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Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: X42 on 18 December 2019, 18:36
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Hi All,
New member to the forum and first GTI. Little background history, previously owned an Alfa 159 and Audi A5, and more recently a 17 plate RS3 built from new and a 15 plate F10 M5. I loved the RS3 but I always remembered the ride being unreasonably crashy at times with the huge rotors that came standard.
Anyways I’ve recently just put a deposit on a 16 plate Golf GTI with the performance pack. The car comes with the 19 inch Santiago wheels. Can anyone speaking from experience tell me how they found the ride comfort on the car with these wheels fitted? I’m considering dropping down to the 18 Austin’s if I can do a direct swap although I do actually prefer the look of the 19’s, I just need something that can do the commute comfortably with little expense but with a bit of speed to match. To be honest maintenance and fuel alone on my M5 surpassed £4k a year easy.
So the overriding question is...is the GTI still comfortable with the 19’s fitted or should I endeavour to find some 18’s?
Cheers
(https://i.ibb.co/JF784Rc/40553286-C10-D-4-F0-D-B15-C-BB4-B56-C4-C144.jpg) (https://ibb.co/k68zfgG)
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It’ll be down to how you find the ride, in the end, but I’m on my third recent Golf. The first two, a GTD and a GTI, had 18s, while my current GTI Performance has 19” Brescias. I can honestly say that I haven’t noticed any difference in ride comfort, or NVH, with this car. Pretty sure, from previous comment on here, that most people find 19s OK.
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TBH this is a very subjective thing so opinions will vary. Speaking personally 19’s without DCC was way too harsh for the day-to-day (in central London where the roads are terrible and littered with speed humps) and very long journeys up & down the motorway which I do. So after test driving a car on 19’s without DCC I was left with the manual lumbar support digging in my back and feeling very uncomfortable, so I specced DCC to get the adaptive dampers in ‘comfort’ mode, and the result is perfect at soaking up the harshness and surface problems and makes long journeys a breeze.
So in short, it’ll depend on the type of driving you do and your own threshold to what’s uncomfortable. My advice is to try and get a test drive for at least 30mins on roads you normally use, then you’ll be in a better position to make an informed choice.
:smiley:
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TBH this is a very subjective thing so opinions will vary. Speaking personally 19’s without DCC was way too harsh for the day-to-day (in central London where the roads are terrible and littered with speed humps) and very long journeys up & down the motorway which I do. So after test driving a car on 19’s without DCC I was left with the manual lumbar support digging in my back and feeling very uncomfortable, so I specced DCC to get the adaptive dampers in ‘comfort’ mode, and the result is perfect at soaking up the harshness and surface problems and makes long journeys a breeze.
So in short, it’ll depend on the type of driving you do and your own threshold to what’s uncomfortable. My advice is to try and get a test drive for at least 30mins on roads you normally use, then you’ll be in a better position to make an informed choice.
:smiley:
Ah I'm glad to hear you found them reasonable with the DCC. To be honest I didn't even realise that was something you could spec. I believe the car I'm buying does come with the DCC and will allow me to set the car to Comfort. I thought the RS3 was pretty uncomfortable with it's full sports setup and 19 inch alloys, but that being said it's a performance car. I test drove the Golf only for 10 minutes on a reasonably crappy road in an industrial estate and found it to be far more pleasant a ride than the RS3. The M5 was comfortable but you're paying the price for that.
It’ll be down to how you find the ride, in the end, but I’m on my third recent Golf. The first two, a GTD and a GTI, had 18s, while my current GTI Performance has 19” Brescias. I can honestly say that I haven’t noticed any difference in ride comfort, or NVH, with this car. Pretty sure, from previous comment on here, that most people find 19s OK.
Also good to know. As I mentioned I actually quite like the look of the 19's so I'm glad to hear people seem to find them OK. Even with the DCC they should even more reasonable.
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I have the santiago's on my GTI PP with DCC and find the comfort level ok on my commute which is mainly pothole ridden roads.
Just to also note I never have the car in comfort mode only normal or sport.
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You'll undoubtedly find 18's more comfortable as you've got a higher profile tyre. One thing I will recommend if you are considering changing the wheels is to look for something lightweight, it will improve driveability all round.
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Mine is on Santiagos without DCC and I find it perfectly acceptable. Better than my previous Audi on 17s!
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I'm on 19" Brescias without DCC and found them to be perfectly fine, quite often I have the wife and 2 kids in the car, and they haven't once complained about the ride quality. I have 18s on at the moment with winter tyres, and notice no real difference in ride quality, the standard suspension setup is that good.
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I have the santiago's on my GTI PP with DCC and find the comfort level ok on my commute which is mainly pothole ridden roads.
Just to also note I never have the car in comfort mode only normal or sport.
Good to hear. My commute at the moment isn’t long but it could change to being something at least 30 miles or so with mixed motorway and town driving, such is the nature of my job but at the moment it’s more to be used as a general daily driver.
You'll undoubtedly find 18's more comfortable as you've got a higher profile tyre. One thing I will recommend if you are considering changing the wheels is to look for something lightweight, it will improve driveability all round.
Thanks Ryan. I agree the 18’s probably are more comfortable but it’s good to get an opinion from people who have tried both and can testify to the 19s not being the ‘be all, end all’ of the comfort the Golf offers. That was my concern originally, as I wanted a sporty car with it still being able to transport wife and family in comfort even on the 19’s.
Mine is on Santiagos without DCC and I find it perfectly acceptable. Better than my previous Audi on 17s!
A good choice of wheels I must say, I really like the Santiago’s. I found the ride in my RS3 horrible at times and I usually have quite a high tolerance to comfort in sports cars, but the magnetic ride suspension was a must. Unfortunately it costs over a £1k if you were to spec it. Doesn’t take away from the fact that car is a monster. Glad my GTI will be coming with DCC.
