The Mega MK7 & MK8 Golf GTI/GTD/R thread - Part II

SaintsYB

Well, well, well. The new Clubsport has been announced. It looks tasty with the updated bumper and wing.

https://www.evo.co.uk/volkswagen/golf-gti-clubsport/203171/volkswagen-golf-gti-clubsport-mk8-revealed-pictures

Killinator

The wheels pointing in opposite directions depending on what side there on makes me unhappy!
On the right they point forwards and on the left they point backwards

Paddy@CIRL

Picked it up yesterday after a fairly non-eventful and socially distanced trip to Northern Ireland. Paid the owner via Revolut, so saved a decent few quid that way (almost twice what the NOX charge will be). Nice steady spin back home at a fairly impressive 7.7/100KMs on the motorway, ACC is an absolute treat and the entertainment system is decent enough, although I will activate CarPlay & maybe upgrade to the 8-inch screen at some point.

A quick drive up the mountains when I got back has pretty much affirmed that it's all the car I've ever needed. Also discovered this morning it has DCC, which the previous owner was unaware of.

Launch control with 400hp is utterly ludicrous. I now understand why there's so many of these things on the road.

hooch-85

Class car Paddy and I normally don't like the wagons but that's just right! How you going to fair out with VRT?
What engine mods are done to it?

vintagevrs

Congrats Paddy, obviously you'll have your own plans already but first thing for me would be the rear clusters. I wouldn't be overly bothered about the other stuff but those lights were a strange decision by VW. Are they the same fitment as the hatch?

Some LEDs here that ye photographed before





Autofocus giving ye bother!:)

Paddy@CIRL

Shouldn't have any issues with VRT, as it's booked in for early next month. Think it might have been marginally cheaper in January (27% vs 26%), but that's not something I was willing to gamble on.

I often shot out the back of the GTI, so this should be even more comfortable again with DCC and even more points to harness onto. I don't think I will go the route of the 7.5 infotainment and dashboard. I drive a lot of the new stuff with them, and the novelty wears off pretty quickly. The 8-inch screen is pretty affordable retrofit in comparison, should be less than €400 fitted.

LED tails from the 7.5 Variant are definitely on the cards (they're different to the hatch) but need to do a lot of research first to figure out what adapters / coding are required.

I'm surprised by how much I like the Pretorias on it, but will still likely go back to my 18-inch TE37s.

hooch-85

Is the infortainment the MIB1 or MIB2 system? These changed mid way through 2015 for the MY16 cars. The 2 is a much better system, I had the standard MIB1 in my GTD and it was very laggy. My R has the 8" Pro Nav upgrade and it's a big difference, unfortunately it's still the MIB 1 version with my car being an early 2015 car so can't update it for car play but to be honest I don't think car play is much of an addition unless it's wireless. We have it in the wife's Ateca and we rarely use it.

Paddy@CIRL

It's the MIB2 Discover Media system, I'm almost certain. It's absolutely grand, but wouldn't mind the screen being a bit bigger.

I swear by CarPlay, even had it retrofitted in my MK6 GTI.

hooch-85

Mib2 is carplay compatible alright so you can add it to yours.

theintern

Has anyone actually done the MIB2 screen upgrade?

Starting to think I'm going to hold on to the GTI for a few more years and so tempted to do the upgrade.

Is it literally just a case of, order the screen and surround, pull out the trim and install the new screen? Easy DIY job?

dar83

As long as you have MIB2 yes. If you have MIB1, the bigger screen won't play kindly with it due to the resolution output of MIB1

JoeA3

Isn’t there component protection built into them too? So unless you get around that you have a screen that doesn’t function.
And I’m sure the gubbins in the glovebox is different. Doesn’t the pro nav have a built in HDD.

Paddy@CIRL

Doesn't seem to be component protection on the screen, Joe. It's just a display unit which is why the retrofit is fairly straightforward.

This is the guide I've read about it - https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/16978-mk7r-how-to-swap-mibii-infotainment-65-screen-to-8/

hooch-85

My understanding is if your going from MIB1 to MIB2 you need the screen and the HDD/CD drive.

damo86

hooch-85 wrote: »

My understanding is if your going from MIB1 to MIB2 you need the screen and the HDD/CD drive.

Looked into this before when I had my '15 MK7 R; Indeed you're right and also a new USB port for CarPlay support.

Few guides to Golfmk7.com and VWvortex I believe.

PaulRyan97

Anyone here have the experience of driving a GTE on 18" alloys? Looking at ordering one new and like the Bakersfield alloys but I'm curious if the ride quality will noticeably worse, especially given the added weight of the motor and battery.

shanec1928

PaulRyan97 wrote: »

Anyone here have the experience of driving a GTE on 18" alloys? Looking at ordering one new and like the Bakersfield alloys but I'm curious if the ride quality will noticeably worse, especially given the added weight of the motor and battery.

What type of driving do you do? That should help shape your decision. I find the 18s on my leon can be harsh over bumps/ speed ramps.

