:wtf: WAP made a car thread? AKA the most boring car thread ever

Strut your greasy stuff!
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What's a hang out
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max225 wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:47 pm What's a hang out
Our pre-meet bromance date before we meet up with our wild boys
Nephew of a :plac: a few first gen immigrant on DFD, resident turk, and ex nazi egg lover now driving a middle class mom mobile.
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razr390 wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 5:54 pm
MexicanYarisTK wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:42 pm

Ive never been a fan of starbucks so those are usually :nope: for me. I'm a regular at peets, which is a chain based in Berkeley Cali, and we have a bunch around mid Atlantic and perhaps NY. Most of them are still closed or only take out thanks to 'rona. In the otherside of the pond however, as far as places are open like restaurants, retail stores, and coffee places things are back to normal in that department.
Good times were had when we hung out at the “meat at peets” or “peets meats” before heading to drive or NovaDubs meets.

:sad:

I really miss Virginia. I don’t know why but I do.
You're not the only one, everyone I knew who left Nova misses Nova. Like I don't know anyone who doesn't
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Whelp,
Got my first minor electrical gremlin in the Blue Meanie. :rolleyes:

It's happened maybe 10 times or so now, but occasionally, when I start the car, I get the dreaded ! in the yellow triangle warning me that the blind spot monitoring system is faulty (I forget the actual verbiage) and when I check the cluster of 3 driving aids via the button on the left steering wheel spoke, I see that blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert are inactivated, with just front collision warning still checked. When I try to check the 2 features to activate them, the yellow triangle just pops up again. Usually one or 2 start/stop cycles will restore everything to normal and I can select all 3 features again.
:notcare: really, as they're kind of annoying, but I'd at least like them to work properly.

Also, got a 7 month write up coming soon.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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7-ish Month Blue Meanie Review
As you all know, after fuckwit Stuart murdered my Mk6 with his F150 back in April, I picked up my Mk7.5 DSG Rabbit Edition 7 months ago December 2nd so I thought it was time to post some impressions.
Couple data points first. I got the car with a bit under 13k miles and I will hit 17k driving home tonight, so I put on approximately 4000 miles so far, including a little 1,000 mile road trip back in June. The car got upper 30’s mpg on that trip which was largely highway miles. Otherwise, for my regular (sub)urban driving, I’m getting ~26 mpg. Note that I don’t do Fuelly or whatever it’s called, I just do rough :math: when I fill up and note miles since last fill up before zeroing out the trip odometer. MFD had been indicating ~27, though I think we got our winter blend gas recently as I’m now seeing closer to 25. MFD is fairly accurate, only about 1 mpg optimistic. This is about the same or slightly better than I got with my Mk6 but now with donkey piss 87 instead of 93 so yay.

So first, the :fuckyeah: , or what I like better than the Mk6, in no particular order.

Engine - definitely notice the increase in powah in the 3rd gen EA888. . The Rabbit Edition came with the Lighting Package and Performance Package, which means 228hp, and 14% increase compared to the 200 in the Mk6, and is definitely noticeable. It pulls really well in the midrange, though it still starts to run out of breath as you approach 6000 rpm. Especially noticeable is the large increase in torque, from 207 to 258 - the 25% increase is quite :nice: . Car and Driver got 5.8 seconds 0-60 with DSG, which is legit quick. The car accelerates effortlessly from under 2k rpm, even in 3rd or 4th gear if I’m too lazy to shift. I drive in :manuel: mode pretty much all the time. Speaking of which...

Trans - Dat 7th gear - It’s really :nice: to have a tall overdrive gear finally. It turns at 1,800 rpms at 70 mph, which is :like: Shifts are a bit smoother, too, and overall less jerky than the old 6 speed. There are also negatives to this box, which I’ll outline below.

LSD - I know it’s not strictly a mechanical unit, but the VAQ is still pretty :neat: . It’s more noticeable than I thought it would be. It’s really cool to give it the beans coming out of a turn and feeling the car pull itself through the turn where the 6 would start to plow. It’s a cool feeling to give it more gas to reduce understeer.

