I know these things have been done before, but I thought I'd do this from the perspective of a 12 year diesel owner and my 3rd MK7 Golf.
As mentioned above, this is my 3rd MK7 with the previous 2 being a 2013 GTD DSG and a 2016 GTD DSG. Before that it was a 140PS DSG Scirocco and a MK5 Golf GT TDi (manual). In total I'd had diesel's for 12 years (the Golf was my first).
Now first things first, you would think that after having 3 near identical cars, I would be sick of the Golf by now, but each one I've owned keeps getting better and better, and I certainly haven't tired of it yet. I think the interior especially is very classy and exceptionally well laid out.
Well, my current MK7 is a GTI 230PS DSG which I picked up on May 3rd. It got off to a bit of a rocky start when on collection there was a deep scratch on the wing, but it was all sorted to my satisfaction and is now a distant memory. Now interestingly, when I ordered the GTI, I had never test driven one, and still hadn't up to the day I collected it. Based on on-line reviews and members on here I pretty much knew what I was going to be getting. The big question for me at ordering time was PP or no PP ? I eventually decided on no PP, as whilst the upgraded brakes look very cool under the alloys, for me the £1k asking price could be better spent on luxury toys as out and out performance was never my goal (so the extra power and LSD would be a bit wasted on me). I probably drive the GTI very conservatively 95% of the time, with just 5% reserved for play time or when I'm in a real hurry, such are my congested journeys to and from work.
So what were my initial feelings on at last going back to petrol. Well first was just how whisper quiet and smooth it was. Now the GTD's were by no means raucous (for a diesel lump they were very refined), but the GTI when plodding along is just so quiet and serene. I must admit that one thing did bring a huge smile to my face. Also, as I went for the Art Velours Interior (Alcantera / pleather), it really does lift the interior of the car and makes it feel really special, and is a nice change from 5 years of plaid cloth (which were still very nice). So what about the power, well to be honest this was the one area where I was initially disappointed.
I know the car is new and still quite tight (to date only 730 miles on it), but it didn't feel anywhere as fast as the GTD. The GTD just gave you that typical turbo diesel huge shove in the back when you accelerated, something the GTI didn't (doesn't). That is of course until you look at the speedo, and realise you are going a far bit quicker than you thought. I guess it's just me seeing the difference between the way a diesel engine rides it's torque curve and a petrol motor. Don't get me wrong, when pushed hard the GTI flies, but it just doesn't "feel" as fast as the GTD if you know what I mean - less dramatic.
Next was fuel consumption. Now to be fair I'm only on my 2nd full tank, but I was preparing myself to be a little shocked coming from a diesel, but TBH, I've been (so far) pleasantly surprised. My first tank netted me 38mpg (calculated - dash reading was 38.5) and my current tank (150 miles in) is showing so far a similar figure. Bearing in mind my GTD in the summer used to average around 46-47, it's not as big a hit as I imagined, although on shorter journeys, it's still a little disconcerting seeing the GTI struggle to even get to 25-30mpg, when the GTD would return 35-40mpg easily over the same shorter journeys. But I guess my memory of diesel fuel economy will dim as the miles go on. However a couple of times now on my way home from work I've seen both 45.2 and 48.8mpg returned (and that was only a 12 mile journey), so on a longer run down to my sister in laws (approx 130 miles each way) I fully expect the GTI to return mid to high forties when driving the same way I did the GTD's (which on the same journeys, would "only" return around 54-58mpg). Pretty good for 230ps and DSG ?
I also didn't think I would love the active info display as much as I do, but really wish there was a way to tweak it to show red needles instead of the standard white ones, as some of them (namely the fuel needle can be quite hard to reach). I've done a VCDS mod to show another skin that gives me the "classic" view, (just the clocks with no additional information). The added benefit of this that the minor speed markings are actually shown with figures not just tick marks, and the Fuel and temperature areas are slightly bigger and give a little better view of the needles. Shame it can't be modified more.
Also, this is the 1st MK7 where I didn't spec the Pro-Nav as I did in the previous cars. I went back and forth over this one, and decided in the end it was just too expensive and to be honest, now I've used it for month or so, I'm glad i did, especially now that google street view and google earth maps have been removed from the new model. I don't doubt for one minute the Pro Nav is better in many ways, but the standard Nav has really impressed me, and TBH, when I had the loaner "R" for a couple of weeks (fitted with the Nav Pro), I started to become a little annoying at the lack of proper buttons and having to hit the menu button to make another "app" selection. About the only things I really miss from the Pro Nav is the ability to play movies (when I'm waiting for the wife at the train station), and having the second SD card slot available for said movies or more music, but I think I can live without them.
I have to say as well the Android Auto / Apple Car Play implementation in the new systems is so much faster than on the MIB I and II models, and my AA loads up within seconds of a restart, and having the dedicated "APP" button to go straight to it is a very welcome addition.
This is also my first Golf with the full suite of safety options. So active lane assist, side assist (blind spot), rear assist, emergency assist, front and pedestrian assist and traffic sign recognition. All work great so far and the traffic sign assist really is a great feature and almost instantly picks up temporary speed signs (e.g. on the motorway etc.). The car is also equipped with the full dynamic light assist for the LED headlights (so auto mask's on coming traffic when on high beam), but as I've not really driven the car at night yet, I guess testing of that function will have to wait for winter.
So, all in all what do I think. Bit of a looker still, quiet, very refined, very safe, quick (when pushed), pretty economical for a 230ps petrol engine, but feels just a little "unexciting" when driven normally (the exhaust has started making some lovely DSG up-shift farts when pushing on though). recommended...... Yes very !
Thanks for reading.
