8 and maybe a Mk8.5. That's a big gamble by VW but then again they did similar when the Golf Mk1 came out which was originally earmarked as a replacement for the every green Beetle.

L-M

bazz26 wrote: »

The things that guy focused on were not unique to the R though.

Removing the gas struts is a prime example of cost cutting especially when the new Octavia which is positioned lower down the VAG brand hierarchy gets them. As I said earlier the cost cutting to me seems so as they try to launch and establish the ID3, once that takes place I reckon the Golf's days are numbered, at least in non performance guise anyway. There may not be a Mk9 Golf, we could just get an extended life cycle of the Mk8 and maybe a Mk8.5. That's a big gamble by VW but then again they did similar when the Golf Mk1 came out which was originally earmarked as a replacement for the every green Beetle.

Think you have it fairly bang on.

1. Beetle
2. Golf
ID.3

JoeA3

I think people get hung up on the cost cutting stuff and put 2+2 together and get 5. I wouldn’t read too much into it. They’ve been doing this for decades. When the MK5 launched there was uproar - the soft touchy feely plastics from the mk4 were ditched and they forgot to paint half the rear bumper. There’s no doubt that in base form, the MK5 interior looked pants, but when the GTI came along it undoubtedly looked great and was unquestionably better put together than a MK4.

In this instance, no doubt the accountants looked at the metrics and realised 95%+ customers never open the bonnet so why bother with a gas strut... we will notice these things and it would irk me, but most buyers won’t notice. I think we know that VW don’t really care too much about appeasing the traditional fanboys. They’ve ditched the much loved 3 door form for starters.

And that video is ludicrous. He’s comparing a Golf R to a trendline Golf. He blew his load much too early. Wait for the performance models and do the comparison then.

I’m still looking forward to seeing the MK8 GTI/R though. They’ll probably be outside my budget for a while though...

DaveyDave

JoeA3 wrote: »

I think people get hung up on the cost cutting stuff and put 2+2 together and get 5. I wouldn’t read too much into it. They’ve been doing this for decades. When the MK5 launched there was uproar - the soft touchy feely plastics from the mk4 were ditched and they forgot to paint half the rear bumper.

In this instance, no doubt the accountants looked at the metrics and realised 95%+ customers never open the bonnet so why bother with a gas strut...

I can see where they're coming from. It's probably a tiny cost but multiply that across a popular car like the Golf it would add up to a bit saving. Still, it's a nice touch that adds up to to the Golf being a nice car. Then again you've got things like front and rear ambient lighting, three zone climate, quilt stitching and more standard spec now.

Could argue the same about the new Polo not having handles in the headliner. I believe they got customer feedback to hell their decision with that.

At least struts should be easy enough to fit for those who really want it. If it was me I'd probably not be arsed in the end.

JoeA3

It’s amazing the tiny little things they delete from the spec - that most Joe Publics don’t even notice - and you’d wonder how they could possibly save much by doing that, but when they’re churning out 100’s of thousands of them and you’re saving 50 cent on each car... it adds up!

I remember early MK5 GTI’s had a few little nice touches (blue tinted glass, Alu-trim on dash...) that they slowly deleted through the car’s life cycle. The MK6 was effectively a face lifted mk5 with loads of cost cutting applied.

kooga

Reading the above I’ll hang onto my mark v gti for another while. 😂

SaintsYB

JoeA3 wrote: »

I think people get hung up on the cost cutting stuff and put 2+2 together and get 5. I wouldn’t read too much into it. They’ve been doing this for decades. When the MK5 launched there was uproar - the soft touchy feely plastics from the mk4 were ditched and they forgot to paint half the rear bumper. There’s no doubt that in base form, the MK5 interior looked pants, but when the GTI came along it undoubtedly looked great and was unquestionably better put together than a MK4.

In this instance, no doubt the accountants looked at the metrics and realised 95%+ customers never open the bonnet so why bother with a gas strut... we will notice these things and it would irk me, but most buyers won’t notice. I think we know that VW don’t really care too much about appeasing the traditional fanboys. They’ve ditched the much loved 3 door form for starters.

And that video is ludicrous. He’s comparing a Golf R to a trendline Golf. He blew his load much too early. Wait for the performance models and do the comparison then.

