Multiple observations.

[Brian916]

Having returned from a 2 week driving holiday in Tassie, I have the following observations to offer.

> Fuel economy is pretty damn good overall. According to the trip computer we used 7.8l/100km for 3614km. Happy with that.

> Overtaking. Shocking how the car accelerates. Used to driving the D4 (2.7l diesel and 2.5tonne). Long straight and 2 x B doubles to overtake and had room to do it if I was in the D4. Over the length of the 2 vehicles (decent gap between for a change), we hit 180 on the speedo very quickly. The D4 might have made it to 120 in passing, but over an extra 15 - 20 seconds. Bloody fast. Did not floor it ever again! Just did not need to.

> Oil use. Checked the level when the car had 2000km on it, and put some of the dealer provided oil in which when I put the car on a trueer level, is just on the MAX part of the dipstick. with 9000km on it and a lot of spirited driving in the twisty roads of Tassie, it's still just on the MAX so it doesn't seem to be using oil at all. Happy with that.

> Road noise. With a boot full of bags/heavy coats/wifes sewing (dont ask!) noise was OK for a stiffly suspended car with low profile tyres. Very noisy driving around now without anything in the thing!

> Dirt. Being white, damn thing is a dirt magnet. And as it rained on the trip down to the ferry as well as the first few days in Tassie, there are some points that collect dirt - the rear doors on the lip just below/behind the door handles were BLACK while the rest of the door was just dirty.

> Handling. Damn this is still like a bloody rollerskate - point it and it just goes there.

Now to the faults..... NONE so far and the engine is just getting better and better. Actually, one small fault.... that's not really a fault.... It could do with an overdrive gear for highway use. At 110kmh it's running just of 2500rpm which is higher than it needs. If it can use 6th at 60kph, a 7th for highway would pull the revs down to 2000 - 2250rpm and use less fuel. Guess the Mk VII may have a 7 speed as VW now rate that one for the torqued the GTi has.

[SChan]

Good review Brian.

Which dealer in Canberra did you deal with when you bought your car and how is the service from them (from start uptil now)?

Cheers,

[MkVIGTI]

At 110kmh it's running just of 2500rpm which is higher than it needs. If it can use 6th at 60kph, a 7th for highway would pull the revs down to 2000 - 2250rpm and use less fuel. Guess the Mk VII may have a 7 speed as VW now rate that one for the torqued the GTi has.

I too find that on the highway the RPM is slightly too high, but it's been confirmed that there will be a 7 speeder on the Mk VII

[triode12]

I too find that on the highway the RPM is slightly too high, but it's been confirmed that there will be a 7 speeder on the Mk VII

Oh God NO!

[Paul_R]

...but it's been confirmed that there will be a 7 speeder on the Mk VII

I hope we're talking about DSG and not a 7 speed manual gearbox!

[SilvrFoxX]

I too find that on the highway the RPM is slightly too high, but it's been confirmed that there will be a 7 speeder on the Mk VII

See this doesnt happen in an R

[Corey_R]

Are you sure

[MkVIGTI]

Is this thread gonna turn into a fuel economy war again...

[MkVIGTI]

I hope we're talking about DSG and not a 7 speed manual gearbox!

Yea the 7 speed DSG. Refer to the MkVII information thread

[Brian916]

Bought the car from Gerald Slaven in Belco - dealer has been fantastic, though the car is a lease. I expect though that they would be just as good if it was private purchase.

As mine's an Adidas package, it's DSG so it's a 7spd DSG I want. No, this was MY observations only and not intended to be a fuel economy thread - with a DSG 7spd (or 8spd) you could have even better acceleration, but with an 8spd you could then have the 'puters in the car decided that revs had been at point 'x' so you were on the flat, and then pop into the overdrive to make fuel economy better. And with the carbon tax thing, it may one day be applied as a purchase tax to the car on top of everything esle, so less revs = less carbon with the side effect of better consumption. If you touch the throttle, it would kick back 3 or 4 gears instead of 2 or 3 (depends how hard you mash the peddle!)

One thing I didn't mention initially was the cruise control. When getting to an overtaking lane in areas you couldn't overtake safley, it was often just as simple as using that to accel to the speed limit (again, quickly), and pas the slow vehicle easily in the distance.

Maybe I should have just got the 118TSI, as it would have done everything I want just as well I think, but I'm very glad I got the GTi as I can have real fun for very little cost.

Thread can be closed if the mod's want to avoid it turning to custard (Vanilla, Bannana, Chocolate)