Walt: also just purchased a new 2018 GTI SE. Totally agree: Love, love, love this car. And, strangely, I, too, last had a 1985 VW, in that case, a nice Golf Wolfsburg Edition. New one is like yours except for the Clark Plaid cloth seats (THE reason I didn’t get Autobahn - the plaid is pure nostalgia but also super comfortable). I cannot remember having more child-like joy in a new car acquisition - ever. The lightness is what feels so good. Love the FWD, the elegance and understatement of the design - the “Q-car” stealth.

Did you get a performance model, I'm' assuming BC is British Columbia, Canada? I have a 2015 GTI Performance with DCC with Unitronic stage 1 & Stage 1 Dsg tune. Yes it is night and day and is much faster/quicker than a lot of cars I've driven. It's nice to see the 2018's haven't changed. Tried the R, honestly, the GTI with VAQ just drove better nice to see it will be standard now.

Hey what's up bro i just had a question, is Volkswagen hard to maintain? I'm coming from a Mercedes and am trying to get something cheaper.

the Mark 7's are pretty easy to deal with right now. No History of issues like the MK6 so only time will tell. I have 45K km on mine and have a squeak in my sunroof. I will live with it and lube it up to get rid of the squeak. No carbon billed up, No oil consumption, oil changes every 8K km but these can be pushed to 15K km if you don't modify it. Costs, Oil/Filter changes $100 every 8K - 15K km Tire Rotations Brakes pad - $400-600? for the set4 haven't changed any yet Brake disks - $600-800 for the set4? depending haven't had to replace any Tires - 900-1400 depending on size DSG Service - Every 60K - $600-1000 most expensive maintenance item haven't done it yet. there are kits for it though. That's pretty much it..of course you want to watch for misfires if you mod and maybe put in a catch can to reduce the possibility of carbon build up if you drive in the city a lot. Hope that helped

IcedHooligan yeah I agree with the comment above, I have a mk5 and I have had no problems so far even with it being 2008

Absolutely agree. I have a 2015 GTI as well and its a dream. I did the Unitronic stage 1 plus tune, now it is 310 hp and 347 torque at the crank. Its insane for $700 extra. It would cost 20k extra to buy a car new with that performance over the GTI.

matt nelson manual or auto? What color? Ive had my 2016 autobahn for a year now!

Arek Boloyan my 2016 is White and DSG. I had a carbon 2015 SE that was manual. Found the shifter to be a bit sloppy and DSG after a tune is nuts. Had an 08 2.0t Jetta with the apr flash years ago with DSG, lots of fun.

Man, I have a 16 Manual GTI SE. I've considered trading it for a 18 GTI DSG. The manual is amazing but I have drive on the DC beltway daily.

S Dagle which suspension you have on each of these 2 cars and which is less firm or softer? I cannot find these type of comparison... thanks

Chris Sorreda it’s so much fun to drive, my first car and I couldn’t be happier that I chose it

Brian Heaney - Theoryy Happy for you sir! I can’t imagine having all that comfort, and luxury, but still speed, and sportiness? And then it’s engine’s efficiency (if you can resist not having fun that is) haha. Hope it never has issues!

Chris Sorreda haha.... oh well

Yes sir.

for the money/fun/ride quality, you are right !

Thanks for sharing your experience. Well said.

I got the R because I live in a mountainous area with a lot of snow. I got sick of fighting the winter with my '14 GLI and my City Golf ( with new Micheline ICE X )not making up hills. This year was the worst winter but the best winter driving experience I've ever had. While everyone was spinning out and getting stuck, I just drove around them. I do agree, the GTI is just as fun to drive, the interior nicer, has a sun roof, LED tail lights, better milage, has a spare tire and price$$ If didn't live where I do, I'd pick the GTI.

There is no doubt the R is superior but I think a lot of people can't afford an R with crazy dealer mark ups. You can get a GTI thousands under MSRP and put a stage 1 tune and it'll keep up with an R no problem from a roll. Disregard everything I said if you want a track car because we all know the R is better in that term.

CaideN then the GTI is not the king - unless you base it on sales.

What do you mean? Did you even read my comment? Never claimed any car was king. Just stating the R is a great car and the GTI is a good car too...

The wheelspin on my 13 GTI is definitely problematic. In a straight line, it not too bad, but when trying to accelerate through a corner, the inside wheel like to spin. I'm sure the limited slip on the PP helps though. If you start modifying the GTI for more power, it'll make all of the spin happy issues worse. Thats why I think you need AWD for power levels anywhere above the stock GTI levels.

Should have done a mechanical lsd in the gti. saved yourself some money unless you push to the limit through autox.

+Max Klinkby I love the Scirroco! You're so lucky. We don't get that car on this side of the pond.

I know, we are very lucky! I love it too, it's basically a squashed sportier golf and I love it. :-) Keep up the great vids!

Any issues?

None. No issues. As long as you don't abuse it. It runs great.

