Finally Fred Drives a Mk8 GTI

[Snowman8888]

I nearly went for the Reflex Silver but in the end ordered KR, oh well, someone has to drive one 🙄

[fredgroves]

Firstly, great title for this new topic.

Really interesting to see how much you rated it. I was convinced you’d buy the bmw. Maybe not!

Do you think the gti needs dcc as a lot of reviews have inferred?

Cheers. Not on eighteens it doesn't. The road i took it down is mental and it was still OK in sport, a lot better in comfort.

I'm thinking with the ninteens you get a different suspension tune... I'm gambling on it being tolerable actually.

[fredgroves]

I nearly went for the Reflex Silver but in the end ordered KR, oh well, someone has to drive one 🙄

LOL it's not terrible but parked next to a tornado red mk7 it looked not racey at all.

[king monkey]

Firstly, great title for this new topic.

Really interesting to see how much you rated it. I was convinced you’d buy the bmw. Maybe not!

Do you think the gti needs dcc as a lot of reviews have inferred?

Cheers. Not on eighteens it doesn't. The road i took it down is mental and it was still OK in sport, a lot better in comfort.

I'm thinking with the ninteens you get a different suspension tune... I'm gambling on it being tolerable actually.

You’re taking a gamble? Sounds like you’ve made your mind up there Fred. Gti it is.

[fredgroves]

No I mean gamble as in if I order the gti I'll have nineteens and no dcc... And nobody i know has tried that yet!

The trigger gets pulled after the BMW drive. I've got one of those for a whole day soon. I had the gti for just an hour.

My bmw spec is locked in, so it's just a case of how the two perform in bog standard spec. Bmw is not on dcc and eighteens too.

If I wasn't such a testing freak I'd have ordered the gti today and been happy.

[king monkey]

Looking forward to your thoughts Fred. Sure it’s a decision lots of us will be looking at.

You fancy giving the Clubsport a drive?

[Guzzle]

Didn't you already drive a 135i Fred? If so, how does the GTi compare to that?

[fredgroves]

I don't think I'll give the clubby a go actually. Today proved the gti is plenty quick enough. I'd sooner spend the cash on some options rather than power.

The same is true with the m135i.

I drove that a year ago now and it's quick, it's flat handling and comfy. In fact it felt like it's on rails... Maybe too much on rails looking back. The gti felt more frisky and keener to turn in. Dsg is much smoother than the BMW torque converter eight speed. However if you had just driven the m135i you'd have been happy. Its a kessel run record breaker for sure.

The thing with today is that the mk8 feels like a golf. I was able to just chuck it around in a very familiar way. Sure its not the same as my gtd in many ways, but in lots it is. I won't be nearly as confident with the BMW test drive.

[AndyGTI]

Glad to hear you’ve finally had your test drive pity you only got an hour with the car.

It’s good to hear your thoughts and as a fan of ACC not sure whether I like the direction it’s going in (yes I appreciate it’s all part of drive towards autonomous driving.)  I think it was the part about slowing down for bends that I didn’t like.  I like to judge that myself and take action accordingly.

Much as lane assist is also a great innovation in theory, it does sound like it can lead to some issues out on the road.

Thanks for your rundown of colours ( probably slightly academic now for me personally as Mk8 enthusiasm waning) I do still like the Kings Red, but not matching the red GTI accents would make me think twice.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned previously but I had a look at some 1 series and it was interesting to see the position of the heated steering wheel button on the BMW.......it was far more logical in being out of the way and you don’t press it unless you want it. On the three spoke steering wheel it’s on bottom vertical spoke closest to centre of steering wheel. So away from all the cruise control, radio, cruise control or digital dash controls.

The VW steering wheel does seem to have hit a problem all round with reviewers.

I watched the volkswizard comparison between M135i and S3 and the interior of BMW looked far more special so I can totally see why BMW seem to have gained so many supporters

Look forward to hearing your thoughts on the next test drive, hope you get it in soon

[fredgroves]

Hey Andy,

Yes, my dealer only let me have 45 minutes... but that turned into an hour due to traffic jams - i did get a chance to see how good the nav was at getting around traffic problems - basically, it isn't - just like the Mk7.5 lol

I really like the automated driving tech - most of my driving isn't fun driving, its just driving. If I can get there feeling less exhausted then I'm happy with that. VW seem to be ahead in the tech game still though - BMW's tech is both not quite as good and paid for options. My 128 spec includes both digital dash and driving assistant - both expensive options. Even then I don't think either are going to be as good as the Mk8, maybe only just about on par with the Mk7.5.

Lane assist is as of 2020 mandatory on EVERY (new model) car - you won't escape it. All versions of it are unsuited to UK roads IMHO. Auto re-enabled at every start. Needs a mod with ODB11.

BMW get around the heating steering wheel option in a pragmatic way - you have to pay for it. Job done, don't pay.

The Golf's steering wheel is probably its weakest point. I didn't find the rest of the interior actually that objectionable.

My 128 test drive is next week - one of the unfortunate things though is that almost certainly the tech I want to test won't be on the demonstrator.

My biggest concern with the BMW though is comfort - BMW (particularly Mini) are notorious for uncomfortable seats unless you spec the full M Sport ones - which you can't do in the UK on a 128ti (and even if you did they don't match the rest of the car - just like the leather ones also look like they have been badly retro fitted). BMW's also lack seat belt height adjusters. So this rather basic fuinctional element is probably where the whole thing hangs - not clever suspension, not 0-60 times, not even the bloody steering wheel, the seats....

If find that rather frustrating and dissapointing if I am honest. We'll see.