GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Exonian on 07 May 2017, 14:03
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I can now announce that I've officially become one of the small band of people that have owned an example of each of the Performance Golfs (excluding the GTE which is an imposter at this point in time) and worse still all of them were in the same colour, and all manuals with pretty standard spec.
I "accidentally" became the owner of this a day or two ago:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/59F6CF4A-20E9-425E-B25A-0AFFBC0BBC10.jpg) (http://s1147.photobucket.com/user/Exonian22/media/Mobile%20Uploads/59F6CF4A-20E9-425E-B25A-0AFFBC0BBC10.jpg.html)
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/B1404EE3-022F-4053-BD55-CC5E55D37CAE.jpg) (http://s1147.photobucket.com/user/Exonian22/media/Mobile%20Uploads/B1404EE3-022F-4053-BD55-CC5E55D37CAE.jpg.html)
The tough decision had been made to retire off the poor ol' GTD after seven long weeks of faithful service with it having amassed a mighty 500 miles. Its battle scars (one tiny stone chip on the front bumper) were lovingly touched in and it was gracefully put out to grass.
How did it all come about so soon you might ask? (well my wife certainly asked only not quite as delicately as that, it was more disbelief when I made the happy announcement to her when she got home from work a week and a half ago)
In a strange turn of events (which kind of sums up my life) we'd been invited over to see my nephew's new house. The irony of it all was he bought the house because when visiting us last year my wife had talked him into having a look round the show home on the estate which is just around the corner from me. He then bought an identical house to the show home several days afterwards having previously had no particular intentions of buying a new house just yet.
As my nephew lives 30 ish miles away from me I had a quick nose to see what interesting stock the local dealer had in thinking I'd combine the visit and hopefully they'd have a face-lifted Golf GTI/D/R in for me to have a gander at.
They happened to have in a Clubsport GTI and I got chatting to the salesman about it who was raving about it. I appreciate it's his job to rave about stuff he's selling but he was going a bit overboard. Out of curiosity I asked him about figures and he immediately got all defensive and said there were no deals to be had on Clubsports on orders of VW and that this particular car was going off to one of their other branches anyway. And that ended that conversation.
Being a curious sort of person I rang another dealer, 20 odd miles in the other direction as they had an almost identical car in for the same price. Again I was treated to instant raving about the car and again I put the question of figures to the salesperson.
This time my eyes opened a bit as I heard what I wasn't expecting to hear.
My GTD as bought with the £3250 VW discount as it was one of the very last off the line, on top of that I had a fair old dealer discount too and the thing cost me what seemed a bargain at the time for a new car coming in at under £22k. To put this into perspective and this is the reasoning I used when I bought it, a new three door mk5 Golf GTI with no nav, no foldy mirrors, no xenons, no 18" wheels, no gimmicky keyless entry etc cost a whisker under £20k when it was launched in 2004/5. Considering mine is a 5 door too which would take the price of the mk5 GTI up to just under £21k back then with little chance of much of a discount...
I bought the GTD thinking it would do me for a few years, it's a great car, it has the power exactly where you need it for day to day driving and returns good fuel economy too. I didn't use it much but when I did it was generally for longer journeys as I have another car for bombing around town and commuting most days.
I was quite happy with the GTD. I had a few mods for it (DTUK tuning box and PedalBox) and was looking at getting some new wheels for it just to put my stamp on it.
But alas, in a similar way that my nephew's visit turned into a house purchase, me visiting my nephew's new house ended up in me making a car purchase (even though it was at a different dealer).
To my surprise the dealer offered me back pretty much what I paid for the GTD and even knocked a bit of money off the Clubsport. So you could argue that I got back what I paid on my GTD plus a bit more, or argue it another way in that I got top book for my GTD and a tidyish discount on the Clubsport.
The Clubsport cost me a fair bit on top of the GTD obviously and it isn't even brand new, it seems all the Clubsports that were sat in showrooms were pre-registered before 1st April and generally it seems became the Sales Manager's company cars as during negotiations I phoned a few other dealers with similar cars as research to make sure I was getting a decent deal out of it all. Admittedly I could have picked up a slightly better deal by travelling a long distance but the dealer I bought the car from were excellent to deal with which counts for a fair bit in my book.
What's it like to drive? I'll quickly run through the previous mk7's I've owned to base my opinions on.
GTI PP
I ordered one of the first GTIs which didn't end up as one of the first due to a six month wait for it. Never again I thought as by the time it arrived my enthusiasm had waned a bit thanks to how good my mk6 GTI still seemed.
The GTI was a 3 door in PW with nav and park assist plus rear camera as options.
I'd ordered a 3 door as in my eyes it looked a bit special and a white 3 door was what VW used in their advertising so I took it on good grounds that the arty advertising people knew a thing or two about what they were doing.
I'd fully expected to keep the PP for three years and that was the plan as I then expected the Edition 40 to be released which would be a likely next purchase.
The mk7 GTI PP was a very underrated car. I'm sure it put out more than 230bhp as standard as it went really well, was amazingly flexible and also had excellent fuel economy.
While I owned it I often questioned whether a GTD with a tuning box would be just as good, if not better but wondering about it was as far as it ever got. I thought the same thing when I had my mk6 too as the mk6 GTD was also a cracking car.
The VAQ diff was really good on fast bends although I found the car would still spin an inside wheel on some corners and the damping could be caught out at times.
The only criticism I have of that car was the fact it was a three door and the sliding seats weren't as good as on previous generations (either that or the seats were set further back so the door opening wasn't as good) and more importantly me being a short arse I had to twist to get the seatbelt which hurt my back. Worse still I have a narrow garage so getting in and out with the long doors became a massive headache and require yoga like moves. Young and flexible I ain't!
The Edition 40 broke cover in May 2015 after I'd had the GTI for 18 months or so and it has to be said I was initially unimpressed with the looks of the front bumper. The car was originally a Worthersee 'testing the water' model and it didn't really do it for me and the specs weren't set in stone at that point.
I happened to be having a chat with evo1986 who I'd bought my GTI from round about the same point in time. Lee is a great guy and I was questioning him on the mysterious changes that were the talk of the forum around about then concerning the sudden increase in the GTI and GTD list prices of about £900 but no immediate announcement on spec improvements. I'd messaged Lee to pick his brains on that and a few other things. Out of the blue a short time later Lee contacted me to say he'd had some R's come into stock that were cancelled lease orders. There were long delays on a lot of orders around that time so I guess people either got fed up waiting or got desperate for a car, especially if you urgently needed one as a company car.
So I bought an R...
5 door Golf R
What can I say about the R? A fantastic all rounder and even harder to fault than the GTI PP.
Some criticise the looks as being not up to the performance but up close the car has that very Germanic styling of subdued intent. The devil is in the details.
Once a set of nice wheels with a better offset as added to fill the arches and a JB1 to fill the slight void in mid-range acceleration the R was just in a league of its own as far as fast Golfs go.
The only thing I can nit pick at really is it is almost too good so you have to be going stupidly quick to get any thrills. In everyday use you just marvel at how good as an all rounder it is and admire the beautiful dials and nice blue LED strips in the front doors. Yep, the only frills the R gives you is the dials and LEDs!
Fuel consumption? That's not its strong point but at the end of the day it's a 2.0 petrol that needs a big turbo to get big power. Big power needs bigger amounts of fuel and big turbos aren't renowned for being thrifty on the economy stakes, a simple fact of life.
The R went in the end due to a complete lack of use. Due to massive oversupply/popularity depending on your point of view the resale on them wasn't as good as it should be and when I sat there thinking about what it was losing a month being sat idle I once again remembered that something like a special edition Golf would be more suited to me as a die hard Golf owner. The fact it urgently required £600 spending on tyres as the 19" tyres I had on it I'd had on two mk6 GTI's and my mk7 previously too! I'd bought new wheels for each car but as I do a low mileage the tyres took ages and ages to wear down so I recycled the tyres and just sold the wheels on each time.
The maths did it for me in the end, £600 on tyres was money I'd never get back and the depreciation was about to hit winter lows so I spent several months agonising over it and in the end had a good offer from an independent dealership to take the R for top book price, complete with bald Contis, so I bit the bullet. And boy did it hurt.
The last car I'd regretted selling and genuinely felt bad about was my mk2 big bumper back in the mid-1990's. I sold that car on my birthday and couldn't even eat my birthday meal afterwards! I've had a lot of cars since that mk2 including other mk2's but I've treated each as a short term project - own, modify, enjoy, move on.
Ah well, we all make mistakes.
The GTD was a chance purchase. I was bored in work just before Xmas and flicked onto VW's website to have a nose. I saw the landing page on the website announcing £3250 off all Golfs and immediately underneath it was the wording about the service deal for PCP purchases. When you looked at it quickly it looked like the £3250 was a PCP offer to clear the last of the line stock so I didn't take much notice of it and just flicked around to see if there were any interesting used cars up for sale to kill a bit of time.
After a while I went back to the website landing page and re-read it.
Then I went to orangewheels website out of curiosity to see what it was all about. That's when in the small print where they tend to tell you that any PCP sweeteners don't count if you make a cash purchase. There was no mention of PCP. Yep, you could get a vanilla GTD (which you've got to admit is very well specced as standard) in three door for under £21k theoretically (if there were any build slots for one).
That brought about an immediate challenge for me - I wanted the cheapest 5 door GTI or GTD deal I could find out of the limited remaining build slots. If it was a straight cash buy it should have been pretty simple by I had a part ex to dispose of so I put the feelers out and strangely it was my local dealership that came up with the best deal on a GTD that was going to be one of the very last built.
So, a GTD at sub £22k (therefore minimal new car depreciation), just £20 a year to tax, 230ish BHP with a tuning box, nice looking as a standard car. Yep, I'll have some of that and so I did.
the GTD
Great car.
Can't fault it really, it has the power right where you need it in general driving, it looks good, it drinks little fuel, it has a good standard spec.
The one thing the GTD lacks is a sense of occasion.
You can get half way there with a bit of tuning for a raw edge to the driving and some nice low cost mods like sootchucker has done to give it more personality.
Technically I could have happily lived with that car for a good few years but alas the show home thing came to haunt me and I ended up with the VW equivalent of a show home.
Continued below due to maximum post character amount being exceeded after several hours of hard typing....
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Part two:
The Edition 40
The one Golf that has a sense of occasion like no other for a good few years now is undeniably (in the absence of the R400) the Clubsport.
Mine however is a standard spec (plus black roof) pre-registered 5 door with no bucket seat.
A three door with buckets is arguably the real deal as far as Clubsports are concerned.
A five door kind of goes against the Clubsport ethos and one without buckets even more so, therefore I'll call mine more accurately an ED40.
After a couple of delays (I needed to set up a bit of bank loan and time to get down to the dealership) I picked up the car first thing on Saturday so I don't have masses of experience of driving dynamics yet.
I'd only ever seen one other Clubsport that I can recall, it's an Urano Grey car that I see from time to time locally but only ever in fleeting glances on the move. I'll admit to being critical of the frontal styling ever since I first saw it, too many angles going on for me when I saw the cars in various photos. I also didn't like the fact it lost the door LED's as they're a big part of the GTI and R's character (you don't really notice them as much in the GTD as they're not coloured).
What I did like was the reviews of people that had driven them.
Some road testers said the car was a bit pointless but then again you've got to take that into perspective in the bigger picture - the ED40 is aimed at those that want a GTI but are prepared to pay a lot of extra money for something thats unique.
I'd read a lot in the press about it being 15mm lower, but 15mm lower than what? A GTI? A Golf Match?
I'd read reports praising the handling over a standard GTI and them saying that the CS had special suspension components.
I'd read reports that you could feel the overboost and reports that you couldn't.
Well, as soon as I clapped eyes on the white car in the flesh everything negative I'd said against it vanished. Yes the rear spoiler looks a bit OTT for an oldie like me but it looks better in the flesh than in any photos I've seen. The front bumper in 3D looks masses better, the side stickers don't look gaudy, the front splitter looks quite cool and makes the car look really low despite being standard ride height and best of all those Fuchs alloys look great in the flesh.
You can see how they've got the Fuchs wheels so light when you see them. I had Bridgestones on the GTD and R, both on 7.5J wheels but when you see the same tyre on the CS you can notice the metal that's been shaved away as the tyres look like they suddenly have massive rim protectors where they didn't on the other cars. The wheels look just like ones on classic Porsches so have proper heritage. I'm sure i've seen German racing Golfs back in the 70's and 80's riding on similar wheels.
