Has this major issue with the Mk 6 GTI been addressed with the Mk 7?

[DevonK]

One thing about APR, they are trying to sell their product.  Not saying the issue doesn't exist, but they do have a vested interest in making as big a deal of it as they can (and obviously VW have the reverse interest).

Absolutely. And if you are not tracking your car it may not be a problem. The car APR ran the test on was a full on race car with racing slicks so it was no doubt pulling much greater Gs than we would bombing B-roads. But to those who do plan to track their cars it is still a concern. I will have to check with more "track-oriented" forums to see if this has been a problem. The fact that the guy's engine blew up after only 31K miles is not reassuring, but it is only 1 data point. Still, I don't relish the idea of buying a performance car and then worrying that every time I take a few fast corners I may be adding incremental damage that will eventually torpedo the engine.

This is the whole point of dry-sump oil systems, to avoid just this type of fatal oil starvation - the new Corvette has it available as an option as part of their Z51 sport/track package, and VW should offer it as well. In fact it should be standard on all Rs.

[Aidey]

The one major issue i had with my Mk6 and i hope the gti mk7 doesnt have it is the misting and fogging of the windscreen in the winter months, one winter it was so bad i had frost on the inside of my cabin.....

[wigit]

the engine in the mk7 has evolved since the EA888 in the rocco

the only cars i know where this has been an issue were the roccos when they first entered the VW cup in 2009 and a rocco modded for track which popped a few turbos

that said plenty of cars out there have plenty of stick

the main issue appears to be tensioner on the old engine

[mac7]

Are you sure APR isn't just emphasising a racetrack issue on a heavily modified car to sell its race oil system to enthusiasts? (clue - they are)

I'd think the development which VW puts its cars through means the lubrication system is more than adequate for road use.

As for the comments about VW's pricing strategy for the US - if you don't price accordingly for the destination market, you won't sell anything. You've always been able to buy an awful lot of car for not much in the US. US market Mk5 and Mk6 GTI's were built in Germany, though I believe the Mk7 will be assembled in Mexico.

[DevonK]

Just because a company is taking advantage of the issue to make some money does not preclude the actual existence of the issue.

You'd think that VW would do enough QA to find such a significant problem but at least a few people I've seen are reporting it - and that is without doing any searches on the topic at all. The VW track record for reliability in NA hardly needs commenting on, not something I would put much faith in.

Are you sure APR isn't just emphasising a racetrack issue on a heavily modified car to sell its race oil system to enthusiasts? (clue - they are)

I'd think the development which VW puts its cars through means the lubrication system is more than adequate for road use.

[monkeyhanger]

As for the comments about VW's pricing strategy for the US - if you don't price accordingly for the destination market, you won't sell anything. You've always been able to buy an awful lot of car for not much in the US. US market Mk5 and Mk6 GTI's were built in Germany, though I believe the Mk7 will be assembled in Mexico.

If they can afford to sell VWs in the US at little or no profit, just to have a market presence there (presumably in the hope that in future the VW brand will be sought after enough to command a premium like BMW and Merc doin the states), then it seems reasonable to assume that the European consumer is subsidising their cars by overpaying for them. I'd rather see them not sell in the US (if there is almost no profit) so I can have mine £2k cheaper because i'm not subsidising anyone.

[Poached]

US Market - as already mentioned the cars are available for much cheaper than the EU. You have to consider Domestic market competition. You can see the difference by speccing a GTI on the US website...

As for the Race oil system, I don't think you need to make a big deal out of it. VW designed a road car not a race car and tbh there are cheaper/lighter cars to take round a track than a GTI.

[mac7]

Just because a company is taking advantage of the issue to make some money does not preclude the actual existence of the issue.

I 'm not precluding the issue – I’m saying that unless you are in a significantly modified race car on a constant radius corner at high speed pulling over 1G lateral acceleration, it isn’t an issue. This is something VW don't need to test for because a showroom GTI isn't a racecar.

But if you think your engine might benefit from it, go for it.

[gstar-dubworld]

The consumer demand drives the price within any region of the world, more fool the EU consumer for paying silly prices for a modern day hatch that not that many years ago was never in the £30k price bracket.

Any hot hatch over the £20k price bracket is questionable, but we pay through the nose due to the demand and pretty much the badge snobbery that does exist in today's society.

The price differential between the EU and the remainder of the world is nothing new, different markets attract different consumer demand, bigger the choice, cheaper the product - simple economics.

     

[DevonK]

Just because a company is taking advantage of the issue to make some money does not preclude the actual existence of the issue.

I 'm not precluding the issue – I’m saying that unless you are in a significantly modified race car on a constant radius corner at high speed pulling over 1G lateral acceleration, it isn’t an issue. This is something VW don't need to test for because a showroom GTI isn't a racecar.

From what I have read over at VWVortex the issue isn't that clear-cut.  A few people have had the same problem driving their retail unmodded cars on 40 mph autocrosses (see this thread). To me that means there may be a problem. I would certainly research this thoroughly before pulling the trigger on a GTI.


It can be argued that a street car should not be expected to function reliably under autocross conditions but the GTI is not promoted as a commuter car - it's marketed as a car for enthusiasts and it seems stupid for VW not spec it so it can handle a weekend autocross without possibly trashing the engine. Other car companies manage it.