stiscooby

Has anyone on here had one of these? Just after some comments about them really, good or bad?

I have been looking for a Audi A3 T FSI S Line but there are hardly any for sale so starting to consider other cars and a mate of mine has recently got one and they dont seem too bad. Not sure how they compare to the A3 as haven't driven either yet.

Had a couple of Scoobs and a Civic Type R previously but now looking for something a little bit more comfortable (budget about 13k).

ScoobyDoo555

I've got one - moved to it from an Audi S4 Avant (and 2 modded Scoobs previously)

Mine's an 05 model with only 29K on the clock. and 3dr with "poverty spec"....

I test drove the S3 back to back (I'd gone to Audi first for the Audi link) AND well..... it was quick in a straight line, but like my S4, TOTALLY devoid of feel (sorry S3 owners on here) 265bhp that didn't feel like it....

Anyhoo, jumped into the Golf and to be honest, I was shocked. I didn't expect the level of driver involvement to be so good.

The steering is focussed and the car feels planted. Yes, it's only 2wd so an adaption in driving style is required (I found this quite interesting after 10 years of awd/quattro). However, there is a lot of driver-feedback through the wheel.

It feels slightly cheaper than the Audi, although (imho) not enough to make a real difference.

It only makes a difference when looking at the price tag!!


Day-to-day: I've had mine for nearly 12 months.
It gets fed SUL and returns a regular 35mpg (if I'm really good I can hit 40 mpg)

The seats are very comfortable - I'm quite broad shouldered, yet they fit me more like the Scooby buckets did.
Mine are cloth rather than leather, as the leather can start to look quite tired quickly.
I've got a manual, however, it is worth looking at the DSG box (but be wary of the Mechatronics issue - can be MEGA expensive, although quite rare.)

The stereo (RCD300) is SHOCKING - akin to the Classic Scooby/Phillips stereo!!

Here's some pics -



Replaced the stereo with something that has TRANSFORMED the OEM speakers -






£13k is going to get you a decent car - maybe even an ED30 (240bhp with uprated internals*)

* compared to the standard 200bhp.

A remap will free up about 40-50 bhp for around £500 (stage 1)

Insurance is pretty good - I'm 36 (Wife is close ) living in the countryside with 1 x sp30 = £350

Problems?

Well, I've had one niggle, but nothing major - a rear washwipe that sometimes has a mind of its own (the wiper system has its own computer!) - sorted under warranty.

The biggest issue I had was finding a decent Dealership - went through about 10 (and found 3 to be of any worth!)

A lot of people seem to complain of rattles/squeeks (coming from a Scooby you probably won't notice!!LOL!!!) - I've not heard anything (coming from an S4)

If I were you, I'd head over to either

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php

and

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php
(if you go here, please put me (DanoGTI) as your referrer )

There are some great people over there - check out Hurdy's car (slightly modded ED30 - 0-100 in 9.9s!!! )

Hope this helps - but feel free to ask any further questions

Dan

john banks

Rear wiper failure, cruise control failure, ABS/ESP failure, corroding wheels, random check engine lights on our four year old babied from new one owner 36000 miles. Bad ride on 18s, some rattles, not as refined as you might hope.

Good economy, handling/steering not bad for what it is. Engine is about as good as something with only 197 BHP could be. Lots of space. Oddly I didn't think the stock stereo was as bad as Subaru, nowhere near that bad.

Worst reliability of any car we've had, but not broken down, just minor niggles.

ScoobyDoo555

Forgot about the "white worm" on the badges and wheels - easily sorted under warranty (and not a deal-stopping issue) - it was corrosion/chemical reaction that caused an unsightly "worm" pattern on the surfaces. Not fixable, but replaceable.

To be fair to John, his (bad) experience is one of the worst I've heard about (and I did a LOT of research - especially "subjectively" downgrading from the S4) - his car sounds like it was a right "lemon", which I would presume has tainted his "GTI" experience, which is a real shame.

I certainly won't be as derisive towards the engine - certainly feels as quick as a classic scoob (imho) - then the modding starts (which is a lot more expensive than the Subaru scene for some reason! )

It's by no means the BEST engine ever, but does react well to being "breathed on" with significant power-gains to be had.

I would wholeheartedly agree with his comments about the 18" wheels though - whilst more "eye-candy" they don't do the ride any favours. I MUCH prefer my 17"s.

Haven't got cruise con so can't comment.

It's by no means perfect, but compared to the Scoob, it was a great move for me. Stark contrast in terms of image too.

Just my 2p

Dan

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

If the RCD300 is anything like the RDC500 I can agree its a horrible sounding radio; Thats the first thing that was binned for an aftermarket Pioneer when I had my R32. Its a weird sound; it has bass, it has treble, but seems totally devoid of proper front imaging and has odd sounding mid-range vocals.

