I doubt its the same, but with my VW pops and bangs work like this...they turn on if I switch to "Sport" mode but it takes a minute. If the car is left in sport mode next time I drive I need to run through all the modes back to sport to re-enable pops and bangs.
Though I must admit I almost...
Maybe I'm lucky, I put a flawless 101k miles on a 2012 Golf TDI and just rolled over 80k on my 2017 GTI, I've had very little issues, even now heavily modded. My brother has a 2017 Sportwagon with the 1.8T which has been reliable as well.
Though it does seem VW has done some cost cutting on...
As a owner of a 17' GTI Sport, something to consider is tuning potential of the ea888 engines. Its a closed cast iron block, with a stock bottom end good for up to 450ft/lbs of torque. Stage 1 (tune only) can net you around 300whp, while stage 2 FBO will net 330-340whp. I dropped in an EQT...