GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Ashtons99 on 14 March 2020, 22:16
-
Forgive me if this has been covered, I’ve searched back on here and can’t find the answer.
I’m looking for a 7.5 model on 19’s, the ads on Das Welt are mind numbing with nonsense, listing equipment like “electric windows” “boot light” but very little meaningful content.
Is there any giveaway to identify a car has the dynamic chassis control option. I’ve been through just about every ad on the site and can’t find it specifically mentioned against any car I’ve looked at. I’m not even confident the sales folk will know if I ring up.....or they will just say it has !
Any advice please
-
Specifications on the Das WeltAuto website are hopeless and in many cases inaccurate.
I found the best way was to look at the pictures and description to identify which cars had 19" Bresica wheels fitted as these were the ones most likely to have DCC.
As you may have discovered the descriptions are not very robust and I would strongly advise phoning the dealership and asking them to confirm the stated 'fitted optional extras'
-
There’s no easy way to tell unless you specifically ask the Dealer. If you inspect the car, there is a difference when you press the Mode button by the gearstick, the display will say ‘DCC driving mode selector’ but that’s no good when looking on a website.
I found precious few cars have it and it’s nothing to do with Brescia alloys, it’s not a package.
-
Autotrader seems better these days as lots of ads seem to say something like "In addition to the standard equipment, this car comes with..."
On AT you could also try putting in keywords like 'chassis' (which brings up 19 GTI P's compared to 12 cars using DCC) but obviously won't help when the dealer doing the advert doesn't know its fitted or forgets to mention it in the ad.
-
Not sure of your exact requirements/budget but if you really want DCC, TCRs with 19s have it as standard. Quite a few with 18s seem to have had it optioned too.
Have you driven a car on 19s without DCC? My PP rode extremely well on them without it.
-
Thanks folks. I just like the appearance of the 19” Brescia over the standard 18” wheels but then there seems to be quite a lot of comment about the ride quality once you go up to 19s. That said I’ve got a few Renaultsport Clios and a Lotus Elise so it’s not like I’m not used to a slightly less forgiving ride!
I’m going to have a test drive in a couple of these cars, I’ve not been in a Golf GTI since 1990 so don’t really know what to expect at all.
-
Its far from terrible on 19's without DCC.
Are 18's more comfy, yes.... is DCC on comfort mode even more squishy, yes.
DCC was never explained properly by VW and not many people paid 900 quid for it.
-
My Mk7 was on 18’s & my Mk7.5 is on 19’s with no DCC, it is firmer but it’s not uncomfortable at all. It drives and feels very good I suggest you take 1 out for a test drive.
-
I’ve run a GTI PP and a Clubsport (and an R!) all without DCC and on each of them I’ve upgraded from 18” to 19” and the ride quality hasn’t been massively compromised by any means.
In fact I’ve been in a few decent ‘comfy’ saloon cars as a passenger and noted how favourably the GTI suspension stacks up considering how much sharper the GTI chassis is. Don’t expect Renaultsport or Lotus sharpness though!
I’m currently running a DCC equipped TCR and actually rate the DCC less highly in many ways considering the cost. Yeah it’s more comfortable in Normal over small irregularities but potholes and sharp ridges still send a jarring crash through the car, plus unless you load up the outside corner damper deliberately on entering a corner it initially starts to wallow slightly quite often.
In sport it’s as sharp as many aftermarket kits I’ve had in the distant past but does let you know violently when you hit a sharp irregularity. It’s more talkative in sport but then again so is the non-DCC chassis all the time (although the latter can also wallow a bit on certain sharp turns).
Comfort? I’ve tried it a few times but don’t like it much. It’s a hot hatch and should feel like one.
99% of DCC users on here will probably tell me I’m talking out of my derrière but hey ho! I’ve been driving and modifying hot hatches (mostly GTI’s) for 30 odd years so I know what I like and what I don’t.
The only really visible tell tale sign from the outside is the extra pipe-work for the DCC but you’d need a really clear shot of the rear/side from a very low angle to stand even a remote chance of spotting this when fully zoomed in on a photo. You’d normally need to see the car on a ramp to clearly see it.
