2014 GTD vs 2016 GTi.

[Talk-torque]

First thing I noticed was the better screen for the MIB 2 nav system. A little bigger and better resolution. When I got to actually use the nav, I found that it is now significantly faster when calculating routes. Also, from first impressions, it looks like the routes chosen may be subtly different, too. Time will tell if this is a good or a bad thing.
Pleased to find that the auto hold now works normally without having to belt up, or disengage it, though this may be because the GTi has a DSG gearbox. I never drive without belts, but this makes shuffling around on the drive much less fussy.
The lights above the vanity mirrors in the sunvisors have been swapped to nice led units. I changed the bulbs in my GTD for led's, but the new units are much nicer.
The glove box light and the boot light are still crappy yellow bulbs, though and the reversing lights, although they are led's, are still pretty much useless to see by.

[Exonian]

Very early days yet but how do you find the driving differences between to two models?

[CARMAD KEV]

Yeah i noticed the interior lights were LED. Very nice and bright.

[Talk-torque]

TBH, I've not asked anything of the GTi, yet. It just sits in D and chunters round between 3000 and 4000 rpm. It is very happy, but sometimes it takes a lower gear than I would. Happy to let it run in like that, though, but I think I'll be driving it with the paddles, once I can give it some beans!

Obviously, the petrol engine is quieter and more refined than the diesel. I'm not missing any of that diesel torque, though - the GTi engine is not lacking in that respect, albeit at rather higher rpm.

On 2014 cars, all of the interior lights were led's, bar the vanity lights, the glove box and the boot. Now it is just the glove box and the boot. The glove box lamp is not a problem to swap for an led equivalent, but the boot lamp has to be canbus tolerant, otherwise the light remains on, at low brightness, even when the boot is shut.

[Watts]

If you want to swap the footwell lights for coloured leds (I went for red to match the ambient lighting) you can use one of the footwell lights to replace the unit in the glovebox, they were a straight swap on mine. You can use the unit out of the glovebox in one of the footwells with a suitable led. I think the red looks really good (but other colours are available ).

[clubsport]

It just shows how good the early mk7 are if striking differences amount to interior lights and hill hold!

[fredgroves]

They have just deleted the seatbelt requirement for autohold to come off.

Why, I have no idea but suspect that you could probably achieve the same with VCDS.

It was annoying in the first couple of weeks, its now second nature to have to manually intervene when shuffling cars around.