MQB - This platform is tight. So far zero rattles or buzzes, even going over nasty RR tracks. Without having to do the aquarium tube mod as I did in the Mk6. I know the car is not yet 2 years old but so far so good. All 4 doors close with a solid thunk, better than my Mk 6. Curiously, the rear doors on the 6 closed wonderfully solidly, the fronts and hatch, while OK, were not as good. The real test will be this coming winter. The Mk6 definitely rattled more when it was very cold. Legit curious to see how the 7.5 does in the next few months.

Brakes - I realize they’re nothing terribly special, but having :gorf: front brakes is pretty nice. Rotors and calipers are noticeably larger. They seem a bit more linear than the Mk6. They’re not :mindblown: , but they’re pretty good, and I imagine they’d fade less than regular GTI brakes.

Dat color. Pornhole Bloo still makes me :jizz: every time I walk up to it. :megusta:

Interior design/dash layout. The 6 was really good here, as many of you know. The 7.5 is a nice evolution/upgrade in the overall style/design, from the dash to the center stack and console it just all feels like an upgrade stylistically. The seats have extra side bolstering which fit me great and are day-long comfortable as I found out on that road trip mentioned above, and the Clark plaid is indistinguishable to me from the Interlagos. I’m a big fan.

The adjustable cargo floor is a :neat: touch.

The LP. These LED’s are phenomenal. Absolutely a game changer in night time visibility. The halogens were very very good on the 6 - for halogens. I never experienced the bi-xenons, but these LED’s are next level. I don’t think i could own a car with halogens again.

The parallelogram fuel filler door is kind of :neat:

Suspension - overall it doesn’t feel that different than my Mk6, which is no bad thing. One definite improvement is that the 7.5 feels just as comfortable and compliant on 18’s as my 6 did on 17’s. Speaking of which, the 18” Pretoria’s are :megusta: . I was never a fan of :mahtroy: wheels, but these I like. And they’re apparently fairly light for OEM’s at ~22 lbs. I just wish they came with better rubber than the bleh Dunlops.

Little nice details/enhancements are to be found throughout. Such as red LED strips on the front door cards and front door sills and a dash cubby below the steering wheel. I installed one of these on my Mk6 and loved it so I was glad to see VW finally included it on NAR cars. Oil temp is available in the MFD. I like the red GTI badges - kind of a throwback to the Mk1. I still :wub: the :plaid: upholstery. The storage in the armrest is bigger than in the 6.

AC and ass warmers both work well. LED interior lights are nice.

Things that are :disgust: or inferior to the Mk6:

The Mk6 steering wheel was definitely better. Perforated leather, nicer center hub (IMO), simpler button layout. The 7.5 wheel is plenty fine, but does not look and feel as special as the 6’s.

The smaller fuel tank :triggered: me. I routinely broke 300-325 miles/tank in my regular (sub)urban driving and 400+ miles on road trips in the Mk6. I have yet to hit 300 miles on a tank with the 7.5 in the ‘burbs and didn’t get close to 400 on the highway road trip. I’m refueling around 260-275 miles. :dislike: .

While the fully :manuel: HVAC system is :thisisfine:, I miss my Climactic system in the Mk6. Not fully auto like Climatronic, Climactic was a nice in-between system that VW quietly phased out in 2012.

The gearbox is almost too smooth now. It shifts more like a slushbox, which is ok I guess, but any aggressiveness is gone. Even Sport mode has been neutered compared to the Mk6, which I greatly preferred. This Sport mode is how I think D should behave, except for the dumb fact that Sport mode raises the idle to ~1,200 rpm, which makes the car leap annoyingly off a stop. I drive in :manuel: mode all the time, :doe: so I :aintcare: all that much..But the biggest :| is that the beloved DSG farts are almost completely silenced through factory-revised TCU coding. :dislike:

I don’t like the fact that I have to take my eyes off the road to tap a button on the HU to answer a phone call. On the Mk6 I just hit a wheel button with my thumb without having to look away.

