Occasionally, I do drive about 800 miles 13 hours all hwy.
Also, is one transmission «better» than the other? 6 speed vs DSG? Not specifically talking about MPG, or which is more fun.
Some cars drive so effortlessly on the hwy. I could go on for hundreds of miles.
A recent car I drove had a 4 speed auto (1.8 I4). It was a chore after about 6 hours. By the 11th hour, I just want out.
I understand GTI is a sporty car (geared short?), but do you feel it does well as a long distance hwy car?
495 příspěvků · Připojeno 2007
I did a couple of 1300 mile trips on my 14 Jetta SE 5spd manual and it was a joy, never went that far on the Jetta, but can’t imagine would be that different
2016 GTI 6MT // 2016 CX-5 «Family Hauler» // 2009 GSXR 600 — Midlife Crisis is a beautiful thing.
8 příspěvků · Připojeno 2014
I took my 2015 GTI SE (6 speed manual) on a road trip from New Jersey to Georgia and back last summer. I did the return trip in one day, about 850 miles.
It was a very comfortable ride. I averaged around 39mpg with the a/c on most of the time and the turbo engine enabled me to pull away from bad drivers and a lot of truck traffic.
815 příspěvků · Připojeno 2014
I took my GTI on a 300 mile (600 miles total) work trip to Michigan and loved every minute of it. Pop it into 6th gear, turn on cruise and go. If I needed to overtake, drop to 5th or 4th and blast off.
At 70 mph the car will do about 2300 rpm in 6th. Great for fuel efficiency as long as the route isn’t too hilly.
«Look pal, I’m an engineer. That means I solve problems. Not problems like: what is beauty? Because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of Philosophy. I solve practical problems!» ~ Dell C.
The Blue Crayon 2 — 2015 VW GTI with performance pack
8 příspěvků · Připojeno 2016
I drive about 80 miles a day all highway and I think it’s a great highway car. Comfortable, cruises nice and really with the 6spd you can just cruise in 6th the whole time unless you really need to accelerate in a hurry. It’s definitely better on long hauls than our focus and it has an auto. I manage about 34-35 mpg cruising and probably a bit better once it warms up here.
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1064 příspěvků · Připojeno 2009
Last week I drove Portland to Seattle for a couple of meetings, and then back the same day. 360 miles round trip. It was so good. In particular the adaptive cruise takes, in my opinion, at least 40% of the anxiety and effort out of staying in the flow of traffic at any speed whatsoever.
297 příspěvků · Připojeno 2015
It’s a good hwy car. I just wish it had a 7th gear though as it seems to be revving kinda high at highway speeds.
323 příspěvků · Připojeno 2007
How tall is the 5th or 6th gear on any other car you have driven?
At 93mph on GPS car is at 3k rpm on PP manual.
For reference my mk6 Golf R at 70mph in sixth gear was at 3k.
I drove it from Minneapolis to San Fransisco in two days. With DCC in comfort mode it is an amazing road trip car.
You can have a lot of fun at Donner pass and watch your passenger’s head not bounce
on the bumpy roads.
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314 příspěvků · Připojeno 2004
took a 550 mile round trip a couple of weeks ago
Drove my car from Dallas to Houston and back about two weeks ago. Car was extremely comfortable and handled great on the highway.
I averaged 36-37 mpg on the highway and the car has awesome power for passing.
561 příspěvků · Připojeno 2014
I drive 700 highway miles (10.5 hours) twice a month. After I raised the front of the seat for more leg support (cured my aching back) the car is a joy. ~38mpg @70-75 on cruise control.
Silver 2015 GTI SE 4dr 6spd
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6309 příspěvků · Připojeno 2006
I think it is a good highway car, very comfortable and good MPG. The only thing I cannot stand is the wind noise, but maybe I am expecting total silence.
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526 příspěvků · Připojeno 2015
It’s a great hwy car, I have DSG and its fun when you play with it and are driving through canyons but I use cruise control on the highway. As long as it’s not super hilly it does pretty good on gas, although the leather seat models do tend to be on the firmer side and can get a little uncomfortable on trips 2+ hours but it’s great. Drove from Santa Barbara to Yosemite and averaged 37 MPG
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93 příspěvků · Připojeno 2015
I’d say it’s quieter and more comfortable overall than other small, inexpensive sporty cars (WRX, Fiesta ST, BRZ, etc). Manage your expectations. It isn’t as smooth or quiet as a luxury car. It isn’t as smooth or quiet as the average family sedan. Road noise is very surface-dependent.