I've read Jackie Treehorn's excellent thread on the differences of parts between the PP, CS and CSS which kind of contradicted a lot of what I'd read in the press about unique suspension parts. Therefore I was sceptical about the handling differences reported in the press and other places. Had the person writing actually driven a PP and CS back to back? The PP in its day had glowing reports on its handling before the R stole all the thunder so had people merely forgotten the poor underrated GTI's actual amazing competence?
Well, I've not put mine on a race track and nor have I performed any drag races in my limited time with the car so my thought are thus:
Getting straight out of the GTD and into the ED40 the driving dynamics are immediately noticeable.
Until I'd owned a set of lightweight Pro Race alloys on my first mk6 I'd always been sceptical about the weight penalties of heavier alloys wheels on mere road cars that wouldn't ever see a race track. Alas my mk6 wearing 18" Pro Race 1.2 (Aka VW Racing wheels) fitted with sticky Michelins outperformed the 19" BBS CK's with Conti 3's it had been riding immediately before in many areas I wasn't expecting. Ride comfort was a negligible difference but steering feel and responses were quite marked.
The Fuchs wheels did actually feel marginally different to the lovely Nogaros even on a short, non flat out, drive.
The damping felt much the same but the springs on the CS definitely feel different to the GTD and PP GTI. The car rides perfectly well but there's a definite knobbiness to the ride that can only be spring related. I've owned a good few cars with uprated suspension so I'm quite sensitive to ride and handling differences.
The engine in the CS feels just like the R engine to me. I've not driven the two side by side but to all intents and purposes I can't feel much, if any, difference to the power delivery and certainly didn't feel any overboost so far.
I've just fitted my pedalbox so maybe that'll make a difference as I probably drove the ED40 with smaller foot movements being used to the pedalbox on all my other MK7's. That would also explain why I got a 32 mpg journey average too, rather than the 28 I'd expect in the R!
Inside? The seats are really good. And no, it doesn't have the £1350 buckets either! I'd have happily paid the money to have the buckets as I'd have known I'd get my money back on them at resale in all likeliness as those are the cars that will be sought after. Standard cars like mine will just be met with a sigh of disappointment when being sold on again when the potential buyer phones the vendor having not read the advert properly (as they generally do). Beggars can't be choosers is my answer there and in any case the standard mk7 sports seats are really good. Not as nice as mk5 GTI seats but still really good.
I liked the part alcantara seats in my R and I like the seats in the CS even more. Sense of occasion once again.
Then there's that steering wheel which is straight out of the Demon Tweeks catalogue of wannabe racers. Normally I'd say it's a bit naff but somehow the CS plus it off and it actually feels in place in the ED40. Talking of feel, it does feel a bit funny and I don't know how well it will wear - I had a suede look (expensive but bought second hand) MOMO wheel in an old GTI (pre airbag days) that then went into service in my G40 afterwards and despite only being a low mileage driver that thing was bald within a few years.
The floor mats look good too. I'll probably replace them with aftermarket mats and keep the originals for resale. That's my initial thinking but having just typed it and thought about how much money cars lose then I'm also now thinking "b0ll0cks, it's me who paid good money for the car so the next owner can't afford to be too fussy, it's not as if the car will ever be an appreciating classic, and over the shorter of longer term this car WILL lose me a lot of my hard earned"
So yeah, I'm not under any illusions about the car.
So what are my impressions of the car so far? It puts a smile on my face.
Would i have spent £8k (worked out as likely value of my R now versus what the CS was had for) to change my R to this car? Also-bloody-lutely not.
Would I have paid thousands and thousands to change the GTD for a CS if I hadn't bought the GTD at such a knockdown price and lost virtually nothing on it? No I wouldn't, I'd have done a few things to brighten and liven the GTD up in a subtle OEM plus sort of way to try and give it a bit more sense of occasion.
Still awake?
Any more questions? :laugh: :grin:
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'Any questions' Why are you not out driving it?
Also how did you post the second post just 1 minute after the other, it would take me an hour to type all that.
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'Any questions' Why are you not out driving it?
:laugh: :grin:
I bought it to clean not to drive!
It's till clean so I'm sat typing crap, full of autocorrect errors, just to keep you lot amused! :whistle:
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It took me several hours interrupted by a cold cup of tea and a slice of cold pizza to type it all and when I hit send after trying to pick out the worst of the autocorrect changes, tidy up some grammar and add a few commas etc the forum decided I'd exceeded the character count so I had to copy and paste the last bit into another post.
Grrrrr!
:grin:
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Very nice Exonian :cool: and a great potted history of your mk7 experience.
When you posted the other day that you'd removed the pedal box from the GTD it could only mean one thing................I've been waiting with baited breath
IMO those are the wheels to have on a Clubsport.
Enjoy.......... :smiley:
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Very nice Exonian :cool: and a great potted history of your mk7 experience.
When you posted the other day that you'd removed the pedal box from the GTD it could only mean one thing................I've been waiting with baited breath
IMO those are the wheels to have on a Clubsport.
Enjoy.......... :smiley:
I thought the same thing the other day, I was thinking why he didn't just turn it off :embarrassed:
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Thanks for the comments :smiley:
I've been waiting for having the time to sit and type a proper introduction. With my history of Golfs I thought I'd better type up a bit of a proper introduction. My R thread got quite big but everyone and their dog has had a GTD so that just got slotted in elsewhere.
@SR, the wheels are really nice, they need spacers ideally but I'm reluctant to change anything away from standard aside from the pedalbox due to the rarity of the model.
Mind you, they'll be expensive to replace if damaged so a set of winter alloys might appear at some point in time when I'm not so broke.
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Are you going to make your way through the facelift versions too? :wink:
Great write up but I was left feeling a bit unsure, using the knowledge you now have - if you were without a car, ignoring cost, which one would you go for?
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Nice car Exonian. It was only a matter of time before you owned one. Hope you get a chance to enjoy it. I am still the proud owner of the Golf R I bought last year, the yearning for something else, has not even entered my mind this time. Which is strange, as every other car I owned, the desire for something new usually kicked in about six months after driving my current new car off the forecourt. I suspect I will wait until the MK8 is released for my next Golf. Your Clubsport looks great, and in the best colour (although I am biased as I have only owned Oryx White Golfs to date). May see you sometime soon passing by in Exeter when I am there next, coursework permitting of course.
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Enjoyed ploughing through your very lengthy ramblings, all very interesting, but got to the end after some 10 minutes lol to find the CS is essentially summed up in a mere 7 words - "It puts a smile on my face." Just about fell off my seat laughing. :grin:
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Are you going to make your way through the facelift versions too? :wink:
Great write up but I was left feeling a bit unsure, using the knowledge you now have - if you were without a car, ignoring cost, which one would you go for?
No, I think I've more than had my fill of mk7's now.
It's too early in my stewardship of the ED40 to make a reasoned judgement. It still has novelty value and isn't intended as a daily driver. Having said that it would be a nice car to drive every day.
It's the "ignoring cost" bit that makes me unable to answer properly. They are all good in different ways. All have their plusses and minus points.
@brenbo, it would be great to meet up if you get chance :afro:
Glad the R novelty hasn't worn off. Yours is a pretty special example it has to be said.
@Trev after all those Golfs, all modified a little, I think I've become a bit desensitised to it all so the mere fact it makes me smile says it all. I can't offer anything scientific, just emotional.
Top speeds of any cars are academic to me.
I don't do drag races (honest officer).
The CS has a presence in the looks department and seems to handle quite well, but as I've only owned it a short time the mere fact it puts a smile on my face will have to do :grin:
Maybe I could have just written one paragraph, I get your point!! :laugh:
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Nice motor mate. I've just been to the dealers to help my 18 year old niece (who passed her test 3 weeks ago), buy her first car a Polo Match edition 1.0mpi -(when did that happen that first cars were now brand new motors).....anyway, I digress. Whilst I was waiting for the sales guy to complete the paperwork as it was such a nice day, I went outside and noticed a Clubsport 5 door in CSG with the optional 19" alloys, leather interior on a 17 plate with only 2500 miles on up for £28k.
They do have a real presence about that and I'm thankful that this was a manual, as had it have been a DSG, i thought I'd have chopped my GTD there and then !
Oh thanks for the "tasteful mods" mention, much appreciated :grin: :grin:
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'Any questions' Why are you not out driving it?
:laugh: :grin:
I bought it to clean not to drive!
It's till clean so I'm sat typing crap, full of autocorrect errors, just to keep you lot amused! :whistle:
That's the spirit, lol.
Well I'm amused and informed and very pleased to read your impressions across the whole mk7 performance Golf family, but even more pleased to see you tempted and succumb to the lure of the CS. You know we have to now knock up a trophy for you as you occupy a very special position now!
Great read Mr Ex. Admire it clean for today, get it dirty with avengence tomorrow!
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Once the amount of coursework dies down in a month or two I will hold you to that invite Exonian and may meet up with you in Exeter over the summer, otherwise if you are down in Cornwall in the near future let me know?
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Thanks Mr N.
You should've gone for a drive in it, even with a proper gearbox it might have swayed you!
I hope your niece manages to keep her Polo looking new :shocked:
Thanks Ms B too. You can always offer to knock a trophy up in your girl shed!
Knowing my luck it will rain the first time I take it out. I'll end up like one of those classic car owners who watches the weather forecast before committing to driving anywhere!
Being as the car has been living at the dealers for a while the black roof will probably need attention so I may get it properly detailed and surface coated in time. The trouble is if I do that then I'll never want to get it dirty.
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Once the amount of coursework dies down in a month or two I will hold you to that invite Exonian and may meet up with you in Exeter over the summer, otherwise if you are down in Cornwall in the near future let me know?
I'd better pop down and see the folks over the summer so could always drop by.
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Where abouts in cornwall are your folks? I live in North Cornwall so you will most definitely go past my house enroute.
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And I should have added to my previous post, the CS is a special car and a great choice for a keeper, I sold my 7R to get one and I don't regret it one bit.
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This has got me looking through the VW used section now.....
+ Drive the Deal.
+ Autotrader....
My OH isn't even objecting....
So what's stopping me? Nothing in theory. Hmmm....
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Where abouts in cornwall are your folks? I live in North Cornwall so you will most definitely go past my house enroute.
Penzance.
Some great driving roads down that way but your passengers tend to get a bit unwell!! :laugh:
And I should have added to my previous post, the CS is a special car and a great choice for a keeper, I sold my 7R to get one and I don't regret it one bit.
I'd been keeping a close eye on your posts as I had similar thoughts and reasonings.
In fact it was yourself and wigit who talked me out of a scirocco many years ago!
This has got me looking through the VW used section now.....
+ Drive the Deal.
+ Autotrader....
My OH isn't even objecting....
So what's stopping me? Nothing in theory. Hmmm....
I'm not taking any responsibility for your impending actions (but you won't regret them!)
:whistle:
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You do indeed drive right past my house enroute to Penzance. When you are down this way next time let me know. I will also try to meet up in Exeter in near future. Just bogged down with coursework for next month or two. Mileage on my Golf R is really low as a result. Only done 1.5K+ since September.
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Just came home and spotted this thread Exonian.
I can't believe you had the GTD for such a short time but once you see a white CS in the flesh, it's hard to ignore the urge to own one.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that me and my wife had a good look round what I consider the best looking Golf I have ever seen, in a dealers in Bolton.
It was an Oryx white CS, 5 door manual with Prets and bucket seats. Perfect spec for me although I love the wheels on yours ( wouldn't mind a set on my GTI PP ) :drool:
Try to keep it until at least August and keep it clean :wink:
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You've literally just made me :sick: with Envy lol.
I've been trying my very best to get into a CS for this past month or so now, not because I dislike my R, because I just can never settle and I think it is a cracking looking car.
With the dam right insults I'm getting for trade in on my current car I'm now positive it ain't gonna happen.
I say well done sir for just doing it, enjoy every second of ownership however long it may last :grin:
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You do indeed drive right past my house enroute to Penzance. When you are down this way next time let me know. I will also try to meet up in Exeter in near future. Just bogged down with coursework for next month or two. Mileage on my Golf R is really low as a result. Only done 1.5K+ since September.
Mid August to Late December last year my R did 280 miles.
In that time it lost over £2k in depreciation. :shocked:
You'll be much more sensible and keep yours though. I do miss having mine.
