GTD

The MK7 and MK7.5 Golf GTD in detail: the 184 PS EA288 2.0 TDI, the engine codes by year and market, gearboxes, performance and economy figures, weights and towing limits, UK standard equipment against the GTI, prices and insurance groups, the diesel-specific service items, and what a VCDS scan of a GTD shows.

On this page 12 sections

Overview

The GTD is the diesel performance Golf: a 2.0 TDI of 1,968 cc producing 184 PS (135 kW) and 380 Nm, against 350 Nm in the MK6 GTD.¹ It was sold as a 3-door and 5-door hatch from 2013 and as a GTD Estate from 2015, the first GTD estate since the name began in 1982.²³

VW UK groups the GTD with the GTI and the Golf R as "Performance Golfs". In the UK price lists it sits between R-Line and GTI, and the GTI's standard equipment is written as "GTI (over GTD)".⁴⁵⁶ Every GTD is front-wheel drive.⁷⁸

It was not sold in the United States. The only MK7 diesel offered there was the 150 hp TDI, for the 2015 model year.⁹

GTI

The petrol car the GTD is specified against, including the VAQ diff and the brakes it does not have.

The whole MK7 range

Every engine and trim level, including the other 2.0 TDI outputs.

Year-by-year changes

What changed and when across the range, with build dates.

Identify a GTD

Engine codes, PR codes and scan addresses that confirm a car is a GTD.

Wheels and fitment

Nogaro, Seville and Curitiba with part numbers and offsets.

Servicing

Intervals, fluids and capacities for the range.

Timeline and UK positioning

Date	Event	Source
21 Feb 2013	VW UK announces the GTD for the Geneva show in March. German orders open 5 Mar 2013 at EUR 29,350, with the European market launch given as starting June 2013. UK sales were expected in April and deliveries in the summer.	[1]
15 Apr 2013	UK order books open from GBP 25,285 OTR, GBP 310 more than the MK6 GTD.	[2]
5 Aug 2013	GTD reaches UK showrooms (announced on 2 Aug as arriving "from Monday").	[10]
29 Jan 2015	GTD Estate announced for Geneva in March 2015. UK sale expected April, first deliveries June.	[3]
15 Apr 2015	UK orders open for the GTD Estate, with first deliveries in August 2015, so the June estimate slipped. Press driving event at Malaga in April 2015.	[11] [7]
10 Nov 2016	Facelift world premiere. A new 7-speed DSG "will gradually replace all 6-speed DSGs" in the Golf, and the radar sensor on TDI, GTD and GTI models moves from the lower intake to behind the VW badge.	[12]
1 Feb 2017	UK facelift line-up adds GTD BlueLine, in hatch and Estate, alongside the GTD. Price list effective 14 Feb 2017.	[13] [5]
9 Jul 2018	WLTP-era UK price list marks the GTD and GTD BlueLine manual rows with the dagger for stock cars only. The DSG rows are still orderable.	[14]
29 Oct 2018	PistonHeads reports the GTD could no longer be ordered in the UK, calling it a victim of the stricter WLTP standards and the diesel emissions fallout, and expects no more powerful diesel Golf until the MK8.	[15]
March 2019	German Wikipedia says the GTD was no longer orderable in Germany, and gives the German production window as 03/2013 to 02/2019. Unverified	[16]
1 May 2020	The UK price and specification guide has no GTD row at all.	[17]
21 Oct 2020	UK orders open for the MK8 GTD, at 200 PS.	[18]

The end of UK sales

No withdrawal notice exists. Every VW UK release of 2018 and 2019 has been re-read, 931 of them across release ids around 3180 to 4100, and not one announces a UK GTD withdrawal, a last-order date, or a WLTP or DSG-only UK GTD.¹⁹ What can be dated is the paper trail either side of the gap, and that gives the best-supported account rather than a confirmed date.

Date	What the document shows	Source
9 Jul 2018	The last UK price table to carry a GTD row at all. The GTD and GTD BlueLine manuals are daggered as stock cars only; the DSG rows are still orderable	[14]
Sep 2018	The UK Golf press pack still lists GTD and GTD BlueLine as current in both the hatch and the Estate line-up, and still presents the manual as the standard gearbox, with the 7-speed DSG as the option that replaced the 6-speed. It is dated after the July price list, so read it as line-up copy rather than an order status	[20]
29 Oct 2018	PistonHeads reports the GTD could no longer be ordered in the UK	[15]
19 Dec 2018	VW UK "Golf Match Edition" carries full OTR price tables for the hatch, Estate and SV with no GTD row anywhere, and no 2.0 TDI above 150 PS	[21]
11 Feb 2019	VW UK publishes a press kit titled "Golf GTD Mk VII 2019", still live. Its only content pack is the September 2018 Golf press pack, so it adds no 2019 specification or price	[22]
19 Sep 2019	Run-out "Edition" trims, with full hatch, Estate and SV price tables and no GTD row. VW says Edition trims are introduced as a product nears the end of its generation	[23]
1 Oct 2019	Model Year 2020 range update names only a Connect Dongle on S and Match Edition and an Akrapovic exhaust on the GTI TCR. No GTD	[24]
23 Oct 2019	A VW retrospective on the MK7 still carries live NEDC consumption footnotes for "Golf GTD" (4.5 to 4.3 l/100 km, 118 to 113 g/km) and "Golf GTD Variant" (4.6 l/100 km, 120 g/km), while a separate footnote says the Golf Clubsport "is not longer on sale". VW drops the footnote when a car is withdrawn, so the GTD and GTD Variant were still orderable somewhere in Europe at that point	[25]
1 May 2020	The UK price and specification guide has no GTD row	[17]

The best-supported account, then, is that the UK GTD and GTD Estate were last listed on 9 July 2018, with the manual already restricted to stock cars, and that they quietly dropped out of the UK range after that without a release. The February 2019 press kit is a kit title with 2018 content behind it, not evidence of a 2019 UK car. PistonHeads remains the only source that states a date, and it is a magazine report rather than a VW document. Unverified¹⁵²²

Two things still do not fit. Two MY2019 cars with KW-series VINs, the DJGA engine and the DQ381 gearbox were scanned by UK-located owners, one in Scotland, so WLTP GTDs did reach UK owners; stock cars, imports or a quiet DSG-only return would all explain it, and no UK document chooses between them. Sources differ²⁶²⁷ Unverified Parts application data gives the build window for the 2.0 TDI 135 kW as April 2013 to August 2020 for the hatch and January 2015 to July 2019 for the Variant, which is the only dated end-of-build figure found for the GTD Estate, but it lumps all three engine codes together and is an aggregator. Unverified²⁸

Germany is clearer. German Wikipedia says the GTD was no longer orderable there from March 2019, and one owner of a 2019 GTD Variant reports the car was DSG-only (DQ381) with an SCR catalyst to WLTP and RDE Euro 6d-TEMP, and says VW did not certify the manual to 6d-TEMP. That is one owner account against a Wikipedia date. Unverified¹⁶²⁹

Engine: EA288 2.0 TDI, 184 PS

Capacity: 1,968 cc¹
Bore and stroke: 81.0 mm x 95.5 mm¹
Compression ratio: 15.8:1¹
Power: 184 PS (135 kW) at 3,500–4,000 rpm¹
Torque: 380 Nm at 1,750–3,250 rpm¹
Injection: Common rail at 2,000 bar, raised from 1,800 bar⁷

The 15 Apr 2015 UK release on the GTD Estate gives the torque as "280 Nm (380 lbs ft) from 2,500 to 5,000 rpm", which is the Golf R's rev band with the units swapped. VW's own press pack and the launch release both give 380 Nm at 1,750–3,250 rpm, so treat the Estate release figure as a misprint. Sources differ¹¹⁷¹

EA288 features on the GTD

The first four items are from VW's own press pack. The rest are from Audi of America Self-Study Program 920143, the EA288 training document, which covers the same third-generation 2.0 TDI. VW official

Variable valve timing through a camshaft adjuster.⁷
Dual-loop exhaust gas recirculation: a cooled low-pressure loop and an uncooled high-pressure loop.⁷
Intercooler integrated into the intake manifold.⁷
Turbocharger sized for the higher output, and two balancer shafts.⁷
No intake swirl flaps. The variable camshaft timing is what induces the swirl, which SSP 920143 says makes a separate swirl flap unnecessary. The swirl-flap failures told about older VW diesels do not apply to this engine.³⁰
Bosch solenoid-valve injectors, not piezo. The solenoid type was chosen because it allows more injections per work cycle. Fuel return pressure is held at about 1 bar so that injection quantities stay precise.³⁰
The high-pressure EGR valve is water-cooled and mounted on the distributor rail. The low-pressure EGR cooler sits in the secondary, or micro, cooling circuit along with the cylinder head, the cabin heat exchanger and the electrical auxiliary coolant pump. The EGR cooler has a vacuum-controlled bypass flap worked by the engine control unit.³⁰ What that means for coolant loss is under EGR cooler and coolant loss.

Emissions equipment, Euro 6 and AdBlue

The GTD is Euro 6 in the UK brochures for both hatch and Estate, described as a common rail diesel with a turbocharger and a diesel particulate filter.⁸³¹ On the pre-facelift GTD Estate the aftertreatment is a NOx storage catalytic converter upstream of the DPF, with two oxygen sensors and three exhaust temperature sensors. No SCR system or AdBlue is mentioned.⁷

SSP 920143 settles the AdBlue question for the plain Euro 6 car. Its table of features by emission standard marks "SCR system (AdBlue)" only against EU6 heavy duty and the US BIN5/ULEV versions. Plain EU6 gets a four-way catalytic converter instead, which is a modified coating on the monoliths rather than a separate unit. A Euro 6 EA288 passenger car, which is the CUNA and the DGCA GTD, therefore has no AdBlue by VW's own table. VW official³⁰

Where SCR is fitted, the same document records that the SCR coating is integrated into the particulate filter using copper zeolite, so the unit can sit close-coupled to the engine, with reducing agent injector N474 mounted downstream of the oxidation catalyst and water-cooled from the low-temperature circuit.³⁰ That is the same thing as the "DPF with SCR coating (SDPF)" that parts catalogues attribute to DJGA.³²

VW gave its own date for the change in August 2019: "Since 2018, only SCR exhaust gas treatment systems have been used in Volkswagen models with diesel engines." The same release describes the arrangement before twin dosing as a single close-coupled SCR catalyst with the coating on the DPF honeycomb, converting best between 220 and 350 degrees C.³³ When the MK8 GTD opened for UK order in October 2020 VW described it as having "two SCR catalytic converters with dual AdBlue injection" and NOx significantly reduced against the previous model, which treats the MK7.5 GTD as an SCR car with a single dosing point.¹⁸

What is still missing is a VW document naming the UK model year at which AdBlue appeared on the Golf GTD. The November 2018 UK brochure still describes the GTD engine only as EU6 with a turbocharger and a DPF, and no UK data table lists an AdBlue tank, which sits awkwardly against the 2018 date. The brochure may simply predate or omit the change. Sources differ⁸³³

Engine codes by year and market

These are the codes read from address 01 (component J623) on real GTD scans, plus the codes the two Wikipedia articles list.

