Justin Fox
07-03-2010, 04:14 PM
So today Christina and headed over to Barloworld to see Peter (salesman) about a possible trade in on the Skyline...
...AND to test drive the MKVI GTI! :>
In the showroom we spotted these:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4412038705_99f46bf152_o.jpg
Fully optioned GTI (also in white daym!).
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4412038795_c9e2c9a6d7_o.jpg
Interior was a nice place to be. Similar to the MKV but different. Centre console looked flatter, the window controls are up higher and they're now in your face. I also noticed a button for sports suspension. The boot was deeper too (than the MKV) and it's a lot easier to shut on the MK6 than the MK5 too.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4412038621_d0d946e556_o.jpg
Lovely white R36, in white too daym.
Whilst Peter was calling around to get a trade in price on the Skyline he threw us the keys to a DSG GTI. We drove it home (familiar roads for a more accurate test drive).
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4412038865_04f53718b0_o.jpg
GTI in our driveway :D
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2718/4412807004_16a762502c_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2677/4412807078_c65d944e73_o.jpg
Povo spec didn't come with HID's but it also didn't have a shark fin antenna on the roof, or any antenna on the roof which I love, less is more! I love how the new GTI's also do not have the ugly side mouldings on the doors. So clean.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4412807154_e1df43472a_o.jpg
Tartan interior isn't my thing but once you're inside you don't see it and these seats felt great, more huggy than the one's in Christina's R32 perhaps? The steering wheel also felt really chunky. Loved it.
OK so my impressions: Initial impression was how familiar the car felt. No surprise here as I am often in Christina's R32. The steering felt lighter than the R32 and the car turned into corners a lot better than the R32. I put this down to weight, it just felt really light and fun in the corners, more chuckable and more inspiring.
Noise: There was none! The car was just so quiet. No road noise, no exhaust, no engine noise but I wasn't really complaining. I thought it was stealthy and I kinda liked it.
DSG/Performance: What turbo lag? The car launches off the lights hard, traction control kicks in but it'll still let the wheels screetch. 4500rpm and the turbo is on full song. 1st and 2nd gear is awesome, 3rd gear it gets a little flat. Upshift at any rpm, even high rpm's on half throttle and it feels just like the DSG in Christina's car. Slow. You've tapped it, let go of the paddle, hit your head and rubbed your tummy then it shifts. Upshift with the accelerator pedal to the metal and a chunky thud can be heard and felt as the DSG just hammers the gear into place as soon as you press the paddle.
This had me laughing out loud. It's so fast, it upshifts as fast as it downshifts and it's damn addictive and it's definitely going to get a LOT of GTI DSG owners into trouble.
I tried hitting redline in 1st but as I thought, the car automatically shifted into 2nd for me. A little upsetting. I would have preferred it if it just hit a rev limiter, even if it was only for a second before it shifted into 2nd.
So I was mega impressed. So much so that I didn't even want to try the manual but Christina and Peter insisted so he threw me the keys to this manual GTI:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4412807238_bf77619264_o.jpg
I instantly felt wrong in this car. I had to put the clutch in to start it, which was strange straight off the bat and just driving it out of the dealership I felt that the car was super laggy down low in 1st gear. It almost felt like the aircon was robbing the car of power (that kind of feeling).
I then noticed that whilst the shifter initially felt notchy and sporty the throw was long and my fingers were hitting the centre console in 1st, 3rd and 5th. The fact that the GTI is so quiet inside the car also made driving the manual much less fun as I couldn't hear the engine on song and that made me lazy so I just found myself reaching for 5th gear a lot. The dash was also bugging me to get into 6th by displaying an arrow and a "6". I hated that. At some stage I had to reverse but I didn't know how to. I figured it out though of-course :lol:
So disapointed I cut the test drive on the manual early, turned around and headed back to Barloworld. I couldn't believe how much of a difference the transmissions made to the same car. The DSG was just so much more fun than the manual, so much more aggressive than the manual and the upshifts are so much faster than Christina's R32 DSG. I'm impressed!
I think the manual would have been a lot more fun with a tighter and shorter shift throw (short shift kit would have to be on the list of mods for a manual owner) as well as a tougher feeling clutch (it felt a little mushy and soft to me). I can't be sure whether or not the gear ratios are the same on DSG vs. manual but the manual sure felt like it had a taller 1st gear which made it feel a lot slower than the DSG off the lights.
PS: The trade in price on the Skyline was $15k (NO WAY!). Peter liked the Skyline and of-course he suggested that I sell it privately. He even said if he had the cash he'd buy it! :lol:
I've yet to test drive a MKV GTI but Peter owns a MKV GTI and has conformed that the DSG does not shift as fast as the MKVI GTI. I'd still like to try one though but for now I'll just see if I can sell the Skyline.