There are several instances of VW cheapassness scattered all over the car, some are :whocares: and some make me :rage: To wit:

-The little chrome accents on the window buttons are gone.
-None of the switches in the ceiling are lit at night.
-There used to be a little plastic cap covering the bolts that attach the side mirrors to the door. Those are now gone and the bolts are exposed when you open the door.
-The glove box no longer has an air vent. It also is not lined with sound deadening fabric, and it also no longer has a lock.
-The under-seat storage drawer that used to come on Mk7’s is now gone.
-The hood liner is gone.
-The liner in the spare tire well is gone.
-The spare tire is now a donut.
-While the interior lights are all LED, VW still put a :flaccid: regular bulb in the trunk.
-There is no longer a full battery cover. My Mk6 had a plastic cover with a hinged lid. The 7.5 has some soft plastic surrounding the battery but no cover on the top whatsoever.

But the biggest disappointment for me is the dogshit HU. Not that it sounds completely terrible, though it’s not that great, TBH, but the lack of features is really disappointing. I REALLY miss having a CD player, for example. It also doesn’t come with XM radio, which is no big deal for me but it was nice to get the free week once in a while. The stupid unit also doesn’t have an AUX input. I used that a lot on the Mk6 and it is also missed. At least the BT works pretty well, and is a little more stable than in the 6. It does come with AA and ACP, but, frankly, AA is stupid IMO and I virtually never use it. It does still have an SD card reader, which is it’s only real redeeming feature, tbh. I suppose I should have known all this going in but I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to do a lot of research.

And last but not least, NO MOTHERFUCKING COMPASS!! How could VW cheap out on such a simple thing? I am still :rage: :triggered: :angry: :really: :wtf: :ayfkm: about this and will never get over it. :(

A couple of :butwhy: “features” that I could do without:

-The various driving modes are worthless, IMO. They are eco, comfort, normal, sport, and custom. This is supposed to be a sporty hot hatch, if I wanted something eco and comfortable, I’d have bought a 1.4 Golf. As it is, all the settings do is change gas pedal aggressiveness, throttle mapping, headlight bending rate, Soundaktor volume, and steering weight. It also supposedly adjusts the VAQ aggressiveness but I don’t feel anything different. Day one I went to custom and set everything to sporty except the Soundaktor, which I set to eco, it’s quietest setting.

-There is some :bs: economy tracking shit lets you track how :jalepenis: you can drive the car. They call it Think Blue Trainer. Honestly, they spent some software development $ on this stupid thing. Give me a fucking compass and CD player and keep your stupid worthless blue eco shit. Blah.
Here’s a pic of it on the HU:
Image
There's also a stupid feature in the MFD that shows what systems you're running that impact fuel economy. Like, I know running the AC has an impact. Don't need the reminder. :really:

That’s about all I got for now. I like most things about the car, but not everything. It makes me sometimes regret not checking out the 2018 SE I found at the same time that my car popped up, with similar miles and couple grand cheaper price, which would have had a much better HU. It was a :unicorn: SE too, in that it had the :plaid: interior. Too bad.
Bit of :eeyore: there, but I do :wub: dat BLOO :doe: :ohwell:


TL;DNR:

Blue Meanie is a really good egg. Better in many, though not all, ways over the Mk6.
Biggest improvements are power and the solid chassis. Biggest fails are the accumulation of little cheapassnesses, especially the awful HU.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I have opinions, lol.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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Good write up Ron. I continue to find it interesting that a compass is of such great value to you but I have never really "used" a car compass in my entire life and never will. Such different directional processing, wow. The BM is a kick ass car for the money, particularly lightly used as you bought it.
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Johnny_P wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 3:21 pm Earn it and burn it, Val.
max225 wrote: Mon May 01, 2023 5:35 pm Yes it's a cool car. But prepare the lube/sawdust.
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CD player and compass lacking are the biggest issues eh ? That seems pretty :notbad:

I also hate small gas tanks. More time to be spent with poors at dirty ass gas stations. :disgust: I miss my tdi’s 500 fill ups.