Code	Seen on	Gearbox in those scans	Emissions and aftertreatment	Source
CUNA	2013 to 2016 cars, including a UK NG13-plate MY2014 car and EW, FW and GW series VINs	6-speed DSG (DQ250) and manual	Euro 6 with the NOx storage catalyst, no AdBlue	[34] [35] [36] [37] [7]
DGCA	A MY2018 facelift GTD with a JP-series VIN	7-speed DSG (DQ381)	Euro 6 to NEDC. Plain Euro 6 gets the four-way catalytic converter and no AdBlue in VW's own EA288 table, so a DGCA car has no AdBlue tank. No VW document names DGCA itself	[38] [30]
DJGA	MY2019 5-door cars with KW-series VINs	7-speed DSG (DQ381)	WLTP and RDE Euro 6d-TEMP with SCR. Parts catalogues list the DPF as having an SCR coating (SDPF) Unverified	[26] [27] [32] [29]
CUPA	Not seen in any GTD scan found, and a parts aggregator does not list it against the Golf at all. English Wikipedia lists it for the GTD; German Wikipedia does not Sources differ	Not recorded	Skoda and SEAT owners describe CUPA as the Euro 5 184 PS engine without variable valve timing, and CUNA as the Euro 6 engine with it Unverified	[39] [16] [40] [41] [28]

German Wikipedia lists CUNA, DGCA and DJGA for the GTD and no CUPA; English Wikipedia lists CUNA, CUPA and DGCA.¹⁶³⁹ Unverified

The balance of evidence is with the German list. TecDoc application data for the 2.0 TDI 135 kW gives only CUNA, DGCA and DJGA for the Golf VII hatch and the Golf VII Variant, with CUPA absent, while CUPA does appear against the Skoda Octavia III RS 184 PS in parts listings alongside CUNA and DJGA. That is consistent with CUPA being a Skoda and SEAT code rather than a Golf one, but it is a parts aggregator and not VW, so it does not close the question. Unverified²⁸⁴²

The split between DGCA and DJGA (facelift NEDC car without SCR, then WLTP car with SCR and DSG only) is drawn from scans, parts catalogues and one owner account. No VW document was found that states it, and a parts catalogue dates DJGA "from 06/2017", which looks early against scans that only show DJGA on MY2019 cars. Unverified³⁸³²²⁹

CO2 changes without a model change

The pre-facelift manual hatch was quoted at 109 g/km and 67.3 mpg from launch, through the July 2014 price list and still in the UK brochure of November 2015, which also gives 143 mph, 0 to 62 mph in 7.5 s, Euro 6 and ABI group 26E.²⁴⁴³ The November 2016 brochure gives the same car 114 g/km and 64.2 mpg, and the February 2017 reprint repeats those figures.⁴⁴⁴⁵³¹

So the drift happened between the November 2015 and November 2016 UK brochures, not at the 2013 to 2015 Euro 5 to Euro 6 change. VW gives no reason in either brochure.⁴³⁴⁴

Between the Feb 2017 and Jul 2018 UK lists the GTD DSG hatch fell from 129 to 124 g/km and the BlueLine DSG from 122 to 118 g/km, while the manual rows did not move. That is consistent with a changed DSG or engine calibration.⁵¹⁴

The GTD and the diesel emissions case

The engine at the centre of the 2015 campaign is the EA189. The GTD uses the Euro 6 EA288, which was not part of that campaign. Background is on the faults page.

In Germany, VW wrote to Golf VII EA288 owners through the KBA offering a voluntary free ECU software update to reduce NOx, action code 23AV, in April 2020.⁴⁶⁴⁷
A further voluntary action, 23CY (2021), covered EA288 cars with SCR, with the stated reason being fault detection in the SCR system.⁴⁸
Claimant law firms also cite action codes 23X4 and 23DH for EA288 cars.⁴⁹⁵⁰ Which of these codes covers a GTD specifically could not be established; all of these are claimant-side sources. Unverified
A Bavarian appeal court judgment of 2023, on a Tiguan with the EA288 and SCR, records that VW had disclosed a cycle detection function ("Fahrkurvenerkennung") and a thermal window to the KBA, and that the KBA found no inadmissible defeat device.⁵¹
ECU software can differ between cars after updates. One CUNA owner found software number 04L 906 021 EP at versions 6283, 7539 and 8359 on different cars, and forum replies say the campaign did not cover the Golf 7. Unverified⁵²

Engine sound

GTD scans show address A9, "Struct. Borne Sound (J869)", on 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019 cars: software 5G0 907 159, later 5G0 907 159 G, hardware 4H0 907 159 A, coded "SAS-GEN 2". That is the Soundaktor.³⁴³⁷³⁸²⁶

Gearboxes and drive

The pre-facelift GTD came with a 6-speed manual as standard and a 6-speed DSG as an option, in both hatch and Estate.²⁷ The facelift car is a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed DSG.⁵ German Wikipedia dates the change from the 6-speed to the 7-speed DSG as 12/2016. Unverified¹⁶

Gearbox	Fitted to	Identified in scans as	Source
6-speed DSG, wet clutch (DQ250)	MK7 hatch and Estate, optional	"DQ250-6F MQB", J743 software 0D9 300 040 J (2013–14) or 0D9 300 041 J (2016), hardware 02E 927 770 AN or AQ	[34] [37]
7-speed DSG, wet clutch (DQ381)	MK7.5, optional	"GSG DQ381", software 0GC 300 042 G with hardware 0GC 927 711 G (MY2018, DGCA); software 0GC 300 044 E with hardware 0GC 927 711 H (MY2019, DJGA)	[38] [26]
6-speed manual	Standard throughout	No gearbox address. The family and gearbox code for the GTD manual were not confirmed from a VW source Unverified	[2] [5]

In the UK the DSG cost GBP 1,415 more than the manual on the February 2017 hatch (GBP 28,480 against GBP 27,065 for the 3-door), and the same premium applied to the 2015 Estate.¹³¹¹ DSG faults by gearbox type are on the faults page: DQ250 and DQ381.

Drive and traction

Front-wheel drive only, hatch and Estate. The 184 PS 2.0 TDI with 4MOTION is the Alltrack, which is DSG only.⁷⁸¹¹
XDS+, the brake-based electronic differential lock, is standard on the GTD.⁴⁷
There is no mechanical limited-slip differential and no VAQ. The UK brochure lists the mechanical LSD for the "230 PS GTI Performance pack only".⁸ See the GTI's VAQ for what the petrol car gets instead.
ESC has a two-stage switch: a short press turns off ASR, holding for more than 3 seconds selects ESC Sport.⁷

Performance and economy

These are the published UK figures, on the NEDC test unless marked otherwise. Figures changed without any model change, so the date of the list matters as much as the car.

