Clubsport Reviews

[Ceefeesh]

Pliancy! Words are used to convey meaning or to allow someone to describe something. Pliancy? Not in the. Dictionary. Pliancy that’s just vague. Really needs to do better and articulate what he ‘s trying to say and not just make something up to sound interesting. To reduce it to basics  - would pliancy mean soft then?   

[Colm]

I should have added, the Mk8 clubby with DCC on 18's you definitely will not find a harsh ride. Absolutely 100% certain of that - unless you dial up the DCC to its hardest setting when you will feel every pimple in the road.

I don't think coming from a ST you will find it hard or unbearable at all - it will be a perfectly usable daily.

I'd even go as far as to say fitting 19's shouldn't upset it either, providing you have DCC.

On a clubby you really do want DCC anyway.

Probably your biggest question mark though may be the DSG. I've had only manual cars for 35 years and over millions of miles. Its slightly different....

What I will say though is that for most of your driving miles its neither a problem or a negative - if anything only a positive because boring driving is boring driving.

Sometimes it will make decisions you wouldn't have done with a manual, but just go with the flow and don't let it annoy you.

You definitely will love the seamless acceleration though - you hear the engine revving and instantly shifting but you feel no jerky changes, just a smooth roar as you whizz along. That's where DSG is awesome and there is nothing else quite like it.

Thanks Fred, much appreciated.

[Colm]

Pliancy! Words are used to convey meaning or to allow someone to describe something. Pliancy? Not in the. Dictionary. Pliancy that’s just vague. Really needs to do better and articulate what he ‘s trying to say and not just make something up to sound interesting. To reduce it to basics  - would pliancy mean soft then?   

Thanks for your response.
Pliant and pliancy are both in the dictionary, and my post was a genuine query, clearly written and received a very detailed response from Fred, which I found extremely helpful.

No problem if you don't understand what pliant suspension is, but please be nice and respectful with your responses in future as your response above certainly was neither.

Thanks for your consideration.

[fredgroves]

I watched the PH Clubby vs CTR video.

Its interesting, it was always a predictable outcome but I think he says enough to really highlight that the Golf is a better daily car but the Honda isn't a terrible daily - except for the lack of individual mode.

I also think he missed a trick, becoming obcessed with ring mode, from my experience of the Mk7 with DCC, I'd say he might have found the feeling he was missing had he tried sport mode or any individual setup with DCC set to much harder.

With it set hard you do get a lot of feedback from the road, I reckon he might have found that more engaging if not slightly uncomfortable. I always could feel every tiny undulation with the Mk7 in sport suspension mode. I think on the Mk8 the DCC goes both harder and softer than the range the Mk7 one was adjustable too as well... not to mention that the Mk8 now has springs tuned for either 18's or 19's from the factory - as opposed to one set of springs for all wheel sizes on the Mk7.

Electric steering always gives you a degree of seperation and there is nothing you can do about that because weight reduction requirements to hit CO2 targets mean mechanical systems just aren't used on normal cars any more.

[Colm]

I watched the PH Clubby vs CTR video.

Its interesting, it was always a predictable outcome but I think he says enough to really highlight that the Golf is a better daily car but the Honda isn't a terrible daily - except for the lack of individual mode.

I also think he missed a trick, becoming obcessed with ring mode, from my experience of the Mk7 with DCC, I'd say he might have found the feeling he was missing had he tried sport mode or any individual setup with DCC set to much harder.

With it set hard you do get a lot of feedback from the road, I reckon he might have found that more engaging if not slightly uncomfortable. I always could feel every tiny undulation with the Mk7 in sport suspension mode. I think on the Mk8 the DCC goes both harder and softer than the range the Mk7 one was adjustable too as well... not to mention that the Mk8 now has springs tuned for either 18's or 19's from the factory - as opposed to one set of springs for all wheel sizes on the Mk7.

Electric steering always gives you a degree of seperation and there is nothing you can do about that because weight reduction requirements to hit CO2 targets mean mechanical systems just aren't used on normal cars any more.

Is it true that the 18" wheel cars from the factory have a lower spring rate than 19s?

If so the combination of 7.75mm more side sidewall and lower spring rate could see a very noticeable difference between 18 and 19

[Yusee]

I watched the PH Clubby vs CTR video.

Its interesting, it was always a predictable outcome but I think he says enough to really highlight that the Golf is a better daily car but the Honda isn't a terrible daily - except for the lack of individual mode.

I also think he missed a trick, becoming obcessed with ring mode, from my experience of the Mk7 with DCC, I'd say he might have found the feeling he was missing had he tried sport mode or any individual setup with DCC set to much harder.

With it set hard you do get a lot of feedback from the road, I reckon he might have found that more engaging if not slightly uncomfortable. I always could feel every tiny undulation with the Mk7 in sport suspension mode. I think on the Mk8 the DCC goes both harder and softer than the range the Mk7 one was adjustable too as well... not to mention that the Mk8 now has springs tuned for either 18's or 19's from the factory - as opposed to one set of springs for all wheel sizes on the Mk7.

Electric steering always gives you a degree of seperation and there is nothing you can do about that because weight reduction requirements to hit CO2 targets mean mechanical systems just aren't used on normal cars any more.

