Well, for anyone's that interested, my new Golf 7 GTD has arrived.....

[Norbreck21a]

As promised some time ago, I said I would post up some pictures of my new MK7 Golf GTD when it arrived. Well I collected on Saturday, and here she is (bit of a cut and paste for a thread of mine over on another forum - sorry about that.)

Well, today after what seemed to be an eternity, I finally collected my new MK7 Golf GTD, and she was certainly worth the wait. Was really sorry to see the old Scirocco go but hey, that’s progress.

I had asked the dealer not to prep the car so the paint work was in excellent condition. So, this is what greeted us this morning at the dealership. Sorry, went a bit overboard with the photos.


DSC_0950 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


DSC_0953 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


DSC_0954 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


DSC_0958 by Sootchucker, on Flickr

So, afterwards, drove the car straight home and began the preparation process.

First I removed the number plates, then power washed the car down, followed by a liberal coating of AF Snow foam. Whilst the snow foam as dwelling, I hit all the nooks and crannies with a detailing brush with Megs APC. Then rinsed.

Followed with a hand wash using the Two bucket method with Megs lambswool mits. Then rinsed.

Hit the paintwork with a liberal coat of Iron-X, and i was genuinely surprised at the level of fall out the car had. Then rinsed.

Followed with Autosmart Tardis to remove the last of the glue marks from the transport sheets.

Clayed the car with Bilt Hamer soft clay (which to be honest removed very little). Then washed the car again, rinsed and dried with waffle drying towels and my hot air blower. With the paintwork now clan and smooth, I used Werkstat Prime on a DA with a polishing pad, followed by a coat of AF Tripple on a foam applicator.

Finally, 2 coats of GTechniq C2V3 applied leaving the paintwork like glass. Wheels were cleaned and decontaminated and Poorboys wheel sealant applied. All black trim hit with GTechniq C4 trim restorer, and finally glass cleaned with GTechniq G4 Glass polish.

Interior was as you would expect  in mint condition and just need a quick hover and wipe down with a damp microfibre.

So, onto the afterwards....


AGE_3513 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3512 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3516 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3518 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3520 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3521 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3524 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3527 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3528 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3541 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3543 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3545 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3546 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3547 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3550 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3529 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3531 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3533 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3532 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3534 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3535 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3537 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


AGE_3538 by Sootchucker, on Flickr

Also, whilst I had the wheels off for polishing and sealing, I noticed that after just a couple of weeks life (my car was actually built end of August), that the calipers had the all too familiar signs of aluminium dulling and corrosion. The blurb on the GTD in the brochure said the calipers were painted, but as I suspected, this was just for the GTI, not the GTD, whose calipers are left in the standard aluminium finish. Knowing how crap my Scirocco brakes looked after just almost 3 years, I wanted to ensure that the GTD would look as good as possible for as long as possible.

Luckily I had some Red Caliper paint, that I purchased some time ago for the Scirocco and never got round to doing, so with the wheels off, I painted the calipers Red (2 coats over 5 hours).

Now let me make this clear, I am in no way trying to make the GTD look like a GTI.

I did consider gloss black, but to be honest with the very open spokes of the 18" Negaro wheels, the calipers are very much on show, so thought Red against the white would work at treat. I totally understand if this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it really annoyed me on the Rocco, that whilst the wheels were in mint condition after nearly 3 years, the calipers looked very grotty, and it was quite clear that brake dust had eaten it's way into the surface finish, making them almost impossible to clean like new, so wanted to prevent this on the new car.

Procedure was:

Cleaned the calipers with brake cleaner spray, wiped them then dried with my hot air dryer / blower. Then masked up as much as I could, and on the rears removed the anti rattle clips (the long ones running top to bottom).

Then it was just a case of various size paint brushes. I just made sure that the sliding faces where the pads sit wasn't painted (as they are not on the GTI), to allow the pads to freely slide. Other than that just did one caliper, then onto the next, and by the time I'd finished the last one, the first one was dry and ready for a second coat.

You need to have some patience as it's quite tedious but hugely rewarding when finished against a clean car. Not sure Red would suit all colours, but on a white car I think they look awesome.

The only real problem I had was the bloody British weather. I ended up setting up our 3m x 3m Gazebo to put the car under to prevent me getting soaked.

Anyway, enough rambling - photos.


DSC_0964 by Sootchucker, on Flickr


DSC_0965 by Sootchucker, on Flickr

Finished. Hope you enjoy (sorry for so many photos).

[MichaelR]

Can't beat a fresh new clean car, looks spot on mate. Lovely!

[monte]

Looks absolutely awesome mate! 

The GTD is an amazing motor and the mk7 is growing on me more n more 


I too am stunned by the amount of fallout on new cars.

Done quite a few new car preps and the iron-x stage always amazes me on so called new cars.

Thing is, a lot of cars sit for months in storage car parks and quite often these may be next to train lines or industrial factories etc that spew out all sorts of contaminants that bond to the paint.

[monte]

Forgot to say.....

All it needs are some H&R springs and you're done 


(Interior is to die for! Love the new electronics)

[Norbreck21a]

Thanks for the comments. Thing is, from car final build to shipping to the docks at Emden was only 5 days. Then 2 days to get loaded onto the boat, then a further 2 days to reach the dealer, so from final build to it arriving was only 9 days. All that fall out in 9 days...wow !

[Hedge]

Looks sweet. 

Is that an RNS 510 with DAB?

[kevinm]

Saw this on the mk7 forum. Stunning car   I liked the idea of leaving the plastic on the steering column to protect it from the key. I'll be doing that when my GTI arrives.

Red calipers can be factory specced on the GTD here in Ireland. Part of the sport and sound pack.

[GTsport]

I wasn't keen on the MK7 at first - but this looks stunning!  The interior looks really classy & a nice place to be!

Early days yet i appreciate, but what do you make of the drive/ride so far?

[Norbreck21a]

Looks sweet. 

Is that an RNS 510 with DAB?

Hedge, No mate. It's a completely different infotainment platform on the MK7 series - this is the top of the line (optional) Discover Nav Pro.

8" Screen, 64gb SSD HDD, 3d mapping with building representations, built in bluetooth with A2DP streaming (including track names, artwork, and control of track skipping via the MFSW on bluetooth). Full album art display on screen. DAB tuner with sideshow display (where the stations transmits it). built in Gracenote CD database for track recognition and display on the head unit. DVD drive with Dolby surround, Twin CD card slots. Latest MDI port which allows video playback (films and music video's) via an Iphone / Ipod onto the head unit etc.

It's quite a system. 

[rdfcpete]

The MK7 booty is growing on me, looks smart as F on the GTI/GTD models.

That Guetta track is awful though, a bad musical start 
  

[Norbreck21a]

The MK7 booty is growing on me, looks smart as F on the GTI/GTD models.

That Guetta track is awful though, a bad musical start 
  

-+

Agreed, it's just what happened to be on the Radio when I took the photo 

[Jacker]

That just looks.. WOW!

Very nice indeed buddy

[Andy]

Stunning car Andrew

[Horatio]

Its definitely a grower for me. saw two of these on the way up to Nottingham, black and grey. I think you chose the right colour  did you get to keep the car cover? 

[micaerin]

What a Fantastic looking car! Love the calipers against the white