DAP features (radar cruise control, etc) are awesome on the highway and make driving in moderately-heavy traffic much more relaxing.
I consider the seats among the most-comfortable I’ve ever sat in, at any price. Great on long trips.
I average 34-36 mpg on the highway (typically driving 70-80 mph with driver+2 passengers and plenty of cargo).
191 příspěvků · Připojeno 2015
I’m surprised everyone’s response so far is positive. Of course, there’s the ‘confirmation bias’. (In this case: People who have purchased the car are more likely to give positive reviews. confirming they’ve made a good choice.)
I will say I don’t think it’s that great a highway car. 98% of my driving is local stuff. And when I DO have an extended highway ride, around here, they are flat, straight and boring. and at times, on roads of questionable quality. If I drove lots of miles a year on highways, I doubt I would have bought my GTI. I would have gone for something bigger with a smoother ride. Perhaps more of a luxury sedan. The GTI has a bumpy sports car ride in my opinion. And before people start yelling at me, I will say my opinion is limited to my 12 year old trailblazer SUV and my wife’s 2009 Sonata.
But if you’re buying a sports car version of a Golf, you WANT a bumpy sports car ride. That’s the gig! I wanted a pocket rocket for zipping around my small town. And that’s what I got! But 400 miles nonstop in a GTI? I dunno.
Good gas mileage though.
A used GTI is one of the best road trip cars, as this journey through New England proves. It’s fun, roomy, and suprisingly comfy to sleep in!
by Marc Wiley
Publikováno v dubnu 28, 2023
It was 2021, and the world was still very much in the grips of a global pandemic. Despite this, much of the world had returned to some sense of normalcy, albeit with some compromises. And if you’re anything like me, it’s at this point that you started to go a little crazy. I’d always wanted a Golf GTI, and in February of that year I picked up a used 2017 GTI model with 27,000 miles for just under $21,000. Not long after, I found it is one of the best road trip cars for the money. Realizing that pandemic life was here to stay for at least a bit longer, I decided to get away from the makeshift home office. It was time to explore New England in one of my dream cars.
Crisp, accessible handling sets the GTI apart
There are a lot of affordable sports cars that are good at one thing. The Miata, for example, is great for road feel but lacks a real sense of refinement. A Subaru BRZ or Toyota GR86 sends power through tires that are too skinny to handle it, but it gives the car a rowdier sense of character than the sub-200-horsepower engine would imply.
In the GTI, though, I found myself chucking it into every corner with near-reckless abandon. It’s not that you can’t get this car unsettled – throw it too hard, and the short wheelbase combines with lift-off oversteer to pitch you into a momentary sideways frenzy. But it takes to apexes like a bear to honey when you find the limit.
In carving through the mountains of Vermont, I’d find myself scything from mustard to mayonnaise with a permanent smile plastered on my face. That’s the other thing – the GTI is small enough to play around with while staying in a single lane.
Unfortunately, the GTI I brought home didn’t have the performance pack. That meant I was left with just the standard brakes. Those were adequate for a touge run or two, but beyond that, showed more fade than a sun-bleached umbrella.
The ride was compliant and comfortable, even in the 27,000-mile example I brought home. Only the biggest of imperfections would significantly interrupt the quality driving experience. And with the bolstered seats and excellent headroom, this MK7 GTI is an easy fit for almost any size driver. Even on an extended road trip, this car is one of the best I’ve experienced.
Punchy performance meets road-trip efficiency
The 2017 GTI I drove was, as ever, powered by Volkswagen’s vaunted EA888 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. This iteration delivered 210 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. To that point, I, Mr. Save-the-Manuals, had never experienced the VW DSG, but within minutes I understood why so many automakers are going this way.
The shifts are quicker than anything I could manage, even disregarding rev hang and clutch wear. And they did so with a satisfying crackle as the fuel cut briefly interrupted proceedings and the transmission swapped cogs.
Unlike the GLI, the GTI in manual mode puts you in complete control over the gear shifts. Leave it in first, mash the gas, and it’ll bang off the rev limiter until you pull the paddle.
