I bought an 8.5 GTI from stock

[DrivenToDistraction]

After quite a lengthy search, I picked up a nearly-new 8.5 GTI yesterday from a VW main dealer. It had only been used by the group manager and has done just over 4k miles. It is completely stock apart from the lovely Dolphin Grey paint. I had initially searched for a black one, but I am very happy with this choice. Yes, it has the so-so standard Richmond alloys (and Bridgestone tyres), but that means it was under £40k when registered a few months ago.

I have only done the 70-mile drive home from the dealers’, but the car feels great so far. So much more “urgent” and alive than the manual 7.5 GTI that I sold separately a few days ago. Its that feeling that the car “just wants to go”, which I haven’t really experienced since the ep3 civic type R that I had 20 years go. Even the driver assist systems aren’t as intrusive as in some other cars I have driven (especially BMW and Kia) but I turn off lane assist with a couple of clicks anyway.

I will do a more considered review in a week or so but definitely “so far, so good”. I will put some photos up after I can get to clean it properly, which, sadly, won’t be this weekend with Storm Bert blowing through!

[Carlosfandango]

They’re pretty darn good aren’t they! Look forward to your review. 👌

[Exonian]

Congratulations DTD, and will look forward to hearing more about the car and your thoughts on it 

[carlt69]

Good choice. I picked my ex demo yesterday in dolphin grey with 2450 on the clock and I’m loving that it 

It’s what the mk8 should have been from day 1

[DrivenToDistraction]

Update after a few more miles and a closer inspection: The general condition of the car (inside and out) is excellent. It had done £4.5 k miles when I picked it up 2 weeks ago from a main VW dealer.

I have made most of the necessary adjustments to the basic settings (individual driving mode, digital dash layout, phone connection, central locking, etc), so it now feels a bit more personalised. I have purchased a space saver spare wheel off Ebay and I have fitted (hardwired) a Garmin dashcam that I took out of my 7.5 before selling it.

Driving wise, the car has all the acceleration and power that I will ever need and the handling is just what you would expect from a FWD GTI (this is my third, starting with the brilliant mk5 back in 2005). The 7-speed DSG gearbox seems slicker and faster than I remember (I have been driving a manual GTI for the last 3 years) and it seems to respond well when flicked into manual/paddle mode. Like many, when I first saw the tiny gear selector in the Mk 8 I thought it looked a bit pathetic, but it is actually OK in use. I particularly like the way you can quickly toggle between Drive and Sport.

It may not drive any better than a Mk8 (I suspect that the extra 20 BHP doesn’t make any real difference in 99% of situations) but the welcome changes to the infotainment system and the steering wheel controls - probably more accurately described as bug fixes - make the car easier to live with. Personally, I like the subtle exterior styling changes but that is obviously subjective. I know it’s a bit childish, but the front light bar strip and the illuminated VW badge are very cool, as is the interior mood lighting.

Irritations? It’s a shame you can’t turn all the “driver assist” stuff with one button click and its also a bit of a pain that the car resets the driving mode to “comfort” every time it starts. More “nanny state” stuff masquerading as progress. Oh, and the unwelcome return of the cheap bonnet strut instead of a hydraulic one (in the 7.5). The 8.5 GTI is still a very rare beast in my neck of the woods. I haven’t seen another one on the road yet.

PS. I was going to attach a couple of photos but I got a "Website reported for potential phishing" warning message when I clicked 'Add image to post'. Anyone else had this? I think it was generated by Google Chrome.

[fredgroves]

Irritations? It’s a shame you can’t turn all the “driver assist” stuff with one button click

What stuff did you want to turn off? You can probably turn it all off permanently with OBD11...

As for returning to "comfort mode" - you mean the engine isn't it sport? It will remember the rest every time you start (steering, lighting, dcc settings etc) either via the sport or individual modes.

No Golf has ever kept engine/gearbox sport mode after a restart - its probably something to do with letting the car warm up or something. It definitely has always been like that.

Just flick the chicken nugget into S, its easier enough and the rest is retained.

[JoeGTI]

Irritations? It’s a shame you can’t turn all the “driver assist” stuff with one button click

What stuff did you want to turn off? You can probably turn it all off permanently with OBD11...

Not possible with the MK8.5 at the moment afaik. Something to do with SFD2 protection.

[Exonian]

Good to read your update DTD, it all sounds very positive so far.
How do you find the engine drives in normal driving compared to your previous GTI, does it still have the same low end flexibility now that they’ve added a few extra horses or has there been a sacrifice? It’s stuff like that which is important every day which only regular users can appreciate as opposed to a YouTuber thrashing around for an hour in sport mode using someone else’s fuel.

[Exonian]

Oh, and it’s the same with an iPhone using iOS as regards to trying to add images, phishing warning and not letting it proceed.

[DrivenToDistraction]

As for returning to "comfort mode" - you mean the engine isn't it sport? It will remember the rest every time you start (steering, lighting, dcc settings etc) either via the sport or individual modes.

I just wanted it to retain the Individual setting permanently (Driving dynamics = S, Steering = S, Drive = C, etc). I checked the manual and it confirms what I said: "The vehicle system settings are reset to the Comfort driving profile when the ignition is switched off and then back on again". Just to be clear, it remembers what I have set within 'Individual' but I have to reselect it every time I get in the car. The other thing that's a bit irritating is that the driving mode/profile is not displayed anywhere on the digital dash (at least I can't find see it in any of the different 'views' I have tried) so you have no confirmation. On the 7.5 it displayed the word "Individual" on the dash right in front of you.