igratton

Morning folks,

my PD150 arrived on friday night and I have to say I am chuffed to bits with it - its not a quick as the P1 but it certainly has a few tricks up its sleeve.

I'll write more later - but here are a few pics for now:

[img]http://www.aspian-software.co.uk/Subaru/scoobynet/golf1.jpg
[/img]



more to follow.

Ian.
PS and on top of all that Westfields XTR² came 2nd in EVO trackday car of the year - amazing !!!. Our hayabusa engine came on saturday so we'll be kicking *** end of August fingers crossed

MartinM

Ian

Welcome to the club! Done 4000 miles in mine (7 weeks)...43.2 mpg average and the XJR Sport that tried to get away from me on the motorway this morning couldn't. I believe he was really trying as well - but I won't go into why!

I'm well interested in your initial gut feel about it - as I said before, you/me shouldn't compare it to the P1, but we ineveitably do (like your first line above!)

..and, of course, you might have to run the engine in a bit (600 miles I think), but you don't have to run the suspension and handling in

One minor question for you - when is the 1st service? The manual is unclear and I don't know if the computer is going to tell me or not

Martin

easilybored

10,000 miles, my computer just told me that i have 1800 miles to go before i need to take it in.

eb

simon_prickett

Nice to see it got there OK.

Simon.

FreeT

Really? you beat a " XJR Sport " and it was trying.

No - please do explain were all interested.

Mungo

I'm waiting for my PD130 to arrive - fortunately it's to run alongside my MY99, so I get the best (almost, not quite PD150 or P1) of both worlds!
I'm looking forward to the high quality paint finish and interior, permanent 40+ mpg, and some kind of resale value. Not quite so looking forward to the start-up tractor soundtrack or the slightly wallowy drive, but hey!

met

anyone of you want a genuine golf towbar, i think its made by witter? any taker? bought from this very bbs?

igratton

Is it removable - if so drop me a mail

Ian

met

well it is in the sense that once fitted it can be removed by dropping the bumper & the rear wheels to unbolt it, it just bolts on to the car via 4 bolts & looks like this

igratton

met - drop us a ballpark figure of how much you want for it.

Need to tow the XTR&sup2 about the country very soon

Ian.

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Looking forward to the proper write-up

NBW

MartinM,

We (well, at least FreeT and myself) are still eagerly awaiting to hear how you creamed a XJR that was 'really trying'

Anyways, my PD150 arrives Monday, avec 17" alloys, leather & xenon lights (and hopefully with ESP and climate control instead of manual aircon if I get a '03 model, which I should, fingers crossed ).

Think I'll try and get a few miles on it before I start terrorising the local XJR and M5 drivers

Cheers
Tim

FreeT

I think he means the guys was cruising in 5th at 40 and he "creamed" (took) him in 3rd

Flat 4x4

FreeT

Strangely enough it's more likely to be the other way around in my past diesel experience - the higher the gear the more use you get from the torque. My chipped Audi V6 was a 3 speed - 4th,5th,6th above 2000rpm !

Flat 4x4

frisby

Get a tuning box of some description fitted then you can bring down the MPG by about 10% if you make use of the extra power and torque !

If you get one that over-fuels a bit too much, you'll get black smoke to go with your black car. There's no way they can accuse you of driving like a fairy then ! (Bloody boy racer etc)

MartinM

OK - here's what happened

M4 8.30am. Outside lane nose to tail at 70mph. Middle lane XJR, 65 mph steady (probably on the phone) with about 300yds of empty middle lane ahead. Inside lane empty for 400 yds.

I cruise up middle lane, obviously faster than oustide lane, but not excessively. I'm not one to swoop into inside lane, undertake and zoom off back into middle lane, so politely flashed my lights to warn the XJR that I was there. No reaction. Flashed again. No reaction.

Got closer and then pulled into inside lane to track the XJR on his rear quarter. He then saw me/got off the phone maybe...puff of smoke from him and he was off! So I decided to see if I could keep with him...and yes I could until I chickened out as we were both going quite fast.

I didn't cream him (read my post carefully), and there was no way I could have got past. I kept up with him though. Of course, he could have been a wuss, was only on 1/8 throttle and didn't even see me...but I deffo didn't get that impression.

Flat is also correct - although I haven't done a scientific study, I definitely get the impression thet you change up to ACCELERATE faster e.g you can travel faster from 3000 rpm in third by changing to fourth to get back into max torque range (~1900 rpm!), rather than going up to even say 3500 rpm. On reflection, maybe that's what all car's do, it's just that the TDi seems to make it very obvious.

M

Flat 4x4

I think it is because the rev range is narrow on diesels (2-4.8k)with, as you say Max Torque (that would make a good magazine title !) always about 2000rpm.

Once I'd had mine chipped it would develop more power at the top end (revved easier above 4k) but shifted peak torque up the rev range (another 60 lb/ft of it) to 3000rpm.

Same experience this time around with my modded Tek2 Subaru - more torque in the mid-range makes it quicker to drive - maybe I am really a diesel wuss at heart

NBW

MartinM,

Thanks for the explanation, those PD's sure do pull at motorway speeds Surprised the Jag didn't pull away though. Mind you, he probably saw his fuel consumption drop to about 7mpg and then lifted off. Not a problem in the Golf of course

Cheers
Tim

Mark Jackson

They all think they are quick in their Golfs, dont bother against a Volvo T5 unless you want a kicking.

