Thoughts on GTI (MK7 & MK8)

[lemming]

Originally Posted by FC

It’s all relative. It’s fun no matter what, but runs out of breath at very high rpm’s, the revs hang way too long and the tires are not up to snuff. It also leans a bit too much. But sure, it is still fun when pushed. It would make a great 1-car solution.

Well. You have some good baselines for comparison.

The F80 M3 and now the 986 — you can speak the best for how well the Mk7 and Mk8 do compared with some of the best benchmarks out there.

I think the engine is a gem, too. But it’s the runner’s equivalent of a mouth breather, right? Kind of hoarse at the top end?

[Nick M3]

Heh. My parents took their GTI Autobahn in for its first service last week. 1,200 miles. (They bought it when I was in CA, so January 2021.)

[robg]

Yep- agree with your assessment.

Sat in a Mk8 GTI SE a couple weeks ago and came away with similar impressions. Given all the extremely negative reviews of the interior, I was pleasantly surprised. Everything seemed well put together. The few buttons that are still in there feel nice- and the air vent adjustments in particular felt like something from a car several classes above (weird thing to notice but it stuck out). They still have some nice touches like the felt lined door pockets (which frankly you dont even find on some Audis or BMWs). For better or worse that weird electric shaver transmission lever is straight out of a Porsche (felt the same as the taycan i test drove not long before). And the typical solid door thunk found in German cars is always nice. Interior storage is still pretty limited but not that different to the mk7 IIRC

I did play around w/ the infotainment system, and again, maybe since my expectations were so low, it didn't seem as horrific as I thought it would be. Same goes for the haptic buttons on the steering wheel. While I certainly wouldn't classify them as better than what came before, it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

And as for the looks, yeah, I still think the Mk7 looks a little better but I've gotten used to the Mk8 and its still a pretty good looking hatch and I like it better than any of the competitors.

Overall, I'd still pick it over competitors like the Civic and Integra because:
-I'd end up getting the DSG (wife doesnt drive manual), and greatly prefer that to a CVT
-Still prefer the styling of the mk8 to the refreshed Civc (and integra too).
-Small thing but the GTI has rear air vents while both the Civic and Integra lack them (important given most of our usage would include a kid in the backseat).
-Much better performance...the 1.5T powered Civic and Integra are pretty slow by modern standards.
-A few other things that I'm forgetting right now

While I probably wouldn't upgrade to a mk8 from a mk7 if i had one, the GTI still seems like its still a "Sweet spot" in terms of price/performance/quality/practicality/comfort as a daily driver. I could spend less but get noticeably less car, or spend more and get only marginal gains. The GTI and Ioniq 5 are shaping up to be my 2 finalists for our next daily driver. Given general low availability, I'm waiting for 23 MY cars to arrive at dealers before I commit. Also, most of the GTIs I see in dealer inventories have the dreaded black wheels (callback to one of the Porsche threads.. . )

[Nick M3]

Is there really no way to permanently disable lane keep assist on the GTI?

[JST]

There was on my Mk VII R; I just turned it off in settings and it stayed off. Not sure if they changed things in the newer cars.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by JST

There was on my Mk VII R; I just turned it off in settings and it stayed off. Not sure if they changed things in the newer cars.

I have heard that it can’t be disabled and can’t find a spot to perma-disable. It’s so awful that it would be an absolute deal killer for me. And the only way to disable it while moving is to hold down the traction control button until it kills everything.

[JST]

Huh, yeah, it seems like they made a change on the newer ones and it always defaults to on.

I agree, that would be a deal breaker for me. The VW Lane keep assist scared the shit out of me.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by JST

Huh, yeah, it seems like they made a change on the newer ones and it always defaults to on.

I agree, that would be a deal breaker for me. The VW Lane keep assist scared the shit out of me.

BMW, too. Kind of like fighting Hal in outer space sometimes. But, you can turn it off.

[robg]

It could be due to some new EU regs that require “emergency lane keeping” systems. My guess is that some or all European manufacturers will include this feature on US cars as well. I experienced this on my loaner Jaguar Ipace a few months ago. Digging into the settings the car had both regular lane keep assist and emergency lane keep. The emergency one would default back to on each time the car was started. The threshold at which it will activate is higher but it’s scary if you’re not expecting it (and have regular lane keep turned off)

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better...stems-ELKS-_en


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[lemming]

No wonder. I was wondering why all of these electronic nanny systems are standard.