Good to hear you're still studying hard Brendan, it'll be well worth the hard work in the end.
Just came home and spotted this thread Exonian.
I can't believe you had the GTD for such a short time but once you see a white CS in the flesh, it's hard to ignore the urge to own one.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that me and my wife had a good look round what I consider the best looking Golf I have ever seen, in a dealers in Bolton.
It was an Oryx white CS, 5 door manual with Prets and bucket seats. Perfect spec for me although I love the wheels on yours ( wouldn't mind a set on my GTI PP ) :drool:
Try to keep it until at least August and keep it clean :wink:
I remember well you posting up about it and your subsequent CS related posts. I've been scan reading the forums still despite not having had much time to post up any of my usual nonsense.
I had a wry smile on my face over the last week and a bit knowing you'd approve of my latest acquisition! :whistle:
You've literally just made me :sick: with Envy lol.
I've been trying my very best to get into a CS for this past month or so now, not because I dislike my R, because I just can never settle and I think it is a cracking looking car.
With the dam right insults I'm getting for trade in on my current car I'm now positive it ain't gonna happen.
I say well done sir for just doing it, enjoy every second of ownership however long it may last :grin:
You and I sing from the same hymn sheet Ian:
Week 1, change car
Week 2, change wheels
Week 3, rinse & repeat
:grin:
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Yea I think your right Andy.
If I weren't buying a new house ATM I'd be in a CS about a month ago no matter what the cost..............dam house ha ha
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Really great read of your journey through the ranges and how decisions were came to be made.
Cannot fault your thought process based on circumstances even letting the R go due to practicalities, though now have the R expect to keep it completely as main car and then 2nd car that's how much love it.
My review of my 3 years with the GTD was its all the car you would ever need, you get everything would seek across the board.
However, when you drive and R or a clubsport imagine, you understand what the GTD misses, these cars (obviously) add that layer of something, that je ne sais quoi, some soul and are really the cars in this range that you would want, not need.
Personally love the clubsport, yours looks awesome right there, and totally get it and given how presented itself to you, the journey, then I would call that fate and hope you enjoy the feeling it gives you for many years (and give the long suffering wife a break from your wheeling and dealing :) )
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I would agree with Hertsmans sentiments on the Golf R and Clubsport compared to the rest of the range. Any of the performance golfs are all you would ever need. but when i got my Golf R I got the sense that it was all the car I wanted as well. As I say, I don't have any signs of desire to change at present. Although when i had my Golf GTI PP, although I absolutely loved the car as it was all I needed, I still yearned for the Golf R when it was released. I am definitely planning on keeping my Golf R for a while, which is why I paid for an extended 5 yr warranty on it.
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That looks amazing Exonian, big congrats. The dealership next to me has an identical one to yours but only with the bucket seats and it looks brilliant. I keep going down to check it out and longingly hope that they have reduced the price but not a chance. I registered my interest in it but the salesman reckoned it would be gone pretty quickly.
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mk7 legend right there :grin:
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I like the way this thread is going - lots of positivity regardless of flavour of performance Golf being discussed. :kiss: A breath of fresh air, so many thanks to Exonian for starting it and to his wife for allowing the situation to exist! :laugh:
Cossieian - not seen you post for a while and the forum isn't the better for it, any updates to you R?
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Very nice thread. I'll just pick out two things that I massively agree with: a) The spoilers as well as the front and rear mask look amazing in the flesh and really set the car apart, and b) the alcantara bits and all bespoke interior touches feel sporty in a very classy, integrated German way (think Civic Type R? the opposite :tongue:), sort of the sense of the car having been designed like that and not having had anything retro-fitted. Of-course the buckets are a big miss but since you didn't order the car you couldn't have it all I guess.
Re the overboost, by now it's been confirmed that you get the 290 practically every time you floor your foot in 3rd and above since it resets when you lift and re-apply so you'd have to really commit yourself to a whole 10 seconds of wide open throttle to feel any power drop. It's hard to find the right conditions for that unless there are some private airfields nearby but if there is one as it is near me and you do a 60-120 run you'll notice the acceleration rate is slightly smaller after 10". Also, the power output gauge will not show the extra KW even in OB mode as the car is homologated as 265, but the boost pressure goes up to 1.2bar (2.2 accounting for atmospheric) and that reads directly from the ECU.
PS. You still have the JB1 from the R? That would put an even nicer smile on your face. A local Maserati GrandTurismo S driver would agree with me on that one, big fun that was :wink:
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Hertsman and Brenbo, that sums it up so well, the GTD is all the car you'd ever need but the R or CS is all the Golf you'd ever want (until something newer and better is released, these marketing execs don't rest on their laurels you know!)
scanesare, your many CS posts have been pretty inspirational in my subconscious mind :smiley: without your, and a few others here, great enthusiasm for the model it might just have stayed an expensive Golf with a few plastic bits bolted on in my mind. Yourself and a few others made me feel the need to check the Clubsport out.
Unfortunately the JB1 was sold as I really didn't think I'd be back in a GTI or R any time soon, I used the proceeds to buy a DTUK CRDT3 box for the GTD, looks like I'm going to have to change back the other way again soon :rolleyes: :laugh:
That looks amazing Exonian, big congrats. The dealership next to me has an identical one to yours but only with the bucket seats and it looks brilliant. I keep going down to check it out and longingly hope that they have reduced the price but not a chance. I registered my interest in it but the salesman reckoned it would be gone pretty quickly.
Sounds like a few congrats heading back your way are in order :afro:
You'll love the R, was it much price difference to the CS?
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Hertsman and Brenbo, that sums it up so well, the GTD is all the car you'd ever need but the R or CS is all the Golf you'd ever want (until something newer and better is released, these marketing execs don't rest on their laurels you know!)
scanesare, your many CS posts have been pretty inspirational in my subconscious mind :smiley: without your, and a few others here, great enthusiasm for the model it might just have stayed an expensive Golf with a few plastic bits bolted on in my mind. Yourself and a few others made me feel the need to check the Clubsport out.
Unfortunately the JB1 was sold as I really didn't think I'd be back in a GTI or R any time soon, I used the proceeds to buy a DTUK CRDT3 box for the GTD, looks like I'm going to have to change back the other way again soon :rolleyes: :laugh:
That looks amazing Exonian, big congrats. The dealership next to me has an identical one to yours but only with the bucket seats and it looks brilliant. I keep going down to check it out and longingly hope that they have reduced the price but not a chance. I registered my interest in it but the salesman reckoned it would be gone pretty quickly.
Sounds like a few congrats heading back your way are in order :afro:
You'll love the R, was it much price difference to the CS?
The Clubsport was offered at £32k and the R I've got at £28k so a fair difference
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A little late to the party but congrats on your new purchase :whistle: ENJOY :grin:
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Hertsman and Brenbo, that sums it up so well, the GTD is all the car you'd ever need but the R or CS is all the Golf you'd ever want (until something newer and better is released, these marketing execs don't rest on their laurels you know!)
scanesare, your many CS posts have been pretty inspirational in my subconscious mind :smiley: without your, and a few others here, great enthusiasm for the model it might just have stayed an expensive Golf with a few plastic bits bolted on in my mind. Yourself and a few others made me feel the need to check the Clubsport out.
Unfortunately the JB1 was sold as I really didn't think I'd be back in a GTI or R any time soon, I used the proceeds to buy a DTUK CRDT3 box for the GTD, looks like I'm going to have to change back the other way again soon :rolleyes: :laugh:
That looks amazing Exonian, big congrats. The dealership next to me has an identical one to yours but only with the bucket seats and it looks brilliant. I keep going down to check it out and longingly hope that they have reduced the price but not a chance. I registered my interest in it but the salesman reckoned it would be gone pretty quickly.
Sounds like a few congrats heading back your way are in order :afro:
You'll love the R, was it much price difference to the CS?
The Clubsport was offered at £32k and the R I've got at £28k so a fair difference
blimey!
You'd not give it a second thought for that sort of price difference.
A little late to the party but congrats on your new purchase :whistle: ENJOY :grin:
Thank you! :afro:
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*update*
For anyone remotely interested in how it compares to the other mk7's I owned in the driving stakes I decided to take the car for a little run out in the early hours of the morning before the sun came up and the half asleep commuters clogged the roads.
Just in the name of research for you lot of course.
I'm no journalist that's just half read the press pack, nodded off through a talk by a VW bigwig and then been let loose under stage managed conditions in a press fleet car. No, I'm just a boring middle aged pen pusher that has a bit of a thing for lightly warmed over VWs. But I might accidentally use a few hackneyed motoring journalist cliches just for effect!
To be perfectly honest I brought the GTI home on Saturday morning, parked it up and have hardly moved it since and that's fairly typical of my vehicle use a lot of the time. Hence why I'd previously decided it was high time to stop wasting so much money on new and newish cars that I hardly used and which depreciated like falling stones so I bought a nice sensible highly discounted GTD for those odd days I did actually need a five seater car to do a long journey in.
There are a few roads near to me that are quite nice driving roads when there are no other cars about. You can't go that fast on them but there's just enough bends and swoopy bits to give you a bit of a challenge and chance for the car to clear its lungs a bit.
One road I used quite often in the early morning to get some miles under the GTD to loosen it up a bit is quite close to where I work and on Friday morning I decided it was time to give the GTI a bit of exercise.
The first bit of road is just fairly wide 30 and 40 mph zones that used to be part of an old major A road that's been bypassed and now being redeveloped, so that's a good place to get the engine warmed up gradually and allows you to vary the revs a bit and play with the responses low down in the rev range.
Next up is a series of roundabouts, all nice and new so good smooth surface and quite sharp bends on and off these roundabouts, then we have a slowish bit through a village and finally a stretch of Roman road to get the oil nice and hot. Turn around at the roundabout before the next town and do the trip in reverse. The sort of roads GTI's were designed for, but definitely no Nurburgring.
The first thing you can tell about the Clubsport when in the warm up stage is that the throttle mapping is quite aggressive. I've not read dozens of magazine road tests on the car but I wouldn't mind betting a lot of journos would have picked up on this.
The engine is unmistakably Golf R in sound and power delivery. Responses are a bit flat until you get over 2000rpm then it just increasingly seems to feel more potent. I don't know if it's the low mileage on my car or whether the dealer put in rubbish fuel but there's a definite lag when coming off the power then back on in the lower mid-range. I didn't remember my R being like that and that car had a bit more weight to lug around. More on the engine in a while.
I'd read in the early press releases that the Clubsport had some bespoke suspension parts and in the early road tests I'd seen there was mention of how fantastic handling the Clubsport is compared to the PP GTI. It turns out that was a bit smoke and mirrors by VW and that journalists tend to believe what they hear in the launch speeches, and they had obviously forgotten how highly rated the GTI PP was when it was released (and when there was no 4WD R to steal its thunder). They've also ignored the rave reviews of the 280 Cupra they'd probably written themselves a year or two before as well, but basically it's a hybrid of those cars that the Clubsport is and no bad thing for that. In fact it's almost a best of both worlds.
Going from the various online resources of part numbers and Jackie Treehorn's table of part numbers elsewhere on here and other forums we can see that the standard Clubsport possibly has unique springs (or possibly Cupra springs even?) but elsewhere underneath it's all pretty much standard PP GTI.
Now having driven my own Clubsport on the same roads as I used to run my GTI PP, my R and my GTD in I can offer up my own opinion. And it is just my opinion from seat of pants science rather than trawling through parts catalogues.
The Clubsport takes the bends really really well. Like the GTI PP if you suddenly change direction sharply then hit the power the dampers can be caught out a bit before the VAQ can rescue the day. So you do get a brief lurch from the suspension at times and a chirp of wheelspin but that all adds to the fun. On the R forum that feeling would be due to the GTI not having the vitally important 4WD showing that it's impossible to put lots of horsepower and torque down in mere front wheel drive. On a GTI forum it's a case of "you can feel what's going on down below" and "in touch with the road surface". Somewhere in the middle of that probably lies the truth.