Other than that it’s a case of having to scroll through screen menus which aren’t generally in dealer photos as mentioned previously.
You need to drive a few examples really, everyone’s tolerances are different. I prefer the ride quality in a non-DCC R personally out of all the Golfs I’ve been in for example and others will certainly disagree! But the GTI is definitely sharper and feels lighter on its toes in all guises than an R.
DCC desirable but not essential and just another expense when it gets old!
-
OP, if you want DCC don’t let anybody talk you out of it. Sure, it might transpire to be not as bad as you first thought if you get a car without it, but it will never be as good as you originally wanted, which is what matters.
The GTI isn’t a sports car, it’s an all purpose hatch that performs all things for all men. For me DCC was an absolute must, no question, no compromise, because it's used for a multitude of things such as ferrying kids around, long motorway journeys, going out for. blast etc.
My car is used on the pot hole ridden roads of London and Surrey and I can tell you without question that ‘comfort’ mode is worth it’s weight in gold, especially recently after the floods/rain which have torn up the roads. It also makes motorway cruising so comfortable!
Horses for course, but if you are in a situation where you think you'll need some suppleness for comfort, then get it, don't hesitate. Cars with DCC also command better/stronger premiums on the used market because people now realise what it actually gives you.
As for your original question, sadly it’s a minefield, Jim sums it up nicely with his AT search hints. As for DWA cars it should be listed at the bottom of the standard features list under the “Fitted optional extras” section... however that relies on the dealer entering the details manually and correctly.
There’s no comfort connection between people fitting DCC because they have specced 19’s, the connection is normally £ related I.e Cars with 18” are more often than not basic cars.
-
Agree with above, although I've never had it in any car or either of my bog standard GTIs but if I was purchasing my 'own', it would certainly be high up on my desired options list.
-
I agree with the last poster’s summary. I appreciate the ability to alter the driving “mood” in yet another way. I must be one of the few that specced DCC on 18s rather than spending my budget on any of the visually more apparent upgrades.
Having run a standard Mk7 on 18s previously, would I now with the benefit of hindsight have paid the £600 net extra for DCC on my present 7.5?
I honestly don’t know the answer but I’m not concerned.
If DCC on 18s makes the car more desirable that’s a bonus.....as long as the purchaser (dealer maybe) knows what it is 3 years down the line!!
-
I had DCC on my Mk7 GTD with 18's for 3 years. Saved 900 quid on my Mk7.5 by not speccing it nearly 3 years ago.
Honestly never thought twice about it in almost 60,000 miles since not ticking the box, except when I consider that on PCP thats 900 quid I'll never see again because it makes zero impact on the GFV - most of the options don't.
-
Sadly not listed as a search option. The way VW dealers copy and paste the oem spec on VWs own used website, autotrader, pistonheads etc its a right pain trying to find a car speced with DCC i know your pain. :sad:
-
I have been today and test driven a non DCC car. It’s a 68 plate DSG 7.5 car done 10k miles on 19” Brecias. Lovely car, absolutely mint with nav, and some sort of light pack and tinted glass. Absolutely immaculate condition.
I really don’t know what to think about the DCC thing, Im guessing really need to try one “with”
I went out of the dealership onto the dodgy road surfaces of Barnsley and there was certainly some “noise” and feel through the chassis. Once out of the 30s onto the less urban roads it felt fine, I do have to consider I will be spending a lot of time on urban roads and not always caning it round the lanes !
The car is £23900 on the screen so with a bit of discount where I want to be.
Dilemma time
-
The DCC Y/N is as divisive as that other vote we had a few years ago...
For everyone that loves it (me) there’s someone who’d much rather spend the £900 on something more worthwhile. I’d definitely recommend sourcing a test drive on a car with DCC and take along your other half if they’ll be a regular passenger as they’ll have their own views on the ride. The passengers feel the ride more than the driver in my opinion. Mine is in Comfort setting 90% of the time and I love the ride, it’s supple, not bouncy and comfy. Give it a go and decide.
