Alloy / metal dead pedal

[Watts]

So, this is nutty “VW think”. You produce a car north of  £30k but you omit a feature costing maybe 5 Euros.
Like the 12v plug cover…..plain black plastic as opposed to the identical Audi plug costing maybe 3Eu more.
It’s all differential crap.
Like the front engine cover which used to be standard then omitted at a cost saving of ??
Even worse on the Mk8 with a dreadful generic VW main engine cover and deletion of the hydraulic bonnet strut.
I love my Mk7.5 GTI but shake my head at the VW factory mindset.

I agree it's annoying when they are £40k+ cars but if you think how many little bits have been deleted over the last few years and that they may average out at £4 each, I can think of at least 7, then you do that on a million cars, that becomes a rather large amount of money. And tbh, most of them I can do without and rarely give a second thought to.

[Rudedog]

For me it started to change after 'dieselgate' - VW stopped their motorsport, cost cutting with the removal of small things as has been mentioned - I even think the dealerships became a lot meaner, questioning all claims  no matter how small.

[SRGTD]

For me it started to change after 'dieselgate' - VW stopped their motorsport, cost cutting with the removal of small things as has been mentioned - I even think the dealerships became a lot meaner, questioning all claims  no matter how small.

I agree; Dieselgate does seem to have been the turning point. The significant Dieselgate fines meant VW were compelled to cut costs and make savings to help fund payment of those fines. As @Watts has said, few ££’s saved per vehicle produced represents a considerable saving overall when you consider the number of vehicles being built.

VW certainly seemed to take a much firmer stance on warranty claims post-Dieselgate.

[P6GTD]

Hmmm, I wonder. I used to have an Octavia vRS before I went Golfs. That was def better equipped with nice little touches and vRS branding. Hell, they even gave you an emergency warning triangle!!!

Looking at recent vRS versions, I feel that this tradition of nice vRS touches has continued. (I think the most recent ones may still have the hydraulic bonnet strut?).

The point is that we are not talking about millions of bread and butter Golfs, but a flagship brand within the brand “icon” as VW are proud of boasting. Now the average new GTI is breaking through £40k, they are competing with a host of well equipped rivals and a budget “one size fits all”
mindset just doesn’t cut it.

And so we come back to GTI owners buying vRS footrests, just like I did 5 years ago.

[Rudedog]

I've been tempted to find a good quality one but what I find odd is that every one I've seen are for a manual, so slightly narrower and yet I suspect 80-90% of all GTI's will be DSG - so they are producing an item that only really fits a small proportion of the RHD market.

I bet if someone made a purpose designed one to exactly fit a RHD DSG GTI then they would sell a shed load.

[Watts]

Has anyone ever checked to see if there actually is a diference between the manual and DSG foot rests? My previous car was a manual and if there is a difference, I can't say I've noticed.

[Exonian]

Has anyone ever checked to see if there actually is a diference between the manual and DSG foot rests? My previous car was a manual and if there is a difference, I can't say I've noticed.

Yes, I’ve owned both manual and DSG examples and fitted the same footrest into 5x mk7’s and 2x mk8’s - the original plastic OEM DSG footrest is significantly wider than a manual version.

[Carlosfandango]

So, this is nutty “VW think”. You produce a car north of  £30k but you omit a feature costing maybe 5 Euros.
Like the 12v plug cover…..plain black plastic as opposed to the identical Audi plug costing maybe 3Eu more.
It’s all differential crap.
Like the front engine cover which used to be standard then omitted at a cost saving of ??
Even worse on the Mk8 with a dreadful generic VW main engine cover and deletion of the hydraulic bonnet strut.
I love my Mk7.5 GTI but shake my head at the VW factory mindset.

With VW’s current financial woes, I’d anticipate more cost cutting to come during the mk8.5’s lifecycle rather than adding - or reinstating - little features such as those you’ve mentioned.

Another highly visible omission on the mk8 / mk8.5 is the sliding cover over the cup holders in the centre console which IMHO makes it look unfinished.

There is still an engine cover on the 8.5,
Weirdly that sliding cover over the cup holder is still there on Chinese market Mk8 golfs.

[SRGTD]

So, this is nutty “VW think”. You produce a car north of  £30k but you omit a feature costing maybe 5 Euros.
Like the 12v plug cover…..plain black plastic as opposed to the identical Audi plug costing maybe 3Eu more.
It’s all differential crap.
Like the front engine cover which used to be standard then omitted at a cost saving of ??
Even worse on the Mk8 with a dreadful generic VW main engine cover and deletion of the hydraulic bonnet strut.
I love my Mk7.5 GTI but shake my head at the VW factory mindset.

With VW’s current financial woes, I’d anticipate more cost cutting to come during the mk8.5’s lifecycle rather than adding - or reinstating - little features such as those you’ve mentioned.

Another highly visible omission on the mk8 / mk8.5 is the sliding cover over the cup holders in the centre console which IMHO makes it look unfinished.

There is still an engine cover on the 8.5,
Weirdly that sliding cover over the cup holder is still there on Chinese market Mk8 golfs.

I think @P6GTD is referring to the additional cover that sits in front of the main engine cover that can be seen in the picture below;



Agree, it does seem strange that mk8 Golf for the Chinese market still has a sliding cup holder cover. However, I think the Golf for the Chinese market is built locally in China and the spec of those cars is probably different to German built Golf’s for the European / UK market; that was certainly the case a few years back with the Golf-based Jetta saloon. I was fortunate enough to have a holiday in China back in the early 2010’s (a really interesting country!); at that time, there were little - but noticeable - spec differences on mk5 Golf-based Jettas (commonly used as a taxi in China) that I travelled in compared to an equivalent UK spec Jetta.

Apologies for adding to the off topic content of this discussion topic  .

[P6GTD]

Yes, I did mean the front engine cover. I fitted one around the time that I bought my Audi 12v chrome plug and my vRS footrest. It’s the little things!

And lifting the bonnet of a 7.5 you see a main engine cover that is a thing of beauty, (if that’s your particular kink). Open the bonnet of a Mk8?….not so much. It’s just a generic piece of plastic.

The point of any GTI is not just the performance or handling, it’s the little aesthetic things that make you smile…….or it should be.

Anyway, GTI rant over. I’m off to polish my engine cover.