The standard Clubsport doesn't blast out of the bends and off the roundabouts like a rocket in the mid-range as a DTUK equipped GTD does, it doesn't squat and thrust like an R does and it doesn't punch then go a bit flat like a GTI PP does when you hit the plateau of the power delivery. Again, somewhere in the middle of all that is the Clubsport. You can feel it's down on traction and torque compared to the R (I won't say grip as it will offend Bridgestone haters, and I've come to be familiar with the S001s having had them for a short time on the R, GTD and now ED40). The ED40 does feel like it's had a bit of development in the chassis and engine response area despite it being pretty much a parts bin car underneath the unique body and interior addenda. As Golfs go the Clubsport really does feel quite lively as standard. "Stabbed rat" would be the cliche I'd use for the engine responses (the pedalbox just adds to this and I'm not sure if that's amplifying the bit of lag I mentioned earlier), and "surprisingly lithe" would be how I'd describe the chassis despite the fact on paper it's the same as the GTI PP. Whether the higher powered engine makes the chassis feel more lively than a standard GTI PP I don't know but it definitely feels slightly different. I ran a DTUK box on a GTI and even that didn't feel as lively despite probably similar power outputs.
In real terms over the whole trip, which I can't claim as directly back to back as the GTI PP was chopped in for the R almost dead on two years ago now and the R ended up semi-retired and then sold in late December last year the four cars do feel quite different.
The JB1 equipped R would obviously have stolen the show and yet when I did the same trip in that car it never really broke into a sweat and that's partly what fuelled my wondering about a tuned GTD being just as good as the JB1 R on the actual roads I drive. To get the JB1 R to play you'd need to be doing serious speed.
The DTUK GTD was a great compromise, huge torque out of bends if you had it in the right gear and a lovely cruiser on the open roads, plus it did 40 mpg in town.
The GTI PP was always a massively underrated car and one I remain very fond of. Great on fuel and immensely flexible but a little flat in the higher reaches on the odd days where you're really putting it through its paces.
The Edition 40 on the same roads just seems a lot more playful for some reason. Looking at the parts underneath it's hard to quantify why but in true GTI form I'd say "the sum of the parts is less than the whole". Once the soundaktor was switched to ECO it even sounded good (the one area the Clubsport does have a unique part is the exhaust system), it rides pretty well and the alcantara seats are really grippy, plus the fluffy steering wheel I'm growing to like.
Oh and surprisingly the ED40 actually returned half decent fuel economy on that little run out too, 34mpg on the computer as I parked up; the GTI PP used to get around 35 or 36 on average on that road, the GTD would return low 40's (tight engine) and the R would sometimes hit 30 or even 31.
The steering feels much the same as the GTI PP but the gear change does feel slightly different (better) to the GTI PP and GTD but that could be my imagination.
The one area I was really disappointed in previously was the fact that there is no lower ambient lighting in the car. I'm still not overly happy with that as it's one of the really nice features of the performance Golfs and it' a bit tight of VW depriving non wingback cars of the feature despite going to the effort of fitting a better centre console with air-con ducting. But driving the car on very dark country roads needing 100% concentration the fact that there are no internal reflections in the windows to distract you, or mask hedgerows where foxes and badgers could emerge at any second it's actually quite useful to have just the dials lit up and nothing else (the radio setting was on the additional dials which is a fairly dark monochrome screen).
Yeah, as I said before, it makes me smile.
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Great report that Exonian! Saw a CS today for the first time and it did look really good but I can't justify the cost to change right now. Keep the insights coming, be interesting to hear how you feel in a month or two once it's settled in :smiley:
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Nice review Exonian, and much more real world coming from someone who has actuallly lived with each of the performance Golfs, rather than a motoring journo who's just gone for a quick blast around a track.
Good to see it made you smile.....make sure you drive it more often than you did the GTI PP, R and GTD :smiley:
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Great post Exonian and interesting to hear your views on the pedal box. I've been sitting on the fence on whether to purchase one as I had one on my previous GTI and loved it but I agree with you the CS throttle response is much better the the std GTI.
Do you think the CS has a sharper pedal response than the R as several rave about the difference the pedal box makes to the R?
Based on your experience so far would you recommend the pedal box for the CS?
Cheers
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I can't justify the cost to change right now. Keep the insights coming, be interesting to hear how you feel in a month or two once it's settled in :smiley:
Well, you say you can't afford the cost to change but there are a few now around the £26 - £27k mark and once you've driven one... :whistle:
make sure you drive it more often than you did the GTI PP, R and GTD :smiley:
I'll try, I promise! :afro:
Great post Exonian and interesting to hear your views on the pedal box. I've been sitting on the fence on whether to purchase one as I had one on my previous GTI and loved it but I agree with you the CS throttle response is much better the the std GTI.
Do you think the CS has a sharper pedal response than the R as several rave about the difference the pedal box makes to the R?
Based on your experience so far would you recommend the pedal box for the CS?
Cheers
My son commandeered my other car on Friday evening so he didn't have to pay £4 bus fare to go to the cinema :rolleyes:
Therefore for my last nightshift of the week I had to take the GTI to work.
Obviously I then felt obliged to take the very long route home. And then a bit more for good measure.
I can honestly say that the ClubSport is the first car in many many years I've not felt the need to modify. Normally I have a plan in place even before I buy a car as to how I want it to look and drive. Even sans bucket seats the CS feels pretty much as I'd want it. Maybe some 19" wheels at a later date if funds allow.
However there is one thing that really does amplify the car's responses and now I've done a few miles in the car driving the sort of roads I bought it for I still think the pedalbox is an almost essential addition. The dead inch or so of travel is still there as per the rest of the range so it's just a matter of adjusting the pedalbox to remove that but not having it overly sensitive.
So yes, I'd still recommend it Paul :smiley:
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Thanks for the confirmation Exonian. Looking forward to your next review.
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You walk out of the building early in the morning after a long night shift. The sun is backlighting the sky from beyond the horizon with some amazing colours which are highlighted by grey stripy clouds hanging low in the atmosphere. The moon and brighter stars are still high in the heavens and are tinged a reddish orange, then to top it off there are wispy white patches of fog dotted around.
You ask yourself a quick question, do I go home, have a drink and hit the hay or do I fire up my Volkswagen and make the most of the beautiful morning and clear roads.
Indeed, there is only one answer to that.
The coffee and pillows were just fine thanks.
Not really. The black and white beast and I went on a bit of an adventure. Not a very long adventure mind as I needed my bed but far enough for me to warm it through and get more familiar with it.
I appreciate the chassis is pretty much the same as all the other mk7's I've owned, the body shell is exactly the same as all the other mk7's I've owned, the view from the driver's seat etc etc.
But there are the little details put into the car that make a lot of difference, and sometimes it's the small details that are the important ones.
On paper it's pretty easy, you've got a GTI PP chassis set up and a Leon Cupra tune in the Golf R engine. The Cupra originally came in a choice of 265 or 280PS then 290PS. A good friend of mine owned a 280 back when they were released and it was a very impressive performer.
In general driving the feel is GTI PP and the acoustics are Golf R.
First and second gears don't feel anything special and indeed like the Golf R they feel a bit too low to make use of the torque without either changing up early as they feel a bit snatchy or holding the revs and risking wheelspin.
Then you hit third coming off a roundabout.
I'll assume that sans pedalbox you'll need to hit the kick down button at the back of the throttle pedal to release the overboost but with pedalbox fitted it feels like it boosts earlier in the pedal travel.
Now 25bhp extra in a lardy modern car doesn't actually sound much. I've had remaps with 60 and 70PS extra and you do notice that but 25bhp shouldn't really be that noticeable. In theory.
It's the way it's delivered that's the thing.
I reckon it must be the grandson of the guy who decided it would be both funny and fitting to have a golf ball gear knob in a GTI or 'sport Golf' back in the 70's that was put in charge of the ED40 throttle mapping. I'll assume the generation of family in the middle were sent off to work for SEAT Sport and retired in the sun whilst their grandchild returned to the Mothership in Wolfsburg.
When the overboost comes in it actually feels quite savage for a mere 25PS, the acoustics take on a really angry note which is pretty impressive for a standard exhaust (sondaktor turned down to ECO) and the car just rockets forward and, just like the GTI PP before it, the VAQ takes on this uncanny feeling of dragging the car forward almost like it's being towed behind something very fast and powerful on an elastic band.
Ok it's not brutally fast like the JB1 Golf R and it doesn't have the huge boot of torque that the DTUK GTD packs to kick it out of a roundabout and up the road far quicker than the low revs recorded on the rev counter would have you believe.
But as a standard car it's actually pretty impressive.
The VAQ works miracles with the Bridgestones.
Then when you get back to the 40 then 30 limits the car just goes back to being a Golf. Comfy, flexible, over 30mpg on the computer and just a burbling hint from the exhaust.
Maybe I'm easily pleased but I think considering it's nothing out of the ordinary underneath it just makes you want to drive and drive...
Thankfully someone with something a bit more hardcore under their bonnet and chassis didn't come along and humble me on their own early morning jaunt. Now that might have made me question things a bit more. So for now I'll just sit and be smug, it just a boring old Golf after all.
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You walk out of the building early in the morning after a long night shift. The sun is backlighting the sky from beyond the horizon with some amazing colours which are highlighted by grey stripy clouds hanging low in the atmosphere. The moon and brighter stars are still high in the heavens and are tinged a reddish orange, then to top it off there are wispy white patches of fog dotted around.
You ask yourself a quick question, do I go home, have a drink and hit the hay or do I fire up my Volkswagen and make the most of the beautiful morning and clear roads.
Indeed, there is only one answer to that.
The coffee and pillows were just fine thanks.
Not really. The black and white beast and I went on a bit of an adventure. Not a very long adventure mind as I needed my bed but far enough for me to warm it through and get more familiar with it.
I appreciate the chassis is pretty much the same as all the other mk7's I've owned, the body shell is exactly the same as all the other mk7's I've owned, the view from the driver's seat etc etc.
But there are the little details put into the car that make a lot of difference, and sometimes it's the small details that are the important ones.
On paper it's pretty easy, you've got a GTI PP chassis set up and a Leon Cupra tune in the Golf R engine. The Cupra originally came in a choice of 265 or 280PS then 290PS. A good friend of mine owned a 280 back when they were released and it was a very impressive performer.
In general driving the feel is GTI PP and the acoustics are Golf R.
First and second gears don't feel anything special and indeed like the Golf R they feel a bit too low to make use of the torque without either changing up early as they feel a bit snatchy or holding the revs and risking wheelspin.
Then you hit third coming off a roundabout.
I'll assume that sans pedalbox you'll need to hit the kick down button at the back of the throttle pedal to release the overboost but with pedalbox fitted it feels like it boosts earlier in the pedal travel.
Now 25bhp extra in a lardy modern car doesn't actually sound much. I've had remaps with 60 and 70PS extra and you do notice that but 25bhp shouldn't really be that noticeable. In theory.
It's the way it's delivered that's the thing.
I reckon it must be the grandson of the guy who decided it would be both funny and fitting to have a golf ball gear knob in a GTI or 'sport Golf' back in the 70's that was put in charge of the ED40 throttle mapping. I'll assume the generation of family in the middle were sent off to work for SEAT Sport and retired in the sun whilst their grandchild returned to the Mothership in Wolfsburg.
When the overboost comes in it actually feels quite savage for a mere 25PS, the acoustics take on a really angry note which is pretty impressive for a standard exhaust (sondaktor turned down to ECO) and the car just rockets forward and, just like the GTI PP before it, the VAQ takes on this uncanny feeling of dragging the car forward almost like it's being towed behind something very fast and powerful on an elastic band.
Ok it's not brutally fast like the JB1 Golf R and it doesn't have the huge boot of torque that the DTUK GTD packs to kick it out of a roundabout and up the road far quicker than the low revs recorded on the rev counter would have you believe.
But as a standard car it's actually pretty impressive.
The VAQ works miracles with the Bridgestones.
Then when you get back to the 40 then 30 limits the car just goes back to being a Golf. Comfy, flexible, over 30mpg on the computer and just a burbling hint from the exhaust.
Maybe I'm easily pleased but I think considering it's nothing out of the ordinary underneath it just makes you want to drive and drive...
Thankfully someone with something a bit more hardcore under their bonnet and chassis didn't come along and humble me on their own early morning jaunt. Now that might have made me question things a bit more. So for now I'll just sit and be smug, it just a boring old Golf after all.
All right Andy, calm down :grin:
This is so out of character for you, you're usually much more Larry David in your approach to cars ( and life in general ).
Has your account been hacked? :laugh:
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Nice write up and I suspect a JB1 (or 4) could be on its way sometime in the future? :evil:
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Nice to hear you waxing lyrical about the CS, obviously hitting the right spot Mr Ex. :afro:
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All right Andy, calm down :grin:
This is so out of character for you, you're usually much more Larry David in your approach to cars ( and life in general ).
