Other cool features I like include:
Seat Heat – It’s great! I turn it on high at first, back off to low after just a minute or so, then it’s warm enough to shut off completely after 10 minutes.
Plenty of Gauges – I love having gauges on the cluster. It’s so much better than the decontented cluster on my Mk6. I can also pull up more displays in the “Performance Monitor.”
270° Fuel Gauge – The fuel gauges in earlier cars only moved about 75 degrees between full and empty. They gave the appearance that fuel stayed around forever. With a slightly smaller fuel tank and 270 degrees of gauge movement, it’s almost alarming to be able to watch the fuel gauge drop during a single commute. Still, I like having the extra precision.
Needles at Rest – This is one of those “nice touch” kind of features. When the car is off, all the gauge needles point in the same direction. Those with OCD would be pleased. 😉
Odometer Rolling Numbers – The odometer and trip distance counter are both digital. Still, an engineer thought it would be an interesting touch to make the numbers “roll” like an analog counter. It’s unnecessary, but a cool touch.
GPS Time Sync – “A man with a watch always knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.” (Segal’s law). The GTI’s clock is synced automatically to the GPS receiver. Yes, even cars without factory navigation have a GPS receiver built into the sharkfin antenna. As a result, my clock and my smartphone always match! 🙂
High-Resolution Backup Camera – Of course, I can reverse without one; but using it to center the car effortlessly in a parking spot is sweet! The GTI’s camera is protected from rain and road spray, plus it has resolution that shows every detail. It’s impressive!
No Sunroof – How can I like a feature that the car doesn’t even have? I’ve read about problems people are having with their roofs leaking, creaking, or malfunctioning. The posts make me REALLY glad that I don’t have one.
My dislikes (other than CarPlay) are few:
Some of the Steering Wheel Controls – I liked a previous car that controlled the music volume and track selection with the same button (up and down for volume; left and right for previous/next tracks). The GTI has these features separated. The volume is controlled by a left/right button near the cruise control while the previous/next selection is made with a left/right button near the cluster control buttons. I’ll eventually get used to it.
(Un)Limited Door Stops – When opening the doors, there are indentations in the slide that allow the door to hold in set positions. In earlier cars, there was a position that wasn’t enough, another position that was just right, and then all the way. The GTI lacks the “just right” position. “All the way” is too far, especially if there is another car parked alongside. Many enthusiasts have cut their own indentations in the door slide. I will do the same. I just wish VW had done this right at the factory. No one likes door dings!
Ice Warning – I’m already aware of when it’s cold outside. So the feature seems unnecessary unless I’m on a long trip that takes me from warm weather to really cold weather in the span of a couple of hours. As if that’s not bad enough, the warning sounds as the temperature REACHES 39 degrees from either direction. That means that I can go outside, scrap ice from a clearly frozen car, start driving with NO ICE WARNING, and then be startled an hour later when the temperature RISES to 39 degrees and the car sounds an annoying chime. That’s DUMB. I wish I could disable it, but I haven’t found a code that’ll let me make changes to that module with VCDS.
Early (and Annoying) Windshield Washer Warning – I like that the car lets me know when the washer fluid is running low. I hate running out unexpectedly, especially on a commute with salty road spray flying everywhere. But the announcement is made WAY too early; plus it chimes far too often and displays a cluster symbol that seems to signal the impending destruction of the car (that’s in addition to the wiper fluid lamp). One chime at start-up and the wiper fluid lamp really is sufficient, Volkswagen!
Telephone/Cluster Auto-Select – As mentioned above, I’ve come to like the Bluetooth interface on my car. Taking phone calls is convenient. However, I don’t like that the display on the cluster automatically switches to the phone screen just because I pressed the phone button on the steering wheel to answer or hang up a call. I wish I could disable that feature in the cluster because I can use the MIB2 to view telephone options.
That’s all I can think of for now. Hover over the “My GTI” link above to see if the menu has grown since your last visit. I add new content as I complete various projects. I’ll be sure to post a write-up soon after my upcoming road trip.
10k and Counting,
Scott