There’s two things I find odd about the mk8 reviews- when compared to the mk7-

Firstly, many reports say the manual gearbox doesn’t feel great on mk8 whereas the mk7 box was praised for being slick. I wonder why testers are less enthusiastic with this model.

Secondly steering. A bit trickier to interpret what’s being reported on this because it depends to a large extent on what the tester expects of an electric system. Again, there was some praise for the mk7 steering, seems to be very little for the mk8.

Interested to know from anyone with experience of both mk7 and mk8 how the two compare.

I don’t expect that the systems are getting worse, but it is possible that vw haven’t moved things on in the way other makers have?

[fredgroves]

Is it true that the 18" wheel cars from the factory have a lower spring rate than 19s?

If so the combination of 7.75mm more side sidewall and lower spring rate could see a very noticeable difference between 18 and 19

I've not seen any precise figures, but my interpretation is that they had adjusted the spring rate so broadly the ride is the same on both.... meaning the old fashioned "19s are hard" is not an issue.

Remember of course that outside of the UK there is also a 17" option too.... so on a Mk7 your springs were the same on a light 17 wheel and a heavy 19.... super compromised I'd say.

[fredgroves]

There’s two things I find odd about the mk8 reviews- when compared to the mk7-

Firstly, many reports say the manual gearbox doesn’t feel great on mk8 whereas the mk7 box was praised for being slick. I wonder why testers are less enthusiastic with this model.

Secondly steering. A bit trickier to interpret what’s being reported on this because it depends to a large extent on what the tester expects of an electric system. Again, there was some praise for the mk7 steering, seems to be very little for the mk8.

Interested to know from anyone with experience of both mk7 and mk8 how the two compare.

I don’t expect that the systems are getting worse, but it is possible that vw haven’t moved things on in the way other makers have?

I think you'd need a really specialist analysis to find that out.

It would be good to do, but you'd need to carefully obtain the right vehicles to do the test and be familiar with the Golf as a daily driver.

The trouble is most of these reviewers aren't golf experts and the cars they get to test are press ones for a limited time - meaning lots of options that they don't understand and no familiarity of Golfs to start with.

I'd love to test a Mk8 GTI on 18's and 19's and with and without DCC, all back to back - and then chuck in some Mk7.5 GTI PP cars with those options to make a full evaluation.

But I *love* compartive evaluations and result grids

[Exonian]

Welcome Colm 

I understood what you meant by pliancy!

The first (large) batch of Clubsports that arrived in the UK were standard spec non DCC cars so there won’t be many that have had an opportunity to try a DCC equipped versus non DCC yet.


You can pretty much ignore anything I’ve posted about Clubsport DCC as I’m surmising at best going from assumptions, guesses, reviews and press pack blurb. Basically talking out of my derrière.
I’ve not even tried my own non DCC car on very many roads due to gov’t restrictions.

The Clubsport is a production VW so I’m pretty confident you’ll find it reasonably pliant if you’re accustomed to sports hatch suspension.

As for DSG, hmmm, well most people that try it decide it’s the best invention in the world ever, but although I tolerate it I’m far from a fan of it. To me it’s a box set up for extremes with the middle (normal) setting a bit mushy. Everyone is different, hopefully you’ll fall in the “love it” camp.
 

[Colm]

Welcome Colm 

I understood what you meant by pliancy!

The first (large) batch of Clubsports that arrived in the UK were standard spec non DCC cars so there won’t be many that have had an opportunity to try a DCC equipped versus non DCC yet.


You can pretty much ignore anything I’ve posted about Clubsport DCC as I’m surmising at best going from assumptions, guesses, reviews and press pack blurb. Basically talking out of my derrière.
I’ve not even tried my own non DCC car on very many roads due to gov’t restrictions.

The Clubsport is a production VW so I’m pretty confident you’ll find it reasonably pliant if you’re accustomed to sports hatch suspension.

As for DSG, hmmm, well most people that try it decide it’s the best invention in the world ever, but although I tolerate it I’m far from a fan of it. To me it’s a box set up for extremes with the middle (normal) setting a bit mushy. Everyone is different, hopefully you’ll fall in the “love it” camp.

Thanks Exonian,
I probably would fit into the tolerate it camp on DSG also, I love heel toe downshifting. What I really want is a circa 300bhp manual hatch that can deal with bumps and compressions in it's stride.

I switched my ST to 18s, added a subtle map (305bhp) and free flow cotton air filter in order to improve the character of the engine and throttle response in Normal mode, which it did. It's much more rev happy now, it was very linear and dull from the factory.

This allows me to leave it in normal mode all the time now (therefore lesser of the the 3 damper settings). The Sport mode is laughably filling rattling.

It's a shame because with a better suspension setup the ST would be the perfect hot hatch for my tastes.

As a result of being happy with engine and throttle response in normal mode now, it's a perfectly comfortable daily, with 305bhp and 470nm. However, show it bumps at higher speeds and it does have a tendency to try and pummel said bumps into submission. This sadly robs alot of the fun from the car, and has me considering alternatives.

I need 5 seats, and couldn't look at the Civic, too old for it anyway, and I really like the look of the Clubsport, so if it could mop up bumps at higher speeds (with DCC and 18s), then it would probably be worth the loss of manual box.