MK6 -v- MK7 : Golf GTI

The Dealership

After dealing with the cocks at my local Sutherland Shire dealership, a recalcitrant bunch they were, who refused to provide much information at all unless I was in a position to sign on the dotted line there and then … it was refreshing to encounter the complete opposite in terms of customer service further up the road at the Mascot Volkswagen Dealership. My dealings with my local Sutherland Shire dealership, a place where I’ve purchased two Golf GTI’s in the past, was so poor that I’m reluctant to return there or purchase another vehicle from them again. That’s coming from a guy that loves and lives in the Sutherland Shire.

The Route

The opportunity arose to test drive the new Golf GTI this week. It was only a short test drive of about 20min around the Botany Bay area of Sydney, which included driving on the concrete paved Foreshore Drive that runs parallel with the two Sydney Airport runways, down to La Peruse at Botany Bay, a nearby industrial estate and Botany Road on return to the Mascot dealership.

The Golf GTI

I opted to test drive a standard Golf GTI with Manual Transmission. The GTI didn’t appear to have any options fitted. In contrast, my Mark 6 Golf GTI is DSG and is also fitted with DCC dampers and a set of genuine Volkswagen Driver Gear Sport Springs that are about 10% firmer than the standard MK6 Golf GTI springs, lower ride height about 10mm and add about 1.0 degree of negative camber at the front and about 0.5 degree of negative camber at the rear. This aids handling and cuts out a fair degree of low speed compression – secondary ride incessant patter/gyrations on motorways on my MK6 Golf GTI. Will the new Golf 7 GTI be a step above a MK6 Golf GTI with sports springs and DCC?

The Drive

I commenced my journey with the Golf 7 GTI in ‘Normal Mode’ with DCC and steering in their default normal setting. In normal mode, the steering of the new Golf 7 GTI is much lighter. It doesn’t give any more or less feedback than the Golf MK6 GTI, but is definitely lighter.

Normal mode of the Golf 7 dampers provide a much better ride than the older MK6 Golf GTI. There’s a great leap in terms of ride refinement with no loss in dynamic ability and handling of the Golf 7 GTI. Striking compressions when driving along scarred sections of roadway and sunken manholes has shown a remarkable improvement, with the Golf 7 GTI riding with silky smoothness over the crap Sydney roadways. Suspension refinement is a definite plus on the Golf 7 GTI.

Driving out of the Mascot dealership and onto Foreshore Road in normal mode failed to show up any low speed – secondary ride incessant bobbing up and down, commonly referred as patter in engineering speak, which was prevalent in the older MK6 Golf GTI on stock GTI springs, even in Normal DCC mode.

Putting the new Golf 7 GTI to its first test, taking off around a curved slip road clearly showed that the XDS+, ESC and T/C calibration is been notably improved. There was less hinderance than is apparent in the older MK6 GTI.

Really putting the new Golf 7 GTI to test around a suburban roundabout with a left hook exit has showed how far improved the new Golf 7 GTI has come. The Golf 7 GTI maintained a tight arc around the roundabout, with no under-steer, no arms crossing over and a faint feel of the ESP and TC working in an unobtrusive way. I could also feel the rear inside wheel brake being pinched to aid in maintaining a smooth arc and limit any under-steer. The new steering system made it easier to hook around the roundabout and hook the opposite direction out of the smallish roundabout.

In contrast, the MK6 Golf GTI, even with DG Sport Springs and DCC, exhibited greater pitch and roll, the ESC and TC interfered with greater violence, and my hands were crossed over each other. The older MK6 GTI was more ragged & much less composed, with the driver having to lift off the throttle to tighten the line of arc and regain chassis composure. This was also the case hooking the steering the opposite way on exit of the roundabout, with the driver having to lift the throttle to tighten up the line due to excess chassis push into understeer. The new Golf 7 GTI had it all over my older MK6 in terms of less understeer, composure, XDS + actuation/ESC intervention and making forward progress.

It appears that the ESC and TC is calibrated to slowly & unobtrusively reduce the revs, rather than abruptly cut the power as was the case in the older MK6 GTI.

Putting new Golf 7 GTI in Sport mode when driving on the concreted section of Foreshore Drive only managed to show a very faint feel almost absent feel of patter over the small myriad of undulations and waves in the concrete roadway. This was a problem with the older MK6 Golf GTI, which caused me to fit the firmer DG Sport springs that helped reduce the incessant patter/vertical bobbing up and down. The MK6 GTI still exhibited a greater amount of patter than the new Golf 7 GTI. The new Golf 7 GTI rides supremely well, and even in Sport mode, and is another class above the preceding MK6 Golf GTI with DCC for ride comfort and dynamic ability.

