Drum roll please... lol
After everything conspiring to deny me what I thought was going to happen almost a year ago, finally I got my Mk8 GTI test drive.
As far as I could tell (or the salesman could...) it was a basic GTI DSG with no options. In white.
Now remember I come from a Mk7.5 GTD with a manual box, so its a little different to start with for me.
Seats are comfy - better than I expected, more grippy laterally than the Mk7.5 at the shoulders and your bum.
Digital dash itself reasonably clear, the MIB unit not quite so much. I couldn't find out during my test drive if it was possible to change the colours at all - red isn't great for my eyesight, but it was ok. The speedo and rev counter etc were nice and big and clear, no worries.
Little gear selector thingy wasn't annoying to me - ok so I kept trying to grab the gear lever, but I drive a manual so of course... but in terms of selecting drive modes, i found it no bother. It functions.
The haptic buttons on the steering wheel are annoying, feel dreadful and I don't know how many times I put the heated steering wheel on.... I think I'd probably get used to it. If I could tick an option to remove them, I would.
The stereo sounded ok, the sat nav worked - nice to have proper traffic data without hooking up your phone. I think the new sat nav display is clearer than the Mk7's one. Pathing algorythm is still dumber than a dumb thing though. Couldn't work out how or if it was possible to get the map on the AID. I presume it is, I couldn't work out how. Stereo no longer has the brains box in the glove box. There are no SD card slots, there are two USB ports above the dash cubby hole (which no longer is a cubby hole, its a spring loaded clippy thing to keep your phone on the wireless charging pad)
The back of the car is still notably noisy, there is a definite exhaust sound from the rear (not the fake noise) when driving along and the wind noise is definitely a thing. Road noise, not so much but I'll come back to that in a bit.
Performance wise, she flies! Very flat handling round corners, feels like she wants to turn in always. Sport mode does hold the gears a bit too much, but from what you say on here, that's nothing new. Really very agile and rapid - like I'd expect a GTI to be. I didn't try the flappy paddles - I forgot actually. Yes, even without DCC you have two levels of suspension settings too. I tried the worst road I could think of. In sport it was firm but not harsh. My dentures did not escape my mouth. In comfort it was better and equally never wallowy when giving it some welly. Never upset by bumps at all in either mode. Impressive.
ACC.... oh thats interesting! It has the latest version of ACC which uses nav data as well. It spots roundabouts and tight corners and slows down. Eventually I managed to find a clear run at a roundabout and it slowed down and took me over it at a slowish speed - if anything, maybe a little too slow, like a little old lady. Hmmm. Definitely interesting though. If you have to brake approaching the roadabout though because something is coming round, then of course ACC comes off. ACC through tight bends is interesting, it brakes but not when you'd expect it to do so. I didn't die, so it must work lol. ACC also uses map data and traffic signs to lower your cruise speed. I went from a 70 down to 50 and it changed and braked.
Lane assist - after it jinking me round a few corners like some weird tramline thing, I turned it off. Its ok on proper roads, country roads... errr no. Its either going to take me into a pothole or kill a cyclist. Relatively simple to turn it off but it does come back every time you start the car.... thanks EU!
Voice control.... no included as standard. Well, I tried the button, it didn't work, hard to say for sure though with those haptic buttons.
So back at the dealers, I got a chance to look at some other GTI's he had and spot some differences.
White - the one I drove. Filthy. It got totally minging, the headlamp washer spray marks are still on the roof, the back end still sucks up muck. Don't choose white.
Kings Red - was my favourite. No longer. Its a sort of burgundy. The GTI red flashes don't match the KR colour. Looks not great at all. Reminds me of the colour my grandparents' car was. Urgh.
Dr Evil Grey - looks great actually.
Dolphin Grey - I wouldn't cry if Japanese fishermen killed all of these and took them away so I don't have to buy one.
Reflex Silver - oh yeah baby! This looks brilliant actually. The black bits contrast nicely, as do the red accents. Definitely the best colour I saw.
Wheels - the standard 18's are ghastly. Sorry they just need chucking in a hedge. The 19's look waaaay better. Reflex Silver with 19's? Bob on I must say. Except for the demonstrator, all of their GTI's had 19's.
Interesting factoid for you though.... tyres.... 18's are Goodyear F1's. 19's are.... Hankook Ventus S1evo3's. No BS's but equally.... no PS4's.
Overall my opinion is that its actually a rather nice car. Drives well, comfy, good technology, looks better than it first seems.... but those bloody haptic buttons. Oh well. No, I'd have a Mk8 GTI and I yet still might.
I have a day out with BMW to come, I will compare and contrast later but I will say this....I've definitely not left VW at this point.
