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I've been wanting to do a full review of this car, having had it for over a month, and about 1500 miles so far. However, I recently hit a pot hole and got a nice little bubble in the sidewall. So, I am thinking I'll wait until I get the new tires on and some miles in those before writing the review. The Continental ControlContact Sport A/S tires this car came with (used) are not bad, but I do get the sense they have a soft sidewall - evidenced by how easily the one got pinched by a pothole. I'm going to get the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ and see if that will wake up this car's handling a little more. Suffice it to say, the GTI handles corners beautifully as-is, but I can definitely feel some delay in the response when really pushing the car. Continental tires are known for being a little soft, so I expect the Michelins to be an improvement. So, silver lining of losing a tire is that I need to upgrade.
Ownership update... of sorts! I was itching to just go for a drive, so I did. Only about 10 minutes into my cruise, I'm stopped at a red traffic light and get a little shove from behind. Yep, I got rear-ended.
Luckily for both of us, that is, the owner of a 2003-ish Mercedes Benz E-Class and myself, there was nary a scratch. The only thing that broke was my plastic license plate frame from the dealer.
I kept saying "Michelin", but after some more research, I've decided to go with the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate. It's a relatively new Ultra-High Performance All-Season tire, and first impressions are great. They are far quieter than the Continental ControlContact Sport A/S tires that were on the GTI when I bought it, and yet, they feel a touch more responsive, too, with a slightly stiffer feel that doesn't ruin the ride. The tire just feels a little softer to the touch, too. So far so good!
I kept saying "Michelin", but after some more research, I've decided to go with the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate. It's a relatively new Ultra-High Performance All-Season tire, and first impressions are great. They are far quieter than the Continental ControlContact Sport A/S tires that were on the GTI when I bought it, and yet, they feel a touch more responsive, too, with a slightly stiffer feel that doesn't ruin the ride. The tire just feels a little softer to the touch, too. So far so good!
What was the price difference between those and MP A/S3?
What was the price difference between those and MP A/S3?
Not too significant, actually.
I was mainly thinking about three things:
Quietness
Wet performance
Maximum dry grip levels
On all three fronts, the Goodyears seem to be equal or better than the Michelin. Only question mark for me is snow and winter, but I am optimistic. Price was just one factor, albeit a small one.
Is this the Hot-Hatch Lifestyle? - Living with this GTI
It's hard to believe it's been nearly 3 months since I snagged this Carbon Steel Gray Metallic 2016 VW Golf GTI Autobahn with Performance Package. That's a long name, but I think all those adjectives are unnecessary for a car like this. Everyone knows exactly what the GTI is, whether they know the history or not. My manager was asking me about the car, "What did you end up getting?" I tell him it's a GTI, and he replies, "Ah, cool, I remember the cars you were looking at sounded sporty. Isn't that like a two-door hatchback?" Close enough, boss. I think the four-door is super cool in that the practicality of the Golf isn't compromised in the slightest by its GTI-ness, and, in fact, this car feels even more spacious than my 2016 Lexus IS did.
So, let's get into what went well and what went wrong so far. I got an oil change done at a hair under 53,000 miles after checking the oil and discovering it to be both a touch lower than the top of the oil fill range on the dipstick as well as darker in color than I expected. I also had to top off the coolant mere weeks after picking the car up when I realized it was low - but now, a couple of months later, the coolant is still right at the level I left it, which is great. So, it might have been a very slow burn-off of coolant over time, which doesn't concern me much.
While getting that oil change, I was informed the front rotors and pads are probably both going to need replacement "sometime before the end of the year", so... that's a big job I'll be looking forward to in the coming months. The car I have has the Golf R brakes, meaning 13.4-inch rotors up front clamped by 4-piston calipers and semi-metallic Textar pads at all four corners. Those in the 3IS community are well aware of the pros and cons of such pads. They have great heat resistance, but they generate lots of dust. In reality, the latter seems to be the case on this car. I wash it twice a month, but each time, I instantly turn one of my washing towels black from the dust of just one wheel. That said, these brakes are fantastic. They feel responsive, bordering on touchy - so it took me a few days to get really used to braking smoothly. The trade-off is great confidence in them on back-roads.
