New Car Options

[bbfb10]

Im looking to upgrade and move on from the mk5, and have a few options.

I want to stay in a Golf and have around £15k to spend.

So my options are a Mk6 GTI, Mk6 R or Mk7 GTI.

Any suggestions/opinions gratefully received about how these cars are to live with on a daily basis.

If you know of any that are up for sale or coming up for sale, please let me know.

Thanks, Ben.

[Pesky jones]

Mk6 R would be my favourite. Get a decent example for that money, awd and in my opinion better looking then the mk7 shape

[slix]

Would probably get a bit of a high milage mk7 or a dog for that money.

And as said a nice mk6 R can be had for that money. Much better looking too and 4wd goodness. Or even ed35.

[Vish8895]

MK6 R is hands down the most aggresive looking Golf of the last decade in my opinion. The MK7 GTI and even R just look too lumpy and swolen/fat to me!

Plus the MK6 R benefits from a cheeky 300bhp stage 1 thanks to the K04 and a nice AWD system. All the pros of the 8P S3 with all of the styling and poise of the MK6 :)

[pudding]

Difficult one.

I've considered moving on many times myself, and my thoughts on your choices are:

The MK6 is the perfected MK5 and a known entity, but not different enough to make the jump interesting, unless perhaps 4WD is a requirement.  You'd have spent £15K, jump in it, and not a lot will be different.....compared to say jumping from a Golf to an M3.

MK7.5 is the perfected MK7, which has only just come out, so not financially viable yet unless leasing it.  Early MK7s have the Gen 2 EA888 I believe, which has it's problems.  Gen 3 EA888 is the one to have, but I'm not sure which model year it came out on.  It's the one that'll map to 380ish if you stick the 7R's IS38 turbo onto it.

I've had 4WD Golfs and to me they feel too heavy to hustle around on back roads, plus you have the extra 4WD associated maintenance costs and weight penalty, smaller boot etc.

The only GTI that would make me ditch my ED30 is a MK7 Performance Pack.

So that would leave me in a position to keep my MK5     The ED30 is easily the best looking GTI since the MK2, it's easy and relatively cheap to fix and reliable if looked after.   MK6s and MK7s are not different enough to justify the big cost jump imo, unless it's the 7PP with the Magnaride dampers and Haldex front diff.

That probably hasn't helped you in any way, but best bet is to test drive your shortlist and go with which ever you prefer 

[Vish8895]

For me I'd be taking my £15K straight to a nice low mileage, FBMWSH 335i Coupe M Sport and taking out BMW Comprehensive warranty for £40/month or so.

Then you have a RWD 300BHP Twin Turbo 3.0L straight six with either Dual Clutch Transmission or Manual. Easily do the same MPG as a MK5 on normal driving and remaps to 400BHP with no mods :)

I had one of these (not mapped) and it was an insanely good car. Currently saving for another once my house purchase has completed.

[rich83]

mk7 gti.... you just need to adjust your budget 

[pudding]

For me I'd be taking my £15K straight to a nice low mileage, FBMWSH 335i Coupe M Sport and taking out BMW Comprehensive warranty for £40/month or so.

Then you have a RWD 300BHP Twin Turbo 3.0L straight six with either Dual Clutch Transmission or Manual. Easily do the same MPG as a MK5 on normal driving and remaps to 400BHP with no mods :)

I had one of these (not mapped) and it was an insanely good car. Currently saving for another once my house purchase has completed.

To me it's just another TFSI but with 2 more cylinders to decoke and double the bill for turbo replacement, which aren't known to handle remapping particularly well.  A colleague at work has one and it's a smoky thing when I follow it, and not that quick either given the specs when he hit the dual carriageway.  He says the mpg is terrible, which seems to corroborate with the amount of smoke coming out of it when he boots it.

Maybe he got a lemon but I personally don't see the appeal of these cars at all, especially if you live in a heavily populated area where parking is a pain.  And the 2 door ones seem to attract chavs where I'm from, but not everywhere is as schitty as Ipswich 

I think I'd rather go with as late a 535D as possible in preference to a 335i, but each to our own 

[Vish8895]

For me I'd be taking my £15K straight to a nice low mileage, FBMWSH 335i Coupe M Sport and taking out BMW Comprehensive warranty for £40/month or so.

Then you have a RWD 300BHP Twin Turbo 3.0L straight six with either Dual Clutch Transmission or Manual. Easily do the same MPG as a MK5 on normal driving and remaps to 400BHP with no mods :)

I had one of these (not mapped) and it was an insanely good car. Currently saving for another once my house purchase has completed.

To me it's just another TFSI but with 2 more cylinders to decoke and double the bill for turbo replacement, which aren't known to handle remapping particularly well.  A colleague at work has one and it's a smoky thing when I follow it, and not that quick either given the specs when he hit the dual carriageway.  He says the mpg is terrible, which seems to corroborate with the amount of smoke coming out of it when he boots it.

Maybe he got a lemon but I personally don't see the appeal of these cars at all, especially if you live in a heavily populated area where parking is a pain.  And the 2 door ones seem to attract chavs where I'm from, but not everywhere is as schitty as Ipswich 

I think I'd rather go with as late a 535D as possible in preference to a 335i, but each to our own 

After owning one I can say it's certainly nothing like a TFSI (maybe in principle but in reality, its another beast). I agree they do cost more to run and the turbos are expensive (hence why I suggested one with FBMWSH and extended warranty as I wouldn't trust it otherwise haha!).

