New Gti MK5

[Soarerv8]

Hi,

Just recently taken delivery of a MK5 Gti and thought I would like to share with you a few things about it, please forgive my meandering thoughts.

I like to keep a "fun" car in the garage as well as more sensible tools, so this replaces a mini cooper s. It is faster than the mini but doesn't feel it. There was a much more raw feeling when you slung the mini down a bumpy road that you were actually quite surprised to have made it to the end in one piece. The Golf is very much more composed so that point to point it would definitely beat the mini. (still haven't absolutely decided if that is a plus or a minus, kind of depends what mood I am in).

The build quality is very good, I hate doors that clank rather than thud when shut and have bought cars before almost entirely on that point.

I bought black which (as any black car) is a pig to keep clean. It looks good when it is though and I love the way the brakes calipers show up.

I'm not totally convinced about the look of the car, I bought a 5 door (I expect when I move it on there will be a larger market) and it doesn't give me that "oooh thats mine" feeling when I walk towards it.

I also opted for the DSG gearbox which is superb, I would put it against any auto I have ever driven. Being a gadget freak I went for steering wheel paddles and would tell anyone to save the £550 (or there abouts) they cost, they are totally unnecessary other than to tell people you have a car with flappy paddles.

Listening to other peoples dealer issues I was quite surprised. The dealer I used (Stanwell Boston) was superb especially the salesman (Gary) I would highly recommend them / him, I felt I was buying a car from an enthusiast. I had never owned a VW, in fact never even driven a MK5 golf and he sold it to me on the back of his own test drive (and he was right).

To sum the car up I sometimes think it was too much money for what is essentially a family hatchback especially when I look what else I could have for the money second hand. However then I look at the sum of the parts and what it actually does and I cannot think of another car that can do so much as competently with so little compromise.

Anyway enough of my rambling.

Adrian

[jv]

Interesting review there Adrian, good to start getting feedback from 'real people' as opposed to the motoring press

[Gene Hunt.]

I took one for a test drive a few weeks back.I would go along with all the above they are a great car.The down side being costjust under £20k with out options!!!!!!!!!!.
The one i drove had the 18'' alloys at around £1600!!!!!!!!!! if there going to do an 18'' option why not have a diffrent design? it also had full leather which again is very expensive.
I think if you tick every option they come in at just under £30000!!!!!!.They are a very nice car but not cheap.

[Soarerv8]

I took one for a test drive a few weeks back.I would go along with all the above they are a great car.The down side being costjust under £20k with out options!!!!!!!!!!.
The one i drove had the 18'' alloys at around £1600!!!!!!!!!! if there going to do an 18'' option why not have a diffrent design? it also had full leather which again is very expensive.
I think if you tick every option they come in at just under £30000!!!!!!.They are a very nice car but not cheap.

I looked at the leather when choosing a spec, but felt that the cloth was more in keeping with the cars character (also VW seem to be able to make excellent plastics that look and feel like leather yet use leather that looks and feels like plastic). I could very easily be wrong but I thought the 18" alloys were around the £400 - £500 mark as an upgrade? For he same reason as you though I felt that it would have been nice if you were spending more for them to look different.

I think the thing is with the price that if you look at it in isolation the price is excessive (I think mine came in around the £23.5k mark). However I could not think of anything else that did everything so competently for the same money. Impreza & evo were faster at similar money but were too full on all the time (also as I am now in my 30's and do not own a burberry cap I would have looked a bit out of place driving it). Second hand Porsches are great but again are compromised and you daren't leave them anywhere. I did consider a second hand M5 but got scared off by the potential of a ruinous breakdown costing me big bucks (M3 2 door, I wanted 4 or 5, same problem with Civic type R). Suddenly you realise what the Golf does that makes it unique in an unusually subtle way.

Adrian

[rega3]

Hi,

Just recently taken delivery of a MK5 Gti and thought I would like to share with you a few things about it, please forgive my meandering thoughts.

I like to keep a "fun" car in the garage as well as more sensible tools, so this replaces a mini cooper s. It is faster than the mini but doesn't feel it. There was a much more raw feeling when you slung the mini down a bumpy road that you were actually quite surprised to have made it to the end in one piece. The Golf is very much more composed so that point to point it would definitely beat the mini. (still haven't absolutely decided if that is a plus or a minus, kind of depends what mood I am in).

The build quality is very good, I hate doors that clank rather than thud when shut and have bought cars before almost entirely on that point.

I bought black which (as any black car) is a pig to keep clean. It looks good when it is though and I love the way the brakes calipers show up.

