Comments by "Stephen Hendricks" (@stephenhendricks103) on "" video.

  1. I'm a previous owner of the last year of the MK6 (2013 model year in the US) GTI and currently drive a MK7.5 (2018), each a 4 dr and each a DSG and each the Autobahn trim. I'd have to agree that the 2 dr version wins in the looks department but one of the GTI's greatest strengths is its practicality and a significant part of that is the usable backseat. Putting 4 doors on a Mustang or Camaro is unnecessary since the back seats are largely unusable anyway. But in the GTI, the back seat is an important feature. So versatility wins out for me (and apparently for most GTI owners since the 2 door never sold well in the US.) DSG vs MT? When I bought my 2013 GTI it was the first time in 40 years of driving that I didn't have at least one MT vehicle in my garage. I opted for the DSG primarily because my wife sometimes shared it on her horrible daily commute in the Seattle metro area. Putting up with constant shifting in a vehicle ranging from 0 to 30 mph in stop-n-go freeway traffic was no fun for her. As it turned out, the DSG was a perfect compromise. Set to automatically shift in urban traffic and to manual mode otherwise, the DSG held a selected gear all the way to red line and provided the features of an MT along with better performance and fuel efficiency. When I replaced my MK6 with the MK7.5, I didn't hesitate to choose a DSG. Will I replace my beloved GTI with a MK8 version when they're available in the US in 2021? Very unlikely, especially considering I'll be paying college tuition for my daughter by then. Unlike some others, I don't object to the styling changes of the MK8 but I'd be more tempted to move to a Golf R at that point.
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  2. VW has long "de-contented" GTI's exported to the US compared to Europe. The practice stems from meeting a price point in the US. Europeans routinely pay the equivalent of $50K or more for a top trim GTI. That's an impossibly high price in the US.
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