New Golf GTI Owner, mk7 in tornado red

[danielwhitt]

Hi everyone

Just bought our new (to us) mk7 golf GTI in tornado red
Completely standard and with a manual gearbox
I say standard, apart from its had a virtual cockpit and upgraded stereo from a mk7.5
wa have owned an Octavia Vrs diesel before and fancied a change, so to speak 
just thought id say hello and post a few photos of it, once it was cleaned after it was picked up from the dealer, because they said itr was cleaned and all the did was polish over tar spots 

[Watts]

Looks great! Wecome to the forum

[Snoopy]

  welcome.

[Adam T7]

Very neat

[Exonian]

Welcome Daniel, classic GTI recipe being a red 3 door manual 
The interior upgrades are a nice touch.

[danielwhitt]

Yeah, it's a lovely car, and looks well in red. The only thing we're not Keen on are the alloys, we wanted the Santiago alloys, but this had everything but them, so we're on the hunt for those next. Oh, aswell as being remapped because my Octavia diesel was faster than this so we can't be having that 🤣👍

[Exonian]

The Santiagos would be a nice finishing touch. Lovely looking wheels. Watts ^^^^ ran a red mk7 3 door in that spec.
Be aware of their tendency to discolour as they’re polished on their faces. Mind you they look great refinished in grey or shadow chrome.
Oh, and they’re fiddly to clean.
And buckles aren’t unheard of.


Whilst we are on the ‘beware’ subject, the clutches on the manuals aren’t great on remapped cars. Budget for a replacement if you do modify the ECU.

[Watts]

The Santiagos would be a nice finishing touch. Lovely looking wheels. Watts ^^^^ ran a red mk7 3 door in that spec.
Be aware of their tendency to discolour as they’re polished on their faces. Mind you they look great refinished in grey or shadow chrome.
Oh, and they’re fiddly to clean.
And buckles aren’t unheard of.

I had two of mine with a slight buckle, pot hole damage. They ran okay but definitely to be wary of buying secondhand. And yes, a massive PITA to keep clean. Personally I'd avoid them and get something new.

[danielwhitt]

The Santiagos would be a nice finishing touch. Lovely looking wheels. Watts ^^^^ ran a red mk7 3 door in that spec.
Be aware of their tendency to discolour as they’re polished on their faces. Mind you they look great refinished in grey or shadow chrome.
Oh, and they’re fiddly to clean.
And buckles aren’t unheard of.


Whilst we are on the ‘beware’ subject, the clutches on the manuals aren’t great on remapped cars. Budget for a replacement if you do modify the ECU.

I've already been looking at an organic clutch, I've been looking at a helix clutch with billet cover ? They are meant to be close to stock feeling and hold alot more power.
Hopefully we will get this done prior to the remap or will at least done at the same time..
Regards the alloys, if they are anything like the 19s I put on my Octavia vrs, the ride quality wasn't great either so I'm guessing the ride quality will suffer too. To be honest, the longer I keep looking at the alloys, I don't mind them as much as I first thought, so may wait on the alloys unless something turns up I can pass on.

So far so good with the car, the only thing I've notice is the car cocks it's leg when it gets off the drive as it's at an awkward angle, so guessing the car is very rigid and doesnt flex too much.

[danielwhitt]

The Santiagos would be a nice finishing touch. Lovely looking wheels. Watts ^^^^ ran a red mk7 3 door in that spec.
Be aware of their tendency to discolour as they’re polished on their faces. Mind you they look great refinished in grey or shadow chrome.
Oh, and they’re fiddly to clean.
And buckles aren’t unheard of.


Whilst we are on the ‘beware’ subject, the clutches on the manuals aren’t great on remapped cars. Budget for a replacement if you do modify the ECU.

I've already been looking at an organic clutch, I've been looking at a helix clutch with billet cover ? They are meant to be close to stock feeling and hold alot more power.
Hopefully we will get this done prior to the remap or will at least done at the same time..
Regards the alloys, if they are anything like the 19s I put on my Octavia vrs, the ride quality wasn't great either so I'm guessing the ride quality will suffer too. To be honest, the longer I keep looking at the alloys, I don't mind them as much as I first thought, so may wait on the alloys unless something turns up I can pass on.

So far so good with the car, the only thing I've notice is the car cocks it's leg when it gets off the drive as it's at an awkward angle, so guessing the car is very rigid and doesnt flex too much.