Has your account been hacked? :laugh:
I had to Google Larry David (I live a sheltered life), well if the cap fits I suppose :grin: :grin:
And there was me thinking Enthusiasm was my middle name!
Talking of enthusiasm, did you see what broke cover yesterday?
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=280466.0
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswagen/up/99514/new-2018-volkswagen-up-gti-official-specs-and-video
Anybody want to buy my ClubSport? :whistle:
Nice write up and I suspect a JB1 (or 4) could be on its way sometime in the future? :evil:
I'm thinking I'll keep this one standard. I don't want to push the balance of abilities away from how they are too much.
But you never know!
I like it out of the box. It's not the fastest car in the world nor the best handling but it works really well and is a great middle ground.
Nice to hear you waxing lyrical about the CS, obviously hitting the right spot Mr Ex. :afro:
Does it show that I quite like it? :laugh:
As I was typing the above I was just thinking that everyone will be sick of me banging on about the car.
So that's it, I think I've said all I can say about it now.
Anyway, ClubSports are so yesterday, pass me an UP! GTI
:lipsrsealed:
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I can't believe that you go and buy a CS and the very next week they announce the release of your dream car!
Life can be so cruel.
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Up GTi starting around £17k, I think I'd rather have an Amarth.
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I can't believe that you go and buy a CS and the very next week they announce the release of your dream car!
Life can be so cruel.
Happens to me every time.
:cry:
Up GTi starting around £17k, I think I'd rather have an Amarth.
It's no bargain that's for sure.
I wonder if SEAT will do a funky Mii Cupra.
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It's not the fastest car in the world nor the best handling
You're not selling it very well.... :whistle:
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It's not the fastest car in the world nor the best handling
You're not selling it very well.... :whistle:
Sorry. I got told off for being enthusiastic :grin:
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At the risk of boring everyone's arses off further, here's a few more shots of the car just after its Sunday bath.
The fluffy steering wheel cover:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/7EE9EC1B-4006-4966-A12D-DBAD00136084.jpg)
The roof from my roof:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/95c6c5f3-0011-4e9e-90a0-351e356b3ed4.jpg)
If you look closely you can see where they've made weight savings on the Fuchs alloys, around the bolt and hub area is much thinner casting and even the rim area seems to have been shaved back to the wonderful S001's look like they have huge rim protectors:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/d15e30a4-0e39-48af-9420-8662f24e7cab.jpg)
The furry seats, even though they're not the much desired buckets they're really grippy and comfy:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/C5B0E8D1-9E72-47DB-BE3C-73570A467F17.jpg)
And last of all, my one and only addition to the cabin ambience:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/65D04F36-2495-4D3D-B2CA-61507BA588C0.jpg)
And a closer shot from the side through a dirty window as I couldn't get back far enough outside:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/0104E7AD-A5DA-45F5-8D85-D4957AEDA31E.jpg)
Much as I like the wheels I'm a bit paranoid they'll get wrecked so might well buy a set of replica Brescias (sp?) or Pretorias to run over winter, it won't matter too much if I wreck one or more of those, plus the replicas normally have a bit more aggressive offset than OEM wheels.
The hanging baskets and pots were used as props and come courtesy of my next door neighbours. They've kindly put one up on the garage too which I'll probably inadvertently end up eating or knocking myself out on at some stage.
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It looks fantastic!
I'm not sure I'd swap the wheels out but understand your thinking.
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Looks very nice Exonian - makes me think about wrapping the white part of my roof again; to match the black pano sunroof
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That does look great and I love the Belvederes. :smiley:
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Wow only just seen this thread, didn't know you had a GTD let alone a CS now.
Very jealous (albeit it would have to be a 3dr/manual/buckets)as I went to VW to buy a CS last April and came out with an R as I couldn't justify paying over £500pm for the CS compared to the £297pm I paid for the R :embarrassed:
Car looks amazing, and you are clearly smitten.
I do keep looking at CS's on AT/PH but like Cossieian I can't justify wasting money at the mo as we are just about to embark on major house renovations which is taking my money/time and will to live currently :grin:
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Looks very nice Exonian - makes me think about wrapping the white part of my roof again; to match the black pano sunroof
It'll tie in well with the sunroof.
Wrap will also protect the paint from poop on a practical level.
@Raffe: I've had a bit of a turnover of late Phil! The CS is great fun but there's no way I'd recommend swapping an R for one if the cost to change wasn't fairly minimal.
Mine was pre-reg'd or I'd have chosen a slightly different spec.
I can appreciate what you're going through with the house renovations, it's a fantastic way of eating time, money and enthusiasm, plus there's constant mess everywhere - but it's gotta be done from time to time.
At least you can look at your R smugly from the window!
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Looks very nice Exonian - makes me think about wrapping the white part of my roof again; to match the black pano sunroof
It'll tie in well with the sunroof.
Wrap will also protect the paint from poop on a practical level.
@Raffe: I've had a bit of a turnover of late Phil! The CS is great fun but there's no way I'd recommend swapping an R for one if the cost to change wasn't fairly minimal.
Mine was pre-reg'd or I'd have chosen a slightly different spec.
I can appreciate what you're going through with the house renovations, it's a fantastic way of eating time, money and enthusiasm, plus there's constant mess everywhere - but it's gotta be done from time to time.
At least you can look at your R smugly from the window!
You forgot the pleasure of being able to write you initials in dust everywhere.
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At the risk of boring everyone's arses off further, here's a few more shots of the car just after its Sunday bath.
The fluffy steering wheel cover:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/7EE9EC1B-4006-4966-A12D-DBAD00136084.jpg)
The roof from my roof:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/95c6c5f3-0011-4e9e-90a0-351e356b3ed4.jpg)
If you look closely you can see where they've made weight savings on the Fuchs alloys, around the bolt and hub area is much thinner casting and even the rim area seems to have been shaved back to the wonderful S001's look like they have huge rim protectors:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/d15e30a4-0e39-48af-9420-8662f24e7cab.jpg)
The furry seats, even though they're not the much desired buckets they're really grippy and comfy:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/C5B0E8D1-9E72-47DB-BE3C-73570A467F17.jpg)
And last of all, my one and only addition to the cabin ambience:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/65D04F36-2495-4D3D-B2CA-61507BA588C0.jpg)
And a closer shot from the side through a dirty window as I couldn't get back far enough outside:
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/0104E7AD-A5DA-45F5-8D85-D4957AEDA31E.jpg)
Much as I like the wheels I'm a bit paranoid they'll get wrecked so might well buy a set of replica Brescias (sp?) or Pretorias to run over winter, it won't matter too much if I wreck one or more of those, plus the replicas normally have a bit more aggressive offset than OEM wheels.
The hanging baskets and pots were used as props and come courtesy of my next door neighbours. They've kindly put one up on the garage too which I'll probably inadvertently end up eating or knocking myself out on at some stage.
Looks sooo good, just had to quote the pics. :cool: :cool: :cool: This is the only VW diamond cut wheel I've liked in the mk7 era, I'd keep them on and start saving for wheel refurbs, lol. Those seats. :drool:
God my R looks boring. :cry: :laugh:
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They really are awesome wheels and seats.
I'm seriously envious.
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Looks very nice Exonian - makes me think about wrapping the white part of my roof again; to match the black pano sunroof
It'll tie in well with the sunroof.
Wrap will also protect the paint from poop on a practical level.
@Raffe: I've had a bit of a turnover of late Phil! The CS is great fun but there's no way I'd recommend swapping an R for one if the cost to change wasn't fairly minimal.
Mine was pre-reg'd or I'd have chosen a slightly different spec.
I can appreciate what you're going through with the house renovations, it's a fantastic way of eating time, money and enthusiasm, plus there's constant mess everywhere - but it's gotta be done from time to time.
At least you can look at your R smugly from the window!
You forgot the pleasure of being able to write you initials in dust everywhere.
I suspect your R is only looking boring as you have owned it for a fair while now Booth, getting too used to looking at it. It still looks great in the photos. I am absolutely loving my MK7 R at present. I cannot get enough of looking at it. I even prefer it over my GTI PP which also was a fantastic car in its own right.
@Exonian: the pics look great, awesome looking car mate, enjoy it. I washed mine as well today, even polished the chrome exhaust tips as they were a bit sooty. The black accents and roof wrap are looking good in the pics. :smiley:
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I suspect your R is only looking boring as you have owned it for a fair while now Booth, getting too used to looking at it. It still looks great in the photos. I am absolutely loving my MK7 R at present. I cannot get enough of looking at it. I even prefer it over my GTI PP which also was a fantastic car in its own right.
I was joking :smiley: I love my R, 20 months ownership is not really a long time to me, I don't get easily bored with cars, so it's still only a baby, lol, and I prefer the pre facelift styling of the R so happy days.
Anyway, back to the lovely CS.
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I took it you must have been joking Booth, as anyone can see from your posts how much you love your R. :smiley:
Anyway The CS is looking much better in Exonians photos than VW's own press photos. You can get a better sense of the styling which was lost in VW's photos. :smiley:
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Anyway The CS is looking much better in Exonians photos than VW's own press photos. You can get a better sense of the styling which was lost in VW's photos. :smiley:
Totally agree. Official photos are often very bland and they always use polarisers to knock back reflections for less distraction but it can lose detail from the images and make the paint look really dull. Much prefer to see decent pics from real world owners as that's pretty true reflection (pardon pun) of the reality. Mr Ex's pics really show the detail as an enthusiast would view it.
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A quick update if anyone is in the slightest bit interested.
The car hit the 1000 mile barrier on Saturday at the grand age of three months and a couple days.
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/41865D48-A404-4A18-8383-5CFEC57180A1.jpg)
The magic number clicked over on the North Devon Link road where the car was getting a bit of country air in its lungs on the fringes of Exmoor.
That was the first longish outing in the car really, 70 miles each way with a little bit of each type of road: motorway, B road, A road, town centre etc.
The car does feel a tiny bit more choppy than my previous mk7's which considering the GTI PP and R both rode on 19" wheels I'd definitely say the spring rates were harder in the Ed40.
As an aside I had a 20 or 30 minute drive out in a friend's mk5 GTI in the early hours of Saturday which made an interesting comparison back to back with the Clubsport GTI.
The mk5 has stage 1 REVO and pulls really well. The Ed40 felt a little flat after driving the GTI until it got into the higher stages of the rev band. Which was better to drive? That's a toughie as the Ed40 didn't struggle for grip and revved higher but the mk5 REVO car catapulted out of bends with plenty of drama. Where the Clubsport feels a lot more lithe and pointy after the R on certain roads the MK5 GTI feels a bit more old skool hot hatch struggling to put down immense torque through 17" tyres and eleven year old suspension components. The mk5 was great fun to drive on that little blast on dry roads in the cool night air.
I drove the same route a couple hours later in the Ed40 and there were a couple of things I immediately noticed.
Obviously with newer components and another ten years of suspension development the Clubsport felt a lot smoother in handling transition, the steering was sharper, the brakes better and there was a little more noise from the exhaust even with the Soundaktor switched to Eco.
The seats felt better in the mk5, as did the steering wheel which is still a work of art until this day.
I liked the blue dials, the no frills spec (but a fancy radio had been added which was brought the tech up to date) and most of all the familiarity was great. The mk5 GTI was such a good car in its day and this reminded me that it still is. Testament to that is when you're not driving flat out is that it's surprising how many things feel almost exactly the same in the mk7.
The ride is similar.
The seating position is very similar.
The gear lever is in a similar position.
The view out is quite similar.
The switchgear is quite similar.
They both feel like they have the same DNA in other words.
The mk5 feels heftier than the mk7 though. I'm not sure what the kerb weight difference is but where the doors of the mk7 feel light and flimsy and the panels feel thin that same can't be said for the mk5. The mk5 feels like it's been carved out of a solid block to use a bit of a cliche. Granted the interior of the mk7 is a lot more fancy in some areas but you've still got to hand it to the mk5 that it still feels remarkably modern.
Going back to the Ed40 on its day out though, it was a pleasure to drive. Quick when I wanted it to be, relaxed when it needed to be and just as user friendly as a base spec model plus it did fairly ok in the MPG stakes too.
I'm not sure if it's because I only really use the car for commuting in the evenings or early mornings so it doesn't really encounter much traffic generally but I also think the throttle mapping might be a bit more aggressive than my GTI or R. That may well be in my imagination but when I gave my father in law a 12 mile lift I found the throttle hard to modulate in town traffic.
