GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Chat about your 2018+ AW/BZ model Polos here!
jbGTI
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Location: South Africa

Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by jbGTI »

I think some may enjoy this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXoO4Gke5v0
RUM4MO
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by RUM4MO »

Anyway, person from the "land of RHD Polos" - can you or anyone else explain why the steel beam that runs across the car in front of the dash assembly has lots of rusty areas on it, well it has at least on 6C Polos built in South Africa?

Anyone tried removing their dash board end covers for a look in, maybe in preparation of retro fitting something like a dash cam?

This "feature" was pointed out to me my someone on this forum, so I checked up today, and my wife's August 2015 Polo has the same surface rusting in that area as his November 2017 6C Polo.

Edit:- buck up there VW SA!
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

RUM4MO wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 3:49 pm Anyway, person from the "land of RHD Polos" - can you or anyone else explain why the steel beam that runs across the car in front of the dash assembly has lots of rusty areas on it, well it has at least on 6C Polos built in South Africa?

Anyone tried removing their dash board end covers for a look in, maybe in preparation of retro fitting something like a dash cam?

This "feature" was pointed out to me my someone on this forum, so I checked up today, and my wife's August 2015 Polo has the same surface rusting in that area as his November 2017 6C Polo.

Edit:- buck up there VW SA!
I have pics - I pulled the drives side dash end off at the weekend to fit my dual channel dashcam. Although not rusty (yet, looks like it would in time - no nickel or other coating), the steel bulkhead looked a bit scruffily fabricated with manual welding which is adequate for the job, but not particularly tidy (bulkhead was my earthing point for the dashcam). Can't put the pics up yet as photobucket is playing up on the mobile, will have to post from my laptop later.

The bulkhead on the golf is consideranly tidier and has a bright finish that appears to be rust resistant.
RUM4MO
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by RUM4MO »

That steel beam was clean on my wife's previous 2002 Polo and any stiffening metalwork on my old 2000 Passat was also clean. I can't see it progressing any further as it will only have the cabin moisture to feed on, but a bit nasty looking and unprofessional for a mass produced car, maybe only a South African build car issue? It would take a LHD person to check their current Polo, or someone to check the previous model GTI or any 3 door car.
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

Here's that pic. I have no idea why there is foam residue stuck to the opening inner rim, there was no trace of a foam sheet inside the opening or on the inside of the panel that popped out. Perhaps there were sheets between units and they couldn't be bothered to take the residues off because no one would see it. The main weld you see looks way thicker than it needs to be. The weld adjacent surface is scorched well beyond the welding site due to the amount of weld on that joint - sustained welding temperatures for far longer than needed, due to the size of the weld.

Image
RUM4MO
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by RUM4MO »

I'd say that what you see in that picture is a bit messy but as it is meant to remain hidden, probably okay but not as clean looking as the 2002 Polo or the 2000 Passat that I had looked at in the past, but there again, in these cars I've mentioned, you do need to remove these end panels to check/replace fuses.
On my wife's August 2015 6C Polo SEL 5 door built in South Africa, and it seems in another forum member's 2017 6C Polo 5 door built in South Africa, the surface rusting is more extreme, probably for the reasons you gave about your car, ie far too much heat used at weld sites and probably for too long. Different cross beam assembly design though on these new versions so direct comparisons are not possible.

I remember in my Ford days, initially Ford UK was not allowed to build any Escort MK3 Ghias, all Escort Ghias were built in Germany and looking at the floor area on a brand new 1982 Escort 1.3L built by Ford UK when fitting a child seat belt bar for a neighbour, the spot welds were a danger to anyone working in that area, I checked my 1982 Escort 1.6Ghia floor area and you could run your hands over it without lacerating your hands, okay maybe not an important issue, but it did just make a point that Ford UK were not, at that time, up to building bodies to the standard of the German factories. I went on to buy a 1984 Ford Orion Ghia Injection, again it was built in Germany and the overall finish was very high, my next buy was a 1988 Ford Orion Ghia Injection, this time it was built by Ford UK and it was of much lower overall finish, my final Ford for now!