I actually also agree with you on the wheel the mk6 had probably one of the best steering wheels ever.

Also surprised you didn’t comment on the resolution on the HU, it is pretty dogshitty on the non upgraded trims.
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Desertbreh wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:53 pm Good write up Ron. I continue to find it interesting that a compass is of such great value to you but I have never really "used" a car compass in my entire life and never will. Such different directional processing, wow. The BM is a kick ass car for the money, particularly lightly used as you bought it.
Several times/month I find myself looking for the compass and get :| all over again. :iono:
But yea, $23600 OTD was pretty :notbad: for what is a pretty dang good car overall.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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max225 wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:00 pm CD player and compass lacking are the biggest issues eh ? That seems pretty :notbad:

I also hate small gas tanks. More time to be spent with poors at dirty ass gas stations. :disgust: I miss my tdi’s 500 fill ups.

I actually also agree with you on the wheel the mk6 had probably one of the best steering wheels ever.

Also surprised you didn’t comment on the resolution on the HU, it is pretty dogshitty on the non upgraded trims.
Good way to look at it. I'm sometimes surprised at myself for how much the :gag: HU bothers me, tbh. lol, but small gripes overall.

:tits: H has an epic 18.5 gallon tank and gets 400-500 miles/tank in (sub)urban driving and easily gets way over 500, approaching 600 miles/tank on the highway. :jelly:

You're :notwrong: on the HU resolution, for sure. I guess I just :aintcare: all that much about that nearly as much as the lack of CD player, AUX input, and general poor sound fidelity. The res is better than the RCD510 in my Mk6 at least.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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wap wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:37 pm
max225 wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:00 pm CD player and compass lacking are the biggest issues eh ? That seems pretty :notbad:

I also hate small gas tanks. More time to be spent with poors at dirty ass gas stations. :disgust: I miss my tdi’s 500 fill ups.

I actually also agree with you on the wheel the mk6 had probably one of the best steering wheels ever.

Also surprised you didn’t comment on the resolution on the HU, it is pretty dogshitty on the non upgraded trims.
Good way to look at it. I'm sometimes surprised at myself for how much the :gag: HU bothers me, tbh. lol, but small gripes overall.

:tits: H has an epic 18.5 gallon tank and gets 400-500 miles/tank in (sub)urban driving and easily gets way over 500, approaching 600 miles/tank on the highway. :jelly:

You're :notwrong: on the HU resolution, for sure. I guess I just :aintcare: all that much about that nearly as much as the lack of CD player, AUX input, and general poor sound fidelity. Especially when it does have stupid useless features like that Think Blue :bs: . The res is better than the RCD510 in my Mk6 at least.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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:fuckyeah: , good write-up!

I noticed a formidable increase to :fancy: DSG fart noises after upgrading my exhaust and deleting the resonator. You can always talk the missus into letting you buy some modzzzzz :)
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I did throw on an exhaust on a Rabbit ... forgot to mention that. It wasn’t super difficult
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Tarspin wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:37 pm :fuckyeah: , good write-up!

I noticed a formidable increase to :fancy: DSG fart noises after upgrading my exhaust and deleting the resonator. You can always talk the missus into letting you buy some modzzzzz :)
Thanks dood.

She wouldn't mind if I wanted to :doit: but I'm not really interested in modding it.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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wap wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:51 pm
Tarspin wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:37 pm :fuckyeah: , good write-up!

I noticed a formidable increase to :fancy: DSG fart noises after upgrading my exhaust and deleting the resonator. You can always talk the missus into letting you buy some modzzzzz :)
Thanks dood.

She wouldn't mind if I wanted to :doit: but I'm not really interested in modding it.
I was 99% sure you would say this. The only mod I 100% don't regret paying money for is my window and PPF film. I saved tons of $$ in repair costs to my hood/headlights while going into the second half of R ownershit.
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Tarspin wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:58 pm
wap wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:51 pm

Thanks dood.