Obviously I run a pedalbox which amplifies the factory setting somewhat and I definitely think if i did a lot of town driving during the hours when normal people are out and about I'd turn the wick down a little on the pedalbox. Yet the pedal box is on the same setting as I used in the previous cars which all ended up with modified engines to go with the pedalbox (tuning boxes rather than remaps). My father in law is in his mid 70's and has arthritis of the spine so he doesn't appreciate hard suspension or my usual driving style! The Golf was just about smooth enough in the suspension and seats department for him but I did find it a bit hard to modulate light throttle openings when trying to ease out of junctions or onto roundabouts to maintain smoothness. The last thing he needed was a neck snapping burst of initial acceleration but the Ed40 just felt like it wanted to pick up its skirts and fly. 99.9% of the time it's just what I like but there does come a time when you really notice it because you're trying to drive around it rather than encourage it!
And before anyone says anything, it still has the same pedal travel and responses as every other Golf, but the ECU mapping itself *might* be slightly more aggressive. Either that or I'm not used to driving so gingerly.
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The best Golf you can get as far as I'm concerned, absolutely gorgeous :drool:
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Great write up Exonian, keep them coming! I do love my GTI but the little green-eyed monster keeps leaning over my shoulder waving an image of a CS.....
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Thanks for that insight, interesting comparison with the Mk5. Caused me to reminisce about my long gone but much missed Mk5 GT.
Just spent 10 minutes looking at them on Autotrader!
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Ooh, goody, something of interest to read. :smiley:
Really enjoyable read Mr Ex, thanks for sharing, and of course the frisky little Clubsport looks fab so carefully positioned in its parking spot. You never know when some inconsiderate redneck might come along and park his massive Amarok next to it. :shocked:
Where is Simon? Must be out looking for a parking spot :grin:
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The best Golf you can get as far as I'm concerned, absolutely gorgeous :drool:
It's a bit grubby up close but ssshhhh, don't tell anyone!
Great write up Exonian, keep them coming! I do love my GTI but the little green-eyed monster keeps leaning over my shoulder waving an image of a CS.....
You keep some strange pets by the sounds of it Watts!
Thanks for that insight, interesting comparison with the Mk5. Caused me to reminisce about my long gone but much missed Mk5 GT.
Just spent 10 minutes looking at them on Autotrader!
Don't go putting on your rose tinted specs just yet. That example has had a fortune in maintenance spent on it in the last year. Literally a couple thousand I reckon and it still requires more. Just wear and tear stuff too, nothing out of the ordinary. Fine if you're going to keep it a very long time but a potential money pit.
(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/Exonian22/Mobile%20Uploads/2732953F-6412-4C77-A6C6-395B068D3DAE.jpeg)
Ooh, goody, something of interest to read. :smiley:
Really enjoyable read Mr Ex, thanks for sharing, and of course the frisky little Clubsport looks fab so carefully positioned in its parking spot. You never know when some inconsiderate redneck might come along and park his massive Amarok next to it. :shocked:
Where is Simon? Must be out looking for a parking spot :grin:
Thanks Ms B.
The poor car has been a little neglected so I've not had anything to post up of note.
I did indeed return to my carefully chosen parking slot to find masses of space in the car park and a bloody Altea parked right next to me. :angry:
Thankfully it was something a little smaller than Simon's HGV VW.
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Thanks for that insight, interesting comparison with the Mk5. Caused me to reminisce about my long gone but much missed Mk5 GT.
Just spent 10 minutes looking at them on Autotrader!
Don't go putting on your rose tinted specs just yet. That example has had a fortune in maintenance spent on it in the last year. Literally a couple thousand I reckon and it still requires more. Just wear and tear stuff too, nothing out of the ordinary. Fine if you're going to keep it a very long time but a potential money pit.
Rose tinted specs indeed. It was due some large maintenance bills when I decided to part ways. However we don't all change cars every few weeks :whistle:
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Thanks for that insight, interesting comparison with the Mk5. Caused me to reminisce about my long gone but much missed Mk5 GT.
Just spent 10 minutes looking at them on Autotrader!
Don't go putting on your rose tinted specs just yet. That example has had a fortune in maintenance spent on it in the last year. Literally a couple thousand I reckon and it still requires more. Just wear and tear stuff too, nothing out of the ordinary. Fine if you're going to keep it a very long time but a potential money pit.
Rose tinted specs indeed. It was due some large maintenance bills when I decided to part ways. However we don't all change cars every few weeks :whistle:
i've had my mk5 for 9years now and i'll be sad to see her go, she's been great and i'd have to agree with the build quality too. the only thing that broke was the air con compressor, but fortunately only cost me £170 to fix it as i argued it was down to them fitting faulty/inferior parts :) and imho the front end on the mk5 is just the best :) no doubt i'll change my mind when the 7.5 gets here ;)
(http://i66.tinypic.com/2qk7xgg.jpg)
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Looking good maxie :smiley:
Had I not been offered a company car at the time I may have been more willing to cough up and spend what was needed to restore my slightly more humble GT TDI to its best. Unfortunately the local dealer wanted about £800 just to diagnose the rattly gearbox, so off it went.
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I've been encouraged by Exonian to share my views on my own version of a full, albeit petrol, house of a GTI PP, R and CS. Before I start a bit about my driving history. Despite now being the ripe old age of 51 I didn't actually learn to drive and pass my test until June 2013 having previously been an all year round motorcyclist. My first car was a 1.2 Fiesta that I bought to supplement my driving lessons by going out with a friend and practising, which worked by the way as I flew through the test with no minors. I then bought a Fiesta Zetec S for a bit more go and then an Astra GTC 1.4. Coming from bikes none of the above hit the spot for me on acceleration and fun so the search for a hot hatch began. I looked at many cars but kept getting drawn back to the GTI PP and after a test drive I was hooked! Seven weeks later this arrived with the only option being DCC
(https://s19.postimg.org/5e59kvulf/GTI3.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/t54n2zusf/)
As you can imagine, the step up from my previous cars was quite large in performance and quality. It drove superbly, the diff seemingly pulling you around bends a highlight. I drove it to Bruge for the Christmas market with my Mother and Sister in the car and with the DCC set to comfort it just floated along. I also drove it down to Lake Constance on the Germany/Austria/Switzerland border and that was a delight too, set the cruise to 130kph on the Autoroute and just steer. It was great up in the Austrian mountains and I saw 150MPH on the clock on the Autobahn.
So, why would I change for an R with DSG? Well, it went in for a service and as a courtesy car they gave me a Golf GT with DSG. The car was ok, but I was very impressed with the DSG which I mentioned in passing to Claire my sales contact at my local dealer. Big mistake! She emailed a couple of weeks later to say they had an R with DSG on the demo fleet and did I fancy a go? Of course I did and boy did it blow my socks off! I had to have one but after much reading of this forum I went back a week later prepared with a Carwow quote of the spec I wanted. Lapiz, 5 door Prets, DSG and DCC. They undercut the quote by about £300 but the wait would've been 12 weeks or I could have a stock car minus DCC but with Navpro and a further £300 off. One week later this arrived
(https://s19.postimg.org/d4gn3rmar/image.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/ifvjoh8db/)
What a weapon the R is! I'd read how quick they are on here but wow! With the DSG just foot to the floor and go go go. In my opinion it is the pinnacle of Golf performance cars unless the R400 ever surfaces. Corners on rails and that acceleration :laugh:
I would've quite happily kept it for a long time but come service time, see the theme developing here, this was in the showroom and my jaw dropped
(https://s19.postimg.org/b7aq7pgv7/CS1.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/veo600ecf/)
(https://s19.postimg.org/azrooxvab/CS2.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/kkbbbtkm7/)
(https://s19.postimg.org/6rwwg6tur/CS4.jpg) (https://postimage.org)
It was fully loaded with £7,600 worth of options putting the list price up to an eye watering £38,500!
I had to have it but no way was I paying that so I said thanks but no thanks. Two weeks later I got an email from Claire with a fantastic offer for my car and a very large discount and it was mine. What a car, great looks, the fastest colour :evil:, fantastic seats and that steering wheel :drool:. It should be like a GTI with an R engine but it's more than that. It's hard to describe but it feels alive, the diff works its magic, it pulls like a train and I love it! It's been a mad two and a half years or so but I think this one will be a keeper
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How was the change in ride quality going from 18's and DCC to 19's and no DCC?
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Great write up :smiley: They all look good but your CS is mega and definitely the best colour, it looks stunning. I'd love to upgrade but I really can't justify it but if one like that came my way I'd certainly do my utmost to justify it :evil:
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How was the change in ride quality going from 18's and DCC to 19's and no DCC?
I found the ride quality on the 19's with no DCC fine. Felt about the same as the normal setting on 18's with DCC
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Thanks for adding your thoughts Taff :grin:
Interesting reading and I'm glad your impressions pretty much echo mine.
The Lapiz R looks fantastic enough but the red CS with all the black detailing looks out of this world, utterly stunning.
I've sourced a set of Pretorias for mine, two of which could do with a refurb and all four need tyres. I was half thinking about getting them all done in black and your pics have now got me three quarters thinking of getting them redone in satin black! I might run them over winter in their current condition and make a decision next spring.
I've had gloss black (with polished bits) wheels previously and the black bits were a bugger for showing brake dust, but if the overall look is good then what the hell...
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Thanks for adding your thoughts Taff :grin:
Interesting reading and I'm glad your impressions pretty much echo mine.
The Lapiz R looks fantastic enough but the red CS with all the black detailing looks out of this world, utterly stunning.
I've sourced a set of Pretorias for mine, two of which could do with a refurb and all four need tyres. I was half thinking about getting them all done in black and your pics have now got me three quarters thinking of getting them redone in satin black! I might run them over winter in their current condition and make a decision next spring.
I've had gloss black (with polished bits) wheels previously and the black bits were a bugger for showing brake dust, but if the overall look is good then what the hell...
Satin is the way forward, however I'd go with a colour lighter than black to lessen further the brake dust making them look really grubby really quickly. The 'Himalayan Grey' of my BBS SR wheels is a great colour and does a great job of hiding brake dust - all personal opinion of course though as if we all liked the same thing then life would be boring!
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I had dark grey on my R but I want to keep the CS as OEM looking as possible do to its comparative rarity.
Otherwise a set of SRs or Borbet FF1's were top of my list had a decently priced set of Prets not come up for sale. The SR's or FF1's would have filled the arches better :undecided:
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I had dark grey on my R but I want to keep the CS as OEM looking as possible do to its comparative rarity.
Otherwise a set of SRs or Borbet FF1's were top of my list had a decently priced set of Prets not come up for sale. The SR's or FF1's would have filled the arches better :undecided:
I know where you're coming from and the CS does have lots of black detailing already so keeping the wheels black to match would really work - just be a bugger to keep clean.
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Either oem silver or satin black. Loads of gloss black Prets around now and they look truly awful covered in brake dust. Satin black is more classy and more individual.
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Either oem silver or satin black. Loads of gloss black Prets around now and they look truly awful covered in brake dust. Satin black is more classy and more individual.
Two of each? I can have a different look either side of the car!! :laugh:
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Either oem silver or satin black. Loads of gloss black Prets around now and they look truly awful covered in brake dust. Satin black is more classy and more individual.
Two of each? I can have a different look either side of the car!! :laugh:
Exactly. :wink: Your CS can have weekday conservative city boy one side, Friday night disco diva the other. :laugh:
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Clubsports in Red, White or Silver just look absolutely amazing
Satin or anthracite on the prets, the silver is a bit meh on the UK CS-Speculator
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That Red Clubsport looks amazing. So much so I got straight on autotrader to see what they had Clubsport wise.
Wish I had ordered one in red or silver now. Making me think about a red R though now 🤔 A performance golf in Red always seems to look good.
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Either oem silver or satin black. Loads of gloss black Prets around now and they look truly awful covered in brake dust. Satin black is more classy and more individual.
Two of each? I can have a different look either side of the car!! :laugh:
Exactly. :wink: Your CS can have weekday conservative city boy one side, Friday night disco diva the other. :laugh:
You make it sound like the mullet haircut of performance golfs! :smiley:
Agree the CS & CSS look great in red.
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Either oem silver or satin black. Loads of gloss black Prets around now and they look truly awful covered in brake dust. Satin black is more classy and more individual.
