GSW/Alltrack 1.8T TSI EA888 - Prospective Buyer Discussion Thread

Samcar222 said:

Anyone have an Alltrack yet? First impressions on the motor, 4-Motion, need for snow tires, MPG, DSG behavior (vw earlier DSG software)

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I picked up my Alltrack SEL, replacing my 2015 Golf TDI, only last week but haven't driven it much yet so it's a bit early to say. But initial impressions, briefly, are:

It feels more planted and firm, which isn't surprising given the weight distribution thanks to the AWD system.

After a couple of years of driving the TDI, I had gotten used to the sound of the engine and, in fact, thought the TDI was very quiet and well composed. But the TSI in the Alltrack is so quiet that when I get back into the TDI, it feels downright loud.

I have to take a look at the gear ratios of the Alltrack DSG compared to the Golf TDI DSG. The Alltrack just shifts more smoothly, almost imperceptibly at times, and right where I think it should. I loved the DSG in the TDI, particularly once I learned to anticipate it and work with it. But the Alltrack just seems even better behaved.

I can't comment on MPG because I have so few miles on the car, almost all in stop and go traffic. Of course it won't come close to the TDI but it remains to be seen how much worse I'll do.

AlexNJ said:

After a couple of years of driving the TDI, I had gotten used to the sound of the engine and, in fact, thought the TDI was very quiet and well composed. But the TSI in the Alltrack is so quiet that when I get back into the TDI, it feels downright loud.

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Funny you mention the sound level: I drive my wife's TDI and notice the same thing when I get back into my TSI: how much quieter it is. This past summer, we drove a rented 2016 Golf 2.0 TDI in the UK for some 3000+ km. It was a great ride. When we got back to our home airport and back into my TSI, i.e. same car but different engine, both my wife and I remarked almost immediately how much quieter my TSI was.

Very much appreciate the silence. Since I no longer have a brutal commute, the extra 1.0 L/100 km on average seems like a bargain, though I imagine the delta will be much greater with the Alltrack.

PlaneCrazy said:

(...)Since I no longer have a brutal commute, the extra 1.0 L/100 km on average seems like a bargain, though I imagine the delta will be much greater with the Alltrack.

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My commute has also gotten much shorter in the past year (down to five miles each way), making the fuel economy reduction much less painful. The larger tank in the Alltrack helps a little. I took a short ride this morning and appreciated another difference: the TSI warms up much faster than the TDI, something much appreciated when the temperature is below freezing as it was this morning.

AlexNJ said:

My commute has also gotten much shorter in the past year (down to five miles each way), making the fuel economy reduction much less painful. The larger tank in the Alltrack helps a little. I took a short ride this morning and appreciated another difference: the TSI warms up much faster than the TDI, something much appreciated when the temperature is below freezing as it was this morning.

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That is one of the few things I like about my TSI more than the TDI. It warms up so much faster. A mile in the TSI is the equivilant to about 3 miles of driving in one of my TDI's (for my commute).

Testdrove an Alltrack SE yesterday! Black on black, not impressed with that color combo. But, super nice car. Impressions:

EA888 is SUPER fast to warm up to a dummy gauge indicated 190*f. Took maybe 10-12 min to see 200*f oil temp on the MFD (nice feature for a turbo car!!). Seat heaters are strong, rear wiper spray is from the top spoiler, and fans out like the front windshield jets.

Engine is super quiet, typical DI rattle from outside but inside driving along it's so much quieter, especially around town where the TDI lugs and makes your ears bleed. Doesn't idle the smoothest (nvh wise through the cabin/seat) and if you're idling with the rear hatch open, there's an odd resonance as well, disappeared when closed.

DSG is a whole different galaxy. Clutch take up is literally instantaneous, no ~ 3/4 second delay like in my 2010 TDI, at least. Very smooth shifting, still can make it misbehave but coming from a 2010 DSG car to a 2017 DSG car, it was worlds better.

Not much power out of the 1.8 TSI. Should have the GTI 2.0t, but Audi will gladly sell you an Allroad! It's more than adequate.

Very impressed with the 4Motion system. Had to run over a 2' snow drift to get the car out of the dealer lot, went through it fine. Took the car to my college campus for some plowed but still snow packed parking lot fun, and when you stand on it from a stop it seriously scoots - this one had 17" rims on Falken A/S tires, I believe. Turned out of the lot on an exit with 3" of snow and tipped into the throttle pretty nicely and it rotated nicely before ESC killed the fun, so it seems more than eager to send torque to the rear end.

Good HVAC, ac cleared the windows quickly, heated mirrors, the works, typical.

Comfortable seats, with nice lumbar adjustment, all in all the interior was plug and play coming from another VW, or any German car in general.

Also, accidentally tilted the big pano roof trying to retract the shade. It opened right up even with ice and snow on the roof, something that would be a pucker moment in my 2010 So the mechanics of it seem solid.

Most likely going forward with an SE (driver assist) or SEL (assist&light) Alltrack. Very impressed!

Have you turned your JSW in yet? There was a bunch of JSW TDI's and a Passat TDI at Dorschel yesterday.The Passat had a "Not for sale" tag hanging in it.Was this test drive at Dorschel or Ide? Dorschel had a black alltrack on the showroom floor-sticker was $26,600+,not bad. If you do go Dorschel,make sure you schedule your visits for late Saturday mornings after 11am-they have a catered luncheon for employees and customers,no charge.I made sure to have lunch after I picked up the wiper blade....

Nope, waiting on paperwork on their end, returned all of it but one page was "blurry" and they have no ETA. And we're 420 miles away from 95k miles, our cutoff...

It was indeed Dorschel; they had a black Sportwagen S 4Motion inside, but we drove a black Alltrack SE from outside, under about 10' of snow, haha.

Great writeup! I didn't think to check half of that stuff when I test drove.. I think I was too distracted by not being able to shift myself lol. I definitely noticed it being quieter and smoother than my MK6 Jetta (which probably needs shocks and/or bushings).

Will 16" wheels from my 2011 GSW fit my new Alltrack w/ 17" wheels

If you get new tires they probably will. Same 5x112 lug spacing. But the alltrack has larger OD tires.

Thanks for the reply. I have a set of 16" snow tires on rims and hope to be able to use them on the new car if needed.

They'll work. Speedo might be a little off I guess. Same size as a regular GSW, just might look a little funny

Make sure they clear the calipers,that would be my only concern.

Us Euro wagon owners must think alike - I just got done pricing out 16" wheel/snow packages on Tire Rack. It looks like as per TR that 205/65/16 on 16"x7.5 wheels will fit.

Unfortunate that all the 17" OEM size snows are $1m per tire

The Alltrack S comes w/ donut spare. Anyone know if the under the spare liner comes out to allow a full size 17" spare in the trunk

Anyone have info about the Enhanced Rear Mirror with Homelink, specifically on SE Alltrack trims?

It's the fancy Garage/AutoDimming/Compass mirror, $270, seems like reasonable $ for a nice tool.

Samcar222 said:

(...)DSG is a whole different galaxy. Clutch take up is literally instantaneous, no ~ 3/4 second delay like in my 2010 TDI, at least. Very smooth shifting, still can make it misbehave but coming from a 2010 DSG car to a 2017 DSG car, it was worlds better.(...)

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Now that I've sold back my 2015 Golf TDI to VW, I've had more time in my 2017 Alltrack. Of all the differences, it's the behavior of the DSG that really impresses me. It took me a little while to learn the quirks of the 2015 TDI's DSG but even after two years, its behavior in stop and go traffic was still underwhelming unless I made heavy use of the paddle shifters or manual mode. Not so in the Alltrack: I've had to drive in enough local traffic around my house over the past week or so to notice just how much smoother the shifts are in the DSG in this car. Only once did I feel the need to shift on my own, the rest of the time very happy to let the DSG do its own thing. I have caught it a second behind what I wanted to do a few times but that's been rare. It's just such a more refined ride than what I had gotten used to in the TDI.

We'll keep us updated on MPG's. Saw an alltrack yesterday and was impressed again by the stance

Keep the reviews coming! I'm patiently (not patiently) waiting for them to tell me when my ordered 6MT one will come in... I needed to blow the last of my dealer card last week, so I stopped at a dealer that I pass every day on the way home. Turns out the Alltrack rubber floor mats aren't available yet, so I got some roof rack cross bars.

bennybmn said:

Keep the reviews coming! I'm patiently (not patiently) waiting for them to tell me when my ordered 6MT one will come in...

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I finally received the build and estimated shipping and arrival dates for the SE 6MT that I ordered in late November - production complete 3/03, arrival domestic port 3/23 and released to carrier 3/31. MUCH later than hoped, but there's no urgency, as my JSW TDI is still doing fine and doesn't need any work (fingers crossed).

I checked one out on my walk off the dealership on buyback day. If it was bigger (ex. Passat All-Road) and the price was right...I might have thought about getting one just for $h1ts and giggles.

We ordered a '17 TSI wagon for delivery in spring. 5-speed manual, silk blue, connectivity+leather MF steering wheel. But now I see a fix has been approved for the most recent generation TDIs ('15+ MY). I wonder if that means VW will be able to sell off the stock of unsold '16 TDIs in inventory once the fix is applied? If so we may think about changing to a '16 TDI if the price is right (i.e. substantial discount off the original MSRP). If so it may make economic sense as we plan to keep the car 10 years, and we'd appreciate the extended range for our main family road trip car.

The 10 year powertrain warranty would be sweet too! (assuming you get the same thing the USA is getting)

Heated Steering Wheel

Why not a heated steering wheel? I have a problem with my hands and carry electric motorcycle gloves in my 2001 TDI. A heated steering wheel might be the tipping point to get me into an Alltrack. You can get a heated steering wheel on a Kia Forte, why not on a VW?

airborne said:

Why not a heated steering wheel? I have a problem with my hands and carry electric motorcycle gloves in my 2001 TDI. A heated steering wheel might be the tipping point to get me into an Alltrack. You can get a heated steering wheel on a Kia Forte, why not on a VW?

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I'm guessing it's to make a distinction with Audi. VW probably doesn't want to cannibalize Audi sales.

PlaneCrazy said:

We ordered a '17 TSI wagon for delivery in spring. 5-speed manual, silk blue, connectivity+leather MF steering wheel.

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Sounds like the car I'm considering. I hate the plastic steering wheel, it's a deal breaker for me. My wifes 2015 has the leather MF steering wheel and it's very nice. My question is, how do you get that on a comfortline wagon? On the build it website there is an option "Reserved for NAR" that has the MF wheel and connectivity but there is no price on it and that breaks the build process.

KrisA said:

Sounds like the car I'm considering. I hate the plastic steering wheel, it's a deal breaker for me. My wifes 2015 has the leather MF steering wheel and it's very nice. My question is, how do you get that on a comfortline wagon? On the build it website there is an option "Reserved for NAR" that has the MF wheel and connectivity but there is no price on it and that breaks the build process.

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The dealer can order it, but there's no price yet. He estimates about $250 over the current connectivity option. He said it starts being available in Jan. 2017, and if I understood him correctly it will replace the connectivity package starting with that build date.

Oddly my '16 Golf Trendline had all that standard. I think it's due to the lower CDN $, they decontent in order to minimize MSRP increase.

Is it not standard on the Comfortline?

My bad, meant to say Trendline.

DB TDI said:

I finally received the build and estimated shipping and arrival dates for the SE 6MT that I ordered in late November - production complete 3/03, arrival domestic port 3/23 and released to carrier 3/31. MUCH later than hoped, but there's no urgency, as my JSW TDI is still doing fine and doesn't need any work (fingers crossed).

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Thanks for the update. I emailed the sales manager last week, haven't heard back. I suppose he could be on vacation... I'll live chat someone else online, see if I can get an answer. I'm not in a super rush either, other than driving around with an occasional CEL :/ That and I kind of hoped to have it for part of the winter.

airborne said:

Why not a heated steering wheel? I have a problem with my hands and carry electric motorcycle gloves in my 2001 TDI. A heated steering wheel might be the tipping point to get me into an Alltrack. You can get a heated steering wheel on a Kia Forte, why not on a VW?

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I wonder if you can retrofit one?

I test drove one this past weekend. I really enjoyed it. Liked the way it drove and handled. The gas engine wasn't that bad either. I would of course prefer a diesel/6mt option but that won't happen. So now it is on my list of potential vehicles. I'm glad I have a backup to drive during now and when I do get something else.