I have just picked up my long awaited Golf GTI Performance and what else can I say other than... Wow!
I have found one minor issue, but I got it arranged to be sorted as soon as I got home. The piece of black plastic between the air vents (centre of dashboard) where the hazard warning light button resides is a left hand drive piece rather than a right hand drive piece. this means the top angle of the piece of plastic is the opposite direction to the rest of the dash. I only noticed when i got near home from a 40+ mile trip home from the dealer. They have said they will change it and were a bit miffed as to why it ever happened in the first place.
The wiper blades is another minor issue at present. There is definitely something on the windscreen or just naff wiper blades. The travel of the blades over the windscreen is not the smoothest. I am guessing this will improve as it wears in. If not I will maybe change them later on as others have mentioned. However it is not a big deal and does not happen all the time.
Minor issues aside this car is awesome. I previously owned a Civic Type-R Championship White and 3 other Type-R's prior to that. The power in those cars was all top end so you had to rev the hell out of it to around 6000rpm - 7000rpm to get the full 200bhp out of the car, which was fun but the transistion of speed was more gradual than the Golf. The Golf GTI however is completely different to drive. I just touch the pedal and there is a smooth but potent enough injection of power., more so than the Type-R's. It also does not feel like it is going to plateau in performance at any point. It just keeps on going. Let's just say on my drive home I was going a lot fast than I ever imagined I was and was only doing 3000rpm to 4000rpm cruising down the dual carriageway. You willdefinitely have to keep an eye on your speedo at all times.
Average consumption on the way home (first drive) was 25-27mpg). So not bad compared to my Civic but not the report 40+mpg by VW. I suspect it will get better as time goes on and I run it in.
The seats and interior are second to none. It is really a nice place to be. Plastics (apart form the wrong piece between my air vents) are the highest grade I have seen so far in a car I have either owned or been a passenger in.
The Nav Pro is an awesome piece of kit. I do not own an iphone so I swapped the iphone cable for a USB cable and plugged in my audio file USB Flash Drive without issues. Even album art displays fine. The Dynaudio I have not official tested at an audible level to see how they are. I will do this in a minute. But overall I am impressed with the overall package.
Just one warning you cannot get touch up sticks for the Oryx White paint. I was told I could only get a spray can. However what I can do is spray a bit in to a container and dip a brush or corner of a piece of card and use that to touch up chips. I know it will never be perfect with pearlescent paint. But to touch up a stone chip is better than leaving it exposed to rust.
I do not have photos at present as it was raining on my way home so not ideal. I am going to obtain new cleaning equipment and give it a damn good clean when we get our next dry spell of weather.
I had concerns about using the Auto Brake and Stop Start for the first time. But once shown it is really great, and I was used to it by the time I left the forecourt to go home. Although I still found myself reaching down a couple times for a manual handbrake that just was not there.
I will give it a drive later on and test it out a bit more. But all in all I am really impressed, wrong plastic on dash aside.
Will keep you posted as I get more used to all the gadgets etc, on the car.