Two of each? I can have a different look either side of the car!! :laugh:
Exactly. :wink: Your CS can have weekday conservative city boy one side, Friday night disco diva the other. :laugh:
You make it sound like the mullet haircut of performance golfs! :smiley:
The Phil Oakey of Golfs. :wink: :grin:
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That's a good shout, some owners fondly give their cars names, I wonder if anyone will call their CS "Phil" on the back of that? :)
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Either oem silver or satin black. Loads of gloss black Prets around now and they look truly awful covered in brake dust. Satin black is more classy and more individual.
Two of each? I can have a different look either side of the car!! :laugh:
Exactly. :wink: Your CS can have weekday conservative city boy one side, Friday night disco diva the other. :laugh:
You make it sound like the mullet haircut of performance golfs! :smiley:
The Phil Oakey of Golfs. :wink: :grin:
Ahh, Phil Oakey, a childhood hero of mine.
Or there's alway this slant on it:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d6/d9/08/d6d90809f9889a66a5c67aaafa18ac40--kids-stories-child-hood.jpg)
:lipsrsealed:
:laugh:
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Kenny, a genius!
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P
Ahh, Phil Oakey, a childhood hero of mine.
Or there's alway this slant on it:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d6/d9/08/d6d90809f9889a66a5c67aaafa18ac40--kids-stories-child-hood.jpg)
:lipsrsealed:
:laugh:
:grin: :grin: :grin:
Kenny was one of a kind. :cool:
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The Ed40 GTI hit a significant milestone this week, hold on to your hats...
It clicked over to 5000 miles at long last after a whole 20 or 21 months since being registered.
That triggered thoughts that I’d better find a bit of time and sit down to do a running report.
And, well, there’s nothing to report!
What’s gone wrong with it? Thankfully nothing yet. The only things I can point at it are a couple tiny pin prick stone chips and a few occasional rattles coming from “somewhere behind me” over certain irregularities in the road.
What do I think of it after 20 months?
Those that have been around on here a while will remember my chequered history with Golfs rarely being in my possession for longer than 18 months, just long enough for me to do a few modifications, a few retrofits and then moving on to a new project or simply moving the car on through lack of use.
My theory was to keep them turning over regularly to keep the financial jumps small and to keep projects ticking over without spending a fortune.
Considering I didn’t ever intend on buying a Clubsport in the first place this car has had quite an effect on me.
Aside from the de rigeur pedal box and changing the wheels (both kind of my signature) I’ve not been tempted in the slightest to modify the Ed40, I’ve not grown in the slightest bit bored of it and in fact it’s actually grown on me during my ownership which is saying something if you care to read back the first few pages of this thread.
Were you to take the Clubsport away, give me back what I paid for it and allow me to add as much money as I could afford towards another car I’d actually be stumped.
After 5 plus years of mk7’s I’m far from bored of them and still think there’s nothing better out there for my money.
I bought the Clubsport on a whim as I didn’t actually need another car.
I don’t know if it’s me finally growing up at the grand age of 50 or the car’s virtues themselves, but I suspect the latter!
The car has gone from occasional use to being used most days now. It was bought because I have another car for commuting but still wanted a Golf as they’ve always played a big part in my life. The Ed40 the perfect blend of a bit of rarity yet still a common old Golf. A car that you could justify not using much as a future collectible model but still a handy family hold-all when needed. Even using it almost every day now to do a 30 mile round trip commute it still has that same sense of occasion it had when I first purchased it.
So, running report.
Err, I like it. A lot!
Nothing has broken just yet.
Booth11’s old Conti’s are finally heading towards the wear markers on the Pretorias so new boots will be needed in the next couple months, PS4S the obvious likely candidates.
Aside from that it’s just needed one service as the only dealer visit.
This is the first turbo car I’ve had in nearly 20 years I’ve not put a stage 1 on. The car and engine simply don’t need it for road use. I’ve readjusted my driving style from using the massive stage 1 torque to lug from low revs to actually using the delicious rev-ability of the R engine. Unlike the earlier bigger turbo Ed30/35/Cupra R/mk6 R 2.0 engines this EA888 unit is amazingly flexible and responsive right through the range.
The lesson I learned was after removing the JB1 from my R on its last journey with me that although the car was slower per se it was actually more fun to drive as I could use the revs and properly drive the thing. With the JB1 fitted anything over 4000rpm saw licence threatening speeds which kind of kills the fun day to day.
Shortly after getting the Clubsport I had the opportunity to try a very well modified DSG R on a very early morning moorland blast.
I never thought I’d see myself say it but I actually preferred the standard engine tune for road use despite the seamless relentless power of the Stage 2 R. Power isn’t everything it seems.
I would actually like the 310 Clubsport S tune for the Ed40 maybe, just as a compromise if nit picking.
What more to say? 20 months in and I’m still devoted!
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Great write up, mind you it wouldn't surprise me if you changed it again suddenly! :laugh: I would like a CS and went to view one last year but really couldn't justify it financially. My brother-in-law thought I was mad especially since it was a TR 3 door manual!
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5000 miles?! I'd still be looking at the owners manual to find the indicator switch :D
Bet it looks good parked on the drive though :whistle:
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5000 miles?! I'd still be looking at the owners manual to find the indicator switch :D
Bet it looks good parked on the drive though :whistle:
The drive? A spec of dust might land on it out there! :shocked:
She lives inside! :laugh:
Although now it’s in regular use I do keep the GTI out in the elements, just so I can admire it from the window mind... :whistle:
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Great write up Exonian!
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What a brilliant read! Somehow I had missed this thread, but glad I found it. Really appreciate your assessments - you nail the nuances.
Your purchasing experiences struck a chord with me. I had the chance to step into a Clubsport (ED40 here in Aus) when looking at replacing my mk5 GTI. Instead I somehow managed to over-analyse and overthink myself into buying a std Golf Trendline instead. Sometimes it is better to listen to one's heart than head, I've learned :wink: Suffice to say that lasted a little over 6 months.
I'm now blissfully happy in my 7.5 GTI, but do slightly regret the missed ED40 opportunity. But that aside I really can't fault this car. The fuel economy amazes me, the performance is satisfying and so accessible (with a pedal box), but most pleasing of all is the incredible versatility of the DCC suspension. In Comfort mode it is damned near line ball with the 16" wheeled Trendline for comfort, but in Sport it comes alive for a completely different and altogether more enjoyable driving experience. With that versatility and balance of attributes, there is really nothing out there I'd rather be driving this side of stupid money.
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Great write up and exactly how I would be feeling if I was lucky enough to own a CS :smiley:
You're getting soft and sentimental in your dotage :laugh:
You'll be publishing your memoirs next. Put me down for a copy
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You'll be publishing your memoirs next. Put me down for a copy
Get in the queue!
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Great write up Exonian, mirrors my thoughts on CS ownership perfectly.
Being of similar age and also mines just getting its 2yr service as we speak....or type....I've got 4750 on clock so not exactly day to day usage but more month to month! :laugh: Owning this is probably longest I've had one for (until previous jobs motorway muncher arrived) but I still love it as much now and hand on heart cannot think of what I'd swap for.
Unlike you though this is my first Gti having wanted one since the MK1, maybe I'll be tempted when the new MK8 arrives....will I find a use for 10 gears??! :tongue:
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Yes Exonian, great write up, I wouldn't expect anything less! My CS is 21 months old and has only done 3,700 miles - I usually do about 2,500 miles a year but I've taken badly to bringing it out in bad weather so use the wife's T roc instead!
Anyhow, like you, I'm still very happy with it and have no intention of parting with it yet - I spec'd the car from new so it has all the extras on it that I wanted, including a 5 year warranty. The car is rare and special and the novelty of owning it still hasn't worn off.
Since the CS was released I've only seen one other on the road and the exclusivity of it was one of the reasons I bought it to replace my 7R (as well as having owned the 20, 25 30 and 35 editions so it would have been rude not to have bought the 40th!!). In fact the warranty will be just about running out when the 45th edition will be released, so maybe that will be my next car!
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Thanks for all the positive comments. :smiley:
It means a lot.
I’m glad I’m not alone in the low mileage use of the Clubsport, I feel less guilty about my months of having it locked away now :grin:
Those of you awaiting my memoirs :laugh: I’m afraid it would be a very boring read, it wouldn’t win any hearts and minds but might win awards for curing insomnia! I think my headstone will read “here lies Andrew, he gazed at his navel a lot but achieved little” :grin:
I wonder how the TCR will stack up against the Ed40.
To my eyes the TCR gains quite a few things the Ed40 lacks but there’s something important missing. Time will tell. Both will herald the end of an era.
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Personally, I don’t think the TCR will be as special as the ed40. The anniversary models just have something extra for me. The ed40 being a great example of these. I would have loved an ed40 but the timing wasn’t right and when I found a really good one it went before I could see it. First world problems eh?
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Can’t help feeling all these low mileage CS’s are a bit of a waste. The Golf is an everyday car. Always has been, always will be. CS surely must be crying out to be driven. Everywhere! Could half understand it with a CSS as can imagine someone buying that a 2nd or 3rd fun car for track days.
Got a mate with a GT4 with less than 500 Miles on. One of the best modern Porsche’s sat doing not much :rolleyes:
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To even it out, mine has over 22,000 on it as I do 350 fun miles a week :-)
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To even it out, mine has over 22,000 on it as I do 350 fun miles a week :-)
Good man Andy! :smiley:
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To even it out, mine has over 22,000 on it as I do 350 fun miles a week :-)
That's more like it! You have a decent car, drive it!
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To even it out, mine has over 22,000 on it as I do 350 fun miles a week :-)
:cool: :afro:
Can’t help feeling all these low mileage CS’s are a bit of a waste. The Golf is an everyday car. Always has been, always will be. CS surely must be crying out to be driven. Everywhere! Could half understand it with a CSS as can imagine someone buying that a 2nd or 3rd fun car for track days.
Got a mate with a GT4 with less than 500 Miles on. One of the best modern Porsche’s sat doing not much :rolleyes:
It is a waste of a good car but it’s the type of car that is bought as a Sunday Best or for occasional use in the main. Same as a Focus RS is often bought by die hard fast Ford fans but not used every day.
It depends on how the car fits in the household too. Not everyone uses a car for business or gets a business allowance. Many of us finance and run it fully privately and don’t cover massive mileage full stop but still need a 5 door practical hatch occasionally. To me a Clubsport is the perfect blend of sports car agility and performance but still does family chores perfectly. Mine has had its back seats folded flat for three months and is a very quick mobile skip transporting flat pack from city to coast every week!
In hindsight I should have bought a CSS but at the time they were released I was being aimed by my employer toward a role that involved travelling all over the country so my R would have been the perfect car for the job. Alas, life changes by the month, I dodged that job but things have moved on and on again since!
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Can’t help feeling all these low mileage CS’s are a bit of a waste. The Golf is an everyday car. Always has been, always will be. CS surely must be crying out to be driven. Everywhere! Could half understand it with a CSS as can imagine someone buying that a 2nd or 3rd fun car for track days.
Got a mate with a GT4 with less than 500 Miles on. One of the best modern Porsche’s sat doing not much :rolleyes:
It is a waste of a good car but it’s the type of car that is bought as a Sunday Best or for occasional use in the main. Same as a Focus RS is often bought by die hard fast Ford fans but not used every day.
It depends on how the car fits in the household too. Not everyone uses a car for business or gets a business allowance. Many of us finance and run it fully privately and don’t cover massive mileage full stop but still need a 5 door practical hatch occasionally. To me a Clubsport is the perfect blend of sports car agility and performance but still does family chores perfectly. Mine has had its back seats folded flat for three months and is a very quick mobile skip transporting flat pack from city to coast every week!
In hindsight I should have bought a CSS but at the time they were released I was being aimed by my employer toward a role that involved travelling all over the country so my R would have been the perfect car for the job. Alas, life changes by the month, I dodged that job but things have moved on and on again since!
Thanks for the write up Exonian, glad to see someone else has been working through the fast Golf range too. I agree on the GTE, it's not deserving of a GT badge but it sounds like you're happy with the best one you've owned to date.
I don't get this preciousness about driving cars - you're either a futures speculator or an enthusiast. It seems the intersection between the two means fantastic cars are not being driven as intended. I bought a Clubsport S nearly new last year - it had done 800 miles and had 5 previous owners. It's white as well so looks pretty similar to yours. I've done 5000 miles in it and can't see myself selling it.
