Author Topic: I finally did it  (Read 2525 times)

Offline Ikura

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I finally did it
« on: 11 October 2020, 13:38 »
Hi all,
I doubt if anyone remembers but I have been driving Golf diesels and the lovely GTD over the past decade and have been very happy with them. My last GTD was a Mk.7.5 and had it lease for the past two years.  Just before it went back the nag warning about the DPF came on several times, even after lengthy low gear runs down the motorway.  Anyway, the warning cleared just before it was collected so all is good and the car was pretty much immaculate so no charges were applied.

My replacement car is one of the last Golf GTi PP cars in black with the standard 18" wheels and I have to say it really is very nice.  I thought I would miss the grunty torque of the GTD, and I did have pangs of regret as it was driven off the drive for the last time.  The GTi arrived a few days later and I must admit that I am impressed. Very impressed. Even with just a few local journeys I have fallen in love with the car but looking at the fuel tank......eeek.  I don't do much mileage these days so it isn't a problem but it is a heck of a change from 50mpg. 

Between the GTD leaving and the GTi arriving I was loaned a Golf Mk.8 2.0ltr diesel Style.  What have VW done with the golf? That digital display is awful and the general look of the car, and very odd interior just doesn't do it for me at all. Having sat in one at the local VW dealership I knew I didn't like it but driving one for almost a week has convinced me that I made the right choice in going for the Mk.7.5 GTi PP.  At least it looks like a Golf.

Online Adam T7

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #1 on: 11 October 2020, 17:53 »
Glad you are impressed, I love mine, cracking car.
MY2019 GTI Mk 7.5 Performance. DSG, 5 Door, Rear Camera, Climate Windscreen and Rear Window Factory Tints, Indium Grey.

Offline Exonian

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #2 on: 12 October 2020, 16:26 »
Congrats Ikura!

Funnily enough I saw a black 70 plate GTI only today. The wheels work really well with the black bodywork.
A wise move sticking with a 7.5 by the sounds of it!!
Is the mk8 really that bad?!

A few less MPG now maybe but about £1.50 a tank less to fill up  :laugh:
‘25 8.5R, ‘23 8R, ‘20 8CS, ‘19 135iX, ‘19 TCR, ‘17 Ed40, ‘17 GTD, ‘15 7R, ‘13 GTI PP, ‘11 GTI, ‘09 GTI, ‘98 Ibiza Cupra, ‘05 GTI, ‘06 Polo GTI, ‘04 GT TDI, ‘05 Fabia vRS, ‘02 GTI T, ‘03 Ibiza TDI 130, ‘01 Leon 180, ‘89 mk2 16v, ‘99 Ibiza TDI, ‘96 VR6, ‘98 Ibiza TDI, ‘92 VR6, ‘88 mk2 8v, ‘92 Polo G40, ‘91 mk2 8v, ‘89 mk2 8v, 205 GTI 1.9, ‘83 mk1 GTI, ‘80 Scirocco GTI, plus some others I’ve forgotten 

Offline Borbus

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #3 on: 12 October 2020, 18:07 »
Diesel is more expensive than petrol per gallon, so is it really much of a money saving?
2010 Mk6 GTI

Online Adam T7

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #4 on: 12 October 2020, 20:05 »
On higher mileages, yes. After 18 years of diesels, never again for me as my annual mileage has dropped from about 18 - 20k to less than 5k
MY2019 GTI Mk 7.5 Performance. DSG, 5 Door, Rear Camera, Climate Windscreen and Rear Window Factory Tints, Indium Grey.

Offline fredgroves

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #5 on: 12 October 2020, 20:15 »
Diesel is more expensive than petrol per gallon, so is it really much of a money saving?

It's about five pence a litre more typically, that's maybe 3% more, leaving you with only 17% saving vs petrol.

Plus the gtd was cheaper to buy in the first place.

It's definitely a cheaper option and the more you use, the more you save.
Current: Mk8 GTI DSG, Adelaides, DCC, HUD, HK, Winter Pack, Rear Camera.. Aka "HMS Weasel"

Gone: 2017 Mk7.5 GTD,manual, NavPro
Gone: 2014 Mk7 GTD, manual, NavPro, DCC

Offline Guzzle

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #6 on: 12 October 2020, 20:28 »
This is what Audi currently think about the future of diesel;-

https://www.motor1.com/news/448442/audi-combustion-engines-have-future/
7.5 GTD

Offline monkeyhanger

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #7 on: 13 October 2020, 17:14 »
Diesel is more expensive than petrol per gallon, so is it really much of a money saving?

It's about five pence a litre more typically, that's maybe 3% more, leaving you with only 17% saving vs petrol.

Plus the gtd was cheaper to buy in the first place.

It's definitely a cheaper option and the more you use, the more you save.

Don't forget that the MK7 GTDs had far better residuals than the GTIs FMfrom the get-go.

When I got my 2013 GTD, running a GTD on average miles was about £120 a month cheaper than a GTI (fuel, residuals, VED) - a saving not to be sniffed at.

My local Morrisons has diesel 3p a litre more than regular unleaded right now. Diesel has been demonised a lot, but consider that it puts out less CO2 per mile, they've had particulate filters longer than petrols (my R's exhaust tops were filthy with fine soot) and NOx is no longer an issue with Ad-blu tech. Audi committed to diesel power by making the newest iteration of the S4/S5 a 3.0TDI beast.

When I got my A4, I purposely went for TDI. You can get decent mpg with the GTI if you drive like a nun and cover long journeys. You can drive like a maniac in a GTD and almost never fail to get 40mpg.
Whey ya bugger! It's finally arrived after an 8 month wait....
MK7 R 5 door, manual, Lapiz Blue, Prets.

Offline Ikura

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Re: I finally did it
« Reply #8 on: 13 October 2020, 20:46 »
I must admit to being rather pleased with the GTi but there are some things I'm not so keen on.  I am finding the ride much firmer in the GTi and the exhaust noise will take a bit of adjusting to.  The mpg is no real problem because I don't do the mileage I was doing when I first started driving diesels. If it wasn't for the DPF nagging on screen and it inevitably heading towards a replacement of the DPF then I would still be driving the GTD.  Small local journeys are absolutely no good for the GTD but I liked everything about it.

Hopefully the GTi will soften up as everything beds in and I'm sure the GTD was a harder ride when I first got it.  I thought I would miss the typical diesel torque on the GTD but I really haven't, and the GTi is so much quicker at whipping past the dozy old folk trundling along the roads at 20mph in a Honda Jazz.  I'm so pleased I managed to find one of the last GTi Mk 7.5's because there is no way I would be buying the Mk 8.  I think VW has gone a few steps too far with all that cabin 'tech'. What is all that about anyway when you have to navigate through a menu system just to change something simple. Switches and buttons work fine for me and I don't need to take my eyes off the road.