I’m still looking forward to seeing the MK8 GTI/R though. They’ll probably be outside my budget for a while though...

It's true yeah, he's not comparing like with like but at the same time, they're not going to put gas struts on the bonnet just for the performance ones nor will they give it a different mirror, centre console or felt-lined glove compartment.

GustavoFring

Couple of days into ownership on the Leon and I'm genuinely happy with the purchase, moreso than any car purchase the last few years if I'm honest. It's in much better condition than I ever expected it to be too - it's 3 and a half years old and it genuinely could pass for a 201 reg. Bar a big smattering of flies on the front:D

Compared to the 330d it's obviously not as well built or comfortable but having owned an FR184 in the past there's no surprise there. Seats are excellent and the in-gear shove is strong. It can overpower the front wheels at times but I might get the dog bone mount to help with that. But once you're moving it's a non-issue. It's more engaging at lower speeds compared to the BMs which you had to provoke to do anything silly. Looking at this as a mini project anyway to get to my liking over time.

If anyone has suggestions on mods etc I'm all ears.

I thought all estates were AWD?

CIP4

Augeo wrote: »

I thought all estates were AWD?

No only the facelift estate Cupra 4 drive ones are 4wd there are probably only a handful of them in Ireland.

Fair play to ye chaps......the knowledge in here is 2nd to none. Tremendous 👍

tossy

GustavoFring wrote: »

If anyone has suggestions on mods etc I'm all ears.

Grab a pen, paper and your wallet lol

GustavoFring

tossy wrote: »

Grab a pen, paper and your wallet lol

ShadowHearth

The car looks amazing Gustavo, happy driving. I would lie if I would say, that i am not jealous. I planned to be in Leon cupra by now too, but this covid changed everything. On 30th its my balloon payment day and I decided to just pay it and own my Mini Me cupra.

Back to work only on 30th, so will see how this will go and maybe at the end of the year I will reopen my plans of upgrading.

SaintsYB

CIP4 wrote: »

No only the facelift estate Cupra 4 drive ones are 4wd there are probably only a handful of them in Ireland.

Didn't they have to be DSG too?

hooch-85

Yeah all the 4 drives are DSG. A manual ST290 is quite a rare car here. It looks like a great example.

CIP4

SaintsYB wrote: »

Didn't they have to be DSG too?

Yes facelift, DSG, estate was the only variant with the 4 drive option and it’s only out here since 2019. They are as close as makes no difference 50k new here so not exactly a queue of people ordering them.

hooch-85

I know of two of 4 drive's, a really nice blue one and another grey like Gustavo's car.

L-M

hooch-85 wrote: »

I know of two of 4 drive's, a really nice blue one and another grey like Gustavo's car.

Thought I (heard first) and then saw a nice blue one passing me out walking the other day.

hooch-85

Galway/Mayo direction?

drunkmonkey

Will someone with a manual try this for me (auto might be the same) I’m trying to get to the bottom of the shake at idle, turn off all air con etc and see does the car idle smoothly.
If I turn the heater on one notch it’s perfect, no shake as the heater increases the revs slightly.
I’ve read on some forms it’s normal. Some saying change spark plugs.

bazz26

L-M wrote: »

Thought I (heard first) and then saw a nice blue one passing me out walking the other day.

A lad out at work has one in that colour, think it's a 191 or 192. Not a very common car so could very well be the same car.

deceit

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Will someone with a manual try this for me (auto might be the same) I’m trying to get to the bottom of the shake at idle, turn off all air con etc and see does the car idle smoothly.
If I turn the heater on one notch it’s perfect, no shake as the heater increases the revs slightly.
I’ve read on some forms it’s normal. Some saying change spark plugs.

I've a manual and this is normal, push your clutch in and see does it disappear.

bs2014

See the new Leon FRs arriving in Irish dealers today (yet no prices or specs on the seat website); I believe its not gonna have a diesel manual:(

Toyotafanboi

Probably for the best really :pac:

josephsoap

I currently have a BMW 4 series M sport (420D) which I am thinking of changing for a 2018 GTD golf.

The 4 series is quite a harsh ride on rough roads, would the GTD be similar on rough roads ?

drunkmonkey

It’s would be a lot cheaper swap out the springs in the Beamer. Also what tyres have you on it runflats aren’t that forgiving.