Powerrrrrrr....... and MPG
I was amazed this week to come across spy shots of the new Golf Estate R, it's a reality and hopefully it will be in the UK next year.
I love it, it's a bit bonkers and takes the Golf fight firmly to the so called premium manufacturers. But where does this leave the rest of the Golf performance range. There seems to be a danger that the 'humble' GTI will be forgotten, VW were never likely to produce an Estate GTI but it does make me wonder. I notice that Drive the Deal Online Broker is currently able to offer some very nice discounts on the GTI. Will the GTI alway be a relevance or will the 'hot hatch' have to reinvent itself into something like the new Golf GTE?
Having driven Gertie around for a couple of weeks now, it feels powerful, I know a petrol GTI is more powerful and a different experience but I am naturally thinking, what would I gain with a GTI over my GTD. Now I am not putting the GTI down, it's a fabulous car but in this ever increasing battle for power, how much of it is used in the real world? What is the purpose of power or more power, I am not suggesting that we all drive cars limited to 70mph but I have plenty of power for my needs and I have never needed more power and in my, admittedly limited driving experience, my GTD feels fast. I mean it can feel a bit tame before the turbo kicks in, but when the turbo does kick in, the torque is immense, the car simply flies. I guess the GTI would give me a different driving experience and that is what it is about and it is a Golf GTI, and that's a great brand and a car to be desired.
As for the GTD, i am still not convinced by adding a tuning box, I am not sure for me anyway, where in the real world i would make use of that power. I spend much of my day doing mixed driving, which has its moments of fun but that fun won't be increased (in my mind anyway) by the addition of more bhp. The fun could only be increased by perhaps a different deriving experience, such as a petrol GTI or the Golf GTE even.
VW are mooting the idea of a GTD R, with some conflicting reports, initially saying that the new bi turbo diesel out of the Passat will fit into the Golf, then there were some other reports on the internet which said, no, that's not the case it is too bulky.
Either way I suspect very soon in some shape of form the Golf GTD is going to hit 200bhp and match the Golf MK5 petrol GTI (or thereabouts).
Having had three VW's or spent considerable time in three VW's, I can say that Gertie is proving to be, as expected, very VW. It's a superb car, it never shouts about it but it constantly reminds you with the detail. As I have said previously, this almost makes it boring but if like me, you spend a fair amount of time in a car, then you appreciate the detail.
I've found nothing that really annoys me. I am still not completely one over by the steering wheel buttons but i accept this is a consequence of more tech rather than outright design flaws. The interior itself is to me at least, high quality and it looks it, when ever people sit in the GTD, they remark on its interior which is interesting, because on the face of it, it has nothing immediately to grab, other than its quality.
Playing music on the Discover Pro has shown the almost annoyance of German efficiency and trying to get it to play random tracks can be quite difficult. It can be done but you seem to have tell it that you don't want your music shuffled by artists, album or genre but by track, just shuffle track, then sometimes, for reasons i don't understand it seems to give up playing random all together.
The voice control on the Discover Pro is, however, very good and if I was selecting the cheaper Discover Nav, I'd be adding voice activation, it's really useful and cuts out a lot of button pressing, especially when your setting detonations for your Sat Nav, which incidentally is very good, it selects good routes (unlike my last one) and it changes in an instant if you go wrong. Voice activation also negates much of the needs for some kind of independent controller on the console.
I've also gotten over Park Assist shame and now just use it, why not? It works really well and once you learn the system, it's really useful. i have noticed that even when the system is telling you to reserve, if you don't feel confident and say, pull forward, it just adapts.
MPG is holding out nicely, at present around 45mpg per tank, this is mixed driving, some country roads, a few b roads and a tiny bit of motorway, very impressed and happy. Perhaps my limited car experience means i am a little naive around MPG but this seems good to me. As the old adage goes, you don't get something for nothing, and in context with 180bhp, this seems good. Remember i have just run a hired base model Polo for the last three months and over a tank of fuel, even with the aircon off that was not doing any more than 35 to 38 mpg and put on the zircon and dropped even further.
I am still happy with my options, the lane assist which seems to be the least specified option ever on the Golf, is still proving very popular. I like the warning light on the mirror glass.
The driving experience is still great, I am surprised about the pettiness these sort of cars can inspire in people, people racing you at lights, cutting you up, sitting right up your arse etc etc. I even had a VW T4 today hang onto the back of me wanting to get past and prove a point, in the end i let him. When I owned my Camper, it was generally a happy vehicle and the way other motorists behaved towards it was completely different. It's just something i noticed.
James