Mk7 Golf TSI & TDI - Observations and Questions

[spikeyboy22]

Shame about those useless tiny windows . . . pity you did not mention them in your lengthy report after your long drive in the TSI.

By the way, besides your autoblogaustralia, which other media outlets attended the GTI "specification consultation"? Was there also such a consultation for the other Mark VII Golf models? Do you expect to be consulted by VW again when they are trying to work out how to specify the Golf R?

Golf7 did I miss your report on the Golf7 online on your blog, nope not there

Where is it...

[Mountainman]

If only everyone knew how much money VW spends on R&D, Golfs would be the only cars on our roads. Why on earth would someone buy something else???

Maybe they need to spend a bit more on the D part of the R&D if VW's track record is any indication. Yeah, quality soft feel plastics with tasteful design and metallic look trim everywhere catches the eye but what about the twincharger destructions, high oil usage in most of their engines, water pump, turbo, coil packs & injector failures, and ongoing DSG failures & inconsistent operation? Maybe the Japs & Koreans know where to put their R&D funds to more effective use. I like my Golf but I'm sick of the high oil use and the component failures & short component life and the service charges. I've recently driven both petrol & diesel Hyundai i30's and I know where I'm heading next. And if Hyundai can provide annual $219 capped services & 5 years warranty why do VW think $400+ services and 3 years warranty is something to crow about?

[kaanage]

Wow thats a vast improvement for an I30 My wife poked her head into one Took a sniff of the horrible plastic and went and bought a POLO LOL

The new i30 is not a bad product at all, check out my review...

It sounds like it hasn't improved at all in terms of a driving experience from your review. We had one of the last of the previous generation as a hire car down in Tassie and I've never been so glad to hand the keys back for a hire car (a Sonata that I'd previously hired was bland but not offensive like the i30).

The lifeless steering is downright dangerous on the highway as it also has very little self centering so you are forced to continually make minor corrections.

And from Hillbilly's comment, the plastics are still pungent and act as a sedative when in the car for extended periods which makes the highway experience even worse.

Next time, our Golf will make the trip on the ferry.

If only everyone knew how much money VW spends on R&D, Golfs would be the only cars on our roads. Why on earth would someone buy something else???

Reliability? Servicing costs? And remember that the MkVII should have been the MkVI except that the MkV was such an over-engineered car that VW couldn't afford to keep building it so they had to simplify it and introduce an intermediate model

[kaanage]

I've recently driven both petrol & diesel Hyundai i30's and I know where I'm heading next.

For your safety, take one for an extended drive on the highway and through some hills. If my comments about the previous version (above post) still hold for the new one, the long term experience may not be pleasant (nor safe)

[Mountainman]

For your safety, take one for an extended drive on the highway and through some hills. If my comments about the previous version (above post) still hold for the new one, the long term experience may not be pleasant (nor safe)

I've also driven the previous one and there is no comparison with the new. Yeah, compared with my Golf it feels a bit "fidgety" in the ride but the rest is up there or better. I didn't feel much wrong with the steering other than being a bit light. I reckon the general appearance and quality of the interior are at least as good as my Golf but with more room and it seemed to ride even more quietly. If Hyundai keep improving their cars at this rate other manufacturers have something to fear. I have a friend with a Mk4 Golf and the improvement in this latest i30 over the previous one is much greater than the improvement of my Mk6 over my friend's Mk4. Yes, it's that good.

[Golf7]

Shame about those useless tiny windows . . . pity you did not mention them in your lengthy report after your long drive in the TSI.

By the way, besides your autoblogaustralia, which other media outlets attended the GTI "specification consultation"? Was there also such a consultation for the other Mark VII Golf models? Do you expect to be consulted by VW again when they are trying to work out how to specify the Golf R?

There were the usual suspects from Drive, Australia's Best Cars... Tried to stay away from them... Only chatted to the guys from Wheels, Motor, Top Gear Oz...

[Golf7]

I've also driven the previous one and there is no comparison with the new. Yeah, compared with my Golf it feels a bit "fidgety" in the ride but the rest is up there or better. I didn't feel much wrong with the steering other than being a bit light. I reckon the general appearance and quality of the interior are at least as good as my Golf but with more room and it seemed to ride even more quietly. If Hyundai keep improving their cars at this rate other manufacturers have something to fear. I have a friend with a Mk4 Golf and the improvement in this latest i30 over the previous one is much greater than the improvement of my Mk6 over my friend's Mk4. Yes, it's that good.

I second your opinion that the new one is a MASSIVE improvement... The car is 100 times better than the old one, can't compare the two... The new one is much closer to the Golf in terms of overall ability than the old i30...

[kaanage]

I guess I'm wary of journalist reports since they rely on good relationships with manufacturers in order to get press releases, car tests etc so they often gloss over glaring faults. I was actually looking forward to driving the previous i30 since all the journos rabbited on about how the Koreans had closed the gap and gave the car load of awards.

Anyway, back to the MkVII..

[Lupo]

There were the usual suspects from Drive, Australia's Best Cars... Tried to stay away from them... Only chatted to the guys from Wheels, Motor, Top Gear Oz...

Its a shame that you as one of their consultants didn't get to go to the overseas GTI launch. How comes?

[Dutch77]

There were the usual suspects from Drive, Australia's Best Cars... Tried to stay away from them... Only chatted to the guys from Wheels, Motor, Top Gear Oz...

I hope the Motor guys didn't read up on VWW.. "And Motor magazine is the biggest load of rubbish I've ever read by accident..."