I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Chat about your 2018+ AW/BZ model Polos here!
Andy Beats
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 2012
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:12 pm
Drives: Nissan Leaf 40KW (and Polo United)
Location: aberdeen

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by Andy Beats »

monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:06 pm Cruise (ACC) is standard on a GTI+, but not on the GTI.
Adaptive cruise I've used in several cars and I really don't like it at all, so wouldn't use that side of it anyway.
IMO even on the shortest settings it leaves gaps that are too large and invites people to squeeze in front of you.
It's weird that they go straight from no cruise at all to adaptive though, it's not a logical step to go from nothing to the most fancy option.
monkeyhanger
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 2643
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:58 pm
Drives: Audi A4 Avant Quattro 40 TDI, Polo GTI+
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by monkeyhanger »

Andy Beats wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:45 pm
monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:06 pm Cruise (ACC) is standard on a GTI+, but not on the GTI.
Adaptive cruise I've used in several cars and I really don't like it at all, so wouldn't use that side of it anyway.
IMO even on the shortest settings it leaves gaps that are too large and invites people to squeeze in front of you.
It's weird that they go straight from no cruise at all to adaptive though, it's not a logical step to go from nothing to the most fancy option.
You can use it as a traditional CC with the added bonus of it bringing your insurance down a little because of the safety braking feature. For this reason, the MK7 Golf performance models, even the R, had reasonable insurance costs because ACC is standard. I'd expect that the GTI+ is marginally cheaper to ensure than the GTI for the fact that the + gets ACC as standard.
Andy Beats
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 2012
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:12 pm
Drives: Nissan Leaf 40KW (and Polo United)
Location: aberdeen

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by Andy Beats »

monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:00 pm You can use it as a traditional CC
Yeah, that's what I do.
I need to stop speaking about cruise or it will just Pee me off that the Gti doesn't have it even more! :)
brainbow
Bronze Member
Posts: 140
Joined: Tue May 08, 2018 9:23 pm
Drives: 72 Plate Facelift GTI
Location: West Midlands

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by brainbow »

Haha didn’t mean to open a can of worn on the Climate Control!

On my R Line it’s £420 extra for Climate Control. I have it now and just didn’t think it was that great. Of course I might miss it but I’m sure standard AC in a car this size will be fine. 90% of the time it’s just me in there anyway
monkeyhanger
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 2643
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:58 pm
Drives: Audi A4 Avant Quattro 40 TDI, Polo GTI+
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by monkeyhanger »

brainbow wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:11 pm Haha didn’t mean to open a can of worn on the Climate Control!

On my R Line it’s £420 extra for Climate Control. I have it now and just didn’t think it was that great. Of course I might miss it but I’m sure standard AC in a car this size will be fine. 90% of the time it’s just me in there anyway
It's a bit of form over function, nothing more than that. It looks a bit more swish but does the same job, and no better than the manual option.

Funny how there's a price discrepancy between the trim level though. It's not as if the GTI/+ has any more relevant hardware than the R-line already in place.
User avatar
OomStu_ZA
Gold Member
Posts: 622
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 6:06 pm
Drives: 2019 VW Polo GTi
Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by OomStu_ZA »

Reading brainbow's post that Climate Control costs 420 Pounds in the UK, is expensive!!
Here in SA its half that amount so thought I would throw up a local config of a fully spec'd car excluding the NAV unit:

Current exchange rate Rand to Pound: 0,046 Pound sterling
VW.JPG
VW1.JPG
Andy Beats
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 2012
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:12 pm
Drives: Nissan Leaf 40KW (and Polo United)
Location: aberdeen

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by Andy Beats »

monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:57 pm It's a bit of form over function, nothing more than that. It looks a bit more swish but does the same job, and no better than the manual option.
Surely depends on your definition of better.
Some, me included, would define the fact it can be set and left forever, with no need for any further input, as 'better'.
Same as some would describe ACC as 'better' because it will maintain a gap to the car in front for you.
Trantor
Getting There!
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 3:46 pm
Drives: GTI+
Location: Dorset

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by Trantor »

Congratulations SRGD on your new acquisition :D You did the same as me, moved from a 6C GTI to a GTI+. Except I went from white to blue. You should enjoy it. I’ve had mine a little over a year now and still very happy with it. Better overall than the 6C, smoother and quieter.
monkeyhanger
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 2643
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:58 pm
Drives: Audi A4 Avant Quattro 40 TDI, Polo GTI+
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by monkeyhanger »

Andy Beats wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 6:05 pm
monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:57 pm It's a bit of form over function, nothing more than that. It looks a bit more swish but does the same job, and no better than the manual option.
Surely depends on your definition of better.
Some, me included, would define the fact it can be set and left forever, with no need for any further input, as 'better'.
Same as some would describe ACC as 'better' because it will maintain a gap to the car in front for you.
ACC offers greater functionality than CC. It maintains a distance, even working with the DSG box to come down (and back up) the gears. It'll warn you that the car in front has jumped on the brakes and brake for you if you don't react quick enough. Technically it offers a hell of a lot more than CC. For me, it's hugely better, even though I've never needed it to intervene with emergency braking.

The climate control doesn't really improve the functionality of ventilation in the car. The aircon doesn't get any cooler. You're just setting an arbitrary number on the display to maintain a temp. Turning the temp dial does pretty much the same thing. You're paying for the appearance of the interface and motors adjusting ducting flap positions rather than the venting position dial and associated linkage.
S_94
Gold Member
Posts: 696
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:41 pm
Drives: Polo GTI+
Location: UK

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by S_94 »

ACC is absolutely brilliant for creeping forward in slow moving traffic. Really lazy driving but can be such a blessing for traffic jams.
SRGTD
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 3508
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:40 pm
Drives: 2020 AW Polo GTI+, Pure White.
Location: UK

Re: I’ve joined the GTI+ club!

Post by SRGTD »

Trantor wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:41 pm Congratulations SRGD on your new acquisition :D You did the same as me, moved from a 6C GTI to a GTI+. Except I went from white to blue. You should enjoy it. I’ve had mine a little over a year now and still very happy with it. Better overall than the 6C, smoother and quieter.
Thanks. Initial impressions are good, and yes I agree it does seem smoother and quieter than the previous generation car and just a bit more grown up. My 6c felt a bit like the modern day version of some of the old school hot hatches I owned in the 1980’s and 1990’s in terms of the way it drove and handled. The GTI+ does seem quite a bit bigger than the 6c and is a bit more of a squeeze to get it in my (small) garage - in fact it’s only 35mm narrower (ex mirrors) than the mk6 Golf GTD I had, so it’s certainly grown in size compared to the previous generation car.

I drove the GTI+ for the first time in the dark earlier. I do like the cabin at night with the footwell lighting, the light strip that runs along the lower edge of the dash pad and into the front doors. The lighting in the interior door handle recesses is a nice touch too, and the overhead interior LED lights are really bright! The LED headlamps are good - I’d say they seem marginally better than those on the 6c GTI. A night drive with less traffic on the road gave me an opportunity to get used to the DSG a bit more too.

I’m hoping the interior remains as vibration free and rattle free as it is at the moment. Apart from the very occasional squeak or rattle, my 6c GTI was very well screwed together and didn’t suffer from unwanted cabin noises in spite of its firmer suspension.

Overall I’m pleased I made the change and I’m looking forward to driving and enjoying it 🙂.
Post Reply