I finally got rid of my 03 STi and after the excellent treatment I received from IM (I'm still waiting for a reply from them 2 years after sending them several letters including ones they had to sign for) I had elected not to buy another Subaru. I know IM are messing lots of people, including the dealers, about so this doesn't come as news to anyone.

Anyhow, because most of my requirements have changed a little I decided to buy a Diesel VW Golf and I must admit that it is quite a nice car, though I've only driven a relatively short distance in it. It has many nice touches that the Subaru lacked including a really strange pedal on the floor the purpose of which seems to be to cause the generation of noise, vibration and smoke. I'm not clear exactly why the motorist should have a need for such a facility but as it is positioned where the accelerator was located in my previous cars I have found myself pressing it on occasion. If nothing else I suppose it can be used to break up the tedium of longer journeys. If anyone knows what it is for can they let me know?

I have also found that I now have an embarrasing social problem, which others are likely to have experience of. As I rarely used my STi for commuting or extensive travel it mostly went out to be driven and while it was one of the worst handling cars I've ever owned I did my best to try and have fun. This valient attempt resulted in a fuel consumption figure of around 10mpg on all but long runs etc. As a result it was necessary to fill up at every petrol station I would pass along my route and this became routine. Now that I have the Golf, with the strange pedal where the accelerator should be, I still find myself pulling into petrol stations and going through the whole procedure of filling up only to find that it will only take a tiny amount of fuel before my trousers get wet. This has resulted in my having to go to cash desks, with stained trousers, and attempt to pay for 73p of diesel and this appears not to be socially acceptable. How do others deal with this?

My girlfriend, who is a wonderful woman in every way, likes VW Golfs and is quite pleased that is what I bought. However, for reasons that I can't yet explain, she keeps looking into the back seats and discussing the fitment of child seats. Now, we don't have any children and while we would occasionally give lifts to her brother's kids she asserts that this is not what she has in mind. Perhaps the women on SN could enlighten me as to exactly what is going on here? Why would we need child seats when we have no children? Should my Golf have had child seats as standard and she is making the point that the dealer ripped me off?

In view of my first question where, exactly, is the accelerator? I've tried pressing nearly all the buttons and ***** when I attempt to overtake other traffic and while I've flashed my lights, cleaned my windows and cooled the interior I have yet to find the correct button to allow for an increase in speed. At present this is not too distressing as, to be frank, I don't often find myself catching up on other traffic but I can see this lack of knowledge on my part presenting a problem on longer trips.

Right that should do me to start with, Oh one more thing: The Golf has a gear lever thing that, superficially, appears just like the one on other cars. Unfortunately, however, 1st gear is quite some yards away from the driver. This situation is nothing but a minor irritation when there is a passenger in the car as they can be asked to select 1st for me. However, when driving alone I have found it a bit of a pain having to roll down the passenger window (thankfully electric) and ask pedestrians if they could select 1st gear for me. For this reason I have ceased to stop at traffic lights and other obstructions. How do others deal with this problem?

 

You obviously didn't read the options list.

 

oh mate, i had to wipe away a tear there please come back and post more like that, funniest thing i have read for a while.
keep posting stuff like that cos it restores my faith in SN.
(and we need your legal mind as well )

 

I can't help you with your smoke pedal I'm afraid, but I've been test driving some other cars as potential replacements for my own STI over the last week.

Most cars do seem to have an accelerator pedal in the usual place, though there does seem to be at least one more option: a rattle pedal, which makes the car emit a tractor-like noise but, as you've discovered with your Golf, not actually move any faster.

There seem to be options for the big wheel in front of the driver's seat too. On my STI, it causes the car to steer left and right, but in several cars it doesn't seem to do anything much at all. Pity.

 

hmm suspects you were conned into the 'D' version...

the cleverer ones opt for the 'TD' or 'TDi versions, these have the added advantage that when the smoke generation pedal is pressed the smoke is much cleaner, and you escape the scene, i believe the component you are missing is an 'obrut' they come in many sizes, and have the added advantage of returning 50+ of those mpg,s so you can reduce your garage fetish to once a fortnight


mart

 

LOL, hedgehog. You're funny when you're not going on about the government.

 

It's a diesel...you don't need 1st gear!

Revs, slip clutch, build up the boost, off the clutch and away you go (in 5th )

 

Here, get this, it has a sound level meter on it!! Never had a car with one of those before but handy enough. When you press the noise button there is a dial thing with a needle on it that goes up as the sound goes up. I guess once it gets to the red bit it is time to put on hearing protection, though I've never had the patience or a long enough bit of road to get there yet.

Mart - It has all those letters and several others on the back, to be honest I suspected that was related to the child seats as there is a whole alphabet on there for kids to play with. I assume they are magnetic and the kids can rearrange them as suits?

 

Wonder if you should have talked with Wish first...

 

Test drive in the 1st place didn't put you off and you still purchased the car?