So what else went well or not so well? I hit a pothole, causing a small yet noticeable pinch in my front driver's-side tire. So, I had to replace the Continental Control Contact Sport AS tires with something. After an admittedly undue amount of stressing about the issue, I chose the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate as the replacement tire, since the existing tire was no longer available. The decision was a good one. These tires are both quieter and more refined than the Continentals while offering obviously higher levels of traction - something a powerful FWD car like the GTI will immediately reveal.
One thing that hasn't been so great has been a creaking, rattling sunroof. In the colder months when I first took possession of this car, there were virtually no unwanted noises in the cabin. However, as the temperatures climbed, I noticed a few sounds - one being obviously the rear passenger's side window's seal. I thoroughly cleaned the top of the window glass itself (not touching the inside of the seal so as not to remove any grease), which seemed to help a bit - enough to make the noise unnoticeable on most roads. However, another noise became increasingly unbearable over time, and it came from the sunroof. At first, it was a ticking sound over uneven pavement, and it slowly transitioned over a few days into full-on groaning and creaking. I learned by searching on VW forums that this problem is caused by the rubber seal that joins the roof glass to the body. A friend of mine said his old Honda CR-V had the exact same issue and suggested I use some silicone grease to lube up the rubber seal. So... I did. I got the OE Honda silicone grease, too, which seems to have worked perfectly. The sunroof is silent now! $17 well spent - and I suspect I will need that silicone in the future.
The Fun Parts
Part one of the "Fun Parts" has got to be the everyday usability of this car. Everything inside just works - no gimmickry to speak of, really, making everything useful and non-fluffy. The central screen has somewhat of a gimmick, in that there's a contextual bar at the bottom that expands when I move my hand near the screen. However, I actually like this, as it provides a better view of the screen when I am not touching it. There's really no nonsense here, and on top of that, I can fully enjoy the audio in this car thanks to the Android Auto integration and good-sounding Fender system. It has awesome bass response and decent highs. I do wish there was more clarity in the mid-tones, but it's nonetheless a huge upgrade over the system in my IS, which could get distorted if turned to a high volume.
In terms of driving dynamics, you might have high expectations of a car like this, or, you might not. It's just a front-wheel drive hatchback, after all. So, I can sum up its back-road manners like this:
It feels extremely neutral on turn-in, and off-throttle. The car feels light and balanced.
Cornering limits are easily as high, possibly a bit higher, than I was used to in my IS. There's a sensation that the car has lots of grip reserves.
It's unapologetically front-wheel-driven on corner exit. However, the limited-slip differential can noticeably rotate the car if I get on the power early or turn in very aggressively.
I took this car on a fun drive with a friend in his Kia Stinger, and that turned out to be very satisfying in this car. We both had been wanting to test out some of the roads on the Kansas side of the KC metro, and we found a great road leading up toward Leavenworth with some quick switchbacks, nicely-banked turns, and elevation changes, all surrounded by a translucent green canopy. It was a great road to drive in such an agile car, and the high grip limits came in handy, as did the brakes... I dove into a corner a bit too aggressively, or so I thought. But, thanks to the brakes and the tires, the car managed it without more than a faint tread growl from the tires. I was impressed at how composed it was!
Moody weather seals aside, this car has been an absolute joy so far. Every time I drive it I struggle not to drive needlessly fast. The drivetrain is engaging - from the DSG to the engine, the handling crisp, and the overall experience sporty while not being overtly racy. While I am dreading the maintenance bills of the increasingly-soon 60,000 mile services, I am going to enjoy it in the meantime.
Great update, thanks! I test drove a GTI a few years ago and loved the way it drives. Wasn't smitten with the interior especially as the one i test drove had the plaid seats.
Have you driven a type R one? I imagine the awd would make a huge difference.
04-02-20 | 10:03 AM
Goodyear Eagle Exhilarates for the GTI!
