Mk 8 GTI Manual - impressions (at long last!)

[fredgroves]

Keyless... there is a software upgrade for the module that sort of fixes it.

It unlocks most of the time now and sometimes I can lock it.

An improvement...

As for the refusing to pass slower vehicles on the left of you.... yeah that's a thing where it suddenly decides its LHD.

Wait for the 44mph in a 70mph one when on cruise... and then back to 70mph and then down to 44mph.... repeat.

That's "fun" - even more so for those following you.

[Exonian]

It’s really good to read about a GTI with a manual box, there can’t be many mk8’s around thus equipped.
Good work DoomedHippie

[andykram]

I've only just read some of these Mk8 posts for reasons that will become apparent in a moment. When we realized last summer how much equity we had in the wife's 7.5R we started to look at replacements. At the time I test drove the Mk8 GTi, albeit as a DSG. Having had VWs for so long there was nowhere else I was going to start.
There were three main issues for me, some of which might not be popular on here for me to say. I apologize in advance - they are just my opinion.
1. I hated the interior. Far too complex and downright dangerous in my opinion trying to find things to touch and slide whilst on the move. And I'm afraid I did set things off by touching the buttons on the steering wheel. I'd be going round a corner and all of a sudden something on the dash or screen would change. I accept it could be me as the OP didn't find this an issue but it just wound me up. It's probably me being an old fart but I just thought the 7.5 was perfect - this in comparison was a huge backward step. And even the software on the 7.5 can be laggy sometimes so to hear of the constant troubles people are having with the 8 put me right off.
2. The interior quality was poor. I was fearing this might be the case after obvious downgrades in other models but I just thought it felt cheap and nasty.
3. The price. This was the final nail in the coffin. For years they've been creeping up into BMW/Mercedes territory and I'm afraid you can't charge the same amount for a VW as premium brand (VW is NOT a premium brand despite what some people might say)with issues like I've mentioned above in 1 and 2.
Consequently, and sadly therefore, after 25 years or so of VW ownership, the wife's 7.5 R will be our last VW. I defected three or four years ago to BMW from a Passat and the wife has done the same. We were going to buy a 128Ti but ended up in a M135i as it wasn't much more than a GTi and significantly less than a Mk8 R. I certainly wasn't going to entertain £40k for one of those. Even my Mk2 is going on sale soon so we will be completely VW-less.
For those that don't like BMWs I understand. The looks of the 1 series divide opinion but I'm afraid to say the interior quality is in another league compared to the GTi and the price (albeit it has gone up a lot since then) made it hard to ignore. Still waiting though - ordered in August and due in March but who knows.
So farewell to VW and all the shows I've attended and people I've met - it was good while it lasted.

[fredgroves]

I don't know if you bought new or not but a new m135i now is as much if not more than an 8R... Depending on if you bother to match the spec.

While the BMW is a nice car (I should have bought one when they were cheap after they came out), it's no golf R when it comes to handling... Not mk7.5 and definitely not mk8.

[andykram]

Yes I've read reviews saying the Mk8 R's a better handling car than the 135. But for your average Jo like me and the wife (whose car it is) it's more than adequate and just comes across as a better quality product. The interior is miles better than the Golf and the infotainment system/idrive is simply in a different league. I also got it from a dealer at broker price last August before the price rises so was below £35k. Quite a bit below in fact. An 8R would have been thousands more expensive so it was a deal we couldn't ignore. Having said that, I just couldn't ever live with that Golf interior. It's a real shame - I really wanted to like the Mk8 but just couldn't. 

[Exonian]

A shame you didn’t start this as a new thread andykram as you raise some good points in their own right that aren’t a direct reply to the OP.
When I saw early shots of the mk8 before it was properly available I, like many others, was appalled.
I test drove one of the launch M135i’s as soon as I could out of interest and came away with the opinion that BMW made a better Golf than VW did.
I generally didn’t like the direction VW was going with products like the ID.3 and mk8 Golf as far as styling and interiors were going and, like yourself, after decades of VW group ownership I was ready to leave the fold. My TCR was going to be my last Golf and even then it was a close thing between getting that and a just launched M135i.
I doubt many here are familiar with the song abcdefu by GAYLE but that was my general sentiment towards VW at the time for a variety of reasons.
After a certain amount of time with the otherwise excellent TCR I didn’t get on with the DCC suspension having a very painful back at the time so I picked up a 7 or 8 month old M135i showroom car with barely 1000 miles on it with over £11k off the list price new. The only fly in the ointment was it had leather which pushed it into the luxury tax bracket on top of its other options but that wasn’t a huge issue when the price I paid (£29k) was considered, especially as it was a cash purchase. With a PCP a new M135i would have been heaps cheaper than an equivalent VW at the time. BMW wanted to make headway against the ageing Golf 7(.5) and were being aggressive, however Covid 19 then happened and the world changed.
Were it not for me wanting to release the equity in the BMW for my son to use as a house deposit urgently I’d still have the BMW now, albeit with a few mods and I doubt I’d have ever come back to VW. I can’t see anything in particular in the range either now or coming up that would draw me back. With the EV revolution I think we can discount heritage and tradition when choosing these appliance level of cars to buy the one with the best features as they’re all broadly similar and very expensive unless your employer pays for them for you (such as thr ID.4 just around the corner from me which is obviously an essential tool for the person who has it as a company car, so much so that I’ve never ever seen it move since it was delivered, they use their Golf GTE as their family car. The rules on company cars should change big time).
Purely timing of the event (my son needed funds in place by Xmas 2020) made the choice a mk8 Clubsport despite my reservations or a MINI hatch JCW (the electric wasn’t quite released or that would have easily won).
I went for the Clubsport and am glad I did.
The mk8 is actually ok.
Well, as a driver’s car it’s much better than ok, it’s bloody good.
After over 12 months the interior is functional and reasonably attractive but nowhere near as premium as the 1 series. The A3 is more directly comparable to the 1’er and my son has an 8 month old S-Line A3 and that really does have a lower grade of interior than its predecessor. Were I to buy anything other than a GTI Golf then my choice wouldn’t be a Golf.
I view the R as just a product in mk8 guise. I’m sure it’s a wonderful thing to drive but it’s stupidly expensive when specced as it really needs to be.
The M135i is just a product too, albeit a very well built and well packaged one.
The S3 is even more of just a product.
Any three of those is a matter of “what’s the best deal and availability?” unless you have a drag strip at your disposal.

I really rate the M135i. It has an awful lot going for it.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone to trade a late spec 7.5 for any of the above but the mk8 GTI is nowhere near as sh!te as many would have you believe. But then maybe I’m fortunate that I don’t have that many electrical gremlins. As a drivers car it has bags of character when you want, and is very civilised when you don’t.
Screens aren’t any worse than buttons if you have to take your eyes off the road for so much as a second for either.
Judging by the amount of people you see driving around evidently looking at much smaller screens in their hands rather than focussing on their driving then maybe VW are on to something…

[andykram]

Really interesting comments these and good to hear from someone who's actually owned a 135. Interestingly, the reason we went for a 135 over a 128Ti was that that car felt a bit skittish to us after having the security of 4 wheel drive for 6 years. We just felt 266 bhp through the front wheels felt a bit much although the media reviews view the 128 very positively. My biggest beef with the Golf 8 is that the interior doesn't befit the price. I had the chance to sit in a T Roc R and that was woeful for a £40k plus car. The Golf is better than the T Roc but nowhere near the 1 series and that was more important to me than the fact that the 8R might outhandle the 135 round a circuit.
I'm sure for most people it comes down to money and also for me, perceived value. The 135 isn't cheap but I just feel that I'm paying for a premium product. With the Golf I'd be paying substantially more for substantially (in my eyes) less quality.
I'm the one with the practical car ( a new shape 320d Tourer) and since the interior of the 1 is pretty much the same as mine that was another clincher for the 135 as we're used to where everything is. The last deal breaker was that the 3 BMWs I've had have all been faultless - I can't say that for the many VWs I've had including the Mk6 GTi with the dreaded tensioner problem and a Mk4 GT TDi which had more niggly problems than any car I've ever owned.
The irony is that the current Onyx white R that we have has been reliable but even then it's had/got the dreaded front suspension creak and even went through the 2nd service without the dealer doing anything about it. I guess when you're charging mass produced prices you could get away with stuff like that but not now when you're charging proper premium prices.
I'll continue to follow the VW scene and the Mk2 hasn't gone yet - while ever I have that I will still have that connection with the brand.

[Exonian]

I’ll try and be brief this time in an attempt not to completely sidetrack the thread irredeemably.

Perceived value is a big thing. As much subconscious as conscious. When you’re used to the interior of a car from the class above a Golf and then added to that a more upmarket brand than VW, the very well finished and hewn from solid feel of the 1 series is going to feel like home, and a very nice home at that.
Added to that the relatively lazy but potent feel of the 135i engine brings that bigger BMW feel to the smaller car.

The skittish feel of the 128ti was likely down to the very high tyre pressures BMW recommend. Deflating them a few PSI would likely calm things down a little. Mind you if it was on Bridgestones that would explain it. Plus the car has a very sharp steering ratio similar to a MINI (which the car is based on chassis wise).
The diff would take care of any actual traction issues (off the line wheel spin excepted) but after so many years with that planted but inert Golf R chassis then a fast FWD will feel a bit odd. Thankfully the M135i has a much livelier chassis than the 7R feeling far more like a FWD hatch but with the added reassurance of the extra driven axle when needed.