In theory you can hope that a Germany designed car originally built in Germany and other countries like Spain will all have the same built in quality so be identical enough to build anywhere else in the world, in reality maybe not, from what I've seen in my wife's 2015 6C Polo, it is slightly less well finished when compared with her Spain built 2002 Polo, but maybe that is being unfair as comparing a European built 6C Polo with a South African built 6C Polo would be the best way to check for this, but nothing we can do to change things!
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

jbGTI wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 11:41 am Hi Guys,

I have recently picked my my New Polo GTI, albeit im in South Africa, thought Id give you my feedback none the less.

Spec of my car is as follows : Colour White, LED Lights, 18 Brescias, Sunroof, Blind Spot Assist, Auto Fold Mirrors, Parking Sensors, Park Assist and Climatronic option.
A nice touch that the Sales person did for me was put on the Golf GTI Silver bottom key tip to the key fob, as well as load the icons for the radio stations before I picked up the car.

Overall, the GTI is a brilliant car, has certain small issues but overall very much pleased with the car so far.

Coming from a Polo 6R 1.4, there is a huge step up in overall quality and general niceness of the cabin. The media screen has really nice functionality with various screens for different information and Apple Car Play works brilliantly. I have not got Android Auto to work so far with several android phones tried. The general space inside of the cabin just feels so much more bigger, its quite a step up in space over the previous gen Polo. The sound system is generally quite good. The Alcantara / Leather seats are good without being brilliant. (PS. I have seen a GTI with full leather seats and to me that looks really really nice, will post a pic on the Seats thread).

Power is instantaneous, no matter which gear your in, just feels like there is always power on tap. Launch control works brilliantly (left a A45 AMG dead at the robots :D ), even with the Bridgestone Turanza's spinning like crazy. Top Speed I have achieved so far is 242 km/h. I feel this car can easily do 250 km/h. Interesting that the official spec says top speed of 236 km/h. I have a few mates with Polo 6 R/C GTI's and this new GTI is certainly a tab bit faster that the previous gen. I did not feel much of a difference after 1000 kms, but did not really drive the car hard enough to really pick up any differences. Also, when picking up the car, the sales person mentioned to me that try not use the Launch control alot as VW will check how often you use it at a service interval and this could potentially lead to my warranty being voided.

The DSG gearbox works quite well for me, shifts are very quick and overall gear ratios are pleasant. The handbrake release or pull up is notchy and not smooth for me.

Fuel Consumption for me is good enough, overall long term consumption is 7.3 l/km or 39 mpg, driving hard its about 8.5 l/km or 33 mpg and completely cruising I have achieved 4.5 l/km or 63 mpg.

The handling of the car is good enough, although this car could could be lowered a further 20mm to be about perfect. The GTI does handle pretty well, the car certainly feels like it could easily handle way more power. My old polo had a massive drop and was lowered about 60mm, so that car practically stuck to the road like glue. So in this regard I might be abit biased. The Bridgestone Turanzas just suck, anywhere approaching half throttle in first gear will cause traction control to kick in. I will definitely be changing to a different set in the future. Interestingly I have been told to increase my tire size width to 225 from the standard 215 as 225 width tires are considerably cheaper and there is a much bigger variety available at that size. The overall ride of the car is quite firm without being harsh. In my opinion, what contributes to this is that the front tires have a spec to be pumped up to 280 bar, which in my opinion is alot. I have dropped the pressure to 240 bar and the ride was better but noticed abit of the sidewall of the tire getting dirty so reverted back to 280 bar for a firm sidewall.

The different modes to drive the car in : eco, normal, sport and individual, is certainly interesting to me and each mode completely changes the dynamic of the car. Eco mode is very very subtle power with a lot of the gearbox coasting in neutral as soon as you let go of the accelerator. Normal mode is brilliant for everyday driving enough power without being bat sh*t crazy, which leads to Sport Mode, which is very very fun to drive in, exhaust and sound aktor goes louder, much more pops and bangs from the exhaust, throttle is more responsive, and the gearbox also changes quite a lot, love the downshift when slowing down.