User1998

PaulRyan97 wrote: »

Anyone here have the experience of driving a GTE on 18" alloys? Looking at ordering one new and like the Bakersfield alloys but I'm curious if the ride quality will noticeably worse, especially given the added weight of the motor and battery.

I guess your talking about the 7.5 GTE because the mk7 didn’t come with 17’s. I had a mk7 on 18’s with PS4’s which were fine. I upgraded to 19’s with P Zeros and the road noise increased a lot which was dissapointing as I loved how quiet the car was, but the ride quality didn’t really change, PS4’s were a much better tyre tho.

I now have a 7.5 GTE on 18’s with Hankook Ventus Prime’s and they are fine. Road noise and ride quality are grand

PaulRyan97

shanec1928 wrote: »

What type of driving do you do? That should help shape your decision. I find the 18s on my leon can be harsh over bumps/ speed ramps.

Mixture of city driving and rural R roads mostly, odd trip down to West Cork every month or so where the roads are less than stellar.

I have a MK7 on 17s at the moment and I find it nice and comfortable (though I nearly always drop to sub 25km/h for ramps.

PaulRyan97

User1998 wrote: »

I guess your talking about the 7.5 GTE because the mk7 didn’t come with 17’s. I had a mk7 on 18’s with PS4’s which were fine. I upgraded to 19’s with P Zeros and the road noise increased a lot which was dissapointing as I loved how quiet the car was, but the ride quality didn’t really change, PS4’s were a much better tyre tho.

I now have a 7.5 GTE on 18’s with Hankook Ventus Prime’s and they are fine. Road noise and ride quality are grand

Well that's good to hear, maybe I'm just over thinking it too much. How badly did the 19s affect your fuel economy or did not make much difference?

User1998

I don’t keep track of fuel economy to be honest, either way I was still getting over 100mpg long term anyway!

Tiger72

Does anybody know anything about this car ?
https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/volkswagen/golf/fpa/202007101078534?journey=Search

Money dosn't seem bad , or is it straight in from across the pond .

Casati

PaulRyan97 wrote: »

Anyone here have the experience of driving a GTE on 18" alloys? Looking at ordering one new and like the Bakersfield alloys but I'm curious if the ride quality will noticeably worse, especially given the added weight of the motor and battery.

Whatever the ride is like I think the standard 17in look terrible and it certainly does look like an alternative GTI so you’d mad not to spec the 18’s

Has the price come down with the VRT change, I’d guess that it should be 600/700 cheaper and the extra’s should be 7% cheaper too. Looks like a lot of car for the money

hooch-85

Tiger72 wrote: »

Does anybody know anything about this car ?
https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/volkswagen/golf/fpa/202007101078534?journey=Search

Money dosn't seem bad , or is it straight in from across the pond .

Don't know anything about the car but it's for sale a long time. It's a uk import alright, mph clocks. Basic enough spec (non metallic, 18" wheels) and manual which some find less desirable but if it all checks out and mileage is genuine and verified it's probably not too far off price wise imo.

moleyv

Thinking of a new Mk8 GTI for 2021. Does anyone know if the VRT changes will increase the list price. I can see what the new VRT bands are, but not sure how the car fit into the old system that the current list price is based on, when it only has a WLTP figure in the product page.

Casati

moleyv wrote: »

Thinking of a new Mk8 GTI for 2021. Does anyone know if the VRT changes will increase the list price. I can see what the new VRT bands are, but not sure how the car fit into the old system that the current list price is based on, when it only has a WLTP figure in the product page.

It’s going to 26% as 169 co2 and is currently 157 co2 which is currently 27% so should be a half a percent reduction

moleyv

Casati wrote: »

It’s going to 26% as 169 co2 and is currently 157 co2 which is currently 27% so should be a half a percent reduction

Thanks for that. Looking at the configurator, sticking the 19" Adelaide rims on, increases the co2 to 172, and therefore into the 31% VRT bracket, which is unfortunate (assuming it is accurate).

I couldn't live with the standard rims.

dar83

moleyv wrote: »

Thanks for that. Looking at the configurator, sticking the 19" Adelaide rims on, increases the co2 to 172, and therefore into the 31% VRT bracket, which is unfortunate (assuming it is accurate).

I couldn't live with the standard rims.

Buy aftermarket with the saving on keeping the 18's from the factory and get nicer wheels anyway. It's a win-win!

Casati

dar83 wrote: »

Buy aftermarket with the saving on keeping the 18's from the factory and get nicer wheels anyway. It's a win-win!

We are going to see the return of 16in steel wheels in a lot of cars with upgrade alloys being a default option

dar83

Casati wrote: »

We are going to see the return of 16in steel wheels in a lot of cars with upgrade alloys being a default option

You say that as if steel wheels aren't the default option for 90% of Irish car buyers, because it's cheaper and sure alloys are just fancy and unnecessary. :pac: