- All right today, today, I'm fricking excited.
You know why?
Because we're talking about bratwurst.
We're talking about sauerkraut.
We're getting into the Euro game today.
And I'm an absolute sucker for front wheel drive hatchbacks.
We got a good one today.
The Mk7 GTI.
This is the ultimate buyer's guide.
Let's get into it.
(hip hop music)
So, today we're looking at Sterling's 2016 Volkswagen GTI,
SE, he has a bunch of fun mods done to this thing
like RS7 plugs, Megan racing catless downpipe,
Rev9 Catback exhaust, which sounds amazing.
You're gonna hear that soon.
Cobb accessport with a South Bend stage two endurance
clutch, and also a few little cosmetic goodies.
Coming around the back, we have this rear patch wing,
which I think looks kind of neat.
This is a no name spoiler on the back that's paint matched.
Really brings it all together.
And this thing is also
on some BC Racing BR series coilovers,
which are really popular,
but let's get into the wheels and tires.
So coming down here,
we have the Aodhan AHX on 18x8.5 plus 35 square set up
on some Firehawk Indy 500s.
Those are 225/40.
This is a really good setup for the price
and very common on these Volkswagens.
So what you're gonna see here is a five by 112 volt
pattern, which is really common for Euro cars.
So that's good news.
There's a lot of wheels out there like Rotiform,
Artisa Wheels, BBS, all that kind of stuff.
You're gonna be set to go though.
Now my biggest pet peeve with that is the lug bolts.
That is the dumbest design, absolutely terrible.
And you're gonna want to pick up a lug stud conversion,
which is like a hundred bucks, but trust me,
it's just gonna make your life easier
because when you're taking on and off the wheels
and you replace them is such a pain in the ass
to put them up and try and hold it and try
and screw it in.
Just get the studs, do the stud conversion.
You gonna have a way better time.
So all of this is sounding pretty good, right?
Well, let's take it for a drive
and talk about some of the common mods
and common issues we're gonna see on the GTI.
Alright, I'm excited.
(grunting)
So Sterling let me know that this has its regular mode.
And then with the tune that you can actually use the little
mode button here and switch it to sport.
So I'm gonna drive around in regular
and then put it in sport mode
because Sterling says that makes a pretty big difference.
So my initial reactions are,
I really enjoy this.
Front wheel drive hatchbacks, I feel at home.
I mean that's a personal opinion
and I'm gonna be heavily comparing this to the Focus ST
'cause back in the past, I used to have an ST
and I feel like these are definitely,
you know, that's it's head to competitor.
The interior on the GTI, definitely nicer than the Focus ST.
I'll say that right out the gate.
The ST does come with leather recaros,
but these leather seats that the GTI has,
are really bolstered and just feel good, comfy.
They look good.
It just feels like a higher end car than what you're getting
for the price range.
And I think Euro cars do a, just a phenomenal job of that.
Some common mods you're gonna see on these,
now, again, it's a front wheel drive,
turbocharged hatchback.
So you're just gonna be getting your bolt-ons
and tune for the most part.
Now, one thing to keep in mind when you go Euro
is generally, it's a little bit more expensive
than like a Focus ST.
When you're looking at your intakes,
your downpipes, your exhausts, your tunes.
They're gonna be slightly higher priced,
just that's how the Euro market is.
- What's the retail on one of those?
- More than you can afford, pal.
- Euro, nothing insane, nothing crazy,
but it definitely will be a little bump up.
Something that's nice with this too,
is since it's essentially, a sport economy car
is you're gonna get pretty good gas mileage as well,
and still have enough power to get out of your own way.
Especially, once you tune and modify these things.
When you tune them, you get your bolt-ons on there.
It is a night and day difference how the car feels.
(engine revving)
And that's I think why I've been so attracted to 'em
because like the mods you do to 'em,
they make a big difference.
And it's just so much fun going from stock
to aftermarket and feeling that difference.
We'll switch it into sport mode in just a second,
but make sure you guys subscribe so we can still keep making
more videos like this.
I know like 60 to 70% of you aren't subscribed.
So I'm watching for you.
All right, David, you better subscribe.
Speaking of tuning though,
one thing you gotta keep in mind is this is a manual.
It's six speed.
That's fantastic.
He has the two nine here, but if you have the automatic,
the DSG transmission.
(car sputtering)
When you get a tune, you also have to get a tune
for your DSG.
Now you're probably thinking, well,
I'm gonna get the manual anyways, who cares?
Well there's some good news, bad news there.
Good news is you got a manual.
You can roll back at stoplights, show off to your friends,
dump the clutch and do all that fun stuff.
Bad news is the stock clutches suck.
(engine revving)
You're gonna have to replace it.
Any type of power,
it's not having it dude.
It's just not having it.
Is similar, we reviewed the Honda Civic SI.
Again, that factory clutch, no good.
And Sterling says,
if he got the opportunity and he would have to buy this car
again, he would, but he would go with the DSG,
which I thought was super interesting,
just because obviously, manual's a little more fun to drive
and stuff like that.
But he said he would go with the DSG.
But the shifter on the six speed, ah,
my immediate reaction was just like,
just feels kind of loosey goosey.
I don't know.
It's hard to, it doesn't have that notchy feel, you know,
that I really like.
In like the STI that we reviewed or even
the Civic SI, those had so much better shifters.
They just felt way better.
This one, putting it into gears is just like
shoving my hand in pudding, I don't know.
Some other common mods that you're gonna see on these,
other than just bolt-ons is sway bar upgrades,
the dog mount, upgrading that.
And then if you're one of those guys, that's like,
I need more power.
This thing needs to be quicker.
It definitely is a thing to upgrade to the Golf R turbo,
which is gonna get you up higher
in those horsepower numbers.
(engines rev)
It isn't that crazy, you know, to do.
It's not that hard.
All right, I'm bored.
We gotta switch it.
I'm pressing the mode button,
going on the screen,
switching over to sport mode.
And then obviously I'm gonna roll down the windows
a little bit because I want you guys
to be able to hear what I'm hearing.
He says, it makes a big difference.
We'll see if it does.
I'll just downshift here.
And then since,
Whoa (laughing).
All right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give it a little bit.
(engine revs)
That's genuinely surprising.
Holy (beep).
I cannot believe how much life it brings to the car.
Just switching it over to sport mode.
And then obviously you get the crackles and pops too,
which is just, it's fun.
I think there is a fine line where it's like,
it's fun and then it's obnoxious.
(car rattles)
(laughing)
Oh my God.
But sometimes it's fun to be obnoxious.
So I get it.
And it's not like, overbearing.
Like it's not like every time I laid off, let off the gas,
it's like, blah, blah, blah.
Like that's basically how my ST was
'cause I had a pop and crackle tune on that.
This is a little more subtle,
but the pops are definitely way louder.
Holy.
(car popping)
It just snaps and crackles.
Oh my God.
So, some common issues with these,
the good part is these newer Volkswagens kind of got rid of
the rep of having reliability issues.
These are gonna be pretty decent.
You will still see some water pumps stuff,
maybe some misfires, but nothing like detrimental.
For the most part, if you do the right mods,
get the right tune, you're not beating the hell out of it,
and you're doing your general maintenance on time.
This car is gonna treat you well.
And it also has a gigantic sunroof,
which I forgot to mention.
It's just massive, has nothing to do with the reliability.
I just, that thing's fricking huge.
Jesus.
All right, now I want to get on it a little bit more again,
because that was really fun.
(engine revving and popping)
(laughing)
So you could hear it breaking up a little bit.
All that was is I still have the traction control on.
So it was just kind of fighting me a little bit
because obviously first, second gear,
you're not getting traction.
Now I haven't taken this through any hard turns
or anything like that,
but Sterling says it actually handles really, really well.
It doesn't understeer nearly as bad
as most front wheel drives do.
And it is a good handling car.
On the BC racing coilovers too, the BR series.
This is feels nice.
It feels good.
It's not like, we've been going
on some of these crappier roads too.
And it hasn't been like bad, by any means.
It feels really good.
Now I would say compared to some of the other cars
I've driven and some of the cars that we've reviewed
on the series, the steering's a little loose to me.
It could be tighter.
Just the feedback isn't as nice as some of the other cars.
Like the STI I think, had such good,
like I felt like I could feel the road
where this just feels kind of, again,
my hands are in pudding.
I don't know why that's a common theme.
Bridge, bridge, bridge!
(engine revs and pops)
(laughing)
Oh my God, that is so ridiculous.
It might be annoying for other people.
Truly, it might be, but like it makes me happy.
I think it's fun.
I don't even know where we are.
We've just been driving.
We're fricking lost, but I'm having a good time.
And I think that says a ton about the car itself.
Now if you're deciding between a Mini Cooper or a Focus ST
or any of those other front wheel drive hatchbacks,
there's only so much I can tell you,
you're gonna have to get out and test drive 'em
and really see what fits your needs.
But what I'm going to tell you,
is the GTI is a fantastic option.
I had a Mk4 GTI.
I literally loved the thing and it's so cool to see how that
they've literally carried it out throughout the years
and keep the heritage of it,
but new ways and they still make it feel so right
and so good.
And the nice part is this car is extremely functional too.
You have a hatch,
you can fold down those rear seats and keep whatever you
want to in here and transport stuff,
you can have all your buddies sit in the back.
I mean, this is a four door one,
like there's not much to hate on here.
It's just a good car for the money, genuinely.
Now Sterling did say that like there is a few little creeks
and stuff with the interior, but I don't know.
Overall. I think the interior is really nice.
I think he's being hard on it a little bit.
'cause he didn't have to come
from Ford's plastic-y (beep) interior.
Look at,
there's the enemy.
There's the enemy.
Right there, that big yellow (beep).
Look at that, look at that big bird looking ass.
Let's go get 'em.
He's gettin' on her too.
He don't want the smoke.
You don't want, I got to get over buddy,
I'm not gettin' on the highway.
I'll wave to him.
There, we met up with the enemy.
I waved.
I don't know if I got a wave back.
Oh! (laughing)
(engine revving)
I don't know about that.
You ready for this park job, baby?
Ready, there, oh, Sean wants me to rev it.
So I guess I'm gonna rev it before I get up.
(engine revving and popping)
Oh my God.
That is insane.
That is just nuts.
So, that is the ultimate buyer's guide review.
And if you want my opinion on it,
just tried to steal my lanyard.
So now I'm gonna deduct some points,
but honestly I think this is an absolutely fantastic car.
If you want to get into a tuner car, a Euro car,
something you can throw some mods at
and see direct feedback.
This is fantastic.
It's right in that sweet price point
where it's not crazy expensive,
but it's a decent price that you can hop into
if you can get a decent auto loan,
but that's not for me to decide.
My biggest thing is go test drive one.
See if you like the interior,
compare it to a few other cars too.
And then if it checks all your boxes, hop into it
because I had the time of my life driving this thing,
I think it's so much damn fun.
Even with the cracks and pops,
I think it's just ridiculous and a good time,
but let me know in the comments,
what you guys think.
And all the wheels, tires, and suspension mentioned
in this episode,
or if you have a Mk7 GTI and need some,
fitmentindustries.com.
Peace!
I don't even say peace, why'd I say peace?
That's Sean's thing
and Alex, weirdos.
(hip hop music)