-
I know what you mean, daughter had a Fiesta ST, it was a spine crusher in the passenger seat
-
Having had DCC for 3 years, I never found a passenger who could tell the difference between sport and comfort.
Seriously...
-
Having had DCC for 3 years, I never found a passenger who could tell the difference between sport and comfort.
Seriously...
The only serious thing about your post is either your DCC was broken or you didn’t know how to operate it.
Sport and comfort modes on DCC are like night and day, the difference isn’t marginal it’s huge! Even normal>sport and normal>comfort are significant change in comfort levels!
-
You can feel it as the driver.. But I said as the passenger.
-
You can feel it as the driver.. But I said as the passenger.
Family, friends (yes, I do have some), and friends who are car nuts have all commented how the car softened up when I’ve switched to comfort mode.
Perhaps VW have changed the system over the years, but I can’t see how/why they would.
-
In the 3 MK7's I've had that have all had DCC, it' quite subtle going from comfort to normal to sport, but if you go straight from comfort to sport I find it's very noticable. My wife obviously does too because if she's a passenger and I have it set to sport, she complains about the stiff ride. Set it to comfort and she's much happier.
Also, there's a lot of talk about this or that option is expensive and more importantly you won't get your money back at the end of it. Honestly, that's not why I choose options. Life's too short (very apt these days), and I get whatever options I want at the time if I can afford it.
I have no mind on how much I'll get back at the end (maybe that's just me). Afterall, if we all go into new car buying with the attitude "is this or that option really necessary and will I get anything back from it at time of sale", then why buy an expensive car like a GTI or R in the first place. Afterall, a basic Golf, Astra, Focus etc. will still get you from A to B reliably in comfort at legal speeds, so why not just buy a cheaper car full stop and lose even less money. The reason is simple, because the heart wants what the heart wants.
-
I have no mind on how much I'll get back at the end (maybe that's just me). Afterall, if we all go into new car buying with the attitude "is this or that option really necessary and will I get anything back from it at time of sale", then why buy an expensive car like a GTI or R in the first place. Afterall, a basic Golf, Astra, Focus etc. will still get you from A to B reliably in comfort at legal speeds, so why not just buy a cheaper car full stop and lose even less money. The reason is simple, because the heart wants what the heart wants.
Quite right, and perhaps why some people choose to drive SUV's :whistle:
-
The passengers feel the ride more than the driver in my opinion.
I’ve always found this. The ride feels firmer to me if I’m a passenger in my own car compared to when I’m driving. I’ve always put it down to the fact that when I’m driving, I’ve got the steering wheel to hold onto to brace myself against and limit my movements, whereas the passengers generally aren’t holding onto a part of the car (unless they’re hanging onto the grab handles) to restrict their movements.
Also, there's a lot of talk about this or that option is expensive and more importantly you won't get your money back at the end of it. Honestly, that's not why I choose options. Life's too short (very apt these days), and I get whatever options I want at the time if I can afford it.
Agree with this. I had a health scare a few months ago and incidents like that help to put everything else into perspective. If you want something, go for it! Life’s too short, and you’re a long time dead.
-
Not sure how people cannot tell the difference. Ive driven a few Rs niw with and without it to try an talk myself out of wanting it but I failed
-
I’ve emailed all the dealers with cars of a spec I’m interested in and a total of 1 car has DCC, it seems it is very rarely spec’d. In fact there are more on 19’s with tow bars than chassis control
-
Where are you located?
-
Where are you located?
Doncaster
-
I think the fact is that obviously having DCC on the car is an asset whether used or not, equally I’m sure given it gives more ride options it will make the car better for daily use. Seemingly though the number of cars fitted with it are few.
That presents the decision do you go for a car with the spec you want in terms of colour, wheels, trim etc, do you take the same approach but opt for standard wheels when undoubtedly the discussions around ride are less significant or do you buy the car around the 19s with DCC.
