Nuje
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Location
- Island near Vancouver
- TDI
- 2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
...and it was a nice ride (surprise, surprise). 
My local VW dealership was holding a "come meet the new Golf/GTI" thing this evening, so my wife and I headed down to kick the tires and smell that new-car smell.
No TDIs available at dealerships yet, but they had a Trendline and Comfortline Golf, along with a couple of GTIs on display.
The Trendline had the 1.8T engine and 5sp. manual for $22.9K (all prices CAD) and inside....blahhhhh. Didn't take it for a drive.
Comfortline Golf - also with the 1.8T - was a lot more to my liking. Dual zone climate, sunroof, leatherette seating, much better shape to the seats (at least it felt like it to me). If I was buying, this would be the trimline I'd go with.
GTI - they had both a DSG and 6sp. manual on the lot, and the sales manager offered to let us drive it (of course, he had to come along - to "drive it off the lot"; is there a rule that they have to do that? what's the deal with the salesperson "having" to drive it off the lot?).
Anyway, nice short throw on the 6sp. manual, we had it set up in "sport" mode all around (engine, steering, suspension, IIRC were the three settings you could adjust). And yeah - it drove like on rails, very little body roll, and some nice get-up-and-go, nice exhaust note (which my wife hated - she's all about a quiet car). $36.8K sticker on that bad boy.
But here's the thing: My 12-year-old Golf (albeit with PP764 / VNT17 / Malone Stage 4) feels like it has way better acceleration down low, throwing me back in my seat at anywhere from 1700rpm up to red line. The new GTI certainly did have some nice pull, and I hit 120km/h on a quiet country road (speed limit 70km/h) without noticing the speed at all, but geez - for that $36.8K sticker price, I was expecting more/better.
If someone gave me one, would I take it? Hell yeah! The interior is awesome! It handles beautifully, and I could drive in that all day.
But since no one is giving me one of these anytime soon and I'd be buying with my own hard-earned money....thanks, but no thanks. I'll stick with the '02 with the wind noise and 1200km range vs. the 500km range or so that the GTI showed with a near-full tank.
My local VW dealership was holding a "come meet the new Golf/GTI" thing this evening, so my wife and I headed down to kick the tires and smell that new-car smell.
No TDIs available at dealerships yet, but they had a Trendline and Comfortline Golf, along with a couple of GTIs on display.
The Trendline had the 1.8T engine and 5sp. manual for $22.9K (all prices CAD) and inside....blahhhhh. Didn't take it for a drive.
Comfortline Golf - also with the 1.8T - was a lot more to my liking. Dual zone climate, sunroof, leatherette seating, much better shape to the seats (at least it felt like it to me). If I was buying, this would be the trimline I'd go with.
GTI - they had both a DSG and 6sp. manual on the lot, and the sales manager offered to let us drive it (of course, he had to come along - to "drive it off the lot"; is there a rule that they have to do that? what's the deal with the salesperson "having" to drive it off the lot?).
Anyway, nice short throw on the 6sp. manual, we had it set up in "sport" mode all around (engine, steering, suspension, IIRC were the three settings you could adjust). And yeah - it drove like on rails, very little body roll, and some nice get-up-and-go, nice exhaust note (which my wife hated - she's all about a quiet car). $36.8K sticker on that bad boy.
But here's the thing: My 12-year-old Golf (albeit with PP764 / VNT17 / Malone Stage 4) feels like it has way better acceleration down low, throwing me back in my seat at anywhere from 1700rpm up to red line. The new GTI certainly did have some nice pull, and I hit 120km/h on a quiet country road (speed limit 70km/h) without noticing the speed at all, but geez - for that $36.8K sticker price, I was expecting more/better.
If someone gave me one, would I take it? Hell yeah! The interior is awesome! It handles beautifully, and I could drive in that all day.
But since no one is giving me one of these anytime soon and I'd be buying with my own hard-earned money....thanks, but no thanks. I'll stick with the '02 with the wind noise and 1200km range vs. the 500km range or so that the GTI showed with a near-full tank.