Going from Normal mode to Sport mode in the new Golf 7 GTI didn’t appear to radically change the throttle response of the motor when fitted to the Manual Transmission gearbox. The steering firms up, but doesn’t feel to firm up to the degree that the older MK6 GTI does when going from Normal mode to Sport mode DCC. I was lead to believe that the throttle would sharpen when putting the Golf 7 GTI into Sport mode, I couldn’t detect any real difference in throttle response.

The new direct & port injected EA888 motor in the new Golf 7 GTI has a deeper growl and pushes up the rev range in a diesel like fashion compared to the older MK6 EA888 motor in the MK6 GTI. The older motor in the MK6 GTI responds more eagerly and urgently to throttle application in any gear anywhere in the rev-range, but is much less linear when spooling up higher into the rev range.

The new direct & port injected EA888 motor of the Golf 7 GTI appears to have taken a step back towards the older EA113 motor with an apparently slower, less eager, but linear response when responding to initial throttle applications. The new Golf 7 GTI feels to pull harder, but with a lower pitched growl in a diesel like fashion that seems to just get on with the job.

In contrast, the older EA888 direction injection only MK6 GTI motor feels the more racy and immediate of the two motors and dishes up more character, but is difficult to modulate on the throttle as the turbo spools up so much faster and harder than the motor in the Golf 7 GTI.

The loss of zeal in the new Golf 7 GTI motor may be due to the taller gearing of the Manual Trans and perhaps more poignantly, the motor feeling as if it is operating on port injection in the mid-range of it power band, which is where most drivers will spend most of their time in the rev-range.

The XDS+, ESC and TC in the new Golf 7 GTI is a step above that of the older generation MK6 Golf GTI. Ploughing on, the new Golf 7 GTI appears to have the motor reduce or slow the revs once the front wheels feel like losing purchase with the bitumen, rather than abrupt brake application with the clearly audible knocking sound of brake application as was the case in the preceding MK6 Golf GTI, which felt ragged and unruly in comparison with the new Golf 7 GTI. The new Golf 7 GTI definitely has enhanced grip levels on take off from stationary position.

The grip levels of the Golf 7 GTI have definitely been improved with the new XDS+ pseudo electronic open differential. Taking off from traffic lights, around corners and snaking around roundabout has the Golf 7 GTI front end sticking with greater resilience than the phased out MK6 GTI.

The lighter, wider and longer wheelbase brings the standard Golf 7 GTI closer to the Renault Megane RS265 in terms of overall front end grip levels, so much so, it is difficult to fathom why you’d want to fork out extra for the PP – GTI, AWD of the Golf R/Audi S3 or the mechanic diff of the Renault Megane RS265 in dry conditions.

Taking a few faster paced bends has the new Golf 7 GTI chassis sitting flatter with greater composure. In contrast, the MK6 GTI involved greater drama with the driver having to work harder to execute the same turn, with the front end feeling heavier and the rear end lighter, and the chassis exhibiting a greater amount of fore and aft pitched and roll from side to side based on the shorter and narrower chassis footprint ... not all the improvement in the Golf 7 GTI is in the electronics update, the chassis grip level has clearly been improved.

Striking bumps in a straight line has the older MK6 GTI making a greater audible thump from the front suspension. The MK6 GTI is definitely noisier than the new Golf 7, that occasionally lets in a thump, but muted to a much greater degree than the MK6. Additionally, scarred sections of patchwork roadway struck mid-corner has the MK6 GTI unsettled laterally from side to side as the DCC adaptive dampers firm up both front wheels simultaneously, which tends to shift some of the chassis load laterally across the front axle.

The DCC in the Golf 7 GTI works independently from left to right, which further adds to the supreme ride comfort & suspension independence on mid corner undulations. The DCC in the new Golf 7 GTI shows that the factory electronically continuously adjustable damper tech is gradually getting closer and closer to the premium aftermarket dampers such as Koni – FSD.

The greater composure of the new Golf 7 GTI does not necessary make it less fun, just a more focused drive. In comparison, the preceding MK6 GTI is both more demanding and awkward to drive, while failing to keep pace with the refinement and composure of the new Golf 7 GTI. The new Golf 7 GTI seems to dynamically slot in between the Megane RS265 and older MK6 Golf GTI. That is without the PP mechanical LSD. You're definitely making faster progress in the new Golf 7 GTI around bends and curves.

The manual gearshift in the new Golf 7 GTI has been greatly improved over the MK6 GTI. The manual shifter feels shorter with greater weight in actuation, and there is less chance of the driver hitting their hand on the centre console as the console appears to taper away and upwards to a greater degree than the older MK6 GTI. The foot pedals also offer good feel & lightness, but the throttle travel feels to be shorter than in my MK6 GTI with DSG. Mascot Volkswagen state that the PP GTI will be about 60kgs heavier than the std Manual Transmission Golf 7 GTI, with about 50kgs of that weight over the front axle.