She wouldn't mind if I wanted to :doit: but I'm not really interested in modding it.
I was 99% sure you would say this. The only mod I 100% don't regret paying money for is my window and PPF film. I saved tons of $$ in repair costs to my hood/headlights while going into the second half of R ownershit.
:word:
I'm too predictable. :lolol:
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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wap wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:41 pm 7-ish Month Blue Meanie Review
As you all know, after fuckwit Stuart murdered my Mk6 with his F150 back in April, I picked up my Mk7.5 DSG Rabbit Edition 7 months ago December 2nd so I thought it was time to post some impressions.
Couple data points first. I got the car with a bit under 13k miles and I will hit 17k driving home tonight, so I put on approximately 4000 miles so far, including a little 1,000 mile road trip back in June. The car got upper 30’s mpg on that trip which was largely highway miles. Otherwise, for my regular (sub)urban driving, I’m getting ~26 mpg. Note that I don’t do Fuelly or whatever it’s called, I just do rough :math: when I fill up and note miles since last fill up before zeroing out the trip odometer. MFD had been indicating ~27, though I think we got our winter blend gas recently as I’m now seeing closer to 25. MFD is fairly accurate, only about 1 mpg optimistic. This is about the same or slightly better than I got with my Mk6 but now with donkey piss 87 instead of 93 so yay.

So first, the :fuckyeah: , or what I like better than the Mk6, in no particular order.

Engine - definitely notice the increase in powah in the 3rd gen EA888. . The Rabbit Edition came with the Lighting Package and Performance Package, which means 228hp, and 14% increase compared to the 200 in the Mk6, and is definitely noticeable. It pulls really well in the midrange, though it still starts to run out of breath as you approach 6000 rpm. Especially noticeable is the large increase in torque, from 207 to 258 - the 25% increase is quite :nice: . Car and Driver got 5.8 seconds 0-60 with DSG, which is legit quick. The car accelerates effortlessly from under 2k rpm, even in 3rd or 4th gear if I’m too lazy to shift. I drive in :manuel: mode pretty much all the time. Speaking of which...

Trans - Dat 7th gear - It’s really :nice: to have a tall overdrive gear finally. It turns at 1,800 rpms at 70 mph, which is :like: Shifts are a bit smoother, too, and overall less jerky than the old 6 speed. There are also negatives to this box, which I’ll outline below.

LSD - I know it’s not strictly a mechanical unit, but the VAQ is still pretty :neat: . It’s more noticeable than I thought it would be. It’s really cool to give it the beans coming out of a turn and feeling the car pull itself through the turn where the 6 would start to plow. It’s a cool feeling to give it more gas to reduce understeer.

MQB - This platform is tight. So far zero rattles or buzzes, even going over nasty RR tracks. Without having to do the aquarium tube mod as I did in the Mk6. I know the car is not yet 2 years old but so far so good. All 4 doors close with a solid thunk, better than my Mk 6. Curiously, the rear doors on the 6 closed wonderfully solidly, the fronts and hatch, while OK, were not as good. The real test will be this coming winter. The Mk6 definitely rattled more when it was very cold. Legit curious to see how the 7.5 does in the next few months.

Brakes - I realize they’re nothing terribly special, but having :gorf: front brakes is pretty nice. Rotors and calipers are noticeably larger. They seem a bit more linear than the Mk6. They’re not :mindblown: , but they’re pretty good, and I imagine they’d fade less than regular GTI brakes.

Dat color. Pornhole Bloo still makes me :jizz: every time I walk up to it. :megusta:

Interior design/dash layout. The 6 was really good here, as many of you know. The 7.5 is a nice evolution/upgrade in the overall style/design, from the dash to the center stack and console it just all feels like an upgrade stylistically. The seats have extra side bolstering which fit me great and are day-long comfortable as I found out on that road trip mentioned above, and the Clark plaid is indistinguishable to me from the Interlagos. I’m a big fan.

The adjustable cargo floor is a :neat: touch.

The LP. These LED’s are phenomenal. Absolutely a game changer in night time visibility. The halogens were very very good on the 6 - for halogens. I never experienced the bi-xenons, but these LED’s are next level. I don’t think i could own a car with halogens again.

