LG John

My aunty just came over to my parents house and I was round there washing the scooby. Nicely timed cause she had her golf 150 TDI PD (please insert any other relevant letters ) with her.

Took the golf for a drive and I'm mixed between disappointed and impressed

I've had a lot of TDI experience and the first thing that struck me (again) was the lack of effort: select gear, push throttle...car go's I quickly realised that the best way to accelerate is just to hammer through the gears as quickly as you can (pretty much) and let the torque do the work. It's quick but a scooby would thrash it if the driver was happy to wind her up a little.

Going back to FWD was a shock, 1st gear really was a waste of space! The wheels spun so easily Also, the muppets that still argue FWD is a comparible (on UK roads) to a 4WD need their head seen to. It was very difficult to get the power down out the corners and with the heavy engine up front you couldn't carry to much in either. Overall I was impressed with the comfort, the guts, the lack of effort and the q-car feel but I couldn't help but feel I'm still a little too young for it. As a family man it would be a great choice. Where I expected it would thrash the scooby was 80+ mph and especially over 100mph but it didn't. Actually, it felt comparitively reluctant to pull over 100mph. Strange considering the torque and 2WD and this came as a bit of a dissapointment.

All in all though a nice car and it makes a brilliant cruiser, but sports car it is not. Of course the really scary thing is that my aunt had reset the computer 8 miles ago and I did another 8 miles on top of that. Her 8 miles were in town and gentle. My 8 miles was pretty much on boost all the time and yet it was still showing an average of 30mpg

All IMHO

Brun

Hope ya aunty doesn't see this post .
Good accout SB

MooseRacer

Sums it up quite well SB, reasonable, quick, effortless but not a sporting drive.

Incidentally it's a bit unfair to tar all FWD's with the same brush as a diesel golf when it comes to traction and handling. You said it yourself - they aren't exactly light

LG John

Its true that the golf isn't the most nimble FWD but it did cast my mind back to frustraiting wheel spins out of corners in the VTS which has pretty poor torque really.

The best bit is I said to my aunty afterwards that I'm too young for it and she said, 'why is it too fast, would the insurance cost too much' I just looked at my Impreza and raised my eyebrows Couldn't be bothered to explain speed and insurance groups to her

dba

It was very difficult to get the power down out the corners and with the heavy engine up front you couldn't carry to much in either

the only way you can really find that out is on a track

SCOSaltire

Was there a nice surge when the turbo kicked?
how long did it last (revs) ?

ive thought about one of these.. to eat miles

Mike123

I think they're good in general day-to-day driving - however despite all the torque they're still way off the pace of the superhatches on a track where bhp is also important.
Look at the Autocar hot hatch test - Golf trailed in last despite biggest torque.

No arguing with the mpg advantage though

ChrisB

Don't forget a Golf is setup with comfort in mind though.

bigsinky

@SaxoBoy

M8 we had one of these up at a rollin road last month. it had one of them there power boxes on them. pushin out about 150 brake which in itself is nuthin ordinary but i nearly soiled meself when i got a look at the torque figure. now we had a couple of evo7's on earlier in the day and i was impressed by 317bhp and 276 lb/ft, but i was seriously impressed by the golfs torque figure of 275 lb/ft at about 2750 rpm.

cheers

big sinky

LG John

Don't be so silly!! I wasn't chucking it around as the only cover was my 'drive anything 3 party' insurance which would mean I'd owe my aunty about 18 grand if I wrote it off. Nonetheless the wheels were spinning out of corners in the lower gears and I could feel the front end giving the warning sides of washing out. Sure I could learn more about its handling at a track but its a road car and I learned all I need to know about it on the road! Critically it lacked nimbleness but then it wasn't designed to do that. My old VTS would have pasted it round a track but on the motorway or coming off roundabouts (lets face it, the breeding ground for most comparisons) the oil burner would big time trouble the hot-hatch. Factor in, passengers, hills or high gear low speeds and it could even give a scooby a brief fright.

Puff wise there didn't seem to be much point in winding it up. I started changing up really early but it didn't stem the flow of acceleration It just kept pulling

I think it would make a brilliant motorway mile muncher but my only complaint is that as with all volkswagens at the moment the seats are stupid hard! I think my back would be killing me after a drive

Phil look at www.uk-mkivs.net for more info Some of the lads there have chipped 190bhp versions (god only knows what the torque is )

DJ140

Agree with the seats being to hard on VW's. Had a Passat 3 years ago and even with all the adjustment available, got a bad back every time I did more than a hour's driving.

It'll have to be another Subaru next time then, MY00 to STI8 with PPP?

Dan

Scotsman

iTrader: (3)

Had a shot in my mates 115 bhp Tdi (six speed) Golf yesterday and whilst the torque was great I could not believe how hard and uncomfortable the seats were - about the worst I've ever sat on!

igratton

Saxo...

Agree with some of your comments....