However a Passat Tdi will be ordered soon to replace it!

mega_stream

I notice you guys are going on about diesel Golfs, have any of you tried the GTi T 1.8 engine?

Is this PD that much better, I had the GTi T for 2 months and very soon knew it wasn't the car I could live with, (had a VR6 before) so I traded in back into a VW dealer and lost just £500 on it

What I do miss is the quality of the VW's, I've read bad reviews on the only other Golf that would possibly have interested me, the 4-motion

Is the 130 and 150 PD version really that good a drive with all that torque??

NBW

I test drove the 1.8T and then the PD150 back to back. Each test drive was about 30-40 minutes on my own over a wide variety of roads. And I used to own a VR6 before my Scooby.

IMHO the 1.8T is a superb engine, very refined, and deceptively quick. It's so smooth and quiet, though, it never feels particularly exciting. Not in the way a VR6 is smooth but still makes such a distinctive sound, so you know all time that there's nearly 3 litres of throbbing beast under the bonnet

Swopping to the PD150, I was initially disappointed at the diesel clatter when starting up and idling - I had expected a modern engine to be much more muted - and it doesn't quieten down much even when warmed. Once underway though, you soon forget it's a diesel, except for that enormous torque

IMHO the PD150 is the faster car, where it counts, in real world driving. You can take of advantage of every over-taking opportunity, and because the car reacts in virtually every gear, so you don't have to be revving the nuts off it, covering ground quickly can be done in a relaxed style. It's very like that VR6 feeling of having a big powerplant ready to push your forward as soon as you press the throttle. Effortless

To put this in perspective, a 1999-2000 Impreza Turbo will go from 50-70mph in 5th in about 8 seconds - a PD150 will match that in sixth, which is geared at 34mph/1000rpm . In 5th the Golf will be 2.5-3.0 seconds quicker.

MKIV Golf handling is often criticised, but I didn't think either was too bad, although I thought the PD150 had the edge here to. There's been lots of speculation about different springs/dampers being fitted to the diesel to cope with the extra engine weight. Steering feel is pretty poor in both cars, hopefully mine we'll be better as I specced 17" wheels with 225/45's.

I also drove a PD130 about a week later, as a bit of a sanity check. Unfortunetly it was an SE estate, so not a direct comparison, but as I was mostly interested to see if the PD130 engine was more refined then the PD150. Answer was, yes, it doesn't make as much clatter when idling, but it also didn't have quite as much thrust as the PD150, as you would expect being over 15% down on power.

Obviously, having favourably compared the performance of PD150 to the VR6 above (I know some people will not believe that, but I have driven both cars!), one area where the PD150 excels is costs. On my test runs I achieved just over 30mpg in the 1.8T, and 47mpg in the PD150. The 1.8T is cheaper, but the diesel will probably be worth a bit more when you come to sell it.

As an overall package I think the PD150 is a great car, can't wait until mine turns up tomorrow.

Cheers
Tim

FreeT

Admiral report, and must agree the TDi feels quicker in gear - but are we really wanting to become lazy drivers (not having to change gears) and you lose that lovely sound that comes from most sporing petrol engines (diesel is no match for that - yet!).

If you do 15k a year then that will be £1060 against £1620 for the fuel, not the greatest of savings since servicing costs and tax costs a little bit more for the diesel as the government don't yet realise that diesel actually pollutes the atmosphere less for equivalent sized engines (just the buses, lorries and tractors that are really bad)

Its very close from an economical point of view, but you have to drive with the windows and stereo up. Too much of a sacrifice just to be able to overtake without changing gear (soon runs out of revs anyway @4500rpm) - bah! no fun.

[Edited by FreeT - 7/15/2002 8:18:56 PM]

NBW

Yes, in an ideal world an engine that sounds like a VR6, a Scooby, Honda VTEC, etc. would be great. I wouldn't mind betting though that the next generation of VAG diesels won't be too far off.....BMW are already there with their straight six by all accounts.

Still, my PD150 turned up today and I'm dead chuffed so far. Even has a radio that gets louder as you go faster, so you need never miss the slightest second of your favourite bits on Radio 2

Cheers
Tim

Flat 4x4

I always used to defend the diesel corner because I was told that they were 'not Evo' when I had my chipped A4 V6 Tdi Quattro.
Bolix.

If you chip or change the wheels or suspension in exactly the same way any enthusiast would on a petrol engined car for better handling and grunt, they are just as Evo just not as revvable.

And lets remember - the Japanese were offered mainstream 16 valve petrol engines less than 20 years ago - the whole concept of a quick diesel has only been around for less than 10. eg Citroen ZX Volcane TD (1992)

Wait for Audi's new 3.0TDi or the next generation VW Golf to stop all the arguments.

ps Love my Impreza but would go happily go back to diesel if fuel consumption mattered to me again.

frisby

My Golf 130 GT TDI - with sports suspension.

So far I've averaged 49mpg - I must drive like a fairy.

Best thing is the look of amazement you get when some boy racer is on your tail through a roundabout and you unleash hell as sail off into the distance on a wave of torque......happy with it!!!


stu



[Edited by frisby - 7/12/2002 2:56:32 PM]