The parallelogram fuel filler door is kind of :neat:

Suspension - overall it doesn’t feel that different than my Mk6, which is no bad thing. One definite improvement is that the 7.5 feels just as comfortable and compliant on 18’s as my 6 did on 17’s. Speaking of which, the 18” Pretoria’s are :megusta: . I was never a fan of :mahtroy: wheels, but these I like. And they’re apparently fairly light for OEM’s at ~22 lbs. I just wish they came with better rubber than the bleh Dunlops.

Little nice details/enhancements are to be found throughout. Such as red LED strips on the front door cards and front door sills and a dash cubby below the steering wheel. I installed one of these on my Mk6 and loved it so I was glad to see VW finally included it on NAR cars. Oil temp is available in the MFD. I like the red GTI badges - kind of a throwback to the Mk1. I still :wub: the :plaid: upholstery. The storage in the armrest is bigger than in the 6.

AC and ass warmers both work well. LED interior lights are nice.

Things that are :disgust: or inferior to the Mk6:

The Mk6 steering wheel was definitely better. Perforated leather, nicer center hub (IMO), simpler button layout. The 7.5 wheel is plenty fine, but does not look and feel as special as the 6’s.

The smaller fuel tank :triggered: me. I routinely broke 300-325 miles/tank in my regular (sub)urban driving and 400+ miles on road trips in the Mk6. I have yet to hit 300 miles on a tank with the 7.5 in the ‘burbs and didn’t get close to 400 on the highway road trip. I’m refueling around 260-275 miles. :dislike: .

While the fully :manuel: HVAC system is :thisisfine:, I miss my Climactic system in the Mk6. Not fully auto like Climatronic, Climactic was a nice in-between system that VW quietly phased out in 2012.

The gearbox is almost too smooth now. It shifts more like a slushbox, which is ok I guess, but any aggressiveness is gone. Even Sport mode has been neutered compared to the Mk6, which I greatly preferred. This Sport mode is how I think D should behave, except for the dumb fact that Sport mode raises the idle to ~1,200 rpm, which makes the car leap annoyingly off a stop. I drive in :manuel: mode all the time, :doe: so I :aintcare: all that much..But the biggest :| is that the beloved DSG farts are almost completely silenced through factory-revised TCU coding. :dislike:

I don’t like the fact that I have to take my eyes off the road to tap a button on the HU to answer a phone call. On the Mk6 I just hit a wheel button with my thumb without having to look away.

There are several instances of VW cheapassness scattered all over the car, some are :whocares: and some make me :rage: To wit:

-The little chrome accents on the window buttons are gone.
-None of the switches in the ceiling are lit at night.
-There used to be a little plastic cap covering the bolts that attach the side mirrors to the door. Those are now gone and the bolts are exposed when you open the door.
-The glove box no longer has an air vent. It also is not lined with sound deadening fabric, and it also no longer has a lock.
-The under-seat storage drawer that used to come on Mk7’s is now gone.
-The hood liner is gone.
-The liner in the spare tire well is gone.
-The spare tire is now a donut.
-While the interior lights are all LED, VW still put a :flaccid: regular bulb in the trunk.
-There is no longer a full battery cover. My Mk6 had a plastic cover with a hinged lid. The 7.5 has some soft plastic surrounding the battery but no cover on the top whatsoever.

But the biggest disappointment for me is the dogshit HU. Not that it sounds completely terrible, though it’s not that great, TBH, but the lack of features is really disappointing. I REALLY miss having a CD player, for example. It also doesn’t come with XM radio, which is no big deal for me but it was nice to get the free week once in a while. The stupid unit also doesn’t have an AUX input. I used that a lot on the Mk6 and it is also missed. At least the BT works pretty well, and is a little more stable than in the 6. It does come with AA and ACP, but, frankly, AA is stupid IMO and I virtually never use it. It does still have an SD card reader, which is it’s only real redeeming feature, tbh. I suppose I should have known all this going in but I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to do a lot of research.