Speakers are pretty good, but I replaced them with set of Infinity 1.7cs anyway. Its quite hard to source suitable speakers as they need to be 3-way components due to the woofer being located by your ****, so 2-way aftermarket components will be useless without severe door card modifcations.

MK5s do suffer trim rattles. If one is adept at fixing rattles, its not hard to sort by finding the source of the rattle, remove the troublesome item and blobbing silicone on the fixings where it vibrates, let it skin for 30mins then reassemble. Cured most of mine, I used the same technique with my Escort many years back, but I feel one shouldn't need to do this on a modern car. Incidentally, my old Impreza had no rattles from day one (the only ones I noted that do rattle appeared to have had the trim messed with for alarm/ice/guages installations - the Golf rattles straight from the factory).

Cruise control IIRC maybe due to the switch stalk or steering wheel slip ring not making good contact when being switched; ECU throws up a fault and deactivates the Cruise control until the next cold start when it notices the fault is no longer present. I've come across a few VAGs like this which all have had the same indicator stalk/switch.

Can't really comment on much else; I test drove them but I couldn't live with the FWD on the wet roads, hence the R32.

ScoobyDoo555

Interesting - I've picked up a set of SPL components (2xway) which I was going to slot in. Saw the whole bass-driver-in-your-ar$e thing and was toying with using the existing crossovers from the 3 way, and keep the mid-range driver. BUT if I use the existing crossover, the frequencies will be split before they get to the speaker anyway...
Taking in to account that the SPL will have a different response, my F900bt has quite a good EQ setup, so I was looking at tweaking the EQ settings to compensate.... (if the sh1te hits the fan!! )

(I do this "sound" stuff for a living, so I'm willing to play about!! )

Dan

stiscooby

Thanks for the comments!

Also came across a few R32's, what are these like compared to the GTI's?

ScoobyDoo555

GREAT sound! I rejected them purely as I was looking to reduce costs, no increase them!! LOL!!

Big car tax, and imho running costs. The engine is a big 'un. Heavy too. Not overly tuneable. Most of the reviews said it was great, but not different enough/better than the GTI. GTI was more fun to drive for the money.
Personally that's a highly subjective comment - ETTO

Fantastic interior though - lovely seats.

Something a little bit special.

Check out

http://www.r32oc.com/

Dan

Mat ed30

one of the guys on our forum has just put his ed30 gti up for sale
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/in...c,13445.0.html

its nice one

stiscooby

Thanks, but I dont fancy a modded one (and its red) thats done several trips up the strip!

Mat ed30

yes but it gives you the idea of what is out there and you will enjoy em they are a very good car and very practical

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

That's one way of doing it, although I'm a little suspect of the OE midranger's capeabilities. The OE crossovers seem to be quite hefty items though.

Another way I toyed with before plumping for the 3-ways was replacing the midranger with a small 2way co-axial to give a bit more front staging, it would require the hole in the door making bigger to clear the magnet though, not too much of an issue as the outer door skin can be removed by simply unbolting it.

I forgot about the wheel badges corroding. Something I'll sort myself when I get round to it (I'll just hand paint them and re-laquer), The car has had several sets of tyres, so I guess the laquer gets damaged round the edges when they are removed for tyre balancing.

hades

There isn't an OE midrange in the door as standard - just a grille space. There definitely wasn't in mine (08), and checking most of the forums, that appears to be the norm. My solution was a set of Hertz Energy 3 way components, with a mid that fits perfectly well in the OEM grille. Combine some dynamat, the 3 ways in the front and replace the 2 ways in the back, the stereo sounds surprisingly good off the OEM headunit. To get it better whilst looking stock, there's a little mod on the forums that bypasses the output amp from the headunit, giving pre-outs that you could then amp up.

Anyway, I think the car is great. It's a faster car in every day use than my old bugeye WRX was when that was stock - helped by a 6 speed gearbox, and an engine that's always lively and pulls from about 1500rpm right round to the redline (unlike the WRX which as stock was more like 3300-5800rpm). We've got leather, iPod, multi-function wheel, it feels much classier than the scoob, comfy and pretty quiet, ride is fine on 17"s, I regularly top 40mpg on my 10 mile daily commute, and the feel, handling etc is enough to make it fun too (the only rattle I had is where I broke a trim clip fitting the speakers). It's decently quick, the engines apparently regularly make 220-230bhp on the dyno once they've had 20,000 miles, so much quicker than our 320d for instance. Not properly fast, but equivalent to WRX - i.e. probably as much as you can sensibly use on modern UK roads 99% of the time.

Easily chip, I know Storm Developments (my local specialist) tell me they'll quite happily up them to about 300bhp with relatively minor mods, which is probably enough for fwd without a trick diff.

ScoobyDoo555

Hades, you're dead right about your MY08 having less speakers.

Mines an older car, when they did have the 3-ways in the front - it was changed circa 2007 iirc.

VW offered a sound pack with 10 speakers for the later models (with an additional amp)

HTH

Dan