Hatch

List or brochure	Gearbox	0–62 mph	Top speed	Combined	CO2	Source
Launch, Apr 2013 to Jul 2014	6-speed manual	7.5 s	142 mph (230 km/h)	67.3 mpg (urban 55.4, extra-urban 76.3)	109 g/km	[2] [4]
Launch, 3-door	6-speed DSG	7.5 s	142 mph	62.8 mpg	119 g/km	[2]
Launch, 5-door	6-speed DSG	7.5 s	142 mph	60.1 mpg	122 g/km	[2]
2016 brochure	6-speed manual	7.5 s	143 mph (230 km/h) Sources differ	64.2 mpg	114 g/km	[31]
2016 brochure, 3-door	6-speed DSG	7.5 s	142 mph (228 km/h)	60.1 mpg	124 g/km	[31]
2016 brochure, 5-door	6-speed DSG	7.5 s	142 mph	58.9 mpg	127 g/km	[31]
Feb 2017, GTD 3-door	6-speed manual	Not recorded	Not recorded	61.4 mpg	122 g/km	[5]
Feb 2017, GTD 5-door	6-speed manual	Not recorded	Not recorded	60.1 mpg	125 g/km	[5]
Feb 2017, GTD	7-speed DSG	Not recorded	Not recorded	57.6 mpg	129 g/km	[5]
Feb 2017, BlueLine 3-door	6-speed manual	Not recorded	Not recorded	64.2 mpg	116 g/km	[5]
Feb 2017, BlueLine 5-door	6-speed manual	Not recorded	Not recorded	62.8 mpg	119 g/km	[5]
Feb 2017, BlueLine	7-speed DSG	Not recorded	Not recorded	61.4 mpg	122 g/km	[5]
Nov 2018 brochure	6-speed manual	7.5 s	144 mph (231 km/h)	Not recorded	Not recorded	[8]
Nov 2018 brochure	7-speed DSG	7.4 s	143 mph (230 km/h)	60.1 mpg	124 g/km	[8]
Nov 2018 brochure, BlueLine	7-speed DSG	Not recorded	Not recorded	62.8 mpg	118 g/km	[8]

Top speed is the one direct conflict: 142 mph in the 2013 releases against 143 mph (230 km/h) in the 2016 brochure for the same manual car, then 144 mph in 2018. Sources differ²³¹⁸

Estate

Source and market	Gearbox	0–62 mph (0–100 km/h)	Top speed	Combined	CO2	Source
2015 international press pack	6-speed manual	7.9 s	231 km/h	4.4 l/100 km	115 g/km	[7]
2015 international press pack	6-speed DSG	7.9 s	229 km/h	4.8 l/100 km	125 g/km	[7]
2015 UK release	Not stated	7.9 s	143 mph	64.2 mpg	115 g/km	[11]
Nov 2018 brochure	6-speed manual	7.9 s	144 mph	60.1 mpg	124 g/km	[8]
Nov 2018 brochure	7-speed DSG	7.8 s	143 mph	58.9 mpg	125 g/km	[8]

WLTP figures and noise

The 9 July 2018 UK price list carries WLTP-era CO2 only: hatch GTD 122 g/km (3-door manual), 125 (5-door manual) and 124 (DSG), with the BlueLine at 116, 119 and 118. No WLTP mpg figure for the GTD was found in any source.¹⁴

Drive-by noise is given as 75 dB manual and 74 dB DSG in the 2016 brochure, and 73 dB manual and 68 dB DSG in the November 2018 brochure.³¹⁸

Dimensions, weights, capacities and towing

Dimension	Hatch (MK7.5)	Estate (MK7.5)	Source
Length	4,268 mm	4,567 mm	[8]
Width	1,790 mm (3-door), 1,799 mm (5-door)	1,799 mm	[8]
Height	1,482 mm	1,515 mm maximum (the same figure as the other Estates in that table)	[8]
Wheelbase	2,626 mm	2,620 mm	[8]
Turning circle	10.9 m	10.9 m	[8]
Height with the tailgate open	Not recorded	2,020 mm	[8]
Boot, seats up and folded	380 / 1,270 l	605 / 1,620 l	[8] [7] [11]
Fuel tank	50 l (11 gal)	50 l (11 gal)	[31] [8]

Range-wide dimensions and the body styles are on the range page.

Weights

Unladen weights are the EU figures, which include a 68 kg driver, 7 kg of luggage and a 90% full tank.³¹

Car	Gearbox	Unladen	Gross vehicle weight	Payload	Axle limits, front / rear	Source
MK7 hatch, 3-door	Manual	1,377 kg	1,850 kg	548 kg	1,030 / 870 kg	[31]
MK7 hatch, 3-door	DSG	1,395 kg	1,880 kg	560 kg	1,060 / 870 kg	[31]
MK7.5 hatch	Manual	1,395 kg	1,890 kg	432–570 kg	1,050 / 890 kg	[8]
MK7.5 hatch	DSG	1,416 kg	1,900 kg	420–559 kg	1,070 / 880 kg	[8]
MK7.5 Estate	Manual	1,466 kg	1,990 kg	442–599 kg	1,040 / 1,000 kg	[8]
MK7.5 Estate	DSG	1,492 kg	2,020 kg	446–603 kg	1,070 / 1,000 kg	[8]

A 5-door MK7 hatch is about 30 kg heavier than the 3-door.³¹

Towing and roof loads

Car	Braked trailer	Unbraked, manual / DSG	Nose load	Roof load	Source
MK7 hatch	1,600 kg (12% gradient)	680 / 690 kg	80 kg	75 kg	[31]
MK7.5 hatch	1,600 kg (12%)	690 / 700 kg	80 kg	75 kg	[8]
MK7.5 Estate	1,600 kg	730 / 740 kg	80 kg	75 kg	[8]

Oil capacity

Secondary sources give about 4.7 litres with a filter change. No VW figure was found, and the oil specification itself is in servicing specifics. Unverified⁵³⁵⁴ Range-wide capacities are on the servicing page.