I'm not totally convinced about the look of the car, I bought a 5 door (I expect when I move it on there will be a larger market) and it doesn't give me that "oooh thats mine" feeling when I walk towards it.

I also opted for the DSG gearbox which is superb, I would put it against any auto I have ever driven. Being a gadget freak I went for steering wheel paddles and would tell anyone to save the £550 (or there abouts) they cost, they are totally unnecessary other than to tell people you have a car with flappy paddles.

Listening to other peoples dealer issues I was quite surprised. The dealer I used (Stanwell Boston) was superb especially the salesman (Gary) I would highly recommend them / him, I felt I was buying a car from an enthusiast. I had never owned a VW, in fact never even driven a MK5 golf and he sold it to me on the back of his own test drive (and he was right).

To sum the car up I sometimes think it was too much money for what is essentially a family hatchback especially when I look what else I could have for the money second hand. However then I look at the sum of the parts and what it actually does and I cannot think of another car that can do so much as competently with so little compromise.

Anyway enough of my rambling.

Adrian

I have a red five door on on order and I think I chose it for basically the same reasons, altough I have to say I am looking forward to trying out the paddle shift that cost me quite a bit extra.

I think if you look at this end of the market there aren't that many real alternatives. You could go down the Evo/ Impreza route but that brings its own problems. The CTR is another option but only 3 doors? Not feasible if you have a couple of kids.

I also reckon this particular version is really going to hold its value well, so when changing shouldnt be any problem selling privately.

Have you used the DSG in manual mode much? Opinion? BTW, didn't you get Cruise control included with the paddle shift? Just wondering?

[Soarerv8]

Hi,

Just recently taken delivery of a MK5 Gti and thought I would like to share with you a few things about it, please forgive my meandering thoughts.

I like to keep a "fun" car in the garage as well as more sensible tools, so this replaces a mini cooper s. It is faster than the mini but doesn't feel it. There was a much more raw feeling when you slung the mini down a bumpy road that you were actually quite surprised to have made it to the end in one piece. The Golf is very much more composed so that point to point it would definitely beat the mini. (still haven't absolutely decided if that is a plus or a minus, kind of depends what mood I am in).

The build quality is very good, I hate doors that clank rather than thud when shut and have bought cars before almost entirely on that point.

I bought black which (as any black car) is a pig to keep clean. It looks good when it is though and I love the way the brakes calipers show up.

I'm not totally convinced about the look of the car, I bought a 5 door (I expect when I move it on there will be a larger market) and it doesn't give me that "oooh thats mine" feeling when I walk towards it.

I also opted for the DSG gearbox which is superb, I would put it against any auto I have ever driven. Being a gadget freak I went for steering wheel paddles and would tell anyone to save the £550 (or there abouts) they cost, they are totally unnecessary other than to tell people you have a car with flappy paddles.

Listening to other peoples dealer issues I was quite surprised. The dealer I used (Stanwell Boston) was superb especially the salesman (Gary) I would highly recommend them / him, I felt I was buying a car from an enthusiast. I had never owned a VW, in fact never even driven a MK5 golf and he sold it to me on the back of his own test drive (and he was right).

To sum the car up I sometimes think it was too much money for what is essentially a family hatchback especially when I look what else I could have for the money second hand. However then I look at the sum of the parts and what it actually does and I cannot think of another car that can do so much as competently with so little compromise.

Anyway enough of my rambling.

Adrian

I have a red five door on on order and I think I chose it for basically the same reasons, altough I have to say I am looking forward to trying out the paddle shift that cost me quite a bit extra.

I think if you look at this end of the market there aren't that many real alternatives. You could go down the Evo/ Impreza route but that brings its own problems. The CTR is another option but only 3 doors? Not feasible if you have a couple of kids.

I also reckon this particular version is really going to hold its value well, so when changing shouldnt be any problem selling privately.

Have you used the DSG in manual mode much? Opinion? BTW, didn't you get Cruise control included with the paddle shift? Just wondering?

Well, I have had a few days to play with the car on dry (frost free) roads. I am still as impressed by the handling and composure, and now think that I may have been a bit hasty in claiming the paddle shift was a waste of money.

With the right bit of road and the right conditions it bought back a great deal of "fun" to a journey that not much else I drive or have driven can. I guess there is something special about changing gear like an f1 driver 

The paddle shift comes with the multi function steering wheel and does indeed include cruise control as well as radio and telephone controls.

Adrian

[rega3]

Thats good to know because I wasn't able to try it out before I placed the order.

I was in Scotland over the weekend and would loved to have had the car with me- great driving roads over there and would have been a good place to try out the paddle shift- lots of fast smooth roads and lots of corners.