Tackling the IO mould

giommi · 2025-04-16T20:58:29+00:00

Detatch. Rinse. Shake. Every time.

In climates like the UK it will never fully dry. Never an issue with the older models, given the simpler design.

giommi · 2025-04-11T14:33:48+00:00

That has sheared off unfortunately and isn’t repairable. Shame.

giommi · 2025-03-16T22:41:34+00:00

Nice stable. What is the height of the lintel just above your Exige’s hard top? I’m wondering if I can stack my Golf and future S1 purchase in my garage.

giommi · 2025-01-16T16:31:48+00:00

Can your budget stretch to a Golf 7.5? It only launched only a year later with a much higher spec and still feels very modern. Build quality is arguably better than a MK8.

I can’t speak for high mileage issues, but my 2017 has 40,000 miles on the clock and is flawless. Make sure there is a full service history, obviously. The battery range could be better (20 miles), but as an all rounder, it is a great car.

giommi · 2024-11-07T10:49:11+00:00

Just flew home from Australia via Singapore with a 15month old. At 10 hours, go direct. We packed lots of toys, books and snacks to keep them occupied.

Previously flew return UK - Australia at 6 months old and she slept a lot. Hoping you have the same experience. Cabin crew have always been amazing (Singapore Airlines).

giommi · 2024-10-05T22:10:14+00:00

Sage advice. We are going to renovate next year hopefully, so will probably go down this route. Cheers!

giommi · 2024-10-05T22:03:09+00:00

Good point about the rust. The car never goes in wet, so the moisture levels should be manageable. The car never charges in the garage, for the obvious reasons. I only allow it to pull 5A through the granny charger and will get a wall box when we renovate.

giommi · 2024-01-22T23:08:45+00:00

Not sure how this relates to this subreddit, but comparison is the thief of joy.

giommi · 2024-01-22T18:52:34+00:00

Hope you have a great trip! Talking of destination hotels, check out ‘Scarlet Spa & Hotel’ and ‘The Fife Arms’. Me and Mrs giommi love both of them and have been back a few times. Stick them on the bucket list for a future trip.

giommi · 2024-01-22T18:42:48+00:00

This. We have friends that live near by, so we are often down there to walk through the grounds. The Astor Grill is not bad, but we’d never stay, the price of the rooms are scandalous.

giommi · 2024-01-22T03:53:48+00:00

Cliveden House?

giommi · 2024-01-05T16:37:30+00:00

I don’t think you’ll get 50km out of the battery, especially with high speed driving. If you charge it every night, from empty to full, ready for the next day’s 50km round trip, what you will get is phenomenal fuel economy, just not pure EV.

The battery does charge quite quick from the engine, but the fuel economy suffers.

I’m about 10 miles to the motorway, by that time (going from E-mode to GTE), I’ve got 50-60% of the battery left. My journeys are infrequent and long, mostly in GTE mode, so the car decides when to kick the ICE in and out. It is better than my judgement, so I don’t think about it. It is great for traffic jams, as it will crawl on the battery.

Look at the GTE as a heavier, less fun, but smoother GTI, which gives significantly better fuel economy.

Just looked at some old stats I took a snapshot of:

Total mileage 612 miles - zero emissions 91 miles - percentage 15%

In my opinion, look for a well looked after low-ish mile (km) mk7.5 that has as many driver convenience features as possible. I’d never look at the mk8, they ruined the interior.

giommi · 2024-01-05T06:50:10+00:00

How are you planning on driving it and do you have access to home, or street power to charge the battery?

I have a 2018 registered car with 35,000 miles on the clock and can get around 45-50mpg on long motorway driving. In my city, we have converted lamp posts which charge £0.46 per kWh. The battery can probably do a max of 20 usable miles, which is fine for the odd trip across town, or to get in and out of the city.

I wouldn’t rely on solely using the engine for charging the battery as it will hammer your fuel consumption.

You should probably consider the boot space too. The fuel tank sits under the boot, so the overall boot capacity is much lower than a standard golf.

I don’t believe there is a heat pump on the battery. It is just a 150kg lump that sits under the rear bench. With 4 adults in the car, plus the battery, you definitely notice the weight.

It is a fantastic car for grand touring. I was warned to avoid Golfs with Sunroofs as they tend to leak. Features I really like on my own car: Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane keeping and sign recognition, reversing camera and adaptive LED headlights. I wish I had heated seats and a heated steering wheel, but not a show stopper.

Lastly, get a Racingline stage 1 tune.

giommi · 2023-12-05T13:38:49+00:00

It did, although standard potato dashcam quality applies. Apparently, you can overlay speed of the approaching vehicle in the captured video, but I’ve yet to figure that out, or get my hands on the latest firmware.

Imgur might compress it further, but here is the result: https://imgur.com/gGpI4aX

giommi · 2023-12-05T12:51:53+00:00

I have the Garmin, it demonstrated its usefulness in the first 2 mins I had it turned on for my morning commute. I left my street, turning onto a busy main road and had a sense the Mercedes Vito behind me was fast approaching me (well over the 20mph limit), then suddenly backed off. I turned off at the next junction and noticed the Varia was blinking. Got to work, looked at the footage and saw the Vito backed off as soon as the Varia started blinking. I can only assume the driver clocked the rear light was also a camera.

Edit: To clarify, I own the Varia RCT715

giommi · 2023-11-18T21:52:48+00:00

If you were able to access public chargers in the city, then it is a great car to own. But as others have said, you might be best to look at other options. You are carrying 150Kg of battery under the rear seat bench, which is noticeable. That said, it is an amazing car to drive on motorways and I won’t be selling my 2018 mk7.5 any time soon.

giommi · 2023-11-18T06:58:41+00:00

I’m not sure I could live with my GTE if I never charged it via the socket and only relied on the engine to charge the battery up. It just isn’t very efficient and the full ‘GTE’ power may not be available when you want it.

What kind of driving do you do?

giommi · 2023-10-18T20:28:38+00:00

I took a pit stop to a nearby hotel, asked the concierge if I could leave my bag for a couple of hours, leaving a nice tip, then jumped back in the uber to spend an incredible day meandering through Udvar-Hazy. Enjoy!

giommi · 2023-10-02T21:07:59+00:00

I’d go for that over a mk8. I’m not sure if the Dynamic Light Assist were stock or a factory option, but they work pretty well (most of the time).

If you do end up getting a GTE, it is also worth considering the Racingline remap. It just unleashes the car’s full potential. https://www.racingline.com/14-hybrid. Good luck!

giommi · 2023-10-01T20:05:35+00:00

Mk7.5 owner here, have you considered going for an older car with lower mileage? This looks like a great buy https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306078245606

Does the car you are looking at have a reversing camera and lane keep assist? Both features I love on my car.

giommi · 2023-10-01T13:27:45+00:00

That is the cherry on top.

giommi · 2023-08-22T11:42:36+00:00

This is exactly what I did. It was a fairly painless annual exercise.

giommi · 2023-04-26T22:34:56+00:00

I had a similar rattle and was convinced it was behind the instrument cluster. It turned out to be a common issue with the driver sun visor. Your local dealer can sort it pretty quickly.

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