Volkswagen Driving Experience 2012

[GTi Crow]

Went to the Evolution Course at Mallala. First drive of a Sirocco and managed 100 metres before a wipe out on the wet testing area (skid pan). Forgot I had just switched from the Golf R to the Sirocco which only has front wheel drive. Carried a cone for awhile. lol.

Luckily while it rained in Adelaide city, it was partial sunshine all afternoon - except when driving in the skid pan.

Evolution course was definitely a step up on the Progression Course although speeds around the track did not differ much as they put a chicane halfway along the longest straight (which wasn't done last year) - probably the reason I moved a cone a couple of times. The Evolution Course just felt more intense and we had a lot more time in the car driving too.

Comparison of cars - Sirocco lighter, felt quicker but I was not as impressed with the interior and had less head room than in the Golf. Also with me driving, it handled cr*p in the wet - well on one of my 4 runs anyway.

Overall a very enjoyable day, although Mallala is a slow track compared to other videos I have seen on the Evolution Course interstate where they reached speeds just over 200kph, whereas we were more around the 150 mark - or maybe I am just slower than some. At least the videos worked this year without having to re-format them (I used VLC last year to get them to work).

[AdamD]

Went to the Evolution Course at Mallala. First drive of a Sirocco and managed 100 metres before a wipe out on the wet testing area (skid pan). Forgot I had just switched from the Golf R to the Sirocco which only has front wheel drive. Carried a cone for awhile. lol.

I did that skidpan in the (FWD) Golf GTI and (AWD) Golf R (I did the Progression course on the Thursday), and was really surprised by how much more understeer was present in the R, especially at corner entry and exit. Suspect the former is due to the extra weight (which was also very noticeable in the slalom), and my instructors reckoned the latter was due to the R not having XDL... although I suspect they were asked to push VW's marketing terms to the max.

Overall a very enjoyable day, although Mallala is a slow track compared to other videos I have seen on the Evolution Course interstate where they reached speeds just over 200kph, whereas we were more around the 150 mark - or maybe I am just slower than some. At least the videos worked this year without having to re-format them (I used VLC last year to get them to work).

Ditto - the fastest I saw was 153km/h, thanks to the chicane. My laptimes were also abysmal, but given the chicane, relative traffic on track and being asked to keep things tame, no surprises there.

[Ryan_R]

Did the Progression course today at Phillip Island. Was great, our coach really got us to push the car well beyond its limits to show how good the ESP and XDL/AWD (GTI/R) are. All sorts of people there too - both guys in my car had done this before so there was no holding back in our group.

Events were Slalom, wet skid-pan course (slalom, sharp right hairpin and quick stop), emergency braking tests, swerving tests (swerving and stopping when you're slightly more than a car length away from cones (car width) doing 60kph (or slightly more), some more faster slaloms, then 2 laps of the track in the GTI followed by another 2 in the R. Hit 200kph just before Turn 1.

Spent most of our time in the GTI but repeated a couple of tests in the R as well, that thing handles so much better and feels quite at home on the track. In the GTI you're hanging on a bit harder (not as composed) through the bends.