Thibault's Sportwagen/Variant/Estate 1.4tsi (Chinese market)

Thibault's 1.4TSI 150 DSG7 SW/Variant/Estate/Wagon

Hello everyone!

I finally found some time to start this "journal" about my car, its mods and maybe also some little talks (related to cars or life in China if interested).
So feel free to comment my posts or asking questions on this journal !
BTW, I'm French and leaving in China for 5years now(since 2010), married to a Chinese(2012) and have a daughter(2013)

I used to own a KIA Soul since 2011 (1.6 manual) which was good looking and served well!
Changed it January 2014 for a MERCEDES A260...which I totaled 1 month later in February 2014 for excessive speeding...(no comment, thanx ^^)
We decided to buy a Golf Variant: inside space is equivalent with the Soul but:
-more comfortable,
-easier to strap the baby in its seat because less high,
-big cargo-boot
-and nice sunroof.

For this new car, it is the only version (for now at least) of the Golf7 Sportwagen/Variant/Estate (I use to say Variant...) available here on the Chinese market. (Import)
It has the latest EA211 engine in its 150hp/250Nm version, with the DSG7 and the Start/Stop system.
This version available here is imported from Germany and has nearly every options excluding the ACC (adaptive cruise control) and Keyless system (which can be both quite useful...).

Here is the car available in China. (same color as mine, but pictures from internet)


The only "option" I took was a 10" multimedia screen (Android) which is amazing and work perfectly with the car's information (same as stock VW-multimedia) and the rear camera located in the rear badge from stock.
Here are some pictures the day of the delivery:




(my daughter and my wife, trying the screen by playing french cartoon ha ha)



The only negative point was that strong leather/new-car smell that stayed in the car for weeks...



What I like/dislike about this car:

-the fuel consumption is something I would always be amased of with this car, even after this nearly 1 year of use... 5.6~5.8L/100kms per tank with 4.8~5.2L/100kms on express/highway roads...

-the Stop/Start system, which is not invasive because it depends on how much pressure on put on the brake when stopping.
(It helps a lot in reducing fuel consumption in city)

-its sunroof is quite impressive and bring useful daylight inside.
but It could have darker glass or adaptive things...

-the trunk/cargo-boot is big enough to load lof of stuff...
but VW could have made some efforts around the noise you can get from all this empty cargo...

-the EA211 1.4 TSI is quite good even on the Variant thanks to the torque you have even at low-rev like 1500tr/mins...
but it would have been better with the EA888 2.0tsi
(Variant-R or even with the same output of the Gti...)

-the DSG7 is pleasant to use both in Drive and Manual.
It helps a lot in reducing fuel consumption when cruising and on highway with it's 7th gear...
but I don't see the point using the Sport mode...

MAY and JUNE 2015

Here are the 1st mods and thing I bought online*.
*using Taobao here in China, equivalent of eBay and really, REALLY cheap.
(only deliver in China...sorry)

-PEDALS COVERS + REST GOLF R STYLE (120rmb)


-CARGO NETS set (211rmb)

1 vertical + 1 horizontal

-PIANO-BLACK WRAPPING : ROOF + VISORS + REAR-SPOILER (450rmb)


My car have factory's LED roof and footrests lighting, so I changed the bulbs to LED ones for the cargo(on the roof for the Variant) and the glove-box.(no picture, sorry)

SEPTEMBER 2015 mods
(went back to France for 2015's summer...)

-HEIBACH PROKIT E10-79-010-01-22 with install (2400rmb)
(11-15-021-01VA + 11-15-007-15-HA)





-APR BOOST GAUGE + VENT with install (3600rmb)



-TOOL-BOX IN SPARE-TIRE (35rmb)
(didn't like the factory box which in located in the rear-right fender)


-MATS SET(456rmb)
Set of cabin's mat to cover floor as much as possible (cosmetic+insulation purposes) and match my brown/coffee seats

NOVEMBER 2015 mods

-HINGES PLASTIC PROTECTIONS SET (52rmb)
plastic protections for doors' hinges. (front+rear doors)







-SECONDARY CABIN FILTER with HOUSING (85rmb)
Have a DIY topic on it.



-DOORS FOOT PROTECTION (120rmb)



-KEYFOB RUBBER COVER (28rmb)

DECEMBER 2105 mods

-CARDS HOLDER IN CENTRAL-CONSOLE (68rmb)




-STICKER 3RD BRAKE-LIGHT "GOLF" (12rmb)




-PIANO-BLACK REAR VW-EMBLEM/HATCH-HANDLE (32rmb)


-DARKEN TAIL-LIGHT (wrapped) (40rmb)

Looking good! I love the brown seats!

Thibault China said:

NOVEMBER 2015 mods

-plastic protections for doors' hinges.

Click to expand...

Those door hinge covers look good, Just found a UK place that has them, will have to get....

By the way nice car, 10" screen factory fit? WOW only get 8" screen max here & very expensive!

Now for the rear you need to fit the skoda Yeti exhaust tips & the Golf estate GTD/R rear black spoiler fins like have............

Must be due a wheel upgrade to go with the lowered ride height.

golfdave said:

Those door hinge covers look good, Just found a UK place that has them, will have to get....

By the way nice car, 10" screen factory fit? WOW only get 8" screen max here & very expensive!

