MK8.5 Golf GTI Clubsport First Impressions!

[@loganpadayachee6048]

Sam I have a pure white Oct 2021 8 GTI. Only did 23 000km. I decided to keep mine just upgraded to extended 2 year warranty and easy drive plan❤

[@tenajnin]

We sub because of your enthusiasm and joy for the cars dude! Hope the channel keeps growing! I’m torn between the Ice Blue and moonstone grey in the club sport with those wheels + gti performance pack for an extra £400 is a no brainer. I hate the decals, but I’m sure you could remove them easy enough

[@SamAustin]

Thank you so much for your positive words! That is a very tough choice. Both colours looked great for sure and I agree if the decals do not work for you I am sure they can be removed 😊

[@schumpido]

Emotion start: push and hold the start button until the 'depress the brake pedal' notification comes up on the cluster then you keep it pressed and push the brake for a few secs and it’ll rev a bit higher on start up.

[@SamAustin]

Thank you for the information that is really helpful. I will remember this for next time as I loved it when it worked on the Golf R Black Edition😊

[@paulwilliams4990]

Those wheels are way 😎. I’ve got a little R Line in the Kings Red which looks awesome.

[@CT-ud7yk]

In real life Kings Red can look Pink . That puts me off. But can look really nice in certain light.

[@slen6293]

I feel like this is definitely the sweet spot. Prefer the looks to the R. This would probably be my pick. Love the wheels too

[@billionbear]

I agree. That spec without the Kings Red.

[@jc74435]

That would be the spec I would order. Very nice

[@SamAustin]

It looks great for sure! I also loved the Oryx white and the moonstone grey GTI Clubsport also shown in the film. Plenty of options to choose from to suit your preference 😊

[@steveowen9740]

Hi Sam,I I'm in love with the clubsport, I think dcc is a must no debate ,I agree with volkswizard in that there is no right or wrong choice between the R and the clubsport, it's all subjective, when both cars are on the move there really is little in it performance wise ,remember the R is carrying another 89kg round with the awd system,it's just down to what sort of driving experience you want from the car ,I'm in team clubsport myself ,in and out I just think it's a more attractive car,all subjective of course, another great film Sam. 😊

[@SamAustin]

Thank you for the positive feedback. It is all subjective and one thing for sure is that both cars for me are wonderful to drive 😊

[@FeN1xDD]

Sam, have you check the steering in "Race/Sport" mode? (not "Special") Was it the same light steering feeling in those modes?

[@SamAustin]

I did with the Golf R and I did not notice too much of a difference. From memory with the clubsport it also did not appear to change too much from my experience. I hope to spend more time in the future with modes to feedback to you further. I expected "special" to be firm (which it felt like in the R) but with the clubsport the steering felt lighter 🤔

[@FeN1xDD]

got it, thanks. It would be great to check all modes and see the difference (if any). Maybe they did lighter steering in CS so the car initially felt lighter than R.

[@DanKla91]

Did u notice a significant difference between the standard and akra exhaust. Some say the difference is not that huge others say it is. 4k uprice is quit a lot money.

[@SamAustin]

I would need to spend more time with the car. Both sounded very good and with the both GTI CS's I tried being very new with low miles I imagine the exhausts need some miles on them to really hear them roar. It is very subjective and I will try to do a full sound check should I have the opportunity to do so. As for a significant difference on the day it was hard to tell too much between the tone of them both although being caught up in filming I would like more time with the cars to give you my full thoughts which I hope to have in the future. For sure it is an important decision particularly given the extra costs involved.

[@r3games1985]

Of course it's got Adaptive chassis control. The Club sport is the maxed out GTI.

[@SamAustin]

It is an optional extra in the UK and a good one to go for in my opinion for your GTI 😊

[@KevinTs91]

sadly dont have the akrapovic :( what kind of wheels are these?

[@grzegorzmarciszko2655]

Do you know if golf gti 8.5 has the same stock exhaust as golf gti clubsport 8.5 ? (not talking about acrapovic)?

[@SamAustin]

I will try to find out for sure although I believe the exhaust is different. It certainly sounds louder in Clubsport form compared to the standard GTI. Good question and this has got me thinking 🤔

[@grzegorzmarciszko2655]

@@SamAustin and what about the size, of the muffer, does it looks bigger in the clubsport ?

[@alisonsmith3817]

Don’t think red does it justice,, I would opt for the black

[@MarkSlack-t4p]

Hi,what does dcc actually do, thanks

[@SamAustin]

Thank you for the question. So Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) allows you to change the settings of the dampers of the car. So they can either be softened, to make the car more comfortable, or they can be firmed up to make the car more sporty in the corners, for example, with less body roll. There are many settings to change the level of tolerance between soft and firm. This can be changed individually or via the ECO, Comfort, Race, Special and drift mode settings available in the car which works in combination with DCC if you have this optioned. This is also described by Volkswagen here: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/adaptive-chassis-control-dcc-incl-driving-profile-selection-3949 - I hope the information helps to answer your question 😊

[@grzegorzmarciszko2655]

Does anybody know whether this carbon part on the dashboard I a real carbon or fake? I heard it is.

[@SamAustin]

On the UK official VW configurator you can option: "Decorative inserts in Carbon for dashboard and front door trim panels" in the Golf R under the interior section on the options. I believe they are real carbon based on this. Checking today I am unsure if this is available on the GTI or the Clubsport.

[@grzegorzmarciszko2655]

@@SamAustin well in Poland in the configurator there is no such options like that to be added but I heard in one or two presentations that it is real carbon, but noone mentioned it is some kind of additional option to be selected so could be that here in Poland we canot pick it up if this is really some kind of an option, I will pikc mine Januray 2025 to see for myself but hard to say If I will be able to say it is a carbon or not

[@jc74435]

Is the akrapovic noticeable? Is it worth it?

[@SamAustin]

I would need to spend more time with the car. Both sounded very good and with the both GTI CS's I tried being very new with low miles I imagine the exhausts need some miles on them to really hear them roar. It is very subjective and I will try to do a full sound check should I have the opportunity to do so.

[@ryanhall8304]

Lovely car, not sure on those tyres though🤔

[@norbertogonzalez502]

Es mucho mejor que el gti mk8.5?

[@garnetthoran9422]

Por supuesto amigo!