Mk 8 GTI - new owner questions

[alland]

Hi, I have taken delivery of an ex-demo Mk8 GTI. I am still getting to know the car (have owned many GTI's before) and have read lots of interesting stuff you don't get in the (VERY GENERIC) VW manual. Incidentally, so far I have had absolutely no trouble with the infotainment system or the haptic buttons - I think it works well!
However, there are a couple of things I kind of baffled with:
1) Voice Control. This was demonstrated to me during the vehicle handover, and worked impressively - but when I use it via the steering wheel button, I get a "function not available" message! Why? I've seen it working! The only change made was me becoming the prime user instead of the dealer.
2) The car has the 19" Adelaide wheels - very smart. I have learned that when this option is chosen, sport suspension must also be included. What is the difference between this and the standard non-DCC set up? It's OK, but feels pretty stiff on our pot-hole strewn roads up here in Scotland. Seems a strange thing to do when using 35 aspect-ratio tyres

[Dav3smith]

As far as I know the non DCC suspension is called sports suspension and I'm sure there is not more than one type of it so that's what you'll have. And as for the other question on voice control I can't help as mine doesn't have it. What I will say though is that when I connect my phone to my car you can use voice control via the apps so it's a work around. I have to say I didn't see any need for the voice control as I heard it was very hit and miss but in a real life situation I find the voice control for the sat nav to be absolutely excellent. Trying to input addresses with my sausage fingers is far more stressful than just shouting at the thing, it works great for me, so in that respect I love it. 

[alland]

Hi. Thanks for your input - interesting, and I'm already seeing the benefit on being a member of this forum!
To be fair, I can't see me using voice control very much, I just thought it was weird that during the handover the guy said "Hello Volkswagen" and the thing replied "How can I help you today" which I believe is the procedure - and yet it won't talk to me! I can get get a very basic form of voice control via Android Auto, but it is basic.

As for the suspension, it is what it is - just have to keep memorising where the potholes are. (Anyone who could write software for "pothole alert" and load it into the satnav will become a millionaire in seconds!)

Previous GTIs

Mk1 8V
Mk2 8V
Mk2 16V (the best - wish I'd kept that!)
Mk3 8V
Mk3 16V
Mk5 16V
Mk6 16V

[fredgroves]

If your Mk8 is a newer one they took voice control out of the built in options.

You could buy it in the online shop though.

If the former owner did that then its tied to that vehicle VIN and their VW account...

Swap the logged in account to your VW account and magically....its gone!

Its garbage anyway...

[fredgroves]

As for the suspension, it is what it is - just have to keep memorising where the potholes are. (Anyone who could write software for "pothole alert" and load it into the satnav will become a millionaire in seconds!)

Use Waze on your phone via AndroidAuto or AppleCarPlay - it does that!

[SRGTD]

As for the suspension, it is what it is - just have to keep memorising where the potholes are. (Anyone who could write software for "pothole alert" and load it into the satnav will become a millionaire in seconds!)

Use Waze on your phone via AndroidAuto or AppleCarPlay - it does that!

Yes it does, and it was very useful when I did a few long-ish journeys on unfamiliar roads earlier this year. Advance warning of potholes saved me from damaging my alloys on more than one occasion .

[Exonian]

alland, it’s your accent it couldn’t cope with! 😁
Just kidding, the later mk8’s don’t have it, as above. My 2020 Clubsport had the feature and it was woeful. I switched it out eventually. My Dec 2023 R doesn’t have it but again, as above, it can be purchased from VW’s “store”. I wouldn’t recommend spending actual money on activating it.

Obviously not relevant here but the ChatGPT AI voice add on fitted to 8.5’s should be a massive improvement in that department.


Nobody that I’m aware of has been able to determine the differences in non adaptive suspension between 18” and 19” wheel options. VW definitely do make a point of mentioning it but it might be one of those oddities in their marketing descriptions which hint at differences that aren’t actually there.
The 19’s do give a knobblier ride but that’s not a bad thing as it trains you to avoid potholes. The wheels can and will bend on hard pothole impacts so think of it as a money saving feature.
By the way, it might be worth checking the dealer hasn’t put silly high air pressures in the tyres.
What sort of wheel/tyre/suspension combo did your immediately previous car have?

[alland]

Good point regarding checking the tyre pressures  something I should have done in any case really. I must stress that the A-road surfaces around here are particularly poor, so I'm probably being picky about the suspension thing. My previous car was a Porsche Macan S so that's not really comparable with the GTI, although it was pretty bumpy around here as well.
Another topic: have any of you had any experience of having a reversing camera retro-fitted by VW? It's the one thing I really miss on my car. (Being an ex-demo, it was specced by the dealer. I would much rather have had the camera than the pano roof!) Do the VW techs do the install, or do they bring a 3rd party specialist in to do the job? I'm thinking warranty issues, trim being removed resulting to rattles, etc.

[BillSan]

The Mk8 has been around long enough for any competent retrofit company to have done quite a few by now, so I wouldn't expect electrical problems or rattles to be a problem anymore.

Last time I looked it was about £600 all in but that was two years ago.  I'm sure there will be others on here who will have recommendations.  In the end I didn't bother and have got used to reversing more cautiously.

https://www.autologics.co.uk/vw-reverse-camera/VW-Golf-8-Reverse-Camera-Retrofit

[alland]

OK, just checked my tyre pressures after reading various opinions on what they should be (19" Adelaides, Bridgestone tyres). All were set at 42 psi, so I've reduced this to 38 psi all round as per the door sticker for partial loads. Tested it on a local section of bumpy road, and noticed an immediate improvement in ride quality. As a retired hydraulic engineer, I wouldn't have thought 3 psi would have amounted to much difference, but it has.