As for the seats - did your rellies car have leather ??? my 'old man' leather seats are soft(ish) and comfy too - oh and heated For less aches than my previous 3 scoobies.

I think the thing that will let a std PD150 down on track is the suspension setup - its not oriented towards 'fun'. A friend has a fully adjustable blistien kit on his golf and it totally transforms the car.

I have stayed half a car length on a MY01 bugeyed mess from 80-120mph and I didn't bother changing down like the other driver either (he had some sort of loud exhaust system so I could hear it charging to the redline too) - I don't think he knew what had hit him. Classic UK scoobs are a different outcome as they are much lighter.

I think even near the redline (when the car is making 150ish ps) the torque is still higher than most hatches. The torque does drop off by about 3700rpm. Most of the tuning boxes and chips move the torque up the rev range a little - they are said to pull much better - chipped 150's can make nearly 300lb/ft. I think VAG suggest no more than 275lb/ft as the 6speed box has its limits.

Like you say - nice sensible car and reasonably rapid. Mine was purchased purely to eat miles - in 7 months its eaten 21,750 of them so far returning an average of 46mpg at 'brisk' motorway speeds. Oh - and to tow this around on a trailer



I think I have the best of both worlds. I've never ever been in another car that can corner like this bugger does. It will hopefully be at donington on the 9th march if we put it back together in time LOL.

Ian

LG John

Many complaints here of the hard seats! Are we listening Mr Volkswagen!

How are the other running costs for the car? Service intervals, servicing costs, etc. I have to say it makes a good case for itself as a replacement for the scoob when it finally robs me of all my cash

igratton

Servicing is quite cheap really

10K about £100
20K about £200 (if I remember correctly)

I am just verging on getting new tyres - think 21,000 of motorway miles has helped them to last - the rears are fine - but the fronts obviously get a bit of punishment. The fronts have about 2-3000 miles left on them. Replacement bridgestone Torezzas (can't spell) are approx £75 quid each - S-03s about £90.

The other thing with the Golfs (and typically all German cars) is the quoted power figures are a minimum they will make. The TUV standards they have over there enforce this. TUV is in place on just about everything you can buy over there.

I think the 150s are group 15 or 16.

I was paying about £1200 to insure my modified P1 WR (18" wheels, 330mm Alcons, Gas Discharge Lamps, HKS Downpipe, HKS Hyper, HKS Super Racing Suction, HKS blow-off valve, clear lenses, 4x60mm Defis, expensive speakers and head unit).

The golf costs about £550 (thats insured CAT C Business). But

The westi insurance is through the roof - wait for it - £280 - that isn't a typo !!!

[Edited by igratton - 2/24/2003 1:09:33 PM]

ChrisB

The Revo re-map for the PD130 engine in the Ibiza TDi sport is 180bhp/300lb ft - dyno proven

LG John

Wow, that is night and day cheaper to run than a scooby

Paul_M

Get a bora TDI 150 - same engine, some say they actually handle better, and the insurance is something silly like group 9! Simply because of the old man image, but the Mk4 golf has a bit of an old man image anyway, especially in TDi form.

igratton

I think I actually like the Bora a bit better - the only downside for me was the % of their value kept over 3 years - mine is going to have loads of miles on it by then - and I'd like to try and get a reasonable amount back for my next road car.

I think Next time I will get an A4 Avant - would love to get an 2.5TDI Sport Quattro (love my friends) or maybe an S4 - hopefully the prices will be nearly sensible in a few years.

Ali-T

If they're not that fast, why the hell are they always in the outside of the motorway when the inside lanes are clear, refusing to budge out of the way?

TDi drivers really annoy me!!!

LG John

White van drivers are far far far worse [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

SCOSaltire

LOL
u should stick to A and B roads like me

tractors
sheep
cyclists
old grannies
sunday drivers on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...

igratton

Tell me about it - I do 900 miles up and down the M1 each week.

Peoples general lane disipline is terrible. The police would propbably gladly pull you if you attempt to undertake - even when safe - but will they pull people for mis-using the outside lane as a 'fast lane' - NO !!! - and why because it would be far too much effort as about 96% of drivers do it.

Rant mode off

Ian
[Usually found in the outside lane of the M1 with my indicator on sat a safe distance from the car in front waiting for them to realise they are doing 69mph and I actually want to overtake and get back out of the lane - grrrrrr - I so wish I had a megaphone in my car ]

RB5#295

Ibiza TDi 130 is group 7. Mine made 184bhp and 307lb/ft on the RR with a Revo chip. Sits too high but has nice firm suspension so handles pretty well of FWD with a heavy engine.

Fen

[Edited by RB5#295 - 2/25/2003 8:52:59 PM]

Ballistic

What about the Focus TDCI?
I bought one as a mile muncher to compliment my Elise and it suits the job perfectly. I've driven most of the different hatches and IMO the Focus is the best value and fun. Their cheap to buy/run, 50mpg, Zetec gives nice sporty handling, good driving position, comfy seats, great on the motorway and for hustling along county B roads.