From an ownership proposition, the new Golf 7 GTI allows the owners not only to have and eat their cake at the same time, but allows the owner to eat more of that cake more of the time then was the case with the preceding MK6 GTI, with much greater refinement introduced into the chassis ride comfort with added dynamic capability for steering and handling.

Summary

Is it worth upgrading from the MK6 Golf GTI to the new Golf 7 GTI? I’d have to say yes.

It’s not all good, the new Golf 7 GTI motor has traded off a bit of zeal for a greater amount of linearity in power delivery/turbo spooling. The older EA888 in the MK6 also sounds & feels more racy and is the more characterful of the two motors.

Pros of the new Golf 7 GTI is that it has a tangible improvement in chassis grip level, a notable improvement in electronic XDS+, ESC and TC actuation, a new-found level of unmatched refinement … while at the same time offering a more focused drive with a much less ragged nature, making it easier for the driver to cover ground quickly with less effort. The new Golf 7 GTI is easier to live with in town with the lighter steering in Normal and Comfort modes and a thinner steering wheel, but more business-like with the sharper variable ratio steering when stringing a series of corners together.

It may be time to put the MK6 Golf GTI for sale and upgrade to the new Golf 7 GTI:

Is this a loooong 4 sale thread haha.

Nice work WJ: looking forward to your review of the PP and R when they come out!

Nice write up. The wait is going to be painful.

Great review.

Keen to hear the noise of the new engine for myself.

WJ

Can you confirm that the manual still pulls well from incredibly low rpms in the higher gears. I regularly slot my manual mark6 into 6th gear at 55 kmh and it handles this comfortably.

I have a 2014 build mark7 on order.

Thanks

Hindsight

Rest assured …. The Golf 7 GTI pulls cleanly from low revs. My tractability test heading west on Foreshore Drive towards Beauchamp Street on an uphill gradient had the Golf 7 GTI chugging along comfortably in both 5th and 6th gears at low revs.

5th and 6th gears in the Manual Trans Golf 7 GTI are very tall. In the 60-70-80kph speed limit drive, I found myself keeping the Golf 7 Manual in 3rd and 4th gear mainly, as this felt to be most comfortable without unduly laboring the motor.

The new generation dual injection EA888 motor of the Golf 7 GTI brings the power delivery closer to the GTD. You have loads of low down punchy torque and fantastic in hear acceleration, but a less frenetic top end. It takes a bit of excitement away from the motor. I can see why Volkswagen-Audi group have done this for improved fuel economy under load – keep the motor revving in the lower end of the tachometer to enhance fuel economy.

It doesn’t surprise me that the new Golf 7 GTI has not posted much faster acceleration times than the outgoing MK6 GTI. I think where the Golf 7 GTI will excel (Golf R/Audi S3 for that matter) is torque-rich in-gear acceleration (80-120kph), similar to what a diesel motor offers out on the freeway.

In comparison, the older MK6 GTI feels to have less torque available from down low, but feels like it has a lighter-weight flywheel in that it wants to rev faster and more freely, especially higher up in the rev-range (4500rpm +). This makes it feel like a more peaky motor that spools faster and with in a frenzied manner.

We need to bear in mind that the Golf 7 GTI tester motor was still quite tight with low mileage.

I think the EA888 direct-injection motor in the MK6 GTI will go down as the most characterful turbo motor in recent VAG memory. Additionally: part of the MK6 GTI lack of traction during acceleration may be put down to the way the direct injected EA888 motor develops its fast spooling & peaky power delivery.

Another thing affecting the chassis balance of the new Golf 7 GTI in terms of its ability to reduce under-steer during cornering is that the motor now sits further rearwards in relation to the front axle. The MK6 GTI has the motor hanging further out front, which makes it a bit more of a handful during cornering maneuvres. You also sit lower in the Golf 7 GTI, which also creates a sensation of sportiness as opposed to the more upright seating position of the MK6 GTI.

Both Ray and I felt that the mob at Five Dock and Mascot Volkswagen easier to deal with than our local dealer when it comes to consulting for information. Ray, much to my consternation, ended buying the Five Dock MD's demo Golf R. Thankfully, it doesn't drink any oil.

WJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WhiteJames

part of the MK6 GTI lack of traction during acceleration may be put down to the way the direct injected EA888 motor develops its fast spooling & peaky power delivery

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Have to be careful when pulling out of side streets fast in my GTI lol, tyres lose traction easily if I'm not too careful (even though I'm running near new Goodyear Eagle F1A2s).

On a day to day drive, the new EA888 engine will excel with the extra low down torque though. My MkVI GTI can feel a bit lacking low down when driven sedately.