To the chaps who would want to modify this car, I have seen a company called CPI Tuning here in South Africa, do a Stage 1 (Software, downpipe, exhaust) upgrade on the GTI, and achieved 205kw and 497nm on the dyno.

Overall I am very happy, although there are a few small issues that I have found with the car,
My main issue is receiving the car with the Bridgestone Turanza's, why put a GT or middle of the range on effectively a performance car. I would be so so much happier if I had stickier tires on this car.
I also have a few rattles in the interior of the car which seem to come and go or move around the cabin. One day I will hear a tiny rattle in the A pillar and the next day nothing in the A pillar but a rattle in the handbrake section. My previous 6R after 5 years had not a single rattle.
The handbrake release or pull up is notchy and not smooth for me.
When reversing, and using the brake mostly to control the speed, there is a awful howling noise emanating from the brakes but only when reversing.
The media screen is an absolute fingerprint magnet. I generally have to clean the screen every morning when jumping in the car using my small cloth that comes with my sunglasses to clean them.
The automatic brake assist is truly deathly terrifying. Thankfully I have not had this system kick in at a low or even moderate speed, its only kicked in when I have been parking, but the sudden jolt and locking of the brakes sounds and feels exactly like you have hit something to bring you to a complete stop, I have actually jumped out the car on a few occasions to check around the car to see if I have hit something.

These are my thoughts and opinions, I hope it is informative and helpful to anyone.

Should anyone have any questions about anything particular, I would be more than willing to assist.

Just a quick question, does anyone the code name for this new Polo range? Like the previous gen Polo was the 6R and facelift being 6C, or like BMW's 3 series being E90, F30 etc.
jbGTI: Most of your findings mirror my own, especially when it comes to the tyre choice for the Brescias - Bridgestone Turanza are poor, but not as poor as the Bridgestone Potenzas which have come as standard equipment on a fair few performance Golfs I've had from new previously -they easily tramp with around 1/3 throttle - probably worst for us in the UK who see wet roads and cooler temperatures more often than South Africa. They produce a lot of tyre roar at cruising speed too. I'd not use the launch control, it would be useless with the Turanza tyres anyway. When I swapped out the Bridgesone Potenzas that VW put on my Golf R for Michelin PSS, the car was transformed. The tyres were quieter, far more willing to flex, far grippier (although 4WD did away with tramping, turn in grip was still very poor with Potenzas) and my mpg improved by almost 10%. I'm giving serious consideration to putting a set of Michelin PS4 on in 225/40 R18 size - those 215s cost a lot more as they are such a niche size, and extra 5mm at either side of the type will not cause any snagging issues. They do increase the rolling diameter by 8mm, or 1.3%, which is about the same as the difference between a new 7mm tyre depth and a worn 3mm tyre depth.

The Polo GTI does sit very high on its springs compared to the Performance Golfs (not sure if that is down to the selective suspension and perhaps ACC equipped Golfs suffer the same vs those without ACC).

I have also had the auto braking jam the anchors on when backing into a parking space - it felt like i'd backed into a wall when all there was behind me was a low kerb and rose bushes beyond. I was a good foot away from the rose bushes.

I do occasionally find the DSG box slow to pick up from a standstill at low throttle applications - like engaging reverse to slowly back around a corner - it does nothing, so you poke the accelerator a bit more to get it to go, and then it picks up...hard!
johnpolo2
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by johnpolo2 »

Well that's interesting. Option list pretty similar to mine, obviously sunroof is not an issue. South African residents driving around in their GTI's some of us UK buyers 10 months on and still no confirmed build date. No bias by the factory I hope. Or is it just utter incompetence.
I had read that the UK market is one of the main destinations for Polo GTI models . Feels more like back of the queue .
jbGTI wrote:Hi Guys,

I have recently picked my my New Polo GTI, albeit im in South Africa, thought Id give you my feedback none the less.

Spec of my car is as follows : Colour White, LED Lights, 18 Brescias, Sunroof, Blind Spot Assist, Auto Fold Mirrors, Parking Sensors, Park Assist and Climatronic option.
A nice touch that the Sales person did for me was put on the Golf GTI Silver bottom key tip to the key fob, as well as load the icons for the radio stations before I picked up the car.