For me I set out wanting a red GTI, started on autotrader at Mk6 but as you do realised the older models look older and less specced than the latest ones. Once locked on to the 7.5 I found Brecia wheels then hit the DCC dilemma.
I could drive a DCC car and I’ve no doubt I would like the set up but buying a used car unfortunately presents somewhat of a Hobson’s choice.
I guess I could just keep watching the ads until a red DSG PP with 19s and DCC came up and hope the price/mileage/age fit into place.
Forgive me, all I’m doing here is committing my thoughts to the thread.
-
I’ve emailed all the dealers with cars of a spec I’m interested in and a total of 1 car has DCC, it seems it is very rarely spec’d. In fact there are more on 19’s with tow bars than chassis control
There will be lots of cars with 19's, Tints and Met Paint because VW built a huge batch of them and sent direct to market. This was for WLTP factory shutdown reasons in Q3 2018 when you couldn't order anything. The problems arise from June/July 2018 onwards, that's when DCC dried up hugely as any cars being sent to dealers were of that fixed spec.
I ordered my car in June 2018 with expected delivery of 3mths max. WLTP delay after delay saw me cancel the order when my dealer finally said it wouldn't arrive until March 2019 at the earliest. Pervious to ordering there were a couple of used DCC equipped cars around so I didn't think I would find it too hard to find a lightly used car with DCC.... but even over a space of 6mths I struggled to find anything close spec wise to what I wanted, due to needing DCC (no compromise must have) and wanting Dynaudio, and Leather or Art Velour at a bare minimum. From memory I viewed 3 DCC cars in total and they were dealer demos not available until the end of 2018. All the new/lightly used GTI's available were boggo spec and/or specced by VW with basic options.
December the 22nd 2018 I had a call from my dealer to say my original ordered car had arrived unexpectedly, so I took it, I was very lucky!
DCC is brilliant, and I wouldn't be without it, but given you can't order new now, you are really going to struggle if you are limited to used, especially the further down the price range you go. 18/68 plate cars with DCC will be really to find (due to the WLTP reasons above) and any available will prob be the ex-dealer demos, so you will be on 19/69 plate or very early 17/67 plate.
During my time searching I very nearly gave in and bought a car without DCC, but to be double sure I asked for an extended test drive, and it became apparent after only 30mins that I would regret it if I didn't.
I'm not really sure what to suggest TBH, keep searching, but if you have any other 'must haves', you will prob need to compromise. Good Luck :)
-
DCC is probably more common on used R’s, certainly later (post leasegate) cars.
There were probably a hell of a lot more R’s registered than GTI’s until fairly late in the model’s life (where the GTI made a bit of a comeback)and there will be a good proportion of R’s that were bought by those that appreciate creature comforts and weren’t counting the pennies so much.
Many of the older (2014-2016) R’s were lease spec but even then a good few were bought by private owners with a sizeable options list.
-
Thanks for your comments , I don’t know what WLTP is but I can understand what you mean. I’ve been for another test drive in the 68 plate non DCC today, taking Mrs A with me. We again went round the potholed roads of Barnsley. From both the passenger and driver seat I concluded that the ride was good and certainly not choppy or “crashy”. Maybe some patter over the most uneven sections. My wife thought it comfortable though from both seats.
As it happens we couldn’t strike a deal on the car, we were apart by over £500 on the deal. Due to my circumstances I have a couple of months to find myself a car so certainly not rushing into the first car I see if the deal isn’t right.
I’m less troubled now about the DCC thing after the second test drive. Maybe the years in Renaultsport Clios and the Elise have immunised me 😀
-
DCC is probably more common on used R’s, certainly later (post leasegate) cars.
There were probably a hell of a lot more R’s registered than GTI’s until fairly late in the model’s life (where the GTI made a bit of a comeback)and there will be a good proportion of R’s that were bought by those that appreciate creature comforts and weren’t counting the pennies so much.
Many of the older (2014-2016) R’s were lease spec but even then a good few were bought by private owners with a sizeable options list.
still quite rare on 2018, 2019, 2020 Rs that ive been looking at.
