Anyone considering a mark 7 GTI ?

[C3PO]

Started toying with the idea, but love the mark 6. Anyone had the same thoughts and then decided to stay with the Mark 6? I am looking at a Mark 7 GTI PP in carbon grey, but when mine is washed (red) and then catch it in a reflection of a building I think nah I will stick with it.

[AndyG]

I was going to order a GTI PP next year but when I looked   at the quotes on Orange Wheels,the difference with their discount on an R compaired to a GTI with the specs I want,it's a no brainer.Its only £1500 more for the R.
For £1500 extra you get one hell of a machine.

[C3PO]

Did look at the R but worry about the insurance after hearing that scumbags will quite happily steal at any cost, plus a porches could be cheaper to insure. Final thought was how much of that performance will I actually get to use? I do agree its a hell of a machine and quite understated.

[AndyG]

Funnily enough over in the R forum there's a thread about insuring an R.
Surprisingly they are insuring them very reasonably due to the safety features apparently.
I think any scumbags will also target GTI's also.

[Booth11]

I was going to order a GTI PP next year but when I looked   at the quotes on Orange Wheels,the difference with their discount on an R compaired to a GTI with the specs I want,it's a no brainer.Its only £1500 more for the R.
For £1500 extra you get one hell of a machine.

Same here.  Also looked at the GTI PP for next year but realistically, it was always going to struggle against the R.  Course, most won't really utilise the full power of the R out on the road day to day, but for not much more money it's there, plus the 4 wheel drive.  Very different beasts, the R being more planted and perhaps less of a fun ride than the GTI, then there's the LSD to consider, so all very subjective and depends what is more important to you.   Aesthetically, I prefer the understated, sleeper look of the R to the GTI.  That said, I think the mk6 GTI is a better looking car than either of the mk7s.

Also considered Merc A45 AMG and Audi S3 but power aside, the merc's too blingy for my liking and a stupid price when comparatively specced up, and S3 just looks bland.  BMW doesn't get a look in, no matter how good the car might be, too ugly.

There's a couple of threads/posts somewhere in the mk7 section which give an honest side by side comparison from members (Jimble etc) who have had both GTI PP and R, so worth a read.

Yeah, insurance seems ok, and I wouldn't let scumbag thieves stop me spending my hard earned cash on whatever I choose.

[p3asa]

Did look at the R but worry about the insurance after hearing that scumbags will quite happily steal at any cost, plus a porches could be cheaper to insure. Final thought was how much of that performance will I actually get to use? I do agree its a hell of a machine and quite understated.

Where do you live?
The R for me is only £180 a year which is £28 more than a GTI PP!!

The R also works out cheaper if going PCP route.

I posted this in another thread recently. Its the monthly payments.

Deposit £5000

OTR  £26,330    £29,900   £25,765

Term      GTI         R         GTD
x18       £482      £376      £406
x24       £382      £310      £326
x30       £360      £322      £318
x36       £338      £316      £298
x42       £322      £318      £295
x48       £307      £310      £282

[AndyG]

The understated R has grown on me too looks wise.
I can't help but think with the pricing that VW have made the GTI PP redundant as good a car that it is.
There is no way I'd  need even the GTI' a full potential but it's the 4 motion more than anything else that I want on a golf.
It's a pity you can't option the 19" santiagos with it though.

[wigit]

The price gap is why the wife went for a R over a GTI PP

Now my R is mapped 4wd and DSG makes complete sense especially when I read about mapped GTIs and how they put the power down

[Snoopy]

I looked at both the R and GTI PP but just could not justify it to myself spending all that money for a car that imo looks like the mk6's ugly sister.
I never drive the mk6 which is now my daily driver anywere near the limit so the better chassis would make little difference to me.

[Exonian]

I made the jump early on as I knew my wife had it in her head we were moving house this year and wanted to do it while I still had a bit of access to my money!!!
I had two mk5's and two mk6's.

Looks - subjective. I prefer the mk7 99% but the wheels look lost in the arches unless you have 19s.
Interior - 50/50; different but the same! The mk7 comes alive at night though! Looks awesome when it gets dark.
Driving - handling in another league up to a point. Still a bit messy at the back if you try a roundabout too fast accidentally at 4:30 am but much less body roll, virtually zero understeer, corners on rails. In fact you can do things you'd never have thought possible in a FWD car a few years ago unless you had a Megane track focussed thing but in comfort.
Power - you won't notice the difference between the 210 and the 230bhp really but the torque is much much better. When mine was new I thought the 258 lb ft was b0ll0cks but once it got past 2500 miles the torque just got stronger and stronger. This is where the GTI scores over the R in some respects - the power comes in nice and low and the car is very flexible.
Ride - Hmmm. The mk6's rode fine on 19's but the mk7 sounds like you've just crashed on certain types of road repairs. On the way back from Gatwick airport on the A303 my passengers were all asleep and I almost was until I hit a bit of repaired road and it made such a loud noise my wife woke up with a start thinking I'd fallen asleep and hit something! And I wasn't going fast either as the traffic was murder. So spec one with DCC. Mine doesn't have it as the mk6 didn't need it so I assumed the mk7 wouldn't after all the reviews; wrong!

But at the end of the day the forums all say that you can have an R virtually for free now so long as you don't pay cash. So why bother with a GTI?