Bikerboygreen

iTrader: (3)

Thinking of getting one of these as a daily drive through a company scheme. Seems like a good compromise of performance and reasonable running costs. Any thoughts?

stilover

I had a MK5 GT Sport 170TDI, and they really are great cars.

Was toying with the idea of getting a MK7 GTD. Test drove one against a GTI.

You can tell it's set up softer than the GTI, but still a quick car. And the build quality is fantastic.

In the end I went for the GTI with performance pack, as I don't do enough miles to justify the GTD. Both roughly priced the same.

I did however not tick the Magnetic variably ride. Glad I didn't, and the standard passive set-up is fantastic.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

You can buy a hell of alot worse

What year?

Points to note: The earlier MK5 Golfs are starting to become rust buckets. (I know, I own one )...nothing structural, but a car with rusty arches is somewhat off-putting. If you don't care about the looks (rat-look? ), jump on in.

Electric gremlins on the door lock and auto wipers. PD engines must have impeccable service history with 50x.01 oil. Early common rails may have had some injectors changed. Clutches+flywheels don't tolerate bad drivers (riding the clutch at junctions/red lights etc.) Rear brakes are ATE rubbish - not a biggy (as recon calipers are cheap), but annoying....I've replaced duff calipers on a 3yrs Golf FFS. Seems to be worse on cars driven sedately (i.e not braking hard enough). Early Mk5s had ABS pump issues. MK6 Golfs suffer from air-con condenser failure.

The rest is just wear and tear. They also may take a dislike to non-asymmetric tyres...in that they saw-tooth the inner tread blocks on the rear tyres...not a major issue, just makes it sound the the wheel bearing have failed.

Not trying to put you off.....for sakes of balance, with all the above, I've endured countless Peugeots and Renaults with a plethora of on-going problems that are too much and too random to list.

hodgy0_2

I am toying with replacing the Audi with a Golf GTi or something similar too

Was thinking about the Mazda 3 MPS - what are those like Ali-B

Bikerboygreen

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the advice guys. If I get one it will be a new Mk7. I have driven a GTI as well and the drive is definitely softer, but I actually like that as my Scooby is rock hard! Be nice to have the contrast at the weekend. The torque is also something else..

thenewgalaxy

I've got something reasonably similar to the GTD, an A3 2.0 TDI.

It's an S-line Quattro, not a bad motor at all. Capable, quite enjoyable to drive, certainly no slouch and regularly returns over 50mpg being driven by me.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Not a clue on the MPS; I've only driven the shopping versions of Mazda 3s, but can't really say anything bad about them, there is definitely some Ford DNA in the handling. New ones are claimed to have a "skyactiv chassis" Yet I've look at the suspension design (notably the rear multi-link) and it looks exactly like that found on various Volvos/Modeos/Focuses etc.

My concern with the MPS would be how well it puts the power down on to the ground....2.5 AWD is supposed to be rumored in the future - Now that'll be interesting.

hodgy0_2

Yep I think based on the focus chassis

And yep, traction is a problem - the have a LSD and and ECU that reduces torque in the lower gears (I think when it senses steering geometry changes)

Littleted

ive seen quite a few of these and i love them look really well with the right alloys.
I was thinking about one of these or the Golf R for the wife, however i just need to wait to see if they drop a Golf R estate. The Wife has a Zafira Tourer and dropping to 2 small cars would not enable me to have a car i can just chuck stuff in....Like the Zafira...

Id have one, go for it. Look better than the Audi, unless you get the Sline