Now for the rear you need to fit the skoda Yeti exhaust tips & the Golf estate GTD/R rear black spoiler fins like have............

Click to expand...

Hi Dave.
The plastic protections are nice indeed. Can see the change each time you open 1 door and it does look way more "good looking" with them.

The 10" screen is not a factory. Has been purchased and install at my local VW-dealer. (They had one installed on a showroom car when we 1st saw it at our annual Ningbo Car Expo. last year) Bought it 4500rmb to my dealer but can find way cheaper on internet.

For the Skoda Yeti exhaust tips, is there really a difference? Different diameter or/and different finish?

Pretzel said:

Must be due a wheel upgrade to go with the lowered ride height.

Click to expand...

Hi.
The rims are.... somewhere in my minds haha.
But I was thinking to reach 30K kms and instead of changing the tires, I would upgrade to 18" wheels. (I'm halfway through)
In fact, I didn't made my mind between 17" and 18", but also to know if I invest a bit more for light weight wheels or simply buying VW ones...
I do really love the stock one for the R... and they are also available in 17"
(At least in chinese market at FAW-VW* for the "normal" Golf 1.4tsi R-line)
=> I have to fix a size and a design or weight objectives before buying ^^

*:My Variant/Estate is not sell by FAW-VW or Shanghai-VW but by VW-Import like the R models, Passat Variant etc.
It quite confusing in China with these 3 different kind of resellers. Both FAW-VW and Shanghai-VW sell only made in China and they sell different models...

Thibault China said:

Hi.
The rims are.... somewhere in my minds haha.
But I was thinking to reach 30K kms and instead of changing the tires, I would upgrade to 18" wheels. (I'm halfway through)
In fact, I didn't made my mind between 17" and 18", but also to know if I invest a bit more for light weight wheels or simply buying VW ones...
I do really love the stock one for the R... and they are also available in 17"
(At least in chinese market at FAW-VW* for the "normal" Golf 1.4tsi R-line)
=> I have to fix a size and a design or weight objectives before buying ^^

Click to expand...

I did the same, but went for VW 17" wheels as they would still work with the tyre pressure monitor and give the correct speedometer readings.

Thibault China said:

Hi Dave.
The plastic protections are nice indeed. Can see the change each time you open 1 door and it does look way more "good looking" with them.
The 10" screen is not a factory. Has been purchased and install at my local VW-dealer.
For the Skoda Yeti exhaust tips, is there really a difference? Different diameter or/and different finish?

Click to expand...

Found a UK seller for those hinge covers but out of stock!!...
Aftermarket dealer fit, wow, had me worried there thought I had missed a factory option!
Yetis tips are cheaper than the VW tips, basically a chrome sleeve which fits over each bare tip which sticks out.

Just loaded up some new pics on my build, the rear shot shows the Yeti tips, "R" estate black window "fins", RGM rear bumper protector in brushed aluminium, & VW mudflaps, & nice five spoke alloys!

Thibault China said:

Hi.
The rims are.... somewhere in my minds haha.
But I was thinking to reach 30K kms and instead of changing the tires, I would upgrade to 18" wheels. (I'm halfway through)
In fact, I didn't made my mind between 17" and 18", but also to know if I invest a bit more for light weight wheels or simply buying VW ones......

Click to expand...

Some lightweight wheels have low weight capacity limits which is not good for a full estate car hitting a pothole!! My aftermarket alloys are 2kg & 2.5kg lighter per wheel than the OEM VW Dijon's for the same size (7x17). The weight capacities are higher than the tyres that I use & the five spokes are higher than the multispokes. Both sets are Team Dynamics Pro Race series.

The only thing to watch out for is that the bolts on most aftermarket alloys require taper shoulders, the factory VW ones are radius shoulders. So I have to keep a set of the old radius bolts for the factory spare wheel in the car!

Pretzel said:

I did the same, but went for VW 17" wheels as they would still work with the tyre pressure monitor and give the correct speedometer readings.

Click to expand...

Any wheel will work with the TPMS system as there are NO devices in the wheels! The system that VW use is an "indirect" system which uses the ABS reluctor sensor ring mounted in the hub unit. This is so accurate that if the tyre pressure drops the rolling radius of the wheel decreases, therefore the ABS reluctor ring is doing more rotations per second than it should do so it throws up a warning! Also so long as you get the same tyre sizes as per what VW offer as options then no problems as your rolling radius will be with in spec.

However in my case I went for 7x17 with 225/45 tyres, as per the factory wheels.

[QUOTE Any wheel will work with the TPMS system as there are NO devices in the wheels! The system that VW use is an "indirect" system which uses the ABS reluctor sensor ring mounted in the hub unit. This is so accurate that if the tyre pressure drops the rolling radius of the wheel decreases, therefore the ABS reluctor ring is doing more rotations per second than it should do so it throws up a warning! Also so long as you get the same tyre sizes as per what VW offer as options then no problems as your rolling radius will be with in spec.

However in my case I went for 7x17 with 225/45 tyres, as per the factory wheels.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't knowledgeable enough to know that. The VW dealership informed me that my choice of aftermarket VW wheels was limited to 17" because of the TPMS system.

Love those brown seats! I wish we got those here stateside


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