It sounds like you friend has got a lemon, they are over 2s quicker to 60 than a GTI stock, if his is smoking badly and returning bad MPG it suggest bigger issues.

I did 300 miles a week in my 335i (75% motorway, 25% city) and it returned 30mpg at the end of the week (my mk5 is returning about 28mpg at the minute at the end of each week).

A 535D would be an excellent car but its like comparing apples and pears!

[prp74]

I also have a mk7 GTI with PP and think it's a good upgrade. If you near the harrow area you are welcome to check it out to judge for yourself. I was also thinking of the Golf MK6 R but wanted something a bit newer and the 7 R was way over the budget for me. Price for the MK7 has been going down. Just look for a good spec one 

[OirishGTI]

I went from mk5 to mk 7 and back to mk5. I never loved the mk7 it felt a bit like you weren't that involved in the drive   especially with all the driver aids adaptive cruise etc. it lost a bit of the essence of a Golf GTI. I also didn't fun it a whole lot faster stock.. Saying that I think a PP Mk7 with the adaptive suspension would be worth a shot (maybe with a tune)

[GrayMK5GTI]

Difficult one.

I've considered moving on many times myself, and my thoughts on your choices are:

The MK6 is the perfected MK5 and a known entity, but not different enough to make the jump interesting, unless perhaps 4WD is a requirement.  You'd have spent £15K, jump in it, and not a lot will be different.....compared to say jumping from a Golf to an M3.

MK7.5 is the perfected MK7, which has only just come out, so not financially viable yet unless leasing it.  Early MK7s have the Gen 2 EA888 I believe, which has it's problems.  Gen 3 EA888 is the one to have, but I'm not sure which model year it came out on.  It's the one that'll map to 380ish if you stick the 7R's IS38 turbo onto it.

I've had 4WD Golfs and to me they feel too heavy to hustle around on back roads, plus you have the extra 4WD associated maintenance costs and weight penalty, smaller boot etc.

The only GTI that would make me ditch my ED30 is a MK7 Performance Pack.

So that would leave me in a position to keep my MK5     The ED30 is easily the best looking GTI since the MK2, it's easy and relatively cheap to fix and reliable if looked after.   MK6s and MK7s are not different enough to justify the big cost jump imo, unless it's the 7PP with the Magnaride dampers and Haldex front diff.

That probably hasn't helped you in any way, but best bet is to test drive your shortlist and go with which ever you prefer 

All mk7s have the latest gen E888 TSI, some of the early turbos were badly balanced by IHI, other than that they are solid lumps. The 7R doesnt feel heavy at all despite the 4WD setup. . .thats the beuaty of the MQB platform 

[pudding]

For me I'd be taking my £15K straight to a nice low mileage, FBMWSH 335i Coupe M Sport and taking out BMW Comprehensive warranty for £40/month or so.

Then you have a RWD 300BHP Twin Turbo 3.0L straight six with either Dual Clutch Transmission or Manual. Easily do the same MPG as a MK5 on normal driving and remaps to 400BHP with no mods :)

I had one of these (not mapped) and it was an insanely good car. Currently saving for another once my house purchase has completed.

To me it's just another TFSI but with 2 more cylinders to decoke and double the bill for turbo replacement, which aren't known to handle remapping particularly well.  A colleague at work has one and it's a smoky thing when I follow it, and not that quick either given the specs when he hit the dual carriageway.  He says the mpg is terrible, which seems to corroborate with the amount of smoke coming out of it when he boots it.

Maybe he got a lemon but I personally don't see the appeal of these cars at all, especially if you live in a heavily populated area where parking is a pain.  And the 2 door ones seem to attract chavs where I'm from, but not everywhere is as schitty as Ipswich 

I think I'd rather go with as late a 535D as possible in preference to a 335i, but each to our own 

After owning one I can say it's certainly nothing like a TFSI (maybe in principle but in reality, its another beast). I agree they do cost more to run and the turbos are expensive (hence why I suggested one with FBMWSH and extended warranty as I wouldn't trust it otherwise haha!).

It sounds like you friend has got a lemon, they are over 2s quicker to 60 than a GTI stock, if his is smoking badly and returning bad MPG it suggest bigger issues.

I did 300 miles a week in my 335i (75% motorway, 25% city) and it returned 30mpg at the end of the week (my mk5 is returning about 28mpg at the minute at the end of each week).

A 535D would be an excellent car but its like comparing apples and pears!

Yeah I was thinking maintenance wise.....walnut blasting, injectors going, turbos wearing out etc....so just like a TFSI in that respect 

Yeah his is blue and black smoking, it's not in a good way!  I reckon the guy who had it before him must have caned the crap out of it, and / or neglected it.

Oooh I dunno, I prefer the 5 series chassis personally, and the latest 35D, 40D or what ever number BMW decide to adorn it with, is a proper punchy little beast!  Anyway, neither are practical for parking for me, so a bit academical.

Gotta be the MK7 really!

[Shoduchi]

I'd really consider the mk7 GTI PP if you're not going to tune it a lot. I'd prefer a mk6 R if you want to go hybrid turbo and +400 BHP.

[dansmith180]

If you can stretch a bit to get a nicer MK7 then definitely that as they're a totally different car. However if you're only looking at the worst ones then MK6R for sure