Overall, the GTI is a brilliant car, has certain small issues but overall very much pleased with the car so far.

Coming from a Polo 6R 1.4, there is a huge step up in overall quality and general niceness of the cabin. The media screen has really nice functionality with various screens for different information and Apple Car Play works brilliantly. I have not got Android Auto to work so far with several android phones tried. The general space inside of the cabin just feels so much more bigger, its quite a step up in space over the previous gen Polo. The sound system is generally quite good. The Alcantara / Leather seats are good without being brilliant. (PS. I have seen a GTI with full leather seats and to me that looks really really nice, will post a pic on the Seats thread).

Power is instantaneous, no matter which gear your in, just feels like there is always power on tap. Launch control works brilliantly (left a A45 AMG dead at the robots :D ), even with the Bridgestone Turanza's spinning like crazy. Top Speed I have achieved so far is 242 km/h. I feel this car can easily do 250 km/h. Interesting that the official spec says top speed of 236 km/h. I have a few mates with Polo 6 R/C GTI's and this new GTI is certainly a tab bit faster that the previous gen. I did not feel much of a difference after 1000 kms, but did not really drive the car hard enough to really pick up any differences. Also, when picking up the car, the sales person mentioned to me that try not use the Launch control alot as VW will check how often you use it at a service interval and this could potentially lead to my warranty being voided.

The DSG gearbox works quite well for me, shifts are very quick and overall gear ratios are pleasant. The handbrake release or pull up is notchy and not smooth for me.

Fuel Consumption for me is good enough, overall long term consumption is 7.3 l/km or 39 mpg, driving hard its about 8.5 l/km or 33 mpg and completely cruising I have achieved 4.5 l/km or 63 mpg.

The handling of the car is good enough, although this car could could be lowered a further 20mm to be about perfect. The GTI does handle pretty well, the car certainly feels like it could easily handle way more power. My old polo had a massive drop and was lowered about 60mm, so that car practically stuck to the road like glue. So in this regard I might be abit biased. The Bridgestone Turanzas just suck, anywhere approaching half throttle in first gear will cause traction control to kick in. I will definitely be changing to a different set in the future. Interestingly I have been told to increase my tire size width to 225 from the standard 215 as 225 width tires are considerably cheaper and there is a much bigger variety available at that size. The overall ride of the car is quite firm without being harsh. In my opinion, what contributes to this is that the front tires have a spec to be pumped up to 280 bar, which in my opinion is alot. I have dropped the pressure to 240 bar and the ride was better but noticed abit of the sidewall of the tire getting dirty so reverted back to 280 bar for a firm sidewall.

The different modes to drive the car in : eco, normal, sport and individual, is certainly interesting to me and each mode completely changes the dynamic of the car. Eco mode is very very subtle power with a lot of the gearbox coasting in neutral as soon as you let go of the accelerator. Normal mode is brilliant for everyday driving enough power without being bat sh*t crazy, which leads to Sport Mode, which is very very fun to drive in, exhaust and sound aktor goes louder, much more pops and bangs from the exhaust, throttle is more responsive, and the gearbox also changes quite a lot, love the downshift when slowing down.

To the chaps who would want to modify this car, I have seen a company called CPI Tuning here in South Africa, do a Stage 1 (Software, downpipe, exhaust) upgrade on the GTI, and achieved 205kw and 497nm on the dyno.

