GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: rscosworth on 23 October 2015, 15:11
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Hi Guys - First Post :smiley:
My c/car is due for renewal (2014 BMW 116i MSport) and I am contemplating a reallocation car from my companies list (15 plate Mk7 GTi, May 2015 car with 3.5k miles in Limestone)
*full leather
*keyless (think this is standard?)
*park assist
I do however have some questions
*It has the standard satnav, what kind of bluetooth streaming should I expect? Does it display album art, can I control it with the steering wheel? Do I have to plug it in?
*I am used to Harman Kardon in the BMW and very worried I will hate the standard sound system, thoughts?
*The car is a manual 5door, what MPG should I expect?
*One of the alloys is scuffed, I believe they are diamond cut, are they easily refurbishable? (lease company won't repair)
Thanks Guys
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Hi, and first of all welcome.
My Wife has a 116i M-Sport and I drive a GTI so I should be well qualified to give you an appraisal of both...
- Bluetooth Streaming - very good. I stream from Spotify no problems and have full use of steering wheel controls when streaming. No album art when streaming unlike the BMW (we have Professional Media) but you can plug the phone/iPod in and get the album art that way. IMO, it's not quite as good as the Pro Media in the BMW but still excellent and easy to figure out.
- Sound system - To be honest, I think the standard system is excellent in the GTI. We only have the standard speakers in the BM but the quality is woeful, and I've never heard the HK setup but all I can say is that I listen to band type music (Indie Rock, Classic Rock, Blues, Country Rock etc...) and I'm consistently impressed by the sound of the standard speakers in the Golf. It's much louder than the BMW system and right across the frequency range, it sounds superb with brilliant definition between instruments.
- Can't help with mpg, although I have a DSG and I see long term average of 38mpg. It's about the same as the Wife's 116i M-Sport (ZF8 Auto). In fact, on a long run my GTI sees 44mpg and her 116i about 41mpg.
- Diamond cut alloys can be repaired but there is a limit. They remove (cut away) the finish (similar to skimming a cylinder head) and therefore there is a limit to what can be achieved.
One thing I can add is that the level of refinement and quality of interior materials is superior in the Golf than the BMW. The clunk of the boot shutting is where you'll see it the most. The ride quality and steering is also nicer in the VW. That said, I do like driving the BMW and I feel the driving position is better. The media system is also far superior in the BMW.
Hope this helps!
Jon
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Hi Jon,
Thank you so much, great information and good that you know where I am coming from.
My 116 is a manual and it's pretty nippy to be fair, returning 38mph over 23k with a good mix of motorway/city driving.
I only have the very basic iDrive so no nav, no usb, no bluetooh, all my tunes are on a usb stick, which is actually not an issue but the iDrive is very random sometimes on restarting the car, sometimes it returns to the same track/album, sometimes not, sometimes the search goes a bit funny so would be glad to get rid of it. Are the iPhone 6 cables easily obtainable (not sure what comes with the car as standard)
My bootlid is constantly being adjusted and is a source of rattles which drives me mad.
Cheers
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If you wanted to use the USB stick in the Golf you can use one with the correct MDI lead. I do and it works fine (although probably easier to just transfer it to a SD card for the slot in the glove box).
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Well yeah, if you're only used to the basic iDrive then you'll find the Discover Nav in the GTI a revelation! Unsure about the cables, I think they changed mid-2015. Mine has a green collar MDI cable which is permenantly installed in the car to which I just plug the phone in. It came with the car. I think they changed it so you just have a USB slot into which you plug your normal iPhone charging lead. I can't be sure though, I'm hoping someone with a newer car can confirm.
The power delivery is on a different planet too, you'll love the GTI. Not just that, the brakes, suspension, steering are all in a class above, it's a brilliant mile muncher!
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Oops, forgot about the update to USB instead of MDI - might not even need a lead then lol!
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Great, sounds good, just the issue of having it for 3.5yrs, always take my cars over 2yrs, I would say I got bored very quickly with the 116i probably could have done with a bit more power.
The adaptive cruise is standard too, with the BMW having cruise disabled the 'limit' function, do you know if there is a limit function on the Golf (ie, you set it to a max speed of 70mph, and it won't let you go above that, but you can drive normally up to that limit?
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Yes, there is a speed limiter if you want it. It toggles between off/limit/automatic cruise.
I think you can even over ride the limitter with a full click to the floor of the throttle, but never tried it.
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Got a test with a dealer tomorrow and then I will decide :whistle:
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Couldn't help notice your username mate, are you a Ford fan?
Fond of an RS myself
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HI rscosworth
I've just gone from a BMW to a GTi. I had professional media with professional speaker system, and I've gone to the standard VW Discovery Nav with Dynaudio sound system.
I would say, and that's probably because I'm not yet fully up with it (only had it 4 days), that the BMW satnav was marginally easier to use, especially on the move, but the Discover Nav is more feature rich and has better directions such as prompting you to two manoeuvres ahead. Her pronunciation is a bit laughable at times though.