...AND to test drive the MKVI GTI! :>
In the showroom we spotted these:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4412038705_99f46bf152_o.jpg
Fully optioned GTI (also in white daym!).
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4412038795_c9e2c9a6d7_o.jpg
Interior was a nice place to be. Similar to the MKV but different. Centre console looked flatter, the window controls are up higher and they're now in your face. I also noticed a button for sports suspension. The boot was deeper too (than the MKV) and it's a lot easier to shut on the MK6 than the MK5 too.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4412038621_d0d946e556_o.jpg
Lovely white R36, in white too daym.
Whilst Peter was calling around to get a trade in price on the Skyline he threw us the keys to a DSG GTI. We drove it home (familiar roads for a more accurate test drive).
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4412038865_04f53718b0_o.jpg
GTI in our driveway :D
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2718/4412807004_16a762502c_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2677/4412807078_c65d944e73_o.jpg
Povo spec didn't come with HID's but it also didn't have a shark fin antenna on the roof, or any antenna on the roof which I love, less is more! I love how the new GTI's also do not have the ugly side mouldings on the doors. So clean.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4412807154_e1df43472a_o.jpg
Tartan interior isn't my thing but once you're inside you don't see it and these seats felt great, more huggy than the one's in Christina's R32 perhaps? The steering wheel also felt really chunky. Loved it.
OK so my impressions: Initial impression was how familiar the car felt. No surprise here as I am often in Christina's R32. The steering felt lighter than the R32 and the car turned into corners a lot better than the R32. I put this down to weight, it just felt really light and fun in the corners, more chuckable and more inspiring.
Noise: There was none! The car was just so quiet. No road noise, no exhaust, no engine noise but I wasn't really complaining. I thought it was stealthy and I kinda liked it.
DSG/Performance: What turbo lag? The car launches off the lights hard, traction control kicks in but it'll still let the wheels screetch. 4500rpm and the turbo is on full song. 1st and 2nd gear is awesome, 3rd gear it gets a little flat. Upshift at any rpm, even high rpm's on half throttle and it feels just like the DSG in Christina's car. Slow. You've tapped it, let go of the paddle, hit your head and rubbed your tummy then it shifts. Upshift with the accelerator pedal to the metal and a chunky thud can be heard and felt as the DSG just hammers the gear into place as soon as you press the paddle.
This had me laughing out loud. It's so fast, it upshifts as fast as it downshifts and it's damn addictive and it's definitely going to get a LOT of GTI DSG owners into trouble.
I tried hitting redline in 1st but as I thought, the car automatically shifted into 2nd for me. A little upsetting. I would have preferred it if it just hit a rev limiter, even if it was only for a second before it shifted into 2nd.
So I was mega impressed. So much so that I didn't even want to try the manual but Christina and Peter insisted so he threw me the keys to this manual GTI:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4412807238_bf77619264_o.jpg
I instantly felt wrong in this car. I had to put the clutch in to start it, which was strange straight off the bat and just driving it out of the dealership I felt that the car was super laggy down low in 1st gear. It almost felt like the aircon was robbing the car of power (that kind of feeling).
I then noticed that whilst the shifter initially felt notchy and sporty the throw was long and my fingers were hitting the centre console in 1st, 3rd and 5th. The fact that the GTI is so quiet inside the car also made driving the manual much less fun as I couldn't hear the engine on song and that made me lazy so I just found myself reaching for 5th gear a lot. The dash was also bugging me to get into 6th by displaying an arrow and a "6". I hated that. At some stage I had to reverse but I didn't know how to. I figured it out though of-course :lol:
So disapointed I cut the test drive on the manual early, turned around and headed back to Barloworld. I couldn't believe how much of a difference the transmissions made to the same car. The DSG was just so much more fun than the manual, so much more aggressive than the manual and the upshifts are so much faster than Christina's R32 DSG. I'm impressed!
I think the manual would have been a lot more fun with a tighter and shorter shift throw (short shift kit would have to be on the list of mods for a manual owner) as well as a tougher feeling clutch (it felt a little mushy and soft to me). I can't be sure whether or not the gear ratios are the same on DSG vs. manual but the manual sure felt like it had a taller 1st gear which made it feel a lot slower than the DSG off the lights.
PS: The trade in price on the Skyline was $15k (NO WAY!). Peter liked the Skyline and of-course he suggested that I sell it privately. He even said if he had the cash he'd buy it! :lol:
I've yet to test drive a MKV GTI but Peter owns a MKV GTI and has conformed that the DSG does not shift as fast as the MKVI GTI. I'd still like to try one though but for now I'll just see if I can sell the Skyline.