And last but not least, NO MOTHERFUCKING COMPASS!! How could VW cheap out on such a simple thing? I am still :rage: :triggered: :angry: :really: :wtf: :ayfkm: about this and will never get over it. :(

A couple of :butwhy: “features” that I could do without:

-The various driving modes are worthless, IMO. They are eco, comfort, normal, sport, and custom. This is supposed to be a sporty hot hatch, if I wanted something eco and comfortable, I’d have bought a 1.4 Golf. As it is, all the settings do is change gas pedal aggressiveness, throttle mapping, headlight bending rate, Soundaktor volume, and steering weight. It also supposedly adjusts the VAQ aggressiveness but I don’t feel anything different. Day one I went to custom and set everything to sporty except the Soundaktor, which I set to eco, it’s quietest setting.

-There is some :bs: economy tracking shit lets you track how :jalepenis: you can drive the car. They call it Think Blue Trainer. Honestly, they spent some software development $ on this stupid thing. Give me a fucking compass and CD player and keep your stupid worthless blue eco shit. Blah.
Here’s a pic of it on the HU:
Image
There's also a stupid feature in the MFD that shows what systems you're running that impact fuel economy. Like, I know running the AC has an impact. Don't need the reminder. :really:

That’s about all I got for now. I like most things about the car, but not everything. It makes me sometimes regret not checking out the 2018 SE I found at the same time that my car popped up, with similar miles and couple grand cheaper price, which would have had a much better HU. It was a :unicorn: SE too, in that it had the :plaid: interior. Too bad.
Bit of :eeyore: there, but I do :wub: dat BLOO :doe: :ohwell:


TL;DNR:

Blue Meanie is a really good egg. Better in many, though not all, ways over the Mk6.
Biggest improvements are power and the solid chassis. Biggest fails are the accumulation of little cheapassnesses, especially the awful HU.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I have opinions, lol.
I know this is super hard to say, but does the increased cheapassness make you think more about leaving VAG for the next vehicle? I'm involved in a lot of cheapassness decisions on product VERY similar to what you listed...little things that can add up to be :| overall. My argument for a while has been that if we go too cheap, people will just bail and go to a different "value" brand. You've been insanely brand loyal to VW, so I'm just curious if these things kind of make you think twice for the next go-round, especially with your experience with Hyundai.

One of the things I really liked about the MKV and MKVI was the attention to detail felt like similar to a luxury car. Not that it was a luxury car, but the fastener covers, compartments, etc all felt like the sorts of things luxury OEMs include. I liked those touches a lot.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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Detroit wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 4:18 pm
wap wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:41 pm W A L L O F T E X T
I know this is super hard to say, but does the increased cheapassness make you think more about leaving VAG for the next vehicle? I'm involved in a lot of cheapassness decisions on product VERY similar to what you listed...little things that can add up to be :| overall. My argument for a while has been that if we go too cheap, people will just bail and go to a different "value" brand. You've been insanely brand loyal to VW, so I'm just curious if these things kind of make you think twice for the next go-round, especially with your experience with Hyundai.

One of the things I really liked about the MKV and MKVI was the attention to detail felt like similar to a luxury car. Not that it was a luxury car, but the fastener covers, compartments, etc all felt like the sorts of things luxury OEMs include. I liked those touches a lot.
Those things really do matter, to those of us that notice them. Probably not much to the average :derp: . Though I will say that the touchpoints and switchgear still feel high(er) end, It does :| me that VW has been doing this after really swinging for the fences in the Mk5 and 6. Thought I guess the tradeoff between those little touches and getting the LP and PP makes it worth it? :iono:

But yea, after seeing what the Koreans are capable of these days, I'm really :popcorn: to see what the future holds for H and Kia. Because I gotta tell you, the wife's Sonata is ridiculously :nice: and well equipped at its price point. I am interested to see what the next 5 door Elantra is like, if they even make a 5 door for Murica...