Chassis, brakes and wheels

Sports suspension, lowered about 15 mm on the hatch, and the GTD Estate is also 15 mm lower.⁴⁷³
Progressive steering as standard: 2.1 turns lock to lock against 2.75 on lesser Golfs.⁷⁴⁵ On a scan the rack reads J500 "EPS_MQB_ZFLS", software 3Q0 909 144 D (2013), J (2016), L (2018) and M (2019).³⁴³⁷³⁸²⁶
Four-link rear axle, as on every 2.0 TDI 184 PS Golf.⁸ The GTD uses the 55 mm front struts.⁵⁵ Springs, dampers and bushes are on the suspension page.
Dynamic Chassis Control was optional. The 2013 UK release calls it "ACC Adaptive Chassis Control".² The July 2018 UK options grid shows DCC at GBP 850 in the GTD column, read from merged PDF text. Unverified¹⁴ DCC faults are covered on the faults page.
Front camber on GTI, GTD and R cars with 18 inch wheels is listed as not adjustable. Unverified⁵⁶

Brakes

Ventilated front discs and solid rear discs, with grey calipers on the UK 2014 GTD. Red calipers are one of the things the price list adds for the "GTI (over GTD)".⁸⁴⁵

Retailer catalogues give the common GTD fitment as 312 x 25 mm vented front and 272 x 9.7 mm solid rear, and also list 340 mm front discs for some PR codes. Check the brake PR code on the car's data sticker (1ZA, 1ZD, 1LV and similar) before ordering. Unverified⁵⁷⁵⁸ Part numbers and torque figures are on the parts and torque page, and PR codes are explained under PR codes.

Wheels

Car and year	Standard	Options	Source
Hatch, UK 2013–2016	18 inch 'Nogaro', 7.5J, 225/40	19 inch 'Santiago' (2013)	[2] [4]
Hatch, UK 2017 on	18 inch 'Seville'	19 inch 'Brescia' or 'Santiago'	[5]
Hatch, GTD BlueLine	17 inch 'Curitiba', 7.5J, 225/45	Not recorded	[5]
Estate, 2015	17 inch 'Curitiba' with 225 tyres	18 inch 'Nogaro', separately or in a Sport and Design pack	[7] [3]
Estate, MK7.5	18 inch 'Seville' (GTD), 17 inch 'Curitiba' (BlueLine)	Not recorded	[8]

The February 2013 announcement, written to continental specification, quotes 17 inch wheels with 225/45 tyres. UK cars were sold on 18 inch Nogaro from launch. Sources differ¹²

Part numbers, offsets and finish codes for all of these are in GTD and GTE wheels.

Equipment and styling against the GTI

The GTD shares the GTI's body kit and interior layout but is marked out differently. Where a cell says the GTI, the item is listed by VW as part of what the GTI adds over the GTD.

Item	GTD	GTI	Source
Grille	Honeycomb grille with a chrome strip	Red strip	[4] [5]
Tailpipes	Twin chrome tailpipes on one side (left), in a black diffuser	One tailpipe on each side	[4] [7]
Brake calipers	Grey	Red	[4] [5]
Tartan seat cloth	'Jacara Grey' in UK lists, called "Clark" in VW's international and UK Estate texts Sources differ	'Jacara Red' (GTE: 'Jacara Blue')	[4] [8] [7] [3]
Front differential	XDS+ only	Mechanical LSD on the 230 PS GTI Performance pack	[4] [8]

Other GTD exterior cues: GTD bumpers, flared sills, smoked or tinted LED rear lights, a roof spoiler and GTD badges.⁴⁵⁷ Equipment comparisons across the petrol range are on the GTI page.

Interior

Grey stitching on the steering wheel and gear lever gaiter, a GTD instrument cluster, stainless steel pedals, a black headlining, illuminated door sills, 'Cyclone' decorative inserts on the MK7 and 'Honeycomb Black' on the MK7.5. The Estate was given a golf-ball-style gear knob.⁴⁵³

Seat options: 'Vienna' leather; 'Sports Honeycomb' Art Velours in Black or Flint Grey on the GTD and GTD BlueLine in 2018; Alcantara on the 2015 Estate.⁸³

UK standard equipment over the GT trim

July 2014 list	February 2017 list	Source
18 inch Nogaro wheels	18 inch Seville wheels	[4] [5]
Suspension 15 mm lower	Progressive steering	[4] [5]
Bi-xenon headlights with static cornering light and LED daytime running lights	LED headlights with dynamic curve lighting	[4] [5]
LED front fog lights, headlight washers	Headlight washers, heated washer jets	[4] [5]
Smoked LED rear lights	Tinted LED rear lights with sweeping indicators (hatch only, per the Nov 2018 brochure)	[4] [5] [8]
Grey brake calipers	Heated front seats	[4] [5]
2Zone climate control	2Zone climate control with an allergy filter	[4] [5]
Progressive steering, XDS+, multifunction colour display, Composition Media 5.8 inch	Not restated in the 2017 list	[4] [5]

GTD BlueLine, added in February 2017, is a GTD with 17 inch Curitiba wheels and the Active Info Display.⁵

The 1 February 2017 release says the Active Info Display is standard on all Performance Golfs, but the price list effective 14 February 2017 has it standard only on the GTE and the GTD BlueLine. VW UK confirms it standard on the GTD by 11 July 2017, and the July 2018 options grid shows it as standard in the GTD column. Sources differ¹³⁵⁵⁹¹⁴

