GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: drisser on 29 June 2013, 18:18
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Hi guys
Am new to the forum but have read with interest many of the comments about the. Mk7. I have previously owned a mk5 gti and a scirocco as well as Audi tt, bmw 3 series etc. having never driven a mk6 I decided to drive the 2 back to back to decide if the mk7 was really worth the extra.
What I have struggled with is the price, can a mk7 be worth double a decent used mk6 ? I had a short drive of the mk7 a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a really good car but wanted an extended drive alone without a salesman bleating in my ear !
Anyway after driving both today I have to say I am really smitten with the mk7. I don't know what others think but I found it was light years ahead of the 6 in terms of handling,power delivery, steering feel etc. I drive both on the same exact route and for me there is no contest - the 7 is a much bigger leap fwd from the 6 compared to the 6 v mk5.
I don't believe for a minute the quoted 0-60 of 6.5 secs either it feels much faster, hitting well over 60 in 2nd gear. I would say its a shade over 6 secs to 60 and around 14.5 secs to 100. In the right conditions I reckon a perf pack would duck under 6 secs. I have to say I was amazed by the handling, you can tell someone from Porsche has worked his magic on the chassis. I really have the car a thraping on twisty roads and it just handles brilliantly. The manual gear change is a total delight too.
The car I drove was a tornado red 3 dr with few options, just the nav upgrade and to be honest I wouldn't add much too it, just the perf pack and maybe pan roof.
Overall, what can I say, it's all the car you ever need - fast and furious when you grab it and refined and quiet when cruising. Am still a little put off with the price near 30k and the way they cheat the spec- how come the golf gt has the nav as std !?
Don't know what some dealer stories are but one said they have only 6 cars this year and 4 are gone, the other I drove 2 weeks ago said the gti is off restricted allocation now and 8to 10 week lead time.
Overall it's just a fantastic motor though, fast, refined, cool, economical, low on emissions and tax, space for 4, understated but turns heads. Very tempted to go for it, whilst resisting the options sheet from a Complete raiding. For me at 27-28 k it stacks up but not at 33.
I spoke to Audi dealer in same group today and nobody seems to be getting an s3 demo until sept earliest and the sales guy I now well and trust said a decent spec s3 will be 34 to 35k or it will be hard to shift on the used market. So I think the gti stacks up well with a 6 or 7 k price gap but not much less.
Great forum btw.
Andy
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Nice write up Andy. I agree with everything!
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Great stuff, thanks :smiley:
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+1 nice write up Andy (and welcome).
Sounds like you've caught the bug too. Don't forget that with some healthy bargaining you could shave another 1-2k off where you think the price is.
For a good starting point, price your spec up on Drivethedeal.com ... You might be pleasantly surprised :wink:
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Cheers guys
Will definitely have a look on drive the deal.
I also meant to say, the torque in the mk7 is far and away more noticeable also, 4 th gear corners are a doodle without shifting to 3rd and I think it's one of the best sounding 4 cyl motors ever, reminds me of Alfas 2 litre twin spark engine but with more punch.
Not sure if anyone else sitting on the fence knows, but vw do extended drives, seems some dealers tell you others don't, but the one from today was great, very friendly and basically said take the car all afternoon if you want, could have had it for 3-4 hours.
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Yeah welcome to the forum Andy. Some nice observations in your post.
Hope you pull the trigger and get one ordered. I think the 8-10 week lead time is optimistic, unless that particular dealership has a free allocated build slot. It probably varies from one dealership to the next but I'm under the impression most dealers will be allocated one GTi & one GTD per month, so there maybe some truth in what one of the dealers has told you (i.e they only have 6 for the remaining year, 4 of which have already been taken).
As you can probably gather from other posts, there's some great deals to be had if you're prepared to haggle & shop around. Just depends how desperate the dealers are I suppose.
Hope to read more of your posts in the coming weeks & months.
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Excellent write up Andy.
I agree with you, the mk7 is a bigger leap forward than 5 to 6 was.
That power delivery is simply amazing, steering is so sorted, the car just feels so much more agile.