OTOH, I really want a small wagon for my next car and who knows if anyone is going to be selling one here in a few years. Hell, VW already said they're not bringing the Mk8 GSW or Alltrack to the states. :( .
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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:popcorn:
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:nice:

#teamcompass :lolol:

:tits: was all :butwhy: when I insisted we keep the compass on the gauge cluster display in the :jeep: but I use it all the time :iono:

I definitely agree with Chris, VW always felt a bit high end over other “regular cars”, kind of :disappoint: to see them move away from that.

Glad you’re enjoying the car though! And FWIW it is a real mechanical LSD, just with some computer control tomfoolery.
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D Griff wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:16 pm :nice:

#teamcompass :lolol:

:tits: was all :butwhy: when I insisted we keep the compass on the gauge cluster display in the :jeep: but I use it all the time :iono:

I definitely agree with Chris, VW always felt a bit high end over other “regular cars”, kind of :disappoint: to see them move away from that.

Glad you’re enjoying the car though! And FWIW it is a real mechanical LSD, just with some computer control tomfoolery.
:fuckyeah:
It's really useful! So much :|

There's still plenty to make the car feel a cut above others in its class, but less than before, unfortunately. It still really excels in the way it drives and feels on the road, :doe: , so that's good.

Thanks. And yea, I've been reading up a bit more on the VAQ and you're right, there are real mechanical oily bits making up an actual LSD, managed, as you said, by computamatron. It's really pretty cool.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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After experiencing FWD with LSD, I don’t think I would ever consider a FWD car without it again.
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D Griff wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:41 am After experiencing FWD with LSD, I don’t think I would ever consider a FWD car without it again.
:dat:
The difference is pretty apparent.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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wap wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:11 am
D Griff wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:41 am After experiencing FWD with LSD, I don’t think I would ever consider a FWD car without it again.
:dat:
The difference is pretty apparent.
I got a bit into autox when I had my MKV GTI, and one summer a dude with a similar Red MKV to mine had an LSD installed. IIRC, at the time it was a ~$2k job or something, but he let me take it for a spin and I was :mindblown: by the difference. I was actually starting to plan to have the swap done when I decided to buy my 951 instead, which was vastly superior in almost every way.

Still, if I was going to buy another FWD car, I'd really try to find one with an LSD. Hard to do, but possible.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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One wheel peel and plowing can :gtfo:

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wap wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 4:31 pm
Detroit wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 4:18 pm
I know this is super hard to say, but does the increased cheapassness make you think more about leaving VAG for the next vehicle? I'm involved in a lot of cheapassness decisions on product VERY similar to what you listed...little things that can add up to be :| overall. My argument for a while has been that if we go too cheap, people will just bail and go to a different "value" brand. You've been insanely brand loyal to VW, so I'm just curious if these things kind of make you think twice for the next go-round, especially with your experience with Hyundai.

One of the things I really liked about the MKV and MKVI was the attention to detail felt like similar to a luxury car. Not that it was a luxury car, but the fastener covers, compartments, etc all felt like the sorts of things luxury OEMs include. I liked those touches a lot.
Those things really do matter, to those of us that notice them. Probably not much to the average :derp: . Though I will say that the touchpoints and switchgear still feel high(er) end, It does :| me that VW has been doing this after really swinging for the fences in the Mk5 and 6. Thought I guess the tradeoff between those little touches and getting the LP and PP makes it worth it? :iono:

But yea, after seeing what the Koreans are capable of these days, I'm really :popcorn: to see what the future holds for H and Kia. Because I gotta tell you, the wife's Sonata is ridiculously :nice: and well equipped at its price point. I am interested to see what the next 5 door Elantra is like, if they even make a 5 door for Murica...

OTOH, I really want a small wagon for my next car and who knows if anyone is going to be selling one here in a few years. Hell, VW already said they're not bringing the Mk8 GSW or Alltrack to the states. :( .
But if people like us are turned off, normal people absolutely won't see the point. A VW is no different than a Hyundai or Honda (which are used interchangeably among :derp: )

Brands that built equity on being a notch above the rest for attention to detail are in trouble with cost cutting initiatives because the likes of Hyundai and Kia stepping the game up so drastically.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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