My test drive

[trueblue_ips]

Hi, I test drove a 19 plate GTI PP yesterday with a view to buying or leasing.
I'd never driven a DSG before and loved it. The salesman switched autohold off and I loved the "creep" when you take your foot off the brake. So easy in traffic.
Overall, I was happy but a couple of negatives.
The accelerator response.  Seemed a bit random. I could definitely detect turbo lag but it seemed more than that. One minute it was very responsive, the next I pushed on the accelerator and nothing seemed to happen.
Engine noise. I was a tiny bit disappointed with the engine noise in the cabin. I was driving in Normal mode. Is it more hushed in Eco  mode? I only had 20 mins in the car so didn't get the chance to try other modes.
Loved the car though and will probably go for a two year lease. I am put off from buying because the dealer told me the Mk8 will be arriving as soon as Feb next year.

[Guzzle]

There are lots of members on here that swear by pedal boxes as a means of addressing the unresponsive throttle.

You can alter the engine noise inside the cabin via the media screen. Mine has the engine in Sport mode but engine noise set to Eco.

The Mk8 will be revealed before the end of the year and will apparently open for sale in the UK in the first quarter of next year.

[trueblue_ips]

Thanks for the reply. One of the best things about the car is that it is so well equipped as standard.
I will check out the pedal box. It was hard to judge as I only had 20 mins and am unfamiliar with the car and unfamiliar with a DSG but the accelerator response didn't seem linear.

[wolly440]

Putting the car in sport mode will improve the throttle responce slightly. As Guzzle said a pedal box will improve it a lot.

If you go into individual mode, you can set everything to sport and the engine noise to comfort. That will improve the engine sound in the cabin

[king monkey]

I hear what you’re saying about the Mk8 but when will the gti land? If last Golfs are anything to go by, it won’t be straight away.

Having said that, the discounts at the moment aren’t good enough to buy a Mk7.5 over a potential Mk8 if you can wait. I know that traditionally discounts haven’t been huge in new models either but that seems v different nowadays. Look how quickly the a35 was discounted.

[Guzzle]

I'd expect Mk8 GTi's to be 2nd quarter next year, although that's only my opinion based on Mk6 and Mk7 launches. More important will be the lead times. Some members on here waited 6+ months, and with the early Mk7 GTi's nobody knew what the standard spec was IIRC.

[king monkey]

I'd expect Mk8 GTi's to be 2nd quarter next year, although that's only my opinion based on Mk6 and Mk7 launches. More important will be the lead times. Some members on here waited 6+ months, and with the early Mk7 GTi's nobody knew what the standard spec was IIRC.

Good points there. Vw aren’t the best at launching a car. I can see the threads now. ‘Is it worth waiting 6 months for my gti’? And ‘why’s the Configurator down?’  We’ve all been there.

[fredgroves]

I waited almost 6 months for my 14 plate GTD... I can see GTI order books opening maybe June 2020 and the first cars in the UK maybe Just before Christmas 2020....

And as others have said, the spec won't be clear and exactly what any of the newly created options actually do (or don't do) won't be apparent until people on here start explaining what they do after their own cars have been received.

Then just when everyone starts getting their cars, the MY21 will come out, which then will include as standard loads of things people spent money on options for before...

That's based on what happened with the Mk7 and I can't see it being any different on the Mk8.

I would say if you can avoid ordering a Mk8 until Summer 2021 then you will be probably better off.

[SRGTD]

That’s a very good point about lead times. I can remember some forum members who ordered a mk7 GTI around the time the order books first opened waiting 8 - 10 months or longer for their cars. VW lead times in general don’t seem to have improved - when the current Polo GTI was announced, some owners over on uk-polos.net had a 12+ month wait for their cars, and a few are still waiting 15 months after ordering! .

I’d personally also not be an early adopter of a new model - especially one that’s laden with lots of new tech that could have a number of teething troubles. I wouldn’t want to be one of VW’s unpaid vehicle testers .

Also, based on current spy shots, and forum members comments, the mk8 isn’t as good a looking car as the mk7; being longer, and the bonnet line giving the illusion of the headlights and grille being quite low down, it looks oddly proportioned from some angles. The GTI might look better than the non performance models when VW release official pictures of the mk8 GTI or we see the GTI launch models in the metal, but IMO it’s not a thing of beauty.

If I was contemplating a new GTI now, I’d not wait for a mk8. With the mk7.5 being near the end of its lifecycle, there ought to be some really good deals to be had.

Life’s too short to play the waiting game.

[davyk31]

Are you being offered any decent lease deals?