@@unfilteredvoice3535 thanks man

How much was the Stage 1 APR and how much difference did it make? RS3, super sweet ride. How does that compare to your GTI?

Everyday Reviews My local APR tuner charged me $780 USD if I recall correctly. I didn't get to dyno my car but the numbers on APR's website seem accurate. As far as real world difference goes, it is night and day. I've owned faster cars than the GTI, so I wasn't too impressed by the GTI's power in stock form. But with a stage 1 tune now, it is one of the quickest cars I've driven. Oh, and I should have mentioned that I don't have my RS3 yet. I ordered mine so it'll be here in 2 to 3 months.

Stage 1 makes a significant difference in power

How do you find or cope with the extrawheel spin that seems to result from the extra power ?

Saul Moreira just hold on for the ride!

Certainly the brakes are. VW Canada now has updated their website with the 2018 GTIs.

Rick Phillips Any idea about the VAQ diff?

It's a Cross-Differential system (XDS) to reduce inside wheel-spin.

For Canada these features are standard. Lucky

Rick Phillips I think it's worth it. My 2014 GTI had a failure in my manifold that caused $3k of damage if it was outside of warranty.This failure occurred at about 40k miles. Without warranty I would have been screwed.

it can be programmed. so don't worry about it.

My man! 🙌 Yes, I echo this statement all day long. I've ridden in the ST and it SCREAMS cheap!

Kyle'sEdits only for the R

Aleziss They look great but hard to clean 😕. Would have to be pedantic with these beautiful cloth seats

maybe but still, I HATE sooooo much leather/fake leather seats that I am willing to take the extra care for cloth seats. Unfortunately, all 98% of luxury cars comes with leather seats... I hate them with a passion even with heating or cooling... they have zero compfort... cloth seats are comfy, not too hot or too cold and even help the noise absorbtion in the car... I will trade leather of cloth seats any day for the sacrifice of taking extra care of them...

But seats look so ugly for such expensive car

+Michael Zhu Are you going to go for the GTI or Golf R?

Everyday Reviews GTI. I prefer the styling, the plaid seats, the lightness, having a sunroof and the history behind it. GTI is also cheaper overall. Don't need the AWD in Vancouver either.

A couple have started to arrive (London, ON). Mine, ordered, needs another 5 weeks.

+TheNotoriousMAZ It was a couple of years ago and I don't remember everything about the cars I drive. Also. My experiences could differ from time. Either way, I was extremely pleased on how fun and great this car is to drive. Thanks for watching. Enjoy your car!

Yep.

99SVTBolt analog is better anyway.

dry509 manual is funner

I own a pre facelift VII GTI with a manual transmission and it is a joy. Short shift, direct and prescise, plus it´s very easey to heel & toe, because the pedals have a perfect position. I test drove the GTI with a DSG before buying it and you have to admit that it is a very good gearbox and it is pefect for everyday use and you also get very nice sounding farts everytime you change gear above 4000 RPM more or less, but for pure fun and enjoyment, go for the manual. Trust me, you won´t regreet.

No it's not. It's meant to be a daily driver. I've been driving mine daily since last year and it's a beast. Gets great gas mileage on a turbo charged engine. I recommend.

+acchaladka can't quote on insurance because rates can be different across the board depending on where you live. Straight Pipes guys a great. I know them. Maybe you'll see a colab in the future.

Everyday Reviews Fair point, I’m in Québec, was surprised to see the insurance delta is the same in the UK and made an assumption. About you + Straight Pipes, I’m only guessing but the creative tension might be there. Thanks again for the great review here: I’ll be taking delivery of mine in December.

acchaladka i.imgur.com/iPX1oTZh.jpg

Everyday Reviews Correction: mine arrives in January. I ordered the R in blue with the DSG and blizzaks. I will be sad not to have the tartan seats, but my dealer did me right with $2k off msrp for the new 2018. Now should I get the extended warranty....

Yuri Tereshyn You guys are the best! Come bring your GTI + R comparo video to Montréal and I bet we can find a snow rally course to test GTI vs R. Bring Motoman too to get him out of that sunny California thing and answer all the real questions about R vs GTI. I’m serious, would watch the hell out of you four trying to snow-helicopter a GTI without throwing up on each other. And stuff. Thanks for the pic!

+Stephen Bradley We used to have a Rabbit when I was growing up. It was a diesel and it blew black smoke something terrible. Do yourself a favour and go drive a new GTI. You won't be disappointed. They're so fun!

JiMb0 _ the golfs in NA still have a physical ebrake which in my opinion is better

No more performance package. All GTI's now have 220HP. Are you in North America? European models may be specd different,

Everyday Reviews I'm in Illinois but yeah the reviews I saw b4 were either from the UK / Germany. Thank you for the clarification!

+Vishnu Kumar Kailash Kumar They have better fuel than ours, put out more power.

Stock GTI no has 230BHP which is the old PP . New GTI PP in the UK has 243BHP . Not much of a difference but has bigger brakes and dynamic suspension .

It's standard here in the UK :)