UK options and accessories

The 2013 UK options list for the GTD: 19 inch Santiago wheels, Vienna leather, keyless entry, High Beam Assist, Lane Assist, Park Assist, a rear camera, adaptive chassis control, a touchscreen navigation system and Dynaudio.²

Dealer accessory, December 2016: an Oettinger body kit with a quad exhaust, which gives the GTD tailpipes on the right-hand side as well, at GBP 3,995 fitted.⁶

Colours

Four dated UK palettes for the GTD have been recorded, two from brochure "Combinations" tables against the standard 'Jacara Grey' cloth and two from the paint tables in the price lists. The 2014 palette was not found. VW's own international text for the 2015 car gives the solid colours as Tornado Red, Black and Pure White, which matches the brochure tables below.⁷

Document	Available on the GTD	Not available	No-cost colour	Source
Brochure, Dec 2013	Pure White 0Q, Black A1, Tornado Red G2, Carbon Grey 1K, Reflex Silver 8E, Tungsten Silver K5, Limestone Grey Z1, Night Blue Z2, Deep Black 2T, Oryx White 0R	Urano Grey 5K, Sunset Red 6K, Pacific Blue D5, Lapiz Blue L9, Clearwater Blue P4	Not stated in that brochure	[60]
Brochure, Nov 2015 (so 2015 and 2016 cars)	Pure White 0Q, Black A1, Tornado Red G2, Carbon Grey 1K, Reflex Silver 8E, Tungsten Silver K5, Limestone Grey Z1, Night Blue Z2, Deep Black 2T, Oryx White 0R. Sunset Red has become Carmen Red 6K and Clearwater Blue has gone	Urano Grey 5K, Carmen Red 6K, Pacific Blue D5, Lapiz Blue L9	Black A1. The footnote reads "Black non-metallic paint is non-chargeable on GTD and GTI models"	[43]
Price list eff. 14 Feb 2017	Black Rubin; Pure White GBP 280; Tornado Red GBP 280; White Silver, Atlantic Blue, Indium Grey, Issac Blue and Deep Black at GBP 570 as the metallic and pearl set; Oryx White premium signature GBP 990	Urano Grey, Lapiz Blue	Black Rubin	[5]
Price list eff. 9 Jul 2018	Pure White; Tornado Red GBP 285; White Silver, Atlantic Blue, Tungsten Silver, Indium Grey, Isaac Blue Steel and Deep Black at GBP 575; Oryx White GBP 995	Urano Grey. Black Rubin has gone from the list entirely	Pure White	[14]

The 2017 and 2018 figures are the prices in the "GTD/GTD BlueLine" column of the paint table on page 24 of each list.⁵¹⁴

The two 2018 documents disagree on the no-cost colour. The July 2018 price list makes Pure White the no-cost paint and has dropped Black Rubin altogether, but the November 2018 UK brochure still lists "Ruby Black", a non-metallic, as the non-chargeable colour on the GTD and GTD BlueLine. Either it returned between July and November or the brochure is stale. Sources differ¹⁴⁸

Range-wide paint codes are on the model years page.

UK prices and insurance groups

Recommended retail prices on the road, as published. No valuations are given on this site.

List date	Model	3-door manual	5-door manual	3-door DSG	5-door DSG	Source
15 Apr 2013	GTD hatch	GBP 25,285	GBP 25,940	GBP 26,700	GBP 27,355	[2]
3 Jul 2014	GTD hatch	GBP 25,765	GBP 26,420	GBP 27,180	GBP 27,835	[4]
1 Feb 2017	GTD and GTD BlueLine hatch, same price	GBP 27,065	GBP 27,720	GBP 28,480	GBP 29,135	[13] [5]
9 Jul 2018	GTD hatch	GBP 27,810	GBP 28,465	GBP 29,330	GBP 29,985	[14]
9 Jul 2018	GTD BlueLine hatch	GBP 27,410	GBP 28,065	GBP 28,930	GBP 29,585	[14]

The 3 July 2014 figures above are the on-the-road column. The list prices before on-road costs were GBP 25,140, GBP 25,795, GBP 26,555 and GBP 27,210.⁴
31 May 2016: the GTD was priced from GBP 26,995.⁶¹
1 Feb 2017 Estate, GTD and GTD BlueLine at the same price: GBP 28,770 manual, GBP 30,185 DSG.¹³
The July 2018 prices include GBP 860 of on-road costs. By then the BlueLine was GBP 400 cheaper than the GTD, having started at the same price.¹⁴
The 2015 launch price of the GTD Estate was not published in the UK release,¹¹ and it does not exist anywhere else either. VW UK published no Mk7 Estate price list and no Estate brochure: all 82 press kits and the 129 documents behind them have been swept, and so has the VW UK used-car brochure archive, where the Mk7 folder holds hatch brochures only. The February 2017 figures above are the only UK GTD Estate prices VW ever published.⁶²⁴³¹³

Insurance and company car tax

ABI insurance group 26E at launch, which VW said was four groups lower than the previous model, and still 26E in 2016.¹⁰³¹
Group 27E in 2018 for the GTD and GTD BlueLine, hatch and Estate.¹⁴⁸
There is no pre-facelift Estate group to quote. The VW UK range press pack of September 2016 prints ABI groups for the hatch range only, where the GTD is 26E, with no Estate entries at all.⁶³
Benefit in kind in July 2018: 28% to 30% for the GTD and BlueLine hatch.¹⁴

UK prices for the petrol cars are on the GTI page.

Known issues, recalls and servicing specifics

Nothing in this section comes from a VW technical bulletin. The reliable material on the GTD is thin: what follows separates the evidence that exists (owner reports, real diagnostic trouble codes, DVSA recall records) from the claims that could not be supported at all.