USB works fine as does SD, though you might need to change the layout of your files if you have playlists. The quality of the sound system is pretty much on a par.
The GTi has plenty of poke, and I've just come from a Z4 sDrive28i. It's not quite as fast as the Z4, but much, much nicer to drive, and when you don't want it to be a hot hatch it's really easy going. Just been to Wales and back, mix of motorways, town centres and A/B roads, and got 35.3mpg average (Z4 used to come in around 29 on the same trip).
For what my advice is worth, I'd go for it...
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Couldn't help notice your username mate, are you a Ford fan?
Fond of an RS myself
Father had a Sapphire 4x4 when I was younger, loved it
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Couldn't help notice your username mate, are you a Ford fan?
Fond of an RS myself
Father had a Sapphire 4x4 when I was younger, loved it
V. Nice
Had 2x Escort Cosworths myself, hard to beat
PS get a GTI, MK7 golfs are superb
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You will also find that the Golf has indicators fitted as standard (as opposed to the optional indicator pack on the BMW). The Front Assist mode radar system on the Golf works the other way around to the BMW - it warns you when you are too close to the car in front rather than too far away.
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Yes, there is a speed limiter if you want it. It toggles between off/limit/automatic cruise.
I think you can even over ride the limitter with a full click to the floor of the throttle, but never tried it.
I tested this on the way home tonight for you.... I never used it before.
Set it to limit mode, set your max speed and then driving normally, it won't exceed the limit set. Whack the pedal to the floor, you feel it go past a notch or something and then it will accelerate beyond the limit, but as it crosses it you get a warning ping and all the time its over the limit you get a flashing warning light on the dash. When you drop below the set limit, the light stops flashing.
Enables you to briefly exceed the speed limit for safe overtaking, which I believe is actually legal ;-)
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Took one from my local dealer this afternoon for a test drive albeit a very very short blast up the motorway and back and found the power to be pretty good, the noise surprised me not sure if it's piped in but sounded pretty good.
All that is left is to call the lease company on Monday morning and hope that it's still available!
Incidentley is the leather real or fake? Felt the leather in a scirocco in the dealer and it didn't feel as soft as I would have expected - assume it's like that so its hard wearing?
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If you had it in sport mode, then probably yes the sound is fake.
A sound generator internally makes the noise on the GTD/GTI/R... but you can turn it off if you really want to with a bit of fiddling.
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So called at 0845 this morning and was told I would get a call back, 10am still no call back and being the impatient sod I am called them again, this time told I would get a call back (in a more aggressive way than the first), I did get called back just before midday and have reserved it, delivery week commencing 16th November, they have to do some paperwork and get my company approval to terminate my current car early (already have that so hopefully just a paperwork exercise)
.....
So....GTi time..
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Excellent, congrats! Sure you'll love it, I've done 23.5k in mine now and I love it. Best all round car I've owned.
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Well it arrived yesterday :laugh:
Love it, a little miffed that it doesn't have sat nav or reversing camera but I now assume that these were once options and now rolled into the standard model, it is a May 2015 car so assume the spec changed just after that? I have park assist and a phone so no great loss to be honest.
The pictures I had been sent of the car from it's return location were of two badly scuffed front wheels, I had factored this into my thinking and was prepared to get it back to mint by getting them refurbished, to my absolute amazement the front wheels are mint, to the point I actually think they are new!!!
Keyless is pretty cool
Leather feels a lot more supple than the Scirocco I had sat in at the dealers!
And I even like the colour :shocked:
220hp is pretty rapid, especially in the wet :-)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/rscosworth1980/IMG_4373v2_zps1jhgg8oa.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/rscosworth1980/media/IMG_4373v2_zps1jhgg8oa.jpg.html)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/rscosworth1980/IMG_4374v2_zpsyc7q8yhk.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/rscosworth1980/media/IMG_4374v2_zpsyc7q8yhk.jpg.html)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/rscosworth1980/IMG_4379v2_zps1x37jvhs.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/rscosworth1980/media/IMG_4379v2_zps1x37jvhs.jpg.html)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/rscosworth1980/IMG_4382_zpsefpb3i4g.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/rscosworth1980/media/IMG_4382_zpsefpb3i4g.jpg.html)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o297/rscosworth1980/IMG_4377_zpsofnezbog.jpg) (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/rscosworth1980/media/IMG_4377_zpsofnezbog.jpg.html)
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Shame you missed out on Sat Nav. Looks mint mate. You sound chuffed :smiley:
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Shame you missed out on Sat Nav. Looks mint mate. You sound chuffed :smiley:
I should have guessed, as it listed Keyless as an option, when I was under the impression it was standard. But it mustn't have been standard then...
Not too concerned, sat nav on phone so much better, and only use it a few times a year.
One thing I need to fix is while I was in it pressing buttons it steamed up, and every single window has sucker marks, assume these are from the factory and nobody has decided to stick a sat nav holder to every window - any ideas?
