carmudgeons.com - View Single Post

equ · 12-22-2019, 09:29 AM

This car is not about the driving experience, it's to get you to the destination in a pleasant, civilized way. It's an alternative to the RAV4/CR-V solutions which are obviously very strong contenders. We are essentially seeing convergent evolution as all cars become like the rav4 and the cr-v, perhaps all EV's will become like Teslas in many ways.

Its power is a significant step down even coming from a stock GTI, not to mention one like ours with the APR tune likely putting out 290hp/315tq. I don't know the numbers, but I know it lights up the fronts in gears 1 through 5). The brake feel on the GTI is more consistent but actualy requires more effort (R brakes) and the LSD on our perf package did great in turns, allowing to apply power without doing the FWD wash-out.

This car's drive is a bit more Audi-like, perhaps those a4 avant's from 2001 to 2005 with the 1.8T. Maybe a bit lighter on its feet, but generally a smooth operator and not very fast compared to the GTI. Ours without the pano roof, is likely about 3350lbs, not a lot by today's standards. It's no faster than RAV4's, they might even be faster if you mash the go pedal and let the AT and Hybrid add to the pick up, but this car is C's choice. It even externally resembles her first manual car, the dark green Impreza wagon. It is quieter and slightly more spacious feeling than the GTI, providing for a better passenger experience.
I found that I needed to keep the car in 1 to 2 gears lower to keep it in boil and make some passes. It also balances differently in and out of turns. Hard to describe but a bit more audi-like. Applying power cancels the initial understeer, I'd need to drive on snow to comment. The weight distribution is more like 55/45, not the hot hatch 60/40. Being raised it also some roll, not major but noticeable. There is a SportWagen 4motion that is the same car but lower, but cloth seats and the smaller gas tank were a no go for C.

We are very happy with the interior even if we lost some options going down o the S trim level notably Fender Audio and the bi-xenon headlights... but both SE and SEL make the pano roof mandatory and that was a definite NOT for us. VW hasn't figured it out how to make them, even the smaller roof on our GTI had problems. One bonus was losing the GTI seats. C liked them but I never got comfortable in them (the reason why I didn't get an r32 back in 2004 were the seats). These non-sport seats are much better for my upper back not being pushed out of the bolsters. I'm not a huge guy but the 42-44 chest range is max to beyond max for the GTI/R seats.

All trims get leatherette, not a huge step down from the hard leather of the GTI. A big step up from the base cloth of the Golf and the SportWagen as well as stronger against those monster paws. Trunk is pretty big to being with and just like the GTI, the floor can be removed to provide another 3-4" of depth.

Tuning? I haven't forgotten it. The APR tune on the GTI gave us no issues up to 48k miles just good power and drivability. However, the 6/72 is important and C has no interest in giving up that coverage. I've also thought of piggy backs, so that might be the best of both worlds (JB1, JB4) but again, too soon to say... As she drives much more than I, about 16-17k/year, she very much appreciates that this car is going to take Regular 87. I'm not sure you can up the boost with that.

12-22-2019, 09:29 AM	#10
equ Alphanumeric Join Date: Aug 2005 Carmudgeonly Ride: 981S, 340i Posts: 9,584	This car is not about the driving experience, it's to get you to the destination in a pleasant, civilized way. It's an alternative to the RAV4/CR-V solutions which are obviously very strong contenders. We are essentially seeing convergent evolution as all cars become like the rav4 and the cr-v, perhaps all EV's will become like Teslas in many ways. Its power is a significant step down even coming from a stock GTI, not to mention one like ours with the APR tune likely putting out 290hp/315tq. I don't know the numbers, but I know it lights up the fronts in gears 1 through 5). The brake feel on the GTI is more consistent but actualy requires more effort (R brakes) and the LSD on our perf package did great in turns, allowing to apply power without doing the FWD wash-out. This car's drive is a bit more Audi-like, perhaps those a4 avant's from 2001 to 2005 with the 1.8T. Maybe a bit lighter on its feet, but generally a smooth operator and not very fast compared to the GTI. Ours without the pano roof, is likely about 3350lbs, not a lot by today's standards. It's no faster than RAV4's, they might even be faster if you mash the go pedal and let the AT and Hybrid add to the pick up, but this car is C's choice. It even externally resembles her first manual car, the dark green Impreza wagon. It is quieter and slightly more spacious feeling than the GTI, providing for a better passenger experience. I found that I needed to keep the car in 1 to 2 gears lower to keep it in boil and make some passes. It also balances differently in and out of turns. Hard to describe but a bit more audi-like. Applying power cancels the initial understeer, I'd need to drive on snow to comment. The weight distribution is more like 55/45, not the hot hatch 60/40. Being raised it also some roll, not major but noticeable. There is a SportWagen 4motion that is the same car but lower, but cloth seats and the smaller gas tank were a no go for C. We are very happy with the interior even if we lost some options going down o the S trim level notably Fender Audio and the bi-xenon headlights... but both SE and SEL make the pano roof mandatory and that was a definite NOT for us. VW hasn't figured it out how to make them, even the smaller roof on our GTI had problems. One bonus was losing the GTI seats. C liked them but I never got comfortable in them (the reason why I didn't get an r32 back in 2004 were the seats). These non-sport seats are much better for my upper back not being pushed out of the bolsters. I'm not a huge guy but the 42-44 chest range is max to beyond max for the GTI/R seats. All trims get leatherette, not a huge step down from the hard leather of the GTI. A big step up from the base cloth of the Golf and the SportWagen as well as stronger against those monster paws. Trunk is pretty big to being with and just like the GTI, the floor can be removed to provide another 3-4" of depth. Tuning? I haven't forgotten it. The APR tune on the GTI gave us no issues up to 48k miles just good power and drivability. However, the 6/72 is important and C has no interest in giving up that coverage. I've also thought of piggy backs, so that might be the best of both worlds (JB1, JB4) but again, too soon to say... As she drives much more than I, about 16-17k/year, she very much appreciates that this car is going to take Regular 87. I'm not sure you can up the boost with that.