Tig has arrived - First Impressions

[Azzamataz]

hi All

Just received my 125TSi yesterday in black exterior with corn silk leather and i thought i would report my feelings about the car.

Firstly, the build quality is amazing, with the fit and finish of the car true to any high end german car. (I have always had Japanese Cars)

I know everyone always says the options are expensive, but factory fitted stuff is so much better than aftermarket equipment that I have had in previous cars.

1) Sat Nav, Bluetooth, Rearview, DynAudio, Tow Bar
The sat nav is extremely easy and seamless to use. It even doubles up on the heads up display on the dash. Rear view camera is very handy and activates easily, with great view due to having the tow bar.

I optioned for the dynaudio because i have always had aftermarket focal and soundstream stuff in my previous car (Forester) and i just thought that the stock system would not have enough grunt. I am happy with the system, albeit its very bright at the top end. I will give it some time before giving my final opinion as all speakers need time to wear in.

2) Comfort Pack
An absolute must for this car and a bargain. Dual zone air is fantastic because my wife is always cold, and i dont like a lot of heat. Rainsensing wipers a treat too.

3) Leather Seats
I went for the black on beige look and love it. It looks very premium much like the Beemers and Mercs going around. Some might call it a dull colour but i think the quality of the leather is fantastic. Also the bucket seats that come with the leather option really hugs the body around corners. Tables out back are good too

4) Moonroof
I have always had sunroofs in my cars, from a small one in an xr6 turbo ute to the large one in the forester. This is by far the most capable and biggest of all sunroofs. Its tinted so less heat comes in, and everything is electronic (even the sun blind). It is a beautiful sunroof

5) 18" New York Rims
Due to the design they look smaller on the car than I would have imagined. However, packaged with the 235 width tyres, the car looks realy chuncky (good) and sits very flat on the road.

6) Dealer Tint
Looks good, no imperfections. Its nice to pick up a car without doing anything to it

7) First Driving impressions
The 125TSI has plenty of go. I was worried because I came from an XR6 Turbo chipped ute (300rwkw) and a worked Turbo Forester. I am not more a family man with kids so this car has plenty of pick up and go when needed, and i am yet to tow the boat so I will let you know how it goes.

This car sits really well on the road. There is ample room in the back seat as I was fully loaded with 5 adults last night and they reported that there is significantly less body roll than the forester. As said previously, the cars build quality is astounding.

Problems encountered

I am wondering if anyone can help me with these problems

a) MDI has been fitted and the dealer said i could just plug my ipod into it and it will work. I used the original Ipod usb to dock connector and the media input says "MEDIA NOT RECOGNISED" Has anyone else had problems with this?

b) Does the Traffic option on the Sat nav work? I have not been able to work it yet

c) Mine is an MY10 model, and it seems to have inherited the footwell lighting and centre console lighting (in red) that was only once in the 147. This looks great. One concern though is that the passenger map light and the door open light at night does not have the backlit red lights. Every other switch in the car from rear window buttons, to central locking buttons seem to light up at night but these two buttons do not. They are on the Left of the sunroof controls. Can anyone who has these buttons please check and let me know.

Hope this helps you all. I will post some pics when the weather improves

Regards Aaron

[Pullstarter]

The Traffic option is not functional in Au as yet, supposedly it's being talked about with the usual government vs government bollocks (who pays the $$$) that goes on with that sort of thing.

The footwell lighting and centre console lighting come in all the Tigs that have the comfort package, it's not a model specific thing.

Congrats on the new arrival and post up some pics of those New Yorks, don't think i've seen one with those rims on yet.

[Transporter]

Congratulation on your new Tig, mate.
How does the power compare to turbo Forester?

[Azzamataz]

The forester was much more harsh to drive (i also had a manual) It was much quicker off the line but all the power delivery was high end. Took a while for the turbo to kick in. Tig is much smoother in its power delivery.

[Maverick]

I am wondering if anyone can help me with these problems

a) MDI has been fitted and the dealer said i could just plug my ipod into it and it will work. I used the original Ipod usb to dock connector and the media input says "MEDIA NOT RECOGNISED" Has anyone else had problems with this?

Was this dealer fitted?

b) Does the Traffic option on the Sat nav work? I have not been able to work it yet

The government in all it's wisdom has decided to support Sunatraffic (owned by RACV) and this is operational in 3 states in the capitals (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane). What Sunatraffic have done is encrpyt the transmissions and they won't allow anyone to connect and use the service unless you buy a new device with a subscription built in.

So if you want to use it you have to buy a new device despite that it will work with many car's sat nav systems and many portable devices. The only manufacturer that offers this is Ford at the moment.

Having said that their service is rubbish from what I've heard and useless as even though that have access to the traffic control sensors at intersections to detect the flow of traffic etc their updates are too slow to be of use.

Millions of dollars of government money wasted on a commercial operation that doesn't make business sense by relying on a tiny license fee one off on a new piece of hardware rather than offering the product on a subscription basis and generating yearly revenue

Even in VW do start offering this with the RNS 510 your only way to get it under the Sunatraffic licensing agreement is by buying a new car

Our tax dollars at work

c) Mine is an MY10 model, and it seems to have inherited the footwell lighting and centre console lighting (in red) that was only once in the 147. This looks great. One concern though is that the passenger map light and the door open light at night does not have the backlit red lights. Every other switch in the car from rear window buttons, to central locking buttons seem to light up at night but these two buttons do not. They are on the Left of the sunroof controls. Can anyone who has these buttons please check and let me know.

Ribbon cable has become disconnected would be my bet.

[Azzamataz]

Thanks heaps. I will check out on the back light to the buttons. It seemed wierd that every other switch had backlights but this.

The MDI was fitted at factory i believe. I am not sure though. Why would this matter?

[WannaTig]

Don't know if dealer fitted or not matters - the usb thingo doesn't work with the iPod, you need to get an iPod specific cable. The service/parts dept should have some floating around. Mine charged me about $80 for one.

[donweather]

Don't know if dealer fitted or not matters - the usb thingo doesn't work with the iPod, you need to get an iPod specific cable. The service/parts dept should have some floating around. Mine charged me about $80 for one.

I was also told this. The USB does not work with ipods, and as Wanna has said, the dealer told me you have to buy a seperate ipod adaptor/cable, which from memory the dealer indicated was connected through the glove box??

[Maverick]

Thanks heaps. I will check out on the back light to the buttons. It seemed wierd that every other switch had backlights but this.

The MDI was fitted at factory i believe. I am not sure though. Why would this matter?

Factory fitted comes with a USB cable and there are two aftermarket retrofit kits, one comes with USB and one comes with no cable.

As the others said you need a IPOD cable which is between $70 and $90.

Get the dealer to look at the buttons, you need a trim removal tool to get it off safely and if you mark it they'll blame you for the problem.

[surubalak]

I have the MDI and you need the iPod adaptor. It cost me $92 from the dealer. You then remove the existing USB cable from the MDI and plug in the iPod adaptor. It fits all Ipods but not shuffle.

You can then control the songs throught the touch screen and through the controls on the steering wheel.