-
Potentially stupid question incoming.
If the car has the option of comfort normal and sport suspension setting does that mean it has DCC or is this in all models DCC or not?
-
Potentially stupid question incoming.
If the car has the option of comfort normal and sport suspension setting does that mean it has DCC or is this in all models DCC or not?
Yup thats DCC.
-
Oh great, thanks for the quick response!
I bought mine used das welt approved and there was no mention of DCC in the add so I was always wondering whether it did or not. Cheers for confirming it does!
-
Try it - you should be able to feel the difference.
Use individual mode and just change the suspension to sport, drive for a minute, then try comfort.
-
still quite rare on 2018, 2019, 2020 Rs that ive been looking at.
You’ve decided to get an R Geoff?
Will you be keeping the mk6?
Doesn’t seem like 11 whole years since we were awaiting those to arrive. :shocked:
Oh great, thanks for the quick response!
I bought mine used das welt approved and there was no mention of DCC in the add so I was always wondering whether it did or not. Cheers for confirming it does!
Bonus! There’s a pleasant surprise
-
^ Thats the plan at the moment. So quite likely a late mk7.5R as liked the ones ive looked at and tried.
Probably should have ordered a new one while I could have. Never mind.
Unless I cannot find what I want. Then it maybe ill wait for a mk8 R but the interior reviews are giving me concerns on the 8. Im also not sure of the interior from photos so have to see it myself.
Its to replace my leon and a couple of others will be going too. The mk1 & mk6 are staying.
I know time goes so quickly just MOTed the mk6 on Tuesday and realised.
-
There are some great deals on 7.5R’s around snoopy. The late ones are loaded with kit as you’ll well know.
I loved my 7R and would heartily recommend getting a FL R as it’s a fantastic car.
Mind you an ex-demo or pre reg’d M135i would probably take my money right now if I was in the market with £30k burning a hole in my pocket.
At least going for a 7.5R over a mk8 means you’d look over your shoulder at it after parking up rather than running away from it! Seriously though, it’s a great looking design and after 6 and a half years of mk7 ownership I still look at mine in admiration. A mk8 would get old ladies stroking your arm sympathetically with the words “never mind dear, you won’t have it forever”
I’m sure we’ll grow to love the looks and no doubt it’ll be a slightly better driving experience but there are many questions over the buttonless functionality.
Do you have a specific spec you want making it hard to find a suitable 7.5R?
-
I hope you have more luck striking a deal than I’ve had. The contacts I’ve had with dealers have drawn a blank, they have been reluctant to move from their screen price. I’ve walked out of both showrooms. See how things go over the next month and whether I get a call back
-
There are some great deals on 7.5R’s around snoopy. The late ones are loaded with kit as you’ll well know.
I loved my 7R and would heartily recommend getting a FL R as it’s a fantastic car.
Mind you an ex-demo or pre reg’d M135i would probably take my money right now if I was in the market with £30k burning a hole in my pocket.
At least going for a 7.5R over a mk8 means you’d look over your shoulder at it after parking up rather than running away from it! Seriously though, it’s a great looking design and after 6 and a half years of mk7 ownership I still look at mine in admiration. A mk8 would get old ladies stroking your arm sympathetically with the words “never mind dear, you won’t have it forever”
I’m sure we’ll grow to love the looks and no doubt it’ll be a slightly better driving experience but there are many questions over the buttonless functionality.
Do you have a specific spec you want making it hard to find a suitable 7.5R?
Not really. If its a late one it would have most things standard.
DCC & Black.
Dynaudio & Leather would be preferable.
Don't like the pan roof or 90% tints (what happens when friends run a funeral place running skodas with 90% tints as discrete coffin collectors :wink: ) I may have to compromise on this though.
Decent price.
-
If you put DCC in the keyword box on Autotrader, there are 11 GTI performance and 1 GTI listed from 2018 onward. Within 100 miles of Doncaster there is one in Peterborough and one in Northwich (Cheshire) with Brescias.
-
Any red ones 😀👍