Boot is bigger, tech is fantastic. I love the golf ball gear lever and the seat material is nicer.
It's actually better to drive than the mk6 with bluefin!
And you can fit a pair of ray bans in the sun glasses holder :cool:
One week to go.....
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12% off GTI at drive the deal at the moment, tempted yes, but think i'm going to wait for the "R"
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Did anyone else notice the 'notch' on the travel of the accelerator pedal?
When you put your right foot down there is a slight resistance at about 70 -80 %.
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I agree with you, the mk7 is a bigger leap forward than 5 to 6 was.
So it should be though...
The Mk7 is a new platform, the Mk6 was a re-skinned Mk5!
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Did anyone else notice the 'notch' on the travel of the accelerator pedal?
When you put your right foot down there is a slight resistance at about 70 -80 %.
Yeh, the dealer mentioned this to me, if you stamp on it and go past the notch (it's a little button behind the pedal) you get more beans and noise, apparently. It is on both the manual and DSG.
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Did anyone else notice the 'notch' on the travel of the accelerator pedal?
When you put your right foot down there is a slight resistance at about 70 -80 %.
Yeh, the dealer mentioned this to me, if you stamp on it and go past the notch (it's a little button behind the pedal) you get more beans and noise, apparently. It is on both the manual and DSG.
Hmmm, the "Give it the full beans" switch :laugh:
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Or a miss build on the manual :grin:
Old injection cars had twin butterflys on the throttle body and the notch opened the second butterfly. My mk1 has this.
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Thanks for the write up ... good to hear an honest back to back comparison ... the new GTi certainly seems to be a better "drive".
How did you find the ride quality compared between the two over poorer road surfaces ?
Pricewise I partially agree but the new Mk 7 does have a lot of goodies fitted as standard compared to the Mk 6 (eg 18" Alloys, Xenons, LED lights, ADC Cruise etc.....). There are also some good discounts available off list price. If you could spec up a new Mk 6 to Mk 7 levels (like for like) I think the Mk 7 would be actually be cheaper (and obviously have a higher resale value too).
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I thought the mk6 rides a little bit softer and more refined but for that reason I preferred the 7. Coming straight from only ever having had a mk5 it was good to do a "first drive" of both back to back.
You can see the mk6 was aimed at a slightly softer audience but no joke within 25 meters I could tell the mk7 was a totally different animal. I did also love the sound of the 7 at top of the rev range, sounds way better than the 6. One of the roads I drove had some very sharp corners and long twisty curves and frankly I was amazed at the grip and feel of the 7, for what is essentially a tallish hatchback. No torque steer at all either.
It's a shame no dealers seem to have a perf pack option car to try out the e diff but for me it's the must tick option box, a total no brainer.
Agree with you to a point about the spec, you do get more goodies than the 6, but they have pulled a bit of a fast one with some options - like the basic nav which is std on the gt model and yet a 700+ option on the gti yet the offer the perf pack for more or less same price- they clearly now which options boxes most people will tick and have subsidized some options with others !
I did a check on drive the deal and a3 door with metallic, pan roof, perf pack and basic nav came in at just over 25k I think which isn't bad.
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Hi Drisser,
Out of interest,what spec was the MK6 you drove - what is on 17 or 18" wheels and did it have ACC ?
Reason for asking is that all the road tests say how great and improved the ride is over the MK6 - Did the MK7
have ACC ? - I'm not ready to change yet,but the obvious choice is a MK7 Gti - I love the ride comfort of my MK6
on 17" Monza's with ACC in comfort and wouldn't want a car with a harder ride - I would spec a Mk7 with ACC just
in case.
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It's a shame no dealers seem to have a perf pack option car to try out the e diff but for me it's the must tick option box, a total no brainer.
I don't think you'd find a dealer that would allow you to drive a demo hard enough to really feel the e-diff kick in if they had one with PP, unless you're lucky enough to be able to go out in it unaccompanied. Just another stage in buying blind, but VW rarely disappoints, i'm sure it'll be worth every penny for the e-diff and bigger brakes alone if you get the opportunity to really fling the car around at some point.