So guys, I took delivery of my new baby this morning, and what a beauty she is! Took a few snaps with my phone, sorry for the not-so-great quality, but at the end of the day, it's a Pure White 5 door GTI that we all know and love! I also took a shot of the luxury mats for those who may be undecided - they suit the interior perfectly well, with only minimal white edging around them. I also have the original mats too as spares.
So I guess I'll start off with what I didn't like...which isn't much!
- Mirrors unfold on turning on the ignition, and fold in upon locking the door. Quite why they couldn't have them fold and unfold based on the status of the door is a mystery, but at least you can glance at the mirrors to see the car is locked (assuming you don't go back to the car later, open it, then forget to lock it).
- Having to wear the seatbelt to release the eBrake is a bit of a pain
So far, those are the only negatives. Pretty much everything else just blew me away. First thing I noticed was just how smooth and effortless it was to drive, even relative to my Mk5, such a big step-up for me in this regard. I've done about 100 miles already ranging from city stop-start to 50 miles of motorway, and didn't really push the revs much past 4000, but you can really feel the grunt under the hood. At low speeds you can still hear how throaty the engine is, but it's refined at the same time. Put your foot down and she roars away, very impressive, and without doubt, THE best car I have driven in years. There are so many superlatives I can throw its way, it's almost pointless! But, I will go through a few honourable mentions and maybe clarify some things for people (in no particular order):
- Keyless is absolutely fantastic. Some may see it as a gimmick, but let's not get into that old endlesss cycle. To just walk up to the car, open the door, push the button and go is, for me, a new level of luxury!
- eBrake and auto-hold. I thought I'd be forever grasping for a non-existent handbrake lever, and I was fearful of the auto-hold not letting go and resulting in a jerky start. Wrong on both! I soon got used to it, and the whole system just works...brilliantly.
- For those who have opted to get the heated screen, a couple of things. Firstly, there is no physical button - you press setup on the climate and a soft-button appears on screen. Secondly, for those with iPhones, you need not panic. It puts the "Advanced Phone Prep" to waste (as we kinda' knew) but, iPhone connects just fine over Hands Free Protocol, contacts all sync up, voice calls are crystal clear, and music streaming works a treat.
- If you are not sure about spending the extra on Dynaudio, I found the standard setup to be more than adequate. It goes loud, has plenty of bass if you want it, and is quite well adjustable. As I've said before, I don't like masses of bass or volume, so it really suits me, but just wanted to say first hand, the standard audio is great.
- Yes it had the reverse camera fitted, and yes it did feel a bit odd reversing without turning around! To be fair, I can't ever see me stopping using my own neck and wing mirrors to reverse, but as a check to see before you move, and to gauge the final position, the camera is a great addition.
- The rear LED lights are just the nuts! I've had people pointing at the rear of the car in traffic, they are that good.
- When using the nav, the combination of fantastic voice directions with road and place names, and the seamless integration with the MFD means that the media screen is almost redundant. Makes my old TomTom seem, well, very old indeed!
- On the SD card I have over 20GB of music in hundreds of folders. It is still blisteringly quick to load and seek. With embedded album art of 320x320, I had no problems at all with artwork displaying.
- Adaptive Chasis Control is absolutely THE best option on the car. On the motorway, I switched between Sport, Normal, and Comfort. In Sport, you could feel every bump, great for when you need that level of feedback. In Normal, you still had feedback through the wheels, but less prominent. In Comfort, you feel a distinct change in the refinement. Down my street there are some paved raised areas. Again, running through the different modes, in sport you really felt them through the chasis. In comfot, they were less intrusive than they are on my mates very comfy Ford Focus. This alone almost made the car everything I hoped it would be, and more.
So there you go guys, relatively short and sweet in the scheme of things! Did it exceed my expectations? Yes. Was it worth the wait? Hell yes! I am absolutely convinced that if you have ordered one, you will be over the moon when you get it. Some maybe less so that others as the Mk6 was obviously a good car too, but as an upgrade to the Mk5 I felt right at home straight away, yet it was also in a league of it's own.
Very, very happy indeed, and I can't wait for you guys to all get yours and hear all about your first experiences!
