GTD order

[phope]

Hey all

I've been thinking about ordering either a GTI or GTD, and the sensible part of me is thinking about the GTD - seems a really good package overall. We've got a TTRS roadster already for outright speed, so the GTD might be a good complement of pace & economy 

Spoke with local dealer yesterday, and salesman reckons earliest customer deliveries are going to be September/October realistically. I'm thinking about this spec

5 door manual
Cloth interior
Winter pack
Discover Navigation (not the Pro)
Voice activation for navigation
Dynaudio

Not sure about colour yet - either Pure White, Deep Black Pearl or Carbon Grey (if CG is available) - wife refuses to have a red car for various reasons

2 questions - any experience of the voice activation system in the Mk7? Useful for entering commands, or a waste of £180?

I do like the idea of the panoramic roof, having had one on a Passat CC which really helped liven the interior, but struggling to justify spending £910 on it - any thoughts, or whether the panoramic roof will delay the order further?

[CraigW]

Welcome Phope 

Whatever you choose I'm sure you won't regret it

[phope]

I had one of the first Edition 30s, and also ran a Mk2 GTI 8v recently for a while, so maybe time for the GTD 

[SF-GTD]

any experience of the voice activation system in the Mk7? Useful for entering commands, or a waste of £180?

I see you're in Aberdeenshire.  I've always found voice recognition systems don't like a Scottish accent (or maybe they just don't like mine!)

I had voice recognition in an Audi and it allowed you to train it by saying certain phrases, but it was still a bit hit and miss.  I won't get started on SIRI on my iPhone, it's got no idea what I'm saying...

[phope]

It wasn't an option in the TTRS, but the A6 we have has the SDS system for use with the Audi MMI, and it works reasonably well, even with the Scottish accent 

[Gryzor]

Welcome phope!

As ever when it comes to justifying one fuel over the other, what is the effective real-world different on running the cars?  If you do loads of mileage, then yeah, diesel is probably a better financial option, but on a new car...that's where it all starts to fall down for me.  I'd save £500 a year on running costs by owning a diesel.  Great, pays for my insurance and then some.  But, that's also way less than a single months worth of depreciation and car payment.  So, once paid off, is it such a big saving in the grand scheme of things?!  Especially since you already have a TTRS...

Just my 2c, and I know there is more to it than that, but I know that if I don't go with my heart, I'll end up not liking the car as I have done in the past, and that becomes even more expensive as you want to swap it! 

[Hawaii-Five-O]

You made your mind up yet Mr P Hope?

[monkeyhanger]

There's more like a grand a year in it between GTI and GTD when taking depreciation/higher GFV into account (over the first 3 years at least), but if you're a GTI fan that may be money well spent. I don't think I would personally get any more enjoyment out of a GTI (certainly not £1k per year worth).

Phope: If you drive high performance diesels and prefer their method of power delivery then GTD is for you. If your heart says petrol and you're not a mega-miler then get the GTI. With a TT-RS at hand,  you're probably looking for the sensible option in this car (but still quite fun) - the GTD could be the option for you.

Everytime I see voice recognition issues I think of Kripke in the big bang theory trying to get Siri to work on his iphone "see-wee".

[Gryzor]

That's true monkeyhanger, but if you change your car after three years, that "grand a year saving" is instantly wiped out.  I plan on keeping my car for at least as long as my current one (8 years), so for me the only thing that matters are ongoing running costs, which for me are only a few hundred a year difference - not worth it for the pleasure I'll get from running a GTI as opposed to a GTD (nerdy details, but isn't that why we are here in the first place eh?!)