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Looks sweet mate. Yeah, VW do keep changing the standard spec. You can get a SatNav retrofit if it's important:-
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=276122.0 (http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=276122.0)
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Looks sweet mate. Yeah, VW do keep changing the standard spec. You can get a SatNav retrofit if it's important:-
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=276122.0 (http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=276122.0)
You know what, I won't miss it, it was only that I had it in my head it was standard, annoyed with myself for not researching properly if anything..
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One thing I need to fix is while I was in it pressing buttons it steamed up, and every single window has sucker marks, assume these are from the factory and nobody has decided to stick a sat nav holder to every window - any ideas?
Yeah it will be the robots suckers. Good luck with removing them, I've never managed to on my last 3 cars :rolleyes:
In fact I'm sure someone had their screen changed because of it.
To be honest I only ever see mine now very faintly if the windows steam up which is very rare since I don't use AC.
Braehead lower car park by chance?
Can never understand how the rest of the car parks can be bursting at the seams yet this only ever has a handful of cars. Its a great find :laugh:
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One thing I need to fix is while I was in it pressing buttons it steamed up, and every single window has sucker marks, assume these are from the factory and nobody has decided to stick a sat nav holder to every window - any ideas?
Yeah it will be the robots suckers. Good luck with removing them, I've never managed to on my last 3 cars :rolleyes:
In fact I'm sure someone had their screen changed because of it.
To be honest I only ever see mine now very faintly if the windows steam up which is very rare since I don't use AC.
Braehead lower car park by chance?
Can never understand how the rest of the car parks can be bursting at the seams yet this only ever has a handful of cars. Its a great find :laugh:
Haha, Lower was closed as that would have been quieter, this was entry level and was at 7pm last night, probably so quiet due to the weather **top tip - park on the top level and walk down the ramp - always quiet and can find a good space with lots of room**
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rscosworth - what's your colour? Really hard to see on the wet photo's. Looks like CG.
When I first bought my GTI the windows steamed up a lot. Just use the AC on auto to keep the steam in check. They will get better in time. Window robot impressions on windscreen last a long time. Looks like the Turin Shroud at times :wink:
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rscosworth - what's your colour? Really hard to see on the wet photo's. Looks like CG.
When I first bought my GTI the windows steamed up a lot. Just use the AC on auto to keep the steam in check. They will get better in time. Window robot impressions on windscreen last a long time. Looks like the Turin Shroud at times :wink:
It's limestone, it's very like a colour I had on an astra, it seems to change depending on what light it's under and can almost look brown at times.
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One thing I need to fix is while I was in it pressing buttons it steamed up, and every single window has sucker marks, assume these are from the factory and nobody has decided to stick a sat nav holder to every window - any ideas?
Yeah it will be the robots suckers. Good luck with removing them, I've never managed to on my last 3 cars :rolleyes:
In fact I'm sure someone had their screen changed because of it.
To be honest I only ever see mine now very faintly if the windows steam up which is very rare since I don't use AC.
Braehead lower car park by chance?
Can never understand how the rest of the car parks can be bursting at the seams yet this only ever has a handful of cars. Its a great find :laugh:
Haha, Lower was closed as that would have been quieter, this was entry level and was at 7pm last night, probably so quiet due to the weather **top tip - park on the top level and walk down the ramp - always quiet and can find a good space with lots of room**
Nice car mate. :smiley:. Thats exactly where I park as well any time i'm in Braehead :grin:
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Looks great rs, limestone is a very smart colour. Could well be tempted by that for my next car. Definitely wouldn't worry much about nav, it's on mine and it's okay but I'd have been disappointed if I'd had to pay for it. The best bit about it is the way it pronounces place names, can really lighten our moods on a long drive!
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Love it, a little miffed that it doesn't have sat nav or reversing camera but I now assume that these were once options and now rolled into the standard model,
reversing camera was always (and still is) an optional extra.
BW22 (2015) cars got standard navigation, keyless and winter pack added as standard.
Park Assist, camera etc are still optional extras.
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Lovely colour and quite rare too.
Enjoy the car, the GTI is a cracking motor.
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Looks great rs, limestone is a very smart colour. Could well be tempted by that for my next car. Definitely wouldn't worry much about nav, it's on mine and it's okay but I'd have been disappointed if I'd had to pay for it. The best bit about it is the way it pronounces place names, can really lighten our moods on a long drive!
So true. The pronunciation, especially with an i and an e consecutively, in any order, is awful/hilarious/confusing (the first time you hear it). The first time I followed SatNav, around a delay on the M6, I went through a town called Leigh. Pronounced "Lee". My SatNav, bless her, calls it "Lie". :lipsrsealed: :rolleyes: :grin:
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Reminds me of the port advert from the 80s, great fun!
https://youtu.be/mdv4KgooZQE
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Reminds me of the port advert from the 80s, great fun!
https://youtu.be/mdv4KgooZQE
:grin: :grin: :grin: