Focus ST or MK7 GTI?

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Looking to pick up a hot hatch for dd duties. Which would you choose and why?

[mckpat03]

I prefer the exterior and interior of the GTI. The ST makes more power, but the GTI isn't far behind. I have no idea what their real world fuel economies are, and the fuelly website isn't working for me right now. The GTI can be had with a limited slip diff as opposed to the torque-vectoring or whatever the ST uses. I think the price runs up quicker/higher on the GTI, though.

I'd take the GTI simply because I don't care for the ST interior at all.

[saxon]

Mk6 golf r...

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

According to APR the stage 1 tune (no mods) it picks up 87hp and 114tq. That's remarkable for tune only. They also go on to say they got a 13.1 @ 110 in the 1/4 and dropped it to 11.6 with 100 octane race gas. Are APR claims legit?

The biggest thing the ST The biggest thing the ST has going for it is price. I found a few ST-1 base cars priced at 19k, that coupled with 0% for 72 would make for a great little deal.

[c7scayman]

The GTI is more luxurious and more comfortable for daily driving. I believe it also has more space in this new 7th gen. The Focus ST is probably more fun, but the GTI will probably handle better and ride better.

[mckpat03]

Keep in mind, all of APR's numbers are at the flywheel. No ratings at the wheels. With that said, a lot of people are very happy with APR. I have no idea how realistic their claims are. There are a lot of people that detest APR and say they fudge all their numbers and all kinds of other stuff. But, generally, I'd say most of their numbers are reasonably close.

[Renegade_]

You guys should search a little harder for what kind of company APR really is...

I say MK7 GTI because its just an all around better package. If you want AWD, theres the MK6 R or new A3.

[saxon]

You guys should search a little harder for what kind of company APR really is...

I say MK7 GTI because its just an all around better package. If you want AWD, theres the MK6 R or new A3.

mk7 is coming very soon and can be ordered

fyi, I have apr tune and am very happy with my 11 second s4

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

You guys should search a little harder for what kind of company APR really is...

Good, bad?!

[mckpat03]

There are a lot of people that don't like them for a variety of reasons. There have also been some very interesting threads about them in the last six months or so. You can search for "apr mangrove" and find a bunch of threads from September 2014-ish.

Edit: Yup, what Renegade said below. Forgot about the exhaust issues. But also, like saxon, there are many happy customers.

[Renegade_]

mk7 is coming very soon and can be ordered

fyi, I have apr tune and am very happy with my 11 second s4

I assume its a B8. They were having major issues with B8.5s and not putting down nearly the power advertised and owners running the same quarter as stock.

Search for 'APR Mangrove' and 'APR RSC Exhaust'.

[saxon]

I assume its a B8. They were having major issues with B8.5s and not putting down nearly the power advertised and owners running the same quarter as stock.

Search for 'APR Mangrove' and 'APR RSC Exhaust'.

their b8.5 tunes make power, however they dont have a transmission tune so they are missing out on 1,000 rpm of peak power which compared to giac/revo who have transmission tunes it does make it look weak

i also had an "rsc" exhaust and IMO its exactly as they advertised. it didnt drone and had some weird pipes in the mufflers with no packing.

the problem is that they are the biggest tuner in the vag scene and people dont like that they are stupid over priced so they nit pick the smallest things to try and make apr look bad

[c7scayman]

At Warrington Porsche/VW, one of the service techs has a MK6 GTI with APR tune. He had it for a couple of years and he loves it. He said his car has been reliable so far and he claims a 40hp increase.

[Diablo2424]

My co-worker has an 03 RS6 w/K&N drop-in's, downpipes w/high flow cats and a custom tune (From some forum member in NY) and that car is an absolute beast... off-topic, sorry. However, he also has a 2013 Golf R with the APR Stage 2+ kit on it, and he did have some issues where the first time they loaded the tune (at Waterfest) they loaded the wrong tune which was throwing a CEL, as he has a rear cat but the tune was for the test pipe. He contacted them, they fixed the tune with the "correct" one and now he's good. However, his exhaust does rattle quite a bit on the bottom of the car once in a while, which he said he'll just fix himself. But IMO, for the $$$ he spent to have APR do the work, I think they should be fixing that, simply out of principle. I will say his Golf R is definitely a quick car, he hasn't had any major issue's since having the APR Stage 2+ kit installed, and it's just as reliable as it was stock.

He has mentioned to me though how the GIAC and Revo tunes/kits tend to be about the same power rating's but cost less... he's just always been an APR fan so he sticks with them, not too mention the money isn't an issue for him...

[mckpat03]

I haven't personally had a car they support, but if I did, I think I'd almost definitely go with United Motorsport for tuning, regardless of what hardware is installed.

Edit: Just commenting on the various VW tuners.

[HatchSurfer3]

I love my ST. I have the st3 though so the comfort/features factor will be completely different in the st1. My real world gas mileage is about 24. Most of the driving I do is commuting almost 60 miles a day round trip to work and there is a decent amount of traffic. When I tested it on the highway I got a little over 30 iirc. And that wasn't driving 55, it was like 75-85 the whole way. I did test drive a GTI before buying the ST and loved it. The VW dealership just wouldn't work with me at all on anything so I said screw it and walked out.

[SeMaxima99]

wait a few months the Focus RS comes but then your more looking WRX/STI EVO price point.

[WolfGTI]

Nothing against the ST, but I think for a daily driven car the MK7GTI covers all the bases very well.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Just an update guys. Pulled the trigger on a '15 GTI. Did APR STG1 and a set of shifter paddles pretty early on and have been very happy with it. Feels extremely strong- stronger than my stg2 STI AND Speed3. The Mk7s are no joke.

My only regret was not going for SE, though I get the hipster plaid. 😝

http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/gmelliott/IMG_1216_zpsfzbmo4va.jpg

http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/gmelliott/IMG_1376_zpsvyabueiu.jpg

[Foolinaround]

A fellow member on here has a wolfsburg(I think mk6) and that thing has spent more time at the dealer than an alfa.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

A fellow member on here has a wolfsburg(I think mk6) and that thing has spent more time at the dealer than an alfa.

Thanks for the info brother. 👍