I'm on 19" Brescias without DCC and found them to be perfectly fine, quite often I have the wife and 2 kids in the car, and they haven't once complained about the ride quality. I have 18s on at the moment with winter tyres, and notice no real difference in ride quality, the standard suspension setup is that good.
Awesome thanks Hobbes, glad to hear your opinion having tried both wheels. Puts my mind at ease with the 19’s. It’s looking like I’ll stick with the 19 wheels, of course if I drive it long term and find 18’s way more comfortable then I’ll try to get them, but If I wanted a overhaul of comfort I probably would have gone for something different than a GTI.
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Another aspect of this, which has been discussed elsewhere, is tyre pressures. Current recommended pressures are set to enhance efficiency, so pretty hard. I run mine at 35psi, rather than the recommended, which, from memory, is 39psi. Certain to have a big influence on comfort.
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Have had 19" on my R and GTI but not Santiago (Pretoria and Reifnitz) and with DCC the ride is excellent really, pretty cossetted in comfort and firm but not crashy on Sport - I would be nervous without DCC but if that is an option I would be very surprised if you were not pleasantly surprised how good ride actually is and how the DCC makes tangible felt, change between settings
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Personally think you'll be fine with the 19's. I've gone from 18's to 19's and the ride isn't too harsh at all. The suspension is pretty good even without DCC.
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Have had 19" on my R and GTI but not Santiago (Pretoria and Reifnitz) and with DCC the ride is excellent really, pretty cossetted in comfort and firm but not crashy on Sport - I would be nervous without DCC but if that is an option I would be very surprised if you were not pleasantly surprised how good ride actually is and how the DCC makes tangible felt, change between settings
Absolutely, I didn’t really get too much of a test drive as the dealership is surrounded by roadworks upon roadworks which is rammed with traffic, but I did have a little test from comfort to sport and it was lovely. Very short lived though which is why I’ve forgotten so quickly what it was like.
Personally think you'll be fine with the 19's. I've gone from 18's to 19's and the ride isn't too harsh at all. The suspension is pretty good even without DCC.
Thanks for letting me know how you found it. Glad to hear the ride isn’t too harsh even with the 19s on. The additional bonus of DCC should hopefully make it a more pleasureable experience. I should be picking the car up tomorrow so I’ll report back first hand how I’ve found it.
Another aspect of this, which has been discussed elsewhere, is tyre pressures. Current recommended pressures are set to enhance efficiency, so pretty hard. I run mine at 35psi, rather than the recommended, which, from memory, is 39psi. Certain to have a big influence on comfort.
Ah interesting, higher pressure in the tyres makes for a harder ride. I’ve heard that the lower the tyre pressure however the more rolling resistance on the road which uses more fuel, but of course not to the point where they are borderline flat. Have you found 39psi is too much? I may experiment when I get the car to see which is better. Fuel economy is a relatively big point for me but the Golf is already a really economical car from what I’ve been reading around the forums. Anything in the 30/40’s is better than the 12mpg I was pulling in the M5 that’s for sure and low 20’s for the RS3.
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Ah interesting, higher pressure in the tyres makes for a harder ride. I’ve heard that the lower the tyre pressure however the more rolling resistance on the road which uses more fuel, but of course not to the point where they are borderline flat. Have you found 39psi is too much? I may experiment when I get the car to see which is better. Fuel economy is a relatively big point for me but the Golf is already a really economical car from what I’ve been reading around the forums. Anything in the 30/40’s is better than the 12mpg I was pulling in the M5 that’s for sure and low 20’s for the RS3.
You’re right, it’s a compromise. The recommended pressures are higher than for previous versions of the Mark 7, so my 35 psi is not outside of safe limits, or normal usage. Obviously, using higher pressures will give you a little more economy, but the trade off is there. You may well find it perfectly acceptable to use the higher pressures with the DCC set to comfort, so getting the best of both worlds.
Good Luck with the new car!
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So quick update for anyone that may still be reading..
I’ve done 200 odd miles already and I must say the ride is superb. Even with the DCC in Normal the ride is very reasonable even on the 19’s. I haven’t been this excited about a car since my RS3. It just seems to have everything in one. It certainly doesn’t hang around, it’s great on fuel and it looks pretty good too.
Awesome stuff
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Glad you are happy. They are a great looking wheel albeit a bit of a pita to keep clean :rolleyes: :laugh:
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So quick update for anyone that may still be reading..
I’ve done 200 odd miles already and I must say the ride is superb. Even with the DCC in Normal the ride is very reasonable even on the 19’s. I haven’t been this excited about a car since my RS3. It just seems to have everything in one. It certainly doesn’t hang around, it’s great on fuel and it looks pretty good too.
Awesome stuff
You’ve summed up the car pretty well. I didn’t think you’d be disappointed with the ride coming from a performance audi- which are far too firm for daily use. Steering better in the golf too, imo.
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Agree with this. I agonised over 19s coming from 18s on my A3. As it turns out the 19s on the GTI (without DCC) ride much smoother than the typically lumpy 18s on the A3. As stated above, steering is much nicer on the Golf too. Go with the 19s. If you change your mind it’s easy to downgrade to 18s, but more expensive to go the other way.
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Agree with this. I agonised over 19s coming from 18s on my A3. As it turns out the 19s on the GTI (without DCC) ride much smoother than the typically lumpy 18s on the A3. As stated above, steering is much nicer on the Golf too. Go with the 19s. If you change your mind it’s easy to downgrade to 18s, but more expensive to go the other way.
Spot on here Mutley. My R on 19s rides far far better than my S3 on 18s did.
Oh, btw Mutley, I don’t recall you agonising about 19s. :wink: