I had a 2003 Auto 2L Bora (a slug but beautifully built car), my wife had a 2003 auto Polo, I then went to a 2006 Golf Comfortline 2L Auto before inexplicably moving in to a 2010 Mazda3 SP25 Luxury auto. I took advantage of the drive away Golf deals to get into a new MY12 118 FSI DSG with Sports Pack and RNS Sat Nav.
Re the Mazda: beautifully built from beautiful parts (apart from some dash and steering wheel plastics which were a bit dodgy – feel the back, or even the front, of the Cruise Control buttons on the steering wheel!), but it drove well enough. It had excessive NVH, especially the road noise that emanated from the drivers front wheel well and also a bit of course motor noise, but it was a nicely built machine – the sum of its parts was ok.
But, the new Golf? Built seemingly from one piece of metal, so SOLID does it feel. It is hard to describe how superbly crafted this car feels. A girl in my office has a new C180 Mercedes, absolutely lovely car, BUT $24000 MORE than the Golf, which feels and looks JUST as expensive and classy? I don’t see the value. The Golf is THAT good, and in fact certainly shows up the new Jetta which has harder panels on the door trims inside and on the dash than does the Golf.
Driving the Golf ALMOST requires you to learn how the DSG/Motor combo works. To ensure a smooth low gear change from take- off or in traffic it is necessary (for me anyway) to ‘tickle’ or to ‘feather’ the accelerator BEFORE then giving a progressive and smoother pressure to it, gradually (gradually – NOT SLOWLY) increasing the pressure on it – this gives me a seamless and smooth and rapid transition thru the gears. No jerky/lumpy actions that some on here mention…just feather it, FEEL it engage, then g-o……marvellous.
There is NOTHING I dislike about the new Golf, well, maybe apart from the fact my old Golf had a chromed glovebox handle, the new one simple black plastic…nit picking! Maybe they are interchangeable, and I could order a chrome one up and have dealer fit it? But as I say, that’s’ how hard it is to fault it!
Never noticed before I bought it, but the simple 2 chrome strips in the grille set into the gloss black plastic…beautiful execution of a simple detail that looks sheer CLASS.
The Sports Pack wheel/tyre combo, is just right, superbly filling out the wheel wells, and no doubt assisting in a very agile driving experience.
Gas strut holding up the bonnet, not usual in this class (or should I say PRICE) range - the GOLF feels like a much more expensive car in my opinion.
Simple things like the superbly crafted buttons on the steering wheel (itself an absolute JOY to hold and use) that are beautifully recessed into their little modules on the wheel itself and work with a precision that belies the Golf’s price point! The simple boot opening, using the VW emblem -simple, but elegant.
Love (and missed in the Mazda!) the auto on headlights, auto dimming rear view mirror and auto-on wipers (the bane of some of you I know!). These are simple things that raise the bar in this CLASS of car. Dropping the windows from outside the car as you walk up to it, GREAT. Having my front inside wheel wells lit up (I am at 35%) at night, cool!
The Sports Pack seats are FANTASTIC, great range of adjustability, firm and comfortable. Fabric looks and feels beautiful as well. Plenty of space in the back and the boot is plenty big enough for me (bigger than the SP25 which had valuable boot space taken up by the fitting of the sub-woofer in the floor of the boot which I knew and accepted at the time).
After initial hiccups, I now love the RNS Sat Nav. I think it’s as good as any Sat Nav out there (which is to say, it’s NOT perfect, but it is acceptable). The MDI interface is great, the Bluetooth streaming not so, but it streams! I just wish I could use those steering wheel buttons or touchscreen in this mode, I can’t, I HAVE to use the IPhone itself, but hey, no biggie! Absolutely love(having included restaurants, petrol stations, banks and Police Stations in my Navigation setup) how you can tap, say a restaurant icon on the Map, and then DIAL the restaurant from the detail page that comes up about that restaurant straight from the Map! Great functionality!
The paintwork on the car is beautiful and rock hard by the feel of things, smooth to the touch, rich in feel.
So that’s it after a week’s ownership. I can’t speak for reliability yet, nor economy, though I DO think it gets better mileage than the Mazda. Having “learned” how to use (at least for me, I cannot speak for anyone else) the DSG and motor to get those seamless and smooth take-offs, I ABSOLUTLEY LOVE DRIVING this thing. I love looking at it and love touching it! The PERFECT car for me – I can only imagine what you guys with GTIs and R32s feel about YOUR cars!
Love it!
Rod
WHITE 118FSI DSG MY12 Sports Pack with RNS510 Sat Nav - PICKUP Oct 17, 2011. Added Chrome bootlid spear-very nice, Golf doorsill protectors-not so nice and Aluminium Pedal set-EXTREMELY nice!
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Originally Posted by Roddy
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