ontheellipse
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Maryland
I hadn't driven a GTI, or any Volkswagen, since driving a buddy's older GTI's and Rabbits in the 90's. I've been looking at the new GTI's on the internet and reading about them here. Finally got a chance to drive one yesterday (2018/cloth/manual/SE) and here were the things that surprised me (maybe you're in the same boat I'm in researching a purchase):
• much faster than I expected. reading about tunes, I assumed I'd get the car and want to jump to Stage 1 immediately. Maybe i'm old, but I think stock is plenty fast. I don't worry about speeding tickets now, but I quickly found myself doing close to 100 without realizing it.
•*suspension feels great. I expected a harsher ride. I made a turn down a road that had just been stripped for repayment...many manhole covers/bumps sitting high in the road. I braced for a hit, but it soaked the bumps up nicely.
• in every review I've watched, there are always comments about the interior feeling more expensive than it is, and I didn't get that impression at all. Maybe I'm not used to cars in that price range, but most things I touched felt flimsy/cheap. The radio volume knob, the sideview mirror knob, the lever that raises and lowers the seat height....all felt a lot cheaper than I expected. I've also read that current WRX's are the opposite; that they feel cheaper than they are. That will be an interesting test drive.
• shifting gears felt a little more rubbery than I expected. Not terrible, i just expected something more solid. I did like the gearing, though. The shift points felt pretty much perfect.
I can't tell if I walked away more or less interested in the car. I feel like I'd like to drive the DSG version, too. Did the interior feel cheap to anyone else, but you got over it because you like the chassis/motor/driving characteristics?
• much faster than I expected. reading about tunes, I assumed I'd get the car and want to jump to Stage 1 immediately. Maybe i'm old, but I think stock is plenty fast. I don't worry about speeding tickets now, but I quickly found myself doing close to 100 without realizing it.
•*suspension feels great. I expected a harsher ride. I made a turn down a road that had just been stripped for repayment...many manhole covers/bumps sitting high in the road. I braced for a hit, but it soaked the bumps up nicely.
• in every review I've watched, there are always comments about the interior feeling more expensive than it is, and I didn't get that impression at all. Maybe I'm not used to cars in that price range, but most things I touched felt flimsy/cheap. The radio volume knob, the sideview mirror knob, the lever that raises and lowers the seat height....all felt a lot cheaper than I expected. I've also read that current WRX's are the opposite; that they feel cheaper than they are. That will be an interesting test drive.
• shifting gears felt a little more rubbery than I expected. Not terrible, i just expected something more solid. I did like the gearing, though. The shift points felt pretty much perfect.
I can't tell if I walked away more or less interested in the car. I feel like I'd like to drive the DSG version, too. Did the interior feel cheap to anyone else, but you got over it because you like the chassis/motor/driving characteristics?