Seperated at birth?
02-15-2006 | 06:16 PM
#4
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 890
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
God, the wheels on the GTi are awful. It's so obvious that they raised the ride height for the american market...it's got that "yeah, I got rims but the springs I want are on backorder" look, straight off the showroom floor. I agree about the similarities to the EP hatch, too...
Quick2k
Quick2k
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02-16-2006 | 07:37 AM
#9
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,877
Likes: 0
From: Murrieta
I test drove a DSG equipped GTI just 3 days ago. I thought it was quite nice actually. The exterior does have a certain blandness to it, especially in the rear, where at least half the bumper is black. If those things were addressed (aka painted) then it would look better. The little details are there and I think it looks quite nice. I wouldn't mind trading in my EK Si for it. Too bad I don't wanna make another car payment.
The interior is a very nice place to be. The only thing I didn't like is that they had some of the engine noise DELIBERATELY routed to the cabin... if it was a VR6 then I'd be happy, but the 2.0 doesn't exactly sing a nice song.
The DSG... wow, that thing is SO smooth and quick. Pretty surprising really, especially after driving several M3 SMGII in the past. My only issue with it is that you feel detached from the car. More so than even in the M3 SMG. If I really was considering the car I think I would have to get an extended drive in both to make up my mind. I love to row my own gears and throw perfect heel-and-toes on a daily basis.
Handling is really nice too. The car does look 4x4 like when stock. However, the ride is surprisingly firm, which is a very nice departure from the woobly GTI MKIV and even the MKIII.
Frankly, I'd take the GTi over the Si. I havent driven the Si, but the torque , dual climate control, heated seats, nice leather, HIDs, and all the little touches here and there just do it for me much more than the Honda. IMO, the Honda feels a little spartan in comparison.
Oh yeah, and the stock 17s are decent looking.. somewhat BBS CH looking, but not.
The interior is a very nice place to be. The only thing I didn't like is that they had some of the engine noise DELIBERATELY routed to the cabin... if it was a VR6 then I'd be happy, but the 2.0 doesn't exactly sing a nice song.
The DSG... wow, that thing is SO smooth and quick. Pretty surprising really, especially after driving several M3 SMGII in the past. My only issue with it is that you feel detached from the car. More so than even in the M3 SMG. If I really was considering the car I think I would have to get an extended drive in both to make up my mind. I love to row my own gears and throw perfect heel-and-toes on a daily basis.
Handling is really nice too. The car does look 4x4 like when stock. However, the ride is surprisingly firm, which is a very nice departure from the woobly GTI MKIV and even the MKIII.
Frankly, I'd take the GTi over the Si. I havent driven the Si, but the torque , dual climate control, heated seats, nice leather, HIDs, and all the little touches here and there just do it for me much more than the Honda. IMO, the Honda feels a little spartan in comparison.
Oh yeah, and the stock 17s are decent looking.. somewhat BBS CH looking, but not.
02-16-2006 | 08:18 AM
#10
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,869
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From: SLC
I drove a GTI the other day as well..
The car is a red GTI with with DSG, the 18" wheels and package #1 which gives you the sunroof and satelite radio. Sticker is about $25,700. I would not get the 18" wheel option since I think the 18" wheels are ugly as hell. The stock 17" wheels are n^th times better looking.
The cloth seats are definitely not as bolstered as the leather seats, but they are very nice none-the-less. The audio system sounds better than the LGT's stereo.
The car is picks up and goes very well. It feels fast. The brakes grab so much earlier and better than the LGT I now understand why people complain about the Legacy's brakes. It's not that the LGT's brakes are bad, they're just different. The car is fun to toss into the corners. It has less understeer than I thought it would, also I didn't notice any torque steer.
Now on to the DSG. That thing ****ing rocks. I drove the car in full auto, auto/sport and full manual. For daily driving the auto/sport mode is perfect. It seemlessly shifts, and does a very good job of guessing what you're going to do next. It likes to keep the car in the optimum powerband. Like I was in sport mode on the freeway and shifted it into 6th, and after 15 seconds or so it shifted down to 4th to keep the rpms up just in case I wanted to gun it. In full auto mode it would just stay in 6th. I can't get over how smooth the upshifts are. It's infinitely better than the ferrari's I've driven. Which I guess is the point of the dual clutch system.
Some things I didn't like, are the sunglass holder by the sunroof control rattled when I went over bumps, which I'm hoping is a fluke with the car I drove. Also when you have the sunroof open it's very loud in the cabin. It's like the air is not going over the sunroof but being drawn into the rear seats of the car and causing this loud whooosh sound. The wheel gap is rediculous. (see pic) I think mod #1 for every buyer should be suspension.
After spending a good 30 minutes driving the car around, I would defnintely drive one. It's quiet, smooth, and has the typical nice VW interior. Now we just need to see if VW's claim to have started building a better, more reliable car is true.
Enough wheel gap to hide a baby in.
The car is a red GTI with with DSG, the 18" wheels and package #1 which gives you the sunroof and satelite radio. Sticker is about $25,700. I would not get the 18" wheel option since I think the 18" wheels are ugly as hell. The stock 17" wheels are n^th times better looking.
The cloth seats are definitely not as bolstered as the leather seats, but they are very nice none-the-less. The audio system sounds better than the LGT's stereo.
The car is picks up and goes very well. It feels fast. The brakes grab so much earlier and better than the LGT I now understand why people complain about the Legacy's brakes. It's not that the LGT's brakes are bad, they're just different. The car is fun to toss into the corners. It has less understeer than I thought it would, also I didn't notice any torque steer.
Now on to the DSG. That thing ****ing rocks. I drove the car in full auto, auto/sport and full manual. For daily driving the auto/sport mode is perfect. It seemlessly shifts, and does a very good job of guessing what you're going to do next. It likes to keep the car in the optimum powerband. Like I was in sport mode on the freeway and shifted it into 6th, and after 15 seconds or so it shifted down to 4th to keep the rpms up just in case I wanted to gun it. In full auto mode it would just stay in 6th. I can't get over how smooth the upshifts are. It's infinitely better than the ferrari's I've driven. Which I guess is the point of the dual clutch system.
Some things I didn't like, are the sunglass holder by the sunroof control rattled when I went over bumps, which I'm hoping is a fluke with the car I drove. Also when you have the sunroof open it's very loud in the cabin. It's like the air is not going over the sunroof but being drawn into the rear seats of the car and causing this loud whooosh sound. The wheel gap is rediculous. (see pic) I think mod #1 for every buyer should be suspension.
After spending a good 30 minutes driving the car around, I would defnintely drive one. It's quiet, smooth, and has the typical nice VW interior. Now we just need to see if VW's claim to have started building a better, more reliable car is true.
Enough wheel gap to hide a baby in.