A new car has arrived in the garage, a 2024 Volkswagen GTI 380 Autobahn in Dolphin Grey Metallic. The 2018 Audi S3 has been traded in on the first new car I've bought in 25 years.
Why'd I trade in the S3? That's an excellent question. It was a great looking car, handled well and was a veritable rocket. It had all-wheel drive, a comfortable and sporty interior, and nearly all the creature comforts you'd reasonably want. But it didn't have a manual transmission and after three years of trying to get used to the DSG, I'd had enough. Maybe a "tune" on the DSG might have helped with the hunting issues and soft response that drove me a bit crazy, but some news from VAG helped me pull the trigger on the new GTI.
Basically I found out that the model year 2024 GTI and Golf R would be the last of their kind to be equipped with manual transmissions. That's right, after 2024 there will be no manual GTIs. Let that sink in for a second.
Volkswagen has actually commemorated this by producing a "380" edition for the 2024 model year, 380 apparently being the internal build code for the 6-speed manual transmission. And when I looked at the prices of GTI and Golf R Mk8s on the used market (that's model years 2022 and up) it honestly made more sense to buy a brand new one. So I did.
I opted for the GTI over the Golf R for a few reasons, not least of which was price. Golf Rs are closing in on $55-60K around here and that is too much money to get my head around. A GTI is lighter and $15K less, and the lower-powered 2.0L turbo should do me just fine. The GTI also has a fancy limited-slip differential that takes some of the sting out of losing AWD. And look at those tartan cloth seats!
So far I've put about 200km on the car and have quite enjoyed it. Yes it is slower than the S3 (50hp less and a manual transmission will do that), but the driving engagement is much much greater. And it has some nice creature comforts that the S3 didn't even have (heated steering wheel, looking at you). The much-maligned haptic controls haven't bothered me overly either, they are mostly pretty easy to manipulate. The interior layout is nicer than the Audi's as well - the centre screen is well-integrated and it doesn't look like somebody stuck an iPad to the dash. Interior lighting seems infinitely adjustable - the person at the dealership who showed me round my new car spent more time on that than anything else. I had to figure out how to disengage the electronic parking brake myself.
Exterior styling I quite like - it's a GTI after all and I don't think they've ever made a really ugly one. The light strip across the grille is cool, the door handles light up and the mirrors power-fold as well as projecting a psychedelic design on the ground.
There's lots of adjustability in the driving end as well, you can adjust everything from steering response to exhaust sound, as well as the DCC suspension. And speaking of that, why do all GTIs come from the factory looking like jacked up 4x4s??? (look at the fender gap in pics 1 and 2 above, sheesh) Like the Mk5 and Mk7 before it, this car will be getting lowering springs (this time, from H&R) and wheel spacers (from CTS Turbo out of BC). Speed Factor has been tapped for the install.
And a hatchback is convenient! My ice hockey bag fits in there fine but I might have to lower the load floor to get my ball hockey goal pads in there better. VW really got it right with the rearview camera under the hatch release handle. Never gets dirty and always a crystal-clear view.
I'll update next after the springs, spacers and summer tires get put on but until then, enjoy shifting your own gears while you can!