Overall I am very happy, although there are a few small issues that I have found with the car,
My main issue is receiving the car with the Bridgestone Turanza's, why put a GT or middle of the range on effectively a performance car. I would be so so much happier if I had stickier tires on this car.
I also have a few rattles in the interior of the car which seem to come and go or move around the cabin. One day I will hear a tiny rattle in the A pillar and the next day nothing in the A pillar but a rattle in the handbrake section. My previous 6R after 5 years had not a single rattle.
The handbrake release or pull up is notchy and not smooth for me.
When reversing, and using the brake mostly to control the speed, there is a awful howling noise emanating from the brakes but only when reversing.
The media screen is an absolute fingerprint magnet. I generally have to clean the screen every morning when jumping in the car using my small cloth that comes with my sunglasses to clean them.
The automatic brake assist is truly deathly terrifying. Thankfully I have not had this system kick in at a low or even moderate speed, its only kicked in when I have been parking, but the sudden jolt and locking of the brakes sounds and feels exactly like you have hit something to bring you to a complete stop, I have actually jumped out the car on a few occasions to check around the car to see if I have hit something.

These are my thoughts and opinions, I hope it is informative and helpful to anyone.

Should anyone have any questions about anything particular, I would be more than willing to assist.

Just a quick question, does anyone the code name for this new Polo range? Like the previous gen Polo was the 6R and facelift being 6C, or like BMW's 3 series being E90, F30 etc.
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RUM4MO
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by RUM4MO »

I'd think that it will be more down to different countries taking/allowing longer for implementing the rules governing emissions than favouring local market customers.
johnpolo2 wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 5:24 am Well that's interesting. Option list pretty similar to mine, obviously sunroof is not an issue. South African residents driving around in their GTI's some of us UK buyers 10 months on and still no confirmed build date. No bias by the factory I hope. Or is it just utter incompetence.
I had read that the UK market is one of the main destinations for Polo GTI models . Feels more like back of the queue]
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

RUM4MO wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 10:12 am I'd think that it will be more down to different countries taking/allowing longer for implementing the rules governing emissions than favouring local market customers.
johnpolo2 wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 5:24 am Well that's interesting. Option list pretty similar to mine, obviously sunroof is not an issue. South African residents driving around in their GTI's some of us UK buyers 10 months on and still no confirmed build date. No bias by the factory I hope. Or is it just utter incompetence.
I had read that the UK market is one of the main destinations for Polo GTI models . Feels more like back of the queue]

There will be certain markets that are not fully signed up to comply with new WLTP regs (USA being one of them - they like their V8s too much and won't want to downsize while fuel is $3 a gallon as opposed to £6 a gallon here (UK). For those markets (perhaps SA is one of them), VW may still be making non GPF equipped Polo GTIs for them.
barrywi
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by barrywi »

Front Assist.
Can anyone tell me where in the menu the on/ off selection is? It is not clear in the handbook.
I think it seemed to work when I got the car but now I am not so sure. I know others do not like it but I would like to know if it is on or off. I suppose I could test it by trying to run a pedestrian over?? :twisted:
johnpolo2
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Drives: Polo GTI 2022
Location: Stratford upon Avon

Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by johnpolo2 »

Didn't order front assist on my current GTI as I never trusted the system to behave. Not looking forward to having it in the new model.

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jylydesign
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by jylydesign »

johnpolo2 wrote:Didn't order front assist on my current GTI as I never trusted the system to behave. Not looking forward to having it in the new model.

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johnpolo2
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by johnpolo2 »

That's good to know. Obviously I'd see how it worked in reality. Always nice to have an on off switch with whatever...
jylydesign wrote:
johnpolo2 wrote:Didn't order front assist on my current GTI as I never trusted the system to behave. Not looking forward to having it in the new model.

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You can turn it off if you really don't want it but one day you might be glad of it.
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monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

barrywi wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 2:59 am Front Assist.
Can anyone tell me where in the menu the on/ off selection is? It is not clear in the handbook.
I think it seemed to work when I got the car but now I am not so sure. I know others do not like it but I would like to know if it is on or off. I suppose I could test it by trying to run a pedestrian over?? :twisted:
Go "car" button on the infotainment system, then settings, you'll find "front assist" in there.

You'd know if you'd switched it off. There are a few prominent warnings on the dash when it is switched off - very annoying.

Not sure i'd rely on it, there have been a few occasions when something has shot out of a side road imminently ahead of me, doing half my speed, and the system has not thrown up a warning as my Golf would've done in the same circumstance. The cruise control function always manages to maintain a gap competently, not that I really use the function.
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