EGR cooler and coolant loss on CUNA

VW's own training document explains why coolant can leave an EA288 with nothing visible on the ground. SSP 920143 puts the low-pressure EGR cooler in the secondary, or micro, cooling circuit, sharing it with the cylinder head, the cabin heat exchanger and the electrical auxiliary coolant pump, and the high-pressure EGR valve is itself water-cooled, mounted on the distributor rail. The EGR cooler also carries a vacuum-controlled bypass flap worked by the engine control unit. Coolant therefore runs through two components that sit directly in the intake path, so an internal failure sends it into the engine rather than outside the car. VW official³⁰

That is the mechanism behind the owner reports that follow. VW publishes no failure rate for it, and the reports are owner reports.

Owners and mechanics on UK forums describe internal failure of the EGR cooler on CUNA engines: coolant disappearing with no visible leak, debris reaching the engine, scored bores, high oil consumption, and then damage to the turbo and DPF. The same threads quote VW's oil consumption limit as 0.5 litres per 620 miles. Both are forum sources. Unverified⁶⁴⁶⁵

Other reported EA288 and CUNA items, from a used-car aggregator page that gives no sources of its own: porosity in early cylinder heads causing hidden coolant loss, carbon build-up on the EGR valve, DPF blocking on short journeys, AdBlue heater and NOx sensor faults on the SCR cars, and air conditioning compressor failures. Unverified⁶⁶

Forum owners advise buying with a warranty that covers the thermostat and water pump, and one CUNA had the water pump replaced with the cam belt at 139,000 miles. Unverified⁶⁷⁶⁴ General coolant and water pump faults are on the faults page.

Fault codes read on real GTDs

Code	Text and context	Source
P2002	"Particulate Trap Bank 1 efficiency below threshold", on a UK GTD at 75,000 miles	[68]
P0016	Camshaft and crankshaft correlation, after a timing belt change	[36]
P066A, P066C, P066E	Glow plug circuit shorts, on a car with a modified DPF that was also smoking	[69]

Swirl flaps are off this list: the EA288 has none, because the variable camshaft timing creates the swirl instead.³⁰ Dual-mass flywheel failures, injector failures and a figure for DPF life are still unsupported. SSP 920143 covers only the crankshaft pulley acting as a vibration damper and does not discuss the flywheel at all, the injectors are Bosch solenoid units with no published failure data, and no reliable source gives a DPF life for this engine. None of it is stated here as fact.³⁰

Recalls

No engine-specific GTD recall was found in the DVSA data. These Golf recalls may be relevant, but none of them names the engine, so check a car by its VIN.

Recall	Subject	Scope	Source
R/2019/261	Camshaft adjuster housing bolts	Golf built 17 Dec 2013 to 4 Dec 2014, 472 vehicles, engine not stated	[70]
R/2016/174	Cylinder head and fuel rail	8 Golfs built March 2016, engine not stated	[71]
R/2024/014	Brake servo heat mat	DSG cars	[72]
R/2017/189	ABS and ESC earth connection	Golf	[73]
R/2018/062	Diesel stop/start starter solenoid. Listed here because it is often quoted for diesel Golfs: it covers 2011 builds only, so not the MK7	2011 builds	[74]

The gov.uk recall data refused a scripted download, so the records above were read from a mirror of the DVSA data.⁷⁵ The full UK and US recall lists for the range are on the faults page.

Diesel servicing specifics

Item	Figure	Status	Source
UK service regimes	Fixed: oil service at 1 year or 10,000 miles, inspection at 2 years or 20,000 miles then yearly or every 20,000 miles. Flexible: oil service by the display, 10,000 to 20,000 miles, 2 years maximum	VW UK brochure	[8]
Engine oil specification	VW 507 00, 0W-30 or 5W-30 LongLife, low-SAPS for the DPF	Owner and data sources only, no VW table was fetched Unverified	[76] [53]
Oil capacity	About 4.7 litres with a filter	Secondary sources Unverified	[53] [54]
Cam belt	130,000 miles in the US 2015 EA288 TDI schedule. The European figure is widely quoted as 210,000 km, about 130,000 to 140,000 miles, with no age limit in VW's data according to owners	The US schedule is a VW document; the European figure and the absence of an age limit are not Unverified. Independent garages advise changing it sooner	[77] [78] [79] [80]
Fuel filter	20,000 miles in the US 2015 TDI schedule. The UK interval was not found	US schedule	[77]
DSG oil, DQ250	40,000 miles in the US 2015 schedule	US schedule	[77]
DSG oil, DQ381	80,000 miles. VW USA figure for the same unit, not a UK GTD interval: the US schedules list the 7-speed DSG fluid change at 80,000 miles for petrol cars (2018: Golf R; 2022: Golf R, GTI and Jetta GLI), and no UK interval was ever published	VW USA schedules	[81] [82]
DQ381 oil volume and filter	7 litres. The filter is not changed: VW states it "has been designed for lifetime use"	VW self-study programme 850183 for transmission 0GC VW official	[83]
DQ381 drain procedure	Oil temperature 35 to 45 degrees C, engine off, selector in P, wait 4 to 5 minutes, then drain at the plug on the rear of the gear case. The SSP itself gives no mileage and refers the interval to ELSAPro	VW self-study programme 850183 VW official	[83]
AdBlue	Only on the SCR cars, which on the evidence here means DJGA. A plain Euro 6 car, CUNA or DGCA, has the four-way catalytic converter or the NOx storage catalyst and no AdBlue tank	VW press pack, VW self-study programme 920143 and scan evidence VW official	[7] [30]

Range-wide intervals, fluids and oil grades are on the servicing page, and the EA288 cam belt row there gives the same 130,000 mile figure.