As I left the winding roads of the Green Mountains for a highway blast on I-89, the GTI showed another side – efficiency.
Cruising at 70 mph, I could average upwards of 35 mpg, so long as stop-and-go traffic or rolling hills didn’t get in the way. If there’s anything negative I could say about this hot hatch, it gets very thirsty at anything above a cruise. In traffic, I’d get 20 to 22 mpg at most. And when romping through the hills and mountains of New England, there were times when I was lucky to get 15.
It’s easy to think about when you’re paying for premium – and just as easy to forget with a snaking ribbon of tarmac laid out ahead of you.
A night sleeping in the GTI
The 22.8 cubic feet of cargo space in the MK7 GTI is more than enough for a bi-weekly CostCo excursion, but it turns out that this hot hatch doesn’t make a half-bad camper for a night either.
On one particular leg of my New England adventure, I’d gotten caught wandering too far off the beaten path and decided to bed down in a parking area for the night.
Fortunately, with the rear seats folded flat and the front seats pushed forward, the Golf left just enough room for a mostly comfortable night’s sleep. I’m 5’11”, but when laying on my side with legs slightly bent, the GTI is just big enough. That said, the measured distance is just over five feet from the back of the front seats to the hatch. However, anyone taller than six feet may not find the same level of comfort I experienced.
Meanwhile, the sloping roofline didn’t do me any favors the next morning when, prompted by a rather rude alarm clock, I sprang up and immediately whacked my head on the ceiling. Overall though, the little hatch proved its versatility, adding “bed” to its list of possible applications.
Is the MK7 GTI fast?
Once I was done seeing stars, brushed my teeth with bottled water, and my back made a sound like distant firecrackers, it was time to have a little fun. I found an abandoned back road just south of Pisgah State Park in New Hampshire and decided to see how Launch Control works in the MK7 GTI.
At this point, I was running on all-season tires halfway through their lifespan. Still, the spirited hatchback managed a respectable 6.8-second run to 60 mph, according to my very amateur calculations. Overall though, that figure makes sense, given Car and Driver reported a 5.9-second sprint to 60 in their test car.
After spending days wandering from Northern Vermont through New Hampshire, it was time to visit Boston. Here, I learned how the little hatchback handled the city.
Small enough for city driving, too harsh to find the fun
As much as I loved both Boston and my Golf GTI by this point, combining the two wasn’t exactly pleasant. It’s here where the GTI’s sport suspension shows its weak points. Without adaptive dampers, the MK7 GTI absolutely violates its driver and passengers on rough city streets. Dealing with repeated, large bumps is unpleasant in any car. However, the GTI’s short wheelbase and stiffened suspension make it particularly jarring. As much as I’d loved the entire road trip to this point, I couldn’t wait to get out of the city and back onto open, more well-kept roads.
That said, the little Volkswagen is agile enough to make those quick jaunts through small gaps in traffic. Furthermore, it’s punchy enough to take advantage of them when they pop up. And because it has such short overhangs, parallel parking one of these feels like cheating.
Quality in-car tech
In contrast to the current MK8 GTI, the MK7 has just the right amount of in-car tech. The Apple CarPlay worked well enough, and Bluetooth was nearly flawless. And even in this relatively basic model, sound quality and depth were more than respectable. That said, it was far from the best-sounding car audio out there.
My only gripe is that the car offered little in the way of keyfob functions without external modifications. The only options are lock and unlock, with no long-press functions from the factory. And because of how the immobilizer is designed, there is no way to add a remote start to the MK7. That’s a pain when you just want to cool off the cabin on a steamy July afternoon.
Is the MK7 GTI the perfect road trip car?
If it’s just one or two of you coming along for the ride, a used MK7 GTI is probably one of the best road trip cars you can buy if you love to drive. It’s comfortable everywhere except the roughest streets and an absolute riot on back roads and mountain passes.
Furthermore, the GTI delivers ample highway efficiency at a modest cruising speed and has enough space to pack a couple of suitcases or even bed down for a night in a pinch. These days, a used, low-mileage MK7 GTI goes for around $25,000. However, you can spend as little as $17,000 by opting for one between 50,000 and 75,000 miles and still feel good about it.
That price, with its driving experience and versatility, makes the MK7 GTI one of the best all-around road trip cars available today.
