[shancz]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

I've found some Team-BHPian treasures in Dubai wherein we do Dubai - Hatta - Meshwar, Fujairah as breakfast drives quite often.

I was somehow imagining those pics to be near Hatta but I remember now, Jebel Jais it is

Your breakfast drive shows that you're in the right place, time, drive and company.
Have fun

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

Were the black rims stock or you got them painted?

They are the Pretoria 18" wheels I purchased when I bought the car.


The car came stock with Astana 16" that look terrible IMO, currently using them on the winter tyres.

[nightraven]

Thank for sharing. Wishing you happy miles! I always wanted to drive a Golf R. I had the pleasure of driving a Golf GTD mk8 with 2.0 liter TDI on rental last week. Pushed the car to the limits on the Autobahn and what a hoot to drive it was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U0-kO0xYr8

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

In addition, due to the weather conditions, GCC spec cars get higher capacity compressors and bigger radiators. Cars going on fire in summers here is a common phenomena.

I was unaware of such a specification, made for markets where weather conditions are extreme. Thanks.

[nutcracker]

The VW Golf has been my most desired vehicle since ages, and I've pestered VW India countless times asking whether they will launch it here or not.

It is hands down the perfect car for urban conditions.

It is because of the Golf that I've owned it's smaller brother, the Polo, and have been enjoying it since 8 years of ownership. When I bought the diesel Polo back in 2014, I was certain that by the time I am ready to replace it, the Golf would be out.

I can only sigh.

Kudos on your ride OP!

[vj123]

Congrats on your MK8 and its nice to see another GTI review on the forum. Having owned a MK7 and MK7.5, I will say that GTI will be one of my all time favorites.

How are you liking the interior with reduced physical buttons. VW got a lot of flake from the community for that drastic change.

[Amey Kulkarni]

Nice choice. 16" and the design look aweful.

Originally Posted by Porschefire

They are the Pretoria 18" wheels I purchased when I bought the car.

The car came stock with Astana 16" that look terrible IMO, currently using them on the winter tyres.

Superb! I'm yet to drive the Golf R. But comes out to be a beast amongst its rivals for sure.

Originally Posted by nightraven

Thank for sharing. Wishing you happy miles! I always wanted to drive a Golf R. I had the pleasure of driving a Golf GTD mk8 with 2.0 liter TDI on rental last week.

Thank you nutcracker. Its a pity honestly and also as mentioned earlier, with the car prices going north, the situation is laughable.

Originally Posted by nutcracker

It is because of the Golf that I've owned it's smaller brother, the Polo, and have been enjoying it since 8 years of ownership.

Thank you vj123. You're truly right. The car has a charm of its own. I'm quite liking the interiors without the physical buttons actually. It has zero lag and its effortless. It would've definitely got to me if the whole buttonless thing had lag or had it been slow. But, most of the panels are glossy piano black including the key fob, hopefully they hold up without scratches over the period of time.

Originally Posted by vj123

Having owned a MK7 and MK7.5, I will say that GTI will be one of my all time favorites.

How are you liking the interior with reduced physical buttons. VW got a lot of flake from the community for that drastic change.

[Amey Kulkarni]

Quick update Peeps!

When I landed in Dubai 13 months ago, I was shocked to see the mileage of the cars and here we are after 8 months, this beauty hits 10,000 Kms primarily with the weekend drives around UAE.

I foresee the mileage to go up henceforth as I’ve started using the Golf GTI as a daily for office commute.

The Infrastructure and the roads are a dream and butter smooth . You just don’t realise you’ve probably done a breakfast drive and crossed 400 odd Kms in half a day.

The Golf GTI has been an eye opener for me IMHO in the space of German engineering (was always a SBK rider at heart back then). The DSG DQ381 is no less than the human brain. The way she shifts are very similar to how I want them to during spiriting driving especially in Sports Mode. She pops, she bangs and keeps the grin on the face till that redline.

So far, the Ownership experience has been sublime and touchwood hope to progress ahead flawlessly. The running-in period varying RPMs was sincerely adhered. Cold starts until she reaches 60 deg at the dash and then move off. No rough throttle beyond 2K RPM until she’s nice and warm. As they say:

Respect The Machine, She Respects You Back

Here’s how the first of her many milestones was celebrated and no other way than a breakfast drive.

We headed to the Wadis of : Al Qor and Hatta with BHPians Ronz_2507 (Dodge Charger R/T) and Varun Keswani (BMW M140i, Schnitzer tuned).











Cheers,
Amey

[Monaro CV8]

Hearty Congratulations Amey on the 10k km milestone! That was pretty quick!

Good to see you are enjoying the GTI to your heart's content.
1st service at 15k km? Do keep us posted on the service experience and the drive feedback post service.

Now that the Supra GR has joined in the stable, are we gonna see side treatment to the 1st love Golf?

[Amey Kulkarni]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Hearty Congratulations Amey on the 10k km milestone! That was pretty quick!

Good to see you are enjoying the GTI to your heart's content.
1st service at 15k km? Do keep us posted on the service experience and the drive feedback post service.

Thanks bro. Absolutely. She wakes me up before the first coffee enroute office everyday. First service is at 15K Kms or one year. She'll be due next month. I'll try to catch-up on the feedback post that.

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Now that the Supra GR has joined in the stable, are we gonna see side treatment to the 1st love Golf?

I knew you'd say that. but NO!!! I don't want to take this thought to my mind yet.

But, I won't lie. After the last weekend run in the Supra, Monday morning in the GTI felt different for sure. The power delivery is very much noticeable especially the initial acceleration with that twin scroll turbo of the Supra. But GTI is still playful and enough for city runs for sure.

Cheers,
Amey