As I was washing the car this morning it dawned on me I’ve had it a calendar month now.
Anybody care for an update?
No? I thought as much! 😁
This being a GTI forum I’ll avoid as much R related bits as I can, after all there’s a dedicated R forum that I’ve not even glanced at in half a decade despite being on my third. I’m a GTI guy at heart and this forum is my home.
No, this is purely about 8 to 8.5 stuff and I’ll keep it brief.
For those of you who sit there at breakfast each morning absent mindedly spooning your cornflakes in whilst idly wondering what it’s like moving from an 8 to an 8.5 Golf, here are a few things that have no doubt also been said by everyone else who made the switch.
Honestly, after 38 years since I bought my first GTI and 35 years since I bought my first Golf GTI I’m still far from bored of them.
When I first saw the 8.5 GTI launch photos and vids, subsequently joined by the Clubsport and R press releases, I couldn’t put a Rizla paper between which one I preferred when compared spec for spec. Each version’s styling looked attractive to me, and each offered something different without moving too far from one another in on the road abilities.
I think it all boils down to whether, for a given budget, you prefer luxuries or outright performance.
You can quickly spec up a 265 GTI into standard R Black Edn money, and when you take into account the retained value (or balloon) of the GTI will likely be lower at the end of ownership then the cost difference in the UK over the ownership period isn’t massive. Yes, you can quickly spec up the R to stratospheric levels, but those types of owner probably have two or three holidays a year that each cost three times as much as the R/clubby Akrapovič option on their own, so the options cost to them is less relevant, they just buy the car they want regardless of ££££.
Again, there’s barely a Rizla paper between them if you go for a GTI with paint, wheels, DCC, Area View, HK or a Clubby with 19’s, DCC and paint or a vanilla R Black Edn when comparing real life overall costs to own in the UK.
Down to business:
The first difference between 8 and 8.5 I noticed was throttle response from pulling away. With both my 8’s I had to prod the accelerator a bit to get the EPB to release and the car eased forward, especially from cold. In the 8.5 I just have to breathe on the pedal after starting the engine and the thing shoots off with almost EV like verve.
And on that note, so far in normal driving, when just pootling along in the basic driving modes (D & E in the DSG) the car seems more responsive to light throttle openings. Basically, in ordinary use, the car feels a little more responsive and alive. Caveat to that is I’m only on 800 miles so it might possibly be a running in mode thing before the ECU adjusts to adaptive mode and dumbs everything down if it detects you’re spending your life pootling along gingerly behind other traffic.
Fuel economy seems similar to the 8 so far, in at least it demands refilling at almost exactly the same time as the prior car did.
I’m almost sure the VDM thingy has been sharpened up a bit. It feels damn near as lively and adjustable as the 8 Clubby compared to the slightly less agile feeling but still hugely competent 8R.
The screen. At first it almost seemed oppressively close to me when it fired up in its technicolour glory each time the ignition was switched on.
I still find it feels a bit close. Almost like it could do with being four inches further towards the screen.
The positives, you’ll have heard this dozens of times, are the amount of bits of info and shortcuts top and bottom of the screen. They’re pretty small, but brightly and individually coloured so you can quickly identify which one you require. No worse than finding a physical button to prod but obviously lacking that satisfying click.
The backlit 8.5 volume and temp sliders are so much neater looking but to be honest I didn’t ever have any issues with the mk8 screen. The mk8 screen’s tiles are basic and uniform but easy enough to use. Not too big, not too small. The wide gloss black bezel looked very 15 year old plasma TV on the 8 whereas the 8.5’s screen and bezel looks more “mid 2020’s” up to date.
The radio station logos look bloody massive when in radio mode, yet the DAB info still cuts off half way through if it’s a long track title or artist name, just like on the mk7 and mk8.
When using Apple the bigger screen comes in handy with the tiles and scroll info being usefully large to be able to prod accurately without glancing away from the screen too long.
DCC anybody? After two mk8’s with no DCC and now having lived with it daily for a month I still wouldn’t consider it anywhere near essential. It does smooth out patchy tarmac a bit better and feels a little smoother.
It doesn’t wallow at low speed like my TCR DCC did when the damper oil was cold so that’s a massive plus in my book.
Verdict, it’s a nice to have but still doesn’t perform miracles when on typical potholed UK roads. If the bumps are smooth edged bumps then it’s better than non DCC, if it’s a sharp edged pothole it’ll still sound and feel like you’ve gone over a land-mine.
Considering it’s only £7** quid I do quite like it.
There, I said it, get over it! 😁
Oh, and the Hankooks have actually quite impressed me so far.
I worry a little about lack of rim protection even though I’m super careful, but the tyres in the warm and dry weather we’ve had thus far have been nicely predictable and transition smoothly when cornering forces increase. Maybe they’re part of the reason I noted that the car feels sharper than its immediate predecessor.
On the subject of kerb protection, I note the 8.5 comes with park assist as standard. I’ve not tried it yet but it’s a potentially nice toy to have.
The car also came with detachable rear window sun blinds and a boot mat. Nice and unexpected touches from VW. Both are still in their plastic bags though.
That’ll do, or it won’t be brief.
Four and a bit weeks in and the honeymoon isn’t over.
this episode was kindly sponsored by Rizla, your number one choice for illegal herb wrapping
