The noisy people’s car…

[mcmaddy]

different tyres make very little difference to road noise.

Sorry Chris, I'd have to disagree with you there.

I know for example back in 2004, I bought a brand new Toyota Avensis T-Spirit with the 17" Alloy wheels (don't judge me  ). As standard it came from the factory on Dunlop Sportmaxx tyres and they were truly awful. Great grip and road holding, but horrendous noise (I mean almost embarrassing with passengers in the car). I complained to Toyota UK, and after several visits to the dealers, the tyres were all replaced with Goodyear ones, and the difference was indescribable. Same car, same roads, same wheels, just different tyres and it was like having a completely different car.

So maybe the tyres that VW selects for the Golfs may not make such a big difference, but my god, they did on that Avensis, it went from a car I was going to sell as I couldn't live with it, to a car I kept for 3 years.

just talking about the golf here Andrew.

[Exonian]

Referring back to DaveA’s and sootchucker’s points amongst others, the value drops are common to all of the segment now. My TCR books at sub £26k at 15 months old and would have retailed at a whisker under £40k with options. I reckon in part ex I’d be lucky to see £25k.
These things drop like stones for a year or two which makes buying new a mugs game unless you’re pretty wealthy, have a decent company car scheme or plan keeping the car for 4 years plus. 
For the purpose of this thread as you can’t do a GTI PCP quote right now I just did a 135i finance quote.
24 months on a car specced to a fag paper under £40k (our new favourite cut off point when it doesn’t see like a couple years ago we were aghast at spending over £30k on a Golf sized car) and the GFV is just over £20k using 8k miles PA.
A £20k drop.
But the industry doesn’t want us to look at figures in that way anymore, they just want to know “how much an you afford a month”
Hell, you could buy a second hand pre-facelift R, stage 2 it, blow the engine showing off to your mates and still have spent less than £20k after rebuilding it!! The latter would probably be much more fun but I’m old and have no mates so... 


As for the M135i itself, I remember posting up about my test drive in a launch demo car last year and saying how Golf like like it felt but also how refined it felt compared to my Ed40 (non DCC on both), but to be honest I reckon a 7.5R wouldn’t be that far off the BMW in refinement, but I can’t say for sure.
The GTI doesn’t have the prop-shaft to stiffen the shell and has very thin panels which transmit certain noises unlike previous generation Golfs (mk1 and mk3 aside) and I wonder if the FWD 1 series is as refined at the strut brace equipped M135i.
To me a Golf GTI is incredibly refined for the type of car it is but there are certain irregularities it just can’t cope with. Maybe more factory development time on the Milton Keynes roads near VW UK HQ would be a good thing instead of endless laps around the Nurburgring trying to shave a few tenths of seconds per lap. Still, it’s a nice job for someone!

[Yusee]

@Exonian, regarding your point on thin panels, worth noting that the gti has got bigger with every generation but you have to go back to the mk3 for a lighter golf.
Previous golfs may have been considered higher quality but they were utterly dull ( mk3 and 4)

[Exonian]

Can’t disagree on the dullness of the mk3 and mk4, I owned examples of both! 

I don’t mind the thin panels of the mk7 either, I’ve owned enough of them to prove my acceptance. I’m just referring to the reason some people are picking up noise transmission.
Personally I have the radio on and aircon blower and don’t notice the noises or don’t particularly care. I’m more tuned to the nuances of the suspension refinement and handling though having spent/wasted much of my adult life playing about with engine and chassis tuning.

[Yusee]

Yes, it’s an interesting point you make.
I‘m happy for a little less quality for a better driving experience, but then I grew up hankering for fast Peugeots! ( and i had little interest in the fast golfs of the day)

[Exonian]

I grew up in the ‘80’s Yusee when every day was like an episode from Stranger Things!
I had a Peugeot 205 1.9 after heavily modifying a late mk1 Golf GTI and the build quality was night and day difference between them, reliability of both was poor so on a par!
My 205 was pretty low mileage and only a couple years old but I had to drive with my left elbow pressed into the passenger seat to stop it constantly squeaking, the drop links failed time and again and it stalled at low speed every time I wanted to turn at a junction so it was no surprise I moved to a mk2 Golf GTI and embraced the dull ambience of a reliable well built car!!
The 205 was huge fun though.

[Watts]

I grew up in the ‘80’s Yusee when every day was like an episode from Stranger Things!
I had a Peugeot 205 1.9 after heavily modifying a late mk1 Golf GTI and the build quality was night and day difference between them, reliability of both was poor so on a par!
My 205 was pretty low mileage and only a couple years old but I had to drive with my left elbow pressed into the passenger seat to stop it constantly squeaking, the drop links failed time and again and it stalled at low speed every time I wanted to turn at a junction so it was no surprise I moved to a mk2 Golf GTI and embraced the dull ambience of a reliable well built car!!
The 205 was huge fun though.

That sounds pretty good. I had a 1985 Alfa Sprint..........................

[SRGTD]

That sounds pretty good. I had a 1985 Alfa Sprint..........................

I really liked Alfa’s from that era but never owned one. The Alfa Spirit was a stylish car though IMO. I think I was worried that if I bought an Alfa, there might not be much of it left after 3-4 years of British weather.

I knew someone who had an Alfa Sud and it suffered from rust in some really unexpected places - not just the usual places where many 1970’s/1980’s cars rusted (wheel arch edges, sills, front wings and door bottoms). but the roof and C pillars as well!

[Watts]

That sounds pretty good. I had a 1985 Alfa Sprint..........................

I really liked Alfa’s from that era but never owned one. The Alfa Spirit was a stylish car though IMO. I think I was worried that if I bought an Alfa, there might not be much of it left after 3-4 years of British weather.

I knew someone who had an Alfa Sud and it suffered from rust in some really unexpected places - not just the usual places where many 1970’s/1980’s cars rusted (wheel arch edges, sills, front wings and door bottoms). but the roof and C pillars as well!

To be perfectly honest, stuff broke far quicker than it could rust although that didn't stop me having regular nightmares of getting up in the morning to find it had dissolved! Dynamically though it was a fantastic car, great handling, brilliant engine and the rasp was a treat. The onboard front disc brakes though were an unwelcome quirk, they needed adjusting regularly with a feeler guage as they also acted as the handbrake but getting to them was a right royal pita.

[Yusee]

I grew up in the ‘80’s Yusee when every day was like an episode from Stranger Things!
I had a Peugeot 205 1.9 after heavily modifying a late mk1 Golf GTI and the build quality was night and day difference between them, reliability of both was poor so on a par!
My 205 was pretty low mileage and only a couple years old but I had to drive with my left elbow pressed into the passenger seat to stop it constantly squeaking, the drop links failed time and again and it stalled at low speed every time I wanted to turn at a junction so it was no surprise I moved to a mk2 Golf GTI and embraced the dull ambience of a reliable well built car!!
The 205 was huge fun though.

With my current 205, I had a drop link done soon after buying it and it occasionally does exactly as you describe- stalls at low speed on turning. If you tap the dash, it feels like the type of plastic my kids' toys are made of.
But.. I wouldn't hesitate to take this car to Europe, I have complete confidence in its reliability.
In actual fact we have just returned from a tour of France and Germany in the family Alhambra, a trip that started with sudden battery failure that required an emergency detour to Halfords Folkestone.
The other thing about the 205- it's still massive fun. Absolutely love driving it. I only wish they still made them- I'd buy a new one.