Modules and diagnostics

All of the following is read from published VCDS scans of real GTDs. The engine control unit carries the label 04L-907-309-V1 and the component name "R4 2,0L EDC" or "R4 2.0l TDI".³⁴²⁶

Engine control unit by code

Code and year	Software number	Hardware number	Source
CUNA, 2013–14	04L 906 021 EQ	04L 907 309 A	[34] [35]
CUNA, 2015	04L 906 021 EP	04L 907 309 A	[36] [68]
CUNA, 2016	04L 906 026 BR or BS	04L 907 309 R	[84] [37] [85]
DGCA, MY2018	04L 906 026 RK, coding 01250012047405082000	04L 907 309 R	[38]
DJGA, MY2019	04L 906 026 KL, ASAM dataset EV_ECM20TDI01104L906026KL	04L 907 309 P	[26] [27]

DJGA also appears in 2019 and 2020 Skoda and Audi models, there with software 04L 906 027 AA.⁸⁶

Other modules seen on GTD scans

Address	Module	Part numbers seen	Source
02	Gearbox J743	DQ250: 0D9 300 040 J or 041 J, label 0D9-927-770. DQ381: 0GC 300 042 G or 044 E, label 0BH-927-711	[34] [37] [38] [26]
03	ESC J104	5Q0 907 379 AB or 3Q0 907 379 AB (MK7); 5Q0 614 517 CR or EF (MK7.5)	[34] [37] [38] [26]
13	Adaptive cruise control J428	5Q0 907 572 A (2013); 5Q0 907 572 J or P with hardware 3QF 907 572 (MK7.5)	[34] [38] [26]
44	Power steering J500, "EPS_MQB_ZFLS"	3Q0 909 144 D (2013), J (2016), L (2018), M (2019)	[34] [37] [38] [26]
A9	Structure-borne sound J869, the Soundaktor	5G0 907 159, later 5G0 907 159 G, hardware 4H0 907 159 A	[34] [37] [38] [26]

On the MK7.5 DGCA scan, A9 is missing from the module list line but is present in the body of the scan.³⁸ Soundaktor faults and removal are on the faults page, and the full address list for the range is on the electronics page.

No separate DPF, NOx or SCR address

No GTD scan found has a separate address for the particulate filter, the NOx storage catalyst or the SCR dosing system. All of it is handled inside the engine control unit, J623. The module list on the MY2019 DJGA car was 01, 02, 03, 05, 08, 09, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 29, 2B, 39, 42, 44, 4B, 52, 5F and 75.²⁶ One owner calls the AdBlue dosing unit "a full blown ECU", which no scan supports. Unverified⁶⁸

Retrofit note: the pre-facelift GTD front camera, a 5Q0 part, does not support predictive ACC. The facelift 3Q0 camera is needed. That is retrofit advice from a forum, not a VW document. Unverified⁸⁵

Not yet found

Open questions on the GTD, listed so they are not mistaken for settled facts.

An exact UK last-order date for the GTD and the GTD Estate. Narrowed as far as the documents allow: the last UK price table to carry the GTD is 9 July 2018, VW UK published no withdrawal release, and every 2018 and 2019 UK release has been re-read.¹⁴¹⁹
Whether a WLTP, DSG-only (DJGA) GTD returned to the UK price list during 2019. No UK evidence either way, while VW was still quoting live GTD and GTD Variant consumption figures in October 2019.²⁵
The exact DGCA to DJGA changeover date, and whether UK GTDs ever used CUPA. The only date in circulation is the parts-catalogue "from 06/2017" for DJGA, which does not fit the scans, and CUPA now looks like a Skoda and SEAT code rather than a Golf one on aggregator data rather than on anything from VW.³²²⁸
The UK model year at which AdBlue appeared on the Golf GTD. The principle is settled, since plain Euro 6 EA288 cars have no SCR and VW says SCR became universal on its diesels in 2018, but no VW document names the UK model year.³⁰³³
WLTP mpg for the UK GTD. The 9 July 2018 list shows CO2 only, and the official UK dataset could not be downloaded.¹⁴⁸⁷
The UK fuel filter interval, and the manual gearbox code. The only claim found for the gearbox is a forum poster saying the GTD also uses an MQ350, with no citable page behind it.
The UK GTD colour palette for 2014. Dec 2013, Nov 2015, Feb 2017 and Jul 2018 are now recorded in Colours, along with the unresolved Ruby Black conflict of late 2018.
Reliable sources for dual-mass flywheel failures, injector failures and DPF life on the EA288. Swirl flaps are no longer on this list: VW's own training document says the engine has none.³⁰

Two findings are stronger than "not found". VW UK published no Mk7 Estate price list and no Estate brochure at all, so UK GTD Estate prices for 2015 and 2016 and a pre-facelift Estate insurance group do not exist to be found: 82 press kits and 129 documents were swept, the used-car brochure archive holds hatch brochures only for the Mk7, and the September 2016 range press pack gives ABI groups for the hatch alone.⁶²⁶³⁴³ And the DQ381 is now identified as VW transmission 0GC, with a 7 litre fill, a lifetime filter and an 80,000 mile VW USA fluid interval, so only a UK figure is missing.⁸³⁸¹

How the sources were searched, and what blocked

Worth recording, because it sets the limits of the above.

The VW UK press API rate-limits hard and returns the 429 as an HTML page. The per-release endpoint fails silently under concurrency; the paginated endpoint, 6 releases a page across 906 pages, is reliable. An earlier finding that 2019 releases were missing from the archive was a fetch artefact: 2018 and 2019 are both there, 437 and 494 releases.¹⁹
There is no document search on the VW UK press site. The only document index is the press-kit API, which is how all 82 kits and their 129 documents came to be swept.⁶²
VW UK also keeps a used-car brochure archive, which is where the dated Mk7 brochures used on this page come from. A filename sweep of plausible Estate names returned nothing.⁴³
The Internet Archive, both the CDX API and the front end, was offline, so there was no snapshot route to withdrawn VW UK price lists.⁸⁸
The VCA car fuel data download page redirects to its search landing page, so the official UK WLTP dataset could not be pulled.⁸⁷
The gov.uk DVSA recall data refused a scripted fetch, so a mirror was used,⁷⁵ and volkswagenforum.co.uk and golfmk7.com block scripted access, so those threads were read through a browser.

Sources

Show 88 sources