. . .
Well for the Mk7 I did a bunch of research and instead of going the Motul route like most, which people seem to even concede up front makes for tough shifts in cold weather, I went back to the old standby Pennzoil Syncromesh and got the same results - no more crunching or even having to delay shifting. Problem fixed. The shifts are smooth even when cold.
. . .
Credit to user "Audi Junkie" for first posting this in this thread. He's been a step ahead for a while now.
Thanks for your feedback. I recently bought a '17 GTI MT w/54k miles and the shifter had noticeable resistance going into second gear until the revs came down (i.e., could only be shifted slowly when the revs closely matched). It also felt quite rough/notchy as it slipped into gear, but no actual grinds. Because there were no grinds, I had a feeling all it needed was a fluid change and bought 3L of the very expensive VW G052527A2 fluid the day I bought the car.
In hindsight, this was risky. But I previously had an '08 GTI (owned since new) and the shifter on that car got better around 100k mi after a change with fresh OEM VW fluid. Interestingly, the new VW MK7 G052527A2 fluid is noticeably thicker than the previous OEM spec VW G052171A2 fluid for my MK5 GTI, and it's also about $20 more per bottle for the MK7 fluid.
In my new-to-me '17 GTI, the old fluid came out absolutely filthy when drained so I think it was probably the original factory fill. After putting in the new VW fluid, I was quite disheartened and worried when it still drove the same as before for the first couple of days. Upon seeing bicycle019's post, I even bought Pennzoil Synchromesh fluid from Autozone and was going to give it a shot the following weekend. However, after about a week of driving on the fresh VW fluid, it may have "broken in" and my shifting issues went away. No crunching or delays, smooth even when cold with outside temps in the 40s, feels even better than my MK5 did when new. Just returned the Pennzoil Synchromesh, although I would still give it a shot if the shifting quality worsens over time given how cheap it is to try.
All that to say, I think it's extremely helpful for folks to post their experiences with various fluids. For me, new OEM VW fluid was the ticket to smooth shifts. It's expensive at around $150/change, but since I bought it from FCP Euro, I can take advantage of the lifetime replacement. Also really glad to know that Pennzoil Synchromesh might be another good option I can get local and immediately for cheap.