Volkswagen Golf

Strider590

I'm not sure what the obsession is with the VW Golf, it gained a good reputation in the 1980's, but now it's a TOTALLY DIFFERENT car.

motorguy wrote: »

Secondly, i was in the inside lane of a roundabout and dropped to the outside lane tight in behind a car in front. The radar thought there was about to be an impact and did an emergency stop on me, much to my shock and to the people around me.

Sounds positively dangerous........

loskie

Strider.
My first car was a mk1 golf CNC443Y.
I have had other Vw's and VAG group cars. A 1999 Skoda Octavia Estate being the best of them.
I wholeheartedly agree that they are living off past reputation and do little currently to maintain that.
Dealers treat customers with contempt and VW Customer Service fob people off.

wiltsguy_2

My father in law has a 2011 Polo 1.4 which i have driven, very very good car, well put together, easy to drive, he loves it. i was impressed at how nippy it was for a 1.4

audigex

Strider590 wrote: »

I'm not sure what the obsession is with the VW Golf, it gained a good reputation in the 1980's, but now it's a TOTALLY DIFFERENT car.

I've got an A3 which is the same basic chassis and engines, just a different body shape and trim, perhaps the suspension. Having driven both they're very similar other than looks and interior: to drive and in terms of space they're pretty much identical

And having driven most similar sized cars, I can tell you right now that nothing except the BMW 3 series or Mercedes A-Class (both quite a bit more expensive) matches up.

The above two are comparable, then below that the Focus is nice, and perhaps surprisingly the Volvo V40, but neither are as good as a Golf. And nothing other than those even comes close except perhaps the Civic.

Drive an Astra, Focus, V40, Civic, C4, i30, Cee'd, or Mazda 3... then drive a Golf, and unless you have a strong preference on style/badge, you'd take the Golf every time.

The only other real contenders are the A3/Seat Leon/Skoda Octavia... all of which are basically the same car underneath, or the 3 series/A Class, which are a fair chunk more expensive

DUTR

motorguy wrote: »

I have a mk6 golf and was lent a mk7 1.6TDI match with this technology. Overall i thought it was excellent. Very good with cruise control as it could slow you down / speed you up in traffic on a motorway.

Couple of limitations i found of it though :-

Firstly, if you have the speed set to say 70mph and are in the outside lane of a motorway and come up to traffic doing 50mph it will of course slow you down. If you then chose to drop in to the inside lane, which i would often do if there is no point in being in the outside lane, and theres no traffic in front the car will try to resume you back to 70mph, so it looks for all the world like you've just tried to undertake the cars in the outside lane, rather than simply dropping back to the inside lane.

Secondly, i was in the inside lane of a roundabout and dropped to the outside lane tight in behind a car in front. The radar thought there was about to be an impact and did an emergency stop on me, much to my shock and to the people around me.

I have had the red alert and beep come on near roundabouts, but only once has the vehicle actually applied the brakes before I would have, with nearly 50% reduction compared to my outgoing MK5 , I can put up with that, I agree the ADC is fab, the car next to drive's itself on a run, if you do have DSG it is also great in stop start congested traffic, bringing the car to a complete stop and then moving when the traffic ahead does too.

DUTR

Strider590 wrote: »

I'm not sure what the obsession is with the VW Golf, it gained a good reputation in the 1980's, but now it's a TOTALLY DIFFERENT car.



Sounds positively dangerous........

I started with a MK1 GTI after going away from a Triumph Dolomite, since then 2 MK2, Corrado, MK4 MK5 and now a MK7, yes they are a different car........much progressed and still a smiler to drive :cool:

GolfBravo

daveyjp wrote: »

The first turbo only model had a chain cam. The chain was known to jump causing catastrophic engine damage at low miles, but often just out of warranty. VW UK wouldn't acknowledge the issue.

VW in Germany eventually did acknowledge the issue only after the ADAC applied some pressure on them.

The issue was caused apparently by some faulty chains that were stretching. The chains were manufactured in China, and the holes in the metal were supposed to be drilled - however, VW's supplier subsequently outsourced part of the production to another manufacturer that didn't bother with drilling and punched the holes instead. This caused premature wear.

motorguy

Strider590 wrote: »

I'm not sure what the obsession is with the VW Golf, it gained a good reputation in the 1980's, but now it's a TOTALLY DIFFERENT car.



Sounds positively dangerous........

Hence why i'm am basing my view on my own experiences of the mk6 and mk7.

They are both great cars, and i'd say along with the ford focus are top of their class.

There may have been settings i needed to play with.

ToriP

Thanks for replies

does anyone know off-hand the differences between Match and the GT? I'm going to dig a little online now

audigex

ToriP wrote: »

Thanks for replies

does anyone know off-hand the differences between Match and the GT? I'm going to dig a little online now

The GT is a higher spec

I can't remember the full details but you get a few nice extras like leather seats, parking sensors, fog lights

And probably the main extra: built in Sat Nav (which now I've had it, I'd never be without)

Other than that there's sportier wheels, better suspension, a few of those "Nice but you'd probably never notice" options like height adjustable seats.

And I think the engine options are different: the 150 bhp 1.4 isn't available on the Match, and the 1.6 diesel only comes with a 5-speed box on the Match, 6 speed on the GT

There are probably others I missed, it's been a while since I specced these up in my car search