[Amey Kulkarni]

Merhaba Peeps,

Moving out of the comfort zone within your country to a new one and starting afresh is as challenging as a fresher entering the professional world.

Have travelled to a lot of countries but Dubai just never happened. Well now it did and happened for good. It’s been 8 odd months. The public transport isn't convenient if you're not staying in the apt locations. Anyone moving here, the first and foremost thing to do after scouting a house is to focus on driving license and getting a car. One for convenience to move around the city and other for the cars which you've only seen on wallpapers or dreamt of.

Exiting India with fresh memories of the track day at BIC on the Panigale 959, I was exhilarated to get something which would put a smile on my face again (Another Superbike ). With a family of 3, a family car was the first priority and sadly the coupes and 2 seaters were out of question.

I took around 3 months to get the driving license considering just weekends were possible for me to attend lessons. The overall process is a pain honestly and can be stressful even if you have two decades of driving experience. The few attempts of failures you come across hit you hard and sometimes it’s better to be a noob at it than an experienced one to negate the bad habits of driving.

However, these 3 months were sufficient to gain some experience of understanding the market as well. The preowned market is huge and you need to be careful while choosing the car. “Stick to only GCC spec cars” was a statement I had heard across; unless you have a known mechanic or friends who’d gone through the buying and owning process, it’s just better to buy a brand-new car as a first and have peace of mind.

With a decent budget in mind which could’ve fetched me a lot of cars honestly but due to the semiconductor issues, the stock in Dubai is scarce.

The ferreting kicked off with browsing through online apps for pre-owned cars – Dubizzle, Cars 24 etc.

I did Test drive a variety of cars viz : Toyota Prado, Toyota Land Cruiser, Volvo XC90, Mercedes Benz C200 and C43 AMG.
The breadboxes were nice and comfy but not something which I was eyeing for. The interiors looked dated even on the new Model Years. The C200 was lame. Hated it, however, was amazed by the C43 AMG 3L Turbo V6, adaptive suspensions, valvetronic exhausts and the exuberating acceleration. Insane, it was love. A downside was my wife and I are quite tall. Myself 185cms. The cabin in the C feels cramped. I was trying to fit in to the seats comfortably. But we still decided to go ahead considering the Triumph I had after driving it.

The tables turned when I found out the C43 had a couple of accidents and the good thing here is getting an accidental history is not so difficult but the third party dealers will surely not give away any info. You're on our own when it comes to retrieving all the past data.

We just decided to knock off the idea of going preowned and pay extra for a peaceful night's sleep.

[Amey Kulkarni]

So, the hunt began -

Visits to the showrooms and the cars explored –

Mercedes Benz – C200 MY 22 / C300, pre-worshipped C43 (if only :P). They only had C200, C300 is discontinued and so are C43 AMG and C63 AMG. There were a few pre-owned cars on sale viz – A35 AMG Saloon, lot of C200s (not surprised why).

BMW – Horror stories in GCC due to major failures in cars. Wasn’t even in contention.

JLR – No stock of the XE P 300, E Pace, XF, F Pace etc

Ford – Mustang, Rear seat leg space was disappointing, tacky interiors

VW – Golf R – Not available, GTI MK8 – Loved the TD and something which we shortlisted in the first visit.

Toyota – For a family of 3, didn’t look at the breadboxes honestly. Prado and LC are available in abundance and quite affordable. Germans are expensive and you feel the pinch of buying an expensive car compared to Japanese. But for peeps who’ve experienced moving around Dubai; you really need a pocket rocket kind of a car unless your family size demands for a bigger one.

Lexus – I actually loved the 3L V6 version + Lexus interiors which I was keen on picking up but IS, ES, LS all out of stock. They only had NX which was disappointing.

Not boring you all with a lot of text, let’s jump in to see the pictures of the Hot Hatch –

The variants available in GCC –
P1 – Base and Full
P2 – Base, Mid and Full

I picked up a P2 Base and secured the price before the hike which was effective 1st Nov’ 2021. P2 Mid and Full already had price hikes. The P2 base costed me INR 4 Lakhs cheaper the P2 Mid for which I had to trade off the DCC (Dynamic Chassis Control), Harman sound system and 19” alloys.

[Amey Kulkarni]

Under the Bonnet :

An evolved EA888 ‘Evo 4’ 2.0 Litre Turbo,
180KW @ 5k-6k rpm ~ 245 bhp
370 Nm @ 1.6k-4.3k rpm
FWD, 7 speed DSG (DQ381)



Exteriors

Front View :

The front design is sharp and feels aggressive. The GTI gets parking light DRLs inside the headlamps as well as a straight line from left to right below the red strip you will see (overboard I feel).

GCC Specs Golf GTI MK8 does not get the front IQ Lights which is a sad miss.

The Mid and Base variants miss on the driving / lane assistance which I honestly don’t need. I’ve driven cars with this feature and it gets irritating at times when you realize the car restricts you to overtake, corrects the lane etc. Good to have feature but not a must have for me.

Matrix LEDs are as standard. Do a good job to cover up the dark roads. Fog lamps are effective too with the LEDs mounted inside a Honey comb structured grill.

GTI Badging all around; which I personally felt overdone.

Automatic rain sensing wipers with multiple droplet settings.









Side View :

The GTI P2 Base gets Richmond 18” alloys and Good Year Falcon F1 tyres as stock. The ride is stiff on the 18” even in comfort mode and I'm happy I didn't pick up the 19" option.

The door handles get white LEDs and a golf light projection on the ground from the mirrors gives it a nice touch at night.

The car is equipped with keyless entry as standard and works swiftly. Can be turned off as well from the options on the infotainment.



Rear View :

IQ Lights as standard. Standard VW logo for opening the boot and embedded neatly with the reverse cam as well which is high quality.

It also gets auto emergency braking in case the driver doesn't realize someone in the rear blind spot.

The boot is decent for a family size of 3 /4 and rated at 374 Litres.

[Amey Kulkarni]

Interiors :

The real deal starts when you unlatch the door and peek in to see the interiors.
The cockpit is astonishing the moment you look at it. Gives a feeling of the integrated dials with the infotainment system like Mercedes had introduced in the E Class. There are no buttons at all. The ambience attracts you to spend more time glaring at it. Everything is based on capacitive touch where peeps complain but I personally love it. The touch and the response is brilliant. No lag at all.

It also gets a sunroof as standard and has a funny swipe function for opening and closing.









Steering wheel :

The wheel is 3 spoke leather stitched with lots of cool features and shortcuts. There are no buttons again and are touch. If you have a habit to rest your palm on the middle portions, you’ve to be really careful with your touch. Flat bottom wheel with a GTI batch looks stunning.

Features : Heated steering wheel, change view of the dials, you can change left, center or the right side of the dial with multiple options, lane assist options (Only on P2 higher variants), adjust cruise control settings, speed limiter, change dial views, dial display settings etc.

The paddle shifters are brilliant and useful when you're at the twisties and effective without any issues.



Dashboard and Digital Dials :

You get three options of different view of dials. Personally, I like the GTI customized one for the looks if offers.







Infotainment system :

Whole lotta features filled to the brim to customize as per one's needs. It would be impossible to do a walkthrough of each and have tried to summarize the key points.

Vehicle : Let's you customize and set a few critical settings e.g. TPSI, ESC options until you can even turn it off etc.

App-Connect : Apple Carplay, Android Auto available as standard

Sound : Customizable as required. And the output is truly satisfying.

Ambient Lighting: 32 Ambient colour options available as standard.

HVAC options / Airvents : Simple left / right swivel options. You can control temperature in different zones eg, driver, co-driver, rear passengers.









Additional shortcut buttons :

Clima, Park Assist, Menu, Driving Modes (Sports mode is brilliant where the steering feedback gets stiffer, exhaust note is louder and the transmission shifts holds gears longer on higher RPMs)



The massive buckets seats at the front do block the visibility for the passengers sitting behind. But still offers enough leg space for 2 adults and 1 kid at the back. But I'd say a 4 seaters is ideal with the arm-rest and the AC dials at the center cramping for room.



The floor console is nice. The gear shift is small and innovative. The car also gets Auto Hold as standard.

The armrest gets multiple height adjustments along with slide option to bring it further forward. Lift it up to get a nice storage bin to store stuff.





The GTI is now upgraded with USB-C type connectors and also gets wireless charging. A pretty cool feature to have in case of emergencies.



The side armrests are nicely cushioned with backlight buttons. The headlamps controls with Front Demister and Rear Defogger buttons are nicely integrated to the dashboard on the left. I noticed it has dimming backlit lights i.e. it sense your hand movement and as soon as you're close to those buttons, the light brightens to give extra visibility.



Driver side seats get ventilated + memory seats. I chose the ventilated seats over the fabric ones for obvious reasons of Dubai. They work brilliantly and the vents are extended right till the bums and thighs.

The memory seats are a great feature as well. I noticed with the memory setting even captures the ORVMs settings which also get memorized.



Overall, the GTI ownership has been pleasant and this hot hatch has been super satisfying for the initial 5K Kms odo clocked within these few months with just exploring around UAE on the weekends. She puts a smile everytime I'm behind the wheel.

I have opted for the 5 years warranty on this and next stop is to mod this baby keeping the warranty in check.









Cheers
Amey

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[shancz]

Congrats on owning and driving the legend

Golf was the car I had the most fun driving around UAE and those weren't even the GTI. It was/is the perfect car for me even today.
Really missed the lack of a similar option back home.

It spoils, I remember taking a corner in a Jetta on one of my favourite roads and realising mid corner that I wasn't driving the Golf when the front started to wash out

Now that you have it, have the most exhilarating drives.

Head out to RAK, Jebel Jais area, the mountain roads are fun. Although I was disappointed a bit when I saw the hairpins on the maps turning out to be an excellent 2-3 lane road right up to the top. Of course the customary visit to Jebel Hafeet notwithstanding.

[//M]

Many many Congratulations for the Golf GTI. Truly a wonderful choice !

Reading a car ownership review in such detail, coming from a hardcore biker and a friend whom I have known for past so many years feels a little amusing. More so as I have only indulged in motorcycle related discussions with you in the past decade.

The GTI looks and feels brilliant. I am sure every drive on this beauty is going to be quite an occasion. How I wish the Golf R was available though, that would have been legendary on another level !

[Nair.V8]

Hearty congratulations Amey Kulkarni on acquiring this beauty! I had the pleasure of driving the mk8 GTi last year at the Al Naboodah test facility at Dubai industrial city. It's a truly worthy successor to the legendary mk7!


Hope you have joined Der Volkskreis UAE (the local VW owners group), they have regular drives and meetups planned throughout the year. I was an ex-member and would highly recommend joining them to heighten your ownership experience.

Wish you a joyful and safe ownership experience. Cheers!

[pradheepsr]

We at India can only drool.
Even owning a Polo GTI seems like a distant dream, forget about the Golf.
Lucky chaps, enjoy!

[jomson13]

Congratulations Amey, car looks stunning.
What mods are you planning on doing? Knowing you, i'm sure they wont be aesthetic in nature

[Monaro CV8]

You stole my words there @//M

Big Congratulations to you Amey for this Car.
And a very well-documented Owner's review too!

I think this will be one of a kind for the GOLF GTI on this forum.

That Golf is one tastefully done-up car.
Years of iterations over the previous 7 generations and we have one amazing hot hatch in the Mk8.

Enjoy the Drive buddy!

Originally Posted by //M

Many many Congratulations for the Golf GTI. Truly a wonderful choice !

Reading a car ownership review in such detail, coming from a hardcore biker and a friend whom I have known for past so many years feels a little amusing. More so as I have only indulged in motorcycle related discussions with you in the past decade.

The GTI looks and feels brilliant. I am sure every drive on this beauty is going to be quite an occasion. How I wish the Golf R was available though, that would have been legendary on another level !

[jackofsome]

Amazing read Amey. Such a well sorted car and so much attention to detail, as a motorcycle person your thread stirred that hidden thread inside my heart to someday own the Focus RS, or a A45 AMG. The other day i was at BIC and saw a yellow A45, jaw dropping really.
In fact if i may ask why not a Focus RS if that was available?

[Porschefire]

Congratulations on the GTI, Amey!

I must say it’s an interesting choice considering the plethora of options available in the Middle East and that every Indian petrolhead I know or have heard, prefer to go the muscle car or the big SUV/pick-up route.

While I’m an evergreen Focus RS fan, the GTI is for sure the most practical choice considering the lack of an automatic (a requirement for my wife) in the former and the fact that Ford doesn’t make them any more. The Golf is a grown up car in every aspect, sedate, comfortable and well mannered most of the time but a real hoot when given the beans. No wonder it has been one of the global best sellers for decades.

Naturally then, the GTI has been my #2 choice and I was very excited to own one when I was moving to Denmark. Alas, my hopes were crushed to bits when I looked at the prices! Taxation is insane here and that meant >2x times the price as compared to automotive heavens like US/Germany/Middle East. Thankfully, there are good subsidies for EVs and Hybrids so, settled for a Mk7 GTE. Here are some pictures, hope you don’t mind me sharing on your thread -









Wishing you many happy miles.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

The preowned market is huge and you need to be careful while choosing the car. “Stick to only GCC spec cars” was a statement I had heard across

Could you explain this a bit more? I know Dubai imports all vehicles. What's the catch here? Damaged Imports? If Yes, are there no certification authority like the Government Road Transport Vehicle Inspection or the AA?

That is a sweet ride you got there. A GTI is also known to hold their value well.

[Amey Kulkarni]

Thanks a lot Shancz. The GTI just sticks to whatever corner you throw at it. The last few pictures you see are clicked at Jebel Jais. I've found some Team-BHPian treasures in Dubai wherein we do Dubai - Hatta - Meshwar, Fujairah as breakfast drives quite often.

Originally Posted by shancz

It spoils, I remember taking a corner in a Jetta on one of my favourite roads and realising mid corner that I wasn't driving the Golf when the front started to wash out

Head out to RAK, Jebel Jais area, the mountain roads are fun.

Thank you Dada and Satyen. I cannot believe myself that I took out so much time to review this baby. You're truly right with a very contrast history of indulgence, it was a unique experience but the GTI deserved to be on the forum. I knew this was one off or an exclusive review which the Team-BHP forum and its followers deserved. The thread is surely going to be kept posted with the pictures from the drives, fellow company GTI gets at drives and upcoming mods. One stage of tune for the GTI should have the R nos and I hope VW can find me away for it in my warranty.

On a side note, Motogp 2022 has kicked off and my hulk instincts are getting back.

Originally Posted by //M

Many many Congratulations for the Golf GTI. Truly a wonderful choice !

Reading a car ownership review in such detail, coming from a hardcore biker and a friend whom I have known for past so many years feels a little amusing. How I wish the Golf R was available though, that would have been legendary on another level !

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

You stole my words there @//M

Big Congratulations to you Amey for this Car.
And a very well-documented Owner's review too!

I think this will be one of a kind for the GOLF GTI on this forum.

Thank you Nair.V8. That's good to know that you've already had your hands on the GTI. The GTI MK8 is not only now loaded with tech but certain forums claim it to be even faster w.r.t its predecessors.

I'm not aware of this group. Let me check though offline or you could probably give me a lead on this one.

Originally Posted by Nair.V8

I had the pleasure of driving the mk8 GTi last year at the Al Naboodah test facility at Dubai industrial city. It's a truly worthy successor to the legendary mk7!

Hope you have joined Der Volkskreis UAE (the local VW owners group), they have regular drives and meetups planned throughout the year.

Thank you for the kind wishes. I only pity India not getting such legendary cars + looking at the sky soaring prices of cars; don't know where the car industry is headed. I feel you pradheepsr.

Originally Posted by pradheepsr

We at India can only drool.
Even owning a Polo GTI seems like a distant dream, forget about the Golf.
Lucky chaps, enjoy!

Thanks Jomson. I'm not yet sure what's allowed within the warranty spectrum as of now but I'm eyeing performance mods for sure.

Originally Posted by jomson13

Congratulations Amey, car looks stunning.
What mods are you planning on doing? Knowing you, i'm sure they wont be aesthetic in nature

Thank you jackofsome. Focus RS is discontinued and IIRC, it was only manual which is a downside when you compare to the likes of DSGs. A 45 AMG is ruthless when it comes to performance and the elegance of a Mercedes.

Originally Posted by jackofsome

Focus RS, or a A45 AMG. The other day i was at BIC and saw a yellow A45, jaw dropping really.
In fact if i may ask why not a Focus RS if that was available?

Thank you Porschefire. It is a surprising choice for me even today. I never imagined a car can be so much fun. I've always been a superbiker at heart. For a family of 3, SUV surely wasn't on my mind but I only test drove Prado and LC only for the point where you're coming from. Americans were on my mind but with they're heavy on the pockets and don't hold their value in UAE sadly. Its just the way how market plays here. The cars depreciate faster than rust.

In the longer run, the GTI will go to my wife and I will eye a two seater or a coupe along-side the GTI.

Thanks for sharing the GTE pictures. She looks lovely. Were the black rims stock or you got them painted?

Originally Posted by Porschefire

I must say it’s an interesting choice considering the plethora of options available in the Middle East and that every Indian petrolhead I know or have heard, prefer to go the muscle car or the big SUV/pick-up route.

Thankfully, there are good subsidies for EVs and Hybrids so, settled for a Mk7 GTE. Here are some pictures, hope you don’t mind me sharing on your thread -

Thank you sandeepmohan. Dubai imports are generally controversial. The auctions might please you with unreal prices but you really gotta look underneath what you're buying. They might make the cars look new again but would you still buy them. For me, its a big NO. I wouldn't take that gamble here, if it plays wrong, you end up buying something out of scrap. 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.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Could you explain this a bit more? I know Dubai imports all vehicles. What's the catch here? Damaged Imports?