@Jim_mk7.5 - That's not even run in on the GT4, go and hit your mate on the head for that. :laugh: I got mine new and it'll be 3 this year and I've done nowhere near the mileage I feel I should have done but I cleared the run in mileage (1,800 miles) in months of getting it. Funnily enough, I've been enjoying the CSS to the extent that I didn't use the GT4 as much last year because of it, it's that good a car.
Both are fantastic and I am amazed at the chassis control and turn in on the CSS compared to a mid-engined Porsche. Initially, it took me a little time to like/get used to the car - the pedal weights, clutch, seating position are very different.
I met up with a friend of mine for a drive and breakfast before Christmas and I turned up in the CSS. He has a 991.2 GT3 and he started giving me a hard time about having to go slow so that I could keep up. We did a 60 mile drive and over breakfast he admitted that he couldn't shake me from his tail other than when he had a power advantage on clear straights. He said that I must have been really hustling to keep up and in truth, I wasn't working that hard. Quite often, he slowed me down because the CSS in 'ring mode has much more pliancy than the GT3 and he was slowing to not damage his splitter on some really uneven B roads.
What I find odd about the CSS though is that there are features that would make it more usable and add negligible weight yet are absent. Cruise control (versus adaptive cruise control) and parking sensors for example. Porsche are masters at charging more for less and they do this on their GT cars but if you're going to spend money on a car like a CSS, it encourages you to use it more and helps to reduce the risk of accidental damage if you have a couple of these simple conveniences.
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Just stumbled upon this thread, not sure how I've missed it. Great write up, took me ages to read but probably (definitely) not as long as what it took to type.
The Clubsport is my favourite of the current Golfs. I was lucky enough to drive all 3 back to back and it was by far the best IMO.
I will own one one day.
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This part of the latest update of the thread should’ve been buried in the “what have you done to your mk7 today?” thread I guess, but due to a pretty horrific few days last weekend with personal disasters going off left right and centre it missed its slot.
So without further ado I’ll introduce my new boots, a shiny set of Michelin PS4S fitted last Friday.
Aside from the “free” sets of tyres supplied on new cars it’s been some years since I bought more than the odd new tyre.
I tended to buy aftermarket wheels for my cars and often re-used tyres I already owned as I did a minimal mileage so the round black things lasted years.
The Ed40 Clubsport was always intended to stay fairly standard in my hands after a lifetime of me lightly modifying cars.
I was never keen on the original Belvedere wheels but didn’t share the hatred of the original fit Bridgestone tyres which most here slate. They do the job ok in my eyes and the guys who developed the Clubsport chassis seemed to rate them. Maybe I never drove them hard enough when they were cold(?)
The Bridgestones were very noisy on certain surfaces though.
As soon as I could I picked up a set of very tidy used Pretoria wheels which coincided with Booth11 getting some new PS4S tyres, so I took on her old Conti 5’s.
These tyres were only intended as a stop gap but had reasonable tread on them and with the occasional use the car was getting they lasted me nearly a further 18 months until they were down to below 3mm.
The Conti 5s were grippy enough, slightly harsh and very noisy at times but for an OEM sports tyre they were very good for general road use so long as the radio was cranked up a few notches!
Alas, all good things come to an end and it was out with the old and in with the new a week or so before the car’s second service.
Booth’s boots went in the skip and I followed the footsteps of many on here, just like Rebecca that set of Conti 5s were replaced by some Michelin PS4S.
I’ve been driving for well over 30 years and am well familiar with the effect even replacing one set of tyres with an identical unworn set can have as regards to ride quality, noise and grip, traction etc.
I was expecting great things of the Michelins.
I still am after all the glowing reports and forum love in’s for them!
Initial thoughts are the usual new tyre placebo of extra comfort plus slightly reduced noise depending on road surface and speed.
They’re still very new and need bedding in.
Time will tell whether they’re 25% better than say a Rainsport 3 to reflect the 25% or so extra cost!
But as a direct competitor to the likes of Continental etc I’m more than happy to trust the word of fellow forumites who swear by the PS4S, and it gives me a break from Contis which I’ve been running almost exclusively for seven or eight years (with the odd few months of OEM Bridgestones thrown in).
The tyre fitters mercifully didn’t mark the wheels when fitting the tyres and remarked to me that they much preferred the CS’s looks compared to the Lapiz R on the ramps next to it! The fitter actually called the R an R-Line...
And that brings me up to the point of the car’s second birthday.
Happy Birthday little white car (slightly belated by a few days).
It still gets loads of compliments from passers by and I still love it as much I did when I first brought it home.
Considering it’s just a boring Golf at the end of the day, it’s surprising just how special it feels to drive and own day to day.
Second birthday equals second (expensive) service due and it’s booked in very soon...
(https://i.postimg.cc/prnTSKvh/3-D77-C672-4-D48-497-E-96-ED-F469-C4-F19939.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/zH88bbV8)
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This part of the latest update of the thread should’ve been buried in the “what have you done to your mk7 today?” thread I guess, but due to a pretty horrific few days last weekend with personal disasters going off left right and centre it missed its slot.
So without further ado I’ll introduce my new boots, a shiny set of Michelin PS4S fitted last Friday.
Aside from the “free” sets of tyres supplied on new cars it’s been some years since I bought more than the odd new tyre.
I tended to buy aftermarket wheels for my cars and often re-used tyres I already owned as I did a minimal mileage so the round black things lasted years.
The Ed40 Clubsport was always intended to stay fairly standard in my hands after a lifetime of me lightly modifying cars.
I was never keen on the original Belvedere wheels but didn’t share the hatred of the original fit Bridgestone tyres which most here slate. They do the job ok in my eyes and the guys who developed the Clubsport chassis seemed to rate them. Maybe I never drove them hard enough when they were cold(?)
The Bridgestones were very noisy on certain surfaces though.
As soon as I could I picked up a set of very tidy used Pretoria wheels which coincided with Booth11 getting some new PS4S tyres, so I took on her old Conti 5’s.
These tyres were only intended as a stop gap but had reasonable tread on them and with the occasional use the car was getting they lasted me nearly a further 18 months until they were down to below 3mm.
The Conti 5s were grippy enough, slightly harsh and very noisy at times but for an OEM sports tyre they were very good for general road use so long as the radio was cranked up a few notches!
Alas, all good things come to an end and it was out with the old and in with the new a week or so before the car’s second service.
Booth’s boots went in the skip and I followed the footsteps of many on here, just like Rebecca that set of Conti 5s were replaced by some Michelin PS4S.
I’ve been driving for well over 30 years and am well familiar with the effect even replacing one set of tyres with an identical unworn set can have as regards to ride quality, noise and grip, traction etc.
I was expecting great things of the Michelins.
I still am after all the glowing reports and forum love in’s for them!
Initial thoughts are the usual new tyre placebo of extra comfort plus slightly reduced noise depending on road surface and speed.
They’re still very new and need bedding in.
Time will tell whether they’re 25% better than say a Rainsport 3 to reflect the 25% or so extra cost!
But as a direct competitor to the likes of Continental etc I’m more than happy to trust the word of fellow forumites who swear by the PS4S, and it gives me a break from Contis which I’ve been running almost exclusively for seven or eight years (with the odd few months of OEM Bridgestones thrown in).
The tyre fitters mercifully didn’t mark the wheels when fitting the tyres and remarked to me that they much preferred the CS’s looks compared to the Lapiz R on the ramps next to it! The fitter actually called the R an R-Line...
And that brings me up to the point of the car’s second birthday.
Happy Birthday little white car (slightly belated by a few days).
It still gets loads of compliments from passers by and I still love it as much I did when I first brought it home.
Considering it’s just a boring Golf at the end of the day, it’s surprising just how special it feels to drive and own day to day.
Second birthday equals second (expensive) service due and it’s booked in very soon...
(https://i.postimg.cc/prnTSKvh/3-D77-C672-4-D48-497-E-96-ED-F469-C4-F19939.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/zH88bbV8)
Great little update Andy.
It just shows you how special a car the CS is, for you to keep it this long and still not feel the need to swap it out.
It's the only thing I'd change my GTI for.
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Thanks Andy :smiley:
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Nice post Exonian, I'm certainly pleased with my PS4S, tramping is such a rare event now. Although maybe I've mellowed a bit more with age and are being more careful with the loud pedal? They can be noisy on the concreted sections of the M25, otherwise they are great.
As for these cars just being a boring Golf, they certainly are but I'm always amazed at just how much attention mine gets, I've never had a car like it, even my old Lotus! But it is such a fun car to drive, not perfect but fun, I really don't know what I could happily replace it with now although I'm with Kalimon, I saw a very smart TR CS 3 door recently, now that was tempting! :smiley:
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Nice post Exonian, I'm certainly pleased with my PS4S, tramping is such a rare event now. Although maybe I've mellowed a bit more with age and are being more careful with the loud pedal? They can be noisy on the concreted sections of the M25, otherwise they are great.
As for these cars just being a boring Golf, they certainly are but I'm always amazed at just how much attention mine gets, I've never had a car like it, even my old Lotus! But it is such a fun car to drive, not perfect but fun, I really don't know what I could happily replace it with now although I'm with Kalimon, I saw a very smart TR CS 3 door recently, now that was tempting! :smiley:
Your GTI is pretty perfect as is, keep saving for the Ed45!
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Nice post Exonian, I'm certainly pleased with my PS4S, tramping is such a rare event now. Although maybe I've mellowed a bit more with age and are being more careful with the loud pedal? They can be noisy on the concreted sections of the M25, otherwise they are great.
As for these cars just being a boring Golf, they certainly are but I'm always amazed at just how much attention mine gets, I've never had a car like it, even my old Lotus! But it is such a fun car to drive, not perfect but fun, I really don't know what I could happily replace it with now although I'm with Kalimon, I saw a very smart TR CS 3 door recently, now that was tempting! :smiley:
Your GTI is pretty perfect as is, keep saving for the Ed45!
The rate the prices are rising by, it'll be the Ed50!
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Nice post Exonian, I'm certainly pleased with my PS4S, tramping is such a rare event now. Although maybe I've mellowed a bit more with age and are being more careful with the loud pedal? They can be noisy on the concreted sections of the M25, otherwise they are great.
As for these cars just being a boring Golf, they certainly are but I'm always amazed at just how much attention mine gets, I've never had a car like it, even my old Lotus! But it is such a fun car to drive, not perfect but fun, I really don't know what I could happily replace it with now although I'm with Kalimon, I saw a very smart TR CS 3 door recently, now that was tempting! :smiley:
Your GTI is pretty perfect as is, keep saving for the Ed45!
The rate the prices are rising by, it'll be the Ed50!
Great post Exonian!
Watts - I reckon the 50th anniversary will be worth holding out for :smiley:
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Watts - I reckon the 50th anniversary will be worth holding out for :smiley:
You could be right, but will I last that long?? :laugh:
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The rate the prices are rising by, it'll be the Ed50!
The Ed50 will be 50 grand!
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Very enjoyable and interesting to read your original post, Exonian- thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience of these brilliant cars.
Have you done a write up comparing the different gti generations?
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Have you done a write up comparing the different gti generations?
No, I’ve never decided to bore everyone to death with that!
Despite the early model ownership being many many years ago now I do have clear memories of them and how they compare as my brain was far more attuned to it all back then. I knew every nut, bolt and washer almost.
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Have you done a write up comparing the different gti generations?
No, I’ve never decided to bore everyone to death with that!
Despite the early model ownership being many many years ago now I do have clear memories of them and how they compare as my brain was far more attuned to it all back then. I knew every nut, bolt and washer almost.
Go on, do it, I'm having trouble getting to sleep at night :whistle: :laugh:
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Have you done a write up comparing the different gti generations?
No, I’ve never decided to bore everyone to death with that!
Despite the early model ownership being many many years ago now I do have clear memories of them and how they compare as my brain was far more attuned to it all back then. I knew every nut, bolt and washer almost.
Go on, do it, I'm having trouble getting to sleep at night :whistle: :laugh:
I charge by the hour and have 32 years to get through :whistle:
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Have you done a write up comparing the different gti generations?
No, I’ve never decided to bore everyone to death with that!
Despite the early model ownership being many many years ago now I do have clear memories of them and how they compare as my brain was far more attuned to it all back then. I knew every nut, bolt and washer almost.
I have developed a rather unhealthy obsession comparing the mk5 to the 7.5 ( I think because I regret not having bought the mk5 when it came out)- would be fascinating to read your thoughts-
you must do it!