RE: PH Fleet: VW Golf GTI Edition 35

RE: PH Fleet: VW Golf GTI Edition 35

Wednesday 18th January 2012

PH Fleet: VW Golf GTI Edition 35

A trip to Paris makes Riggers fall fully for the Golf's charms



It is often the fate of overwhelmingly competent cars to be damned with faint praise. At least by those who don't run them on a daily basis. Thus, those who experience cars such as my Golf GTI Edition 35 from the outside, or for only fleeting drives, might draw the conclusion that (whisper it) it's a bit boring.

'filling' shot obligatory for Euro trip report...
'filling' shot obligatory for Euro trip report...
That, although manifestly capable, and possessed of no notable flaws, it's somehow not daring or edgy enough to be appropriate for a true petrolhead.

The Golf GTI Edition 35, then, joins such luminaries as the Ford Mondeo and the BMW 330d as cars that are fashionable to poke fun at in some quarters, but are in actual fact bloody brilliant at doing what they have been designed to do.

And the GTI Edition 35 is bloody brilliant, if fitness for purpose is what defines brilliance. It's fast enough to be fun, but not too fast for its chassis; it's spacious enough for four without being so big as to be unwieldy; and it's classily appointed inside and out without being overly ostentatious (which is ideal for these straitened times, etc).

...as is 'queuing for ferry' image
...as is 'queuing for ferry' image
And I have fallen for it completely. In this job I am lucky enough to get the opportunity to drive all sorts of exotic machinery, and yet whenever I get into the Golf I am never disappointed. If I wish to treat it as a commuting tool it serves perfectly, but if I want to chuck it around then it does so with considerable aplomb.

Its versatility was proven last weekend when it was tasked with taking me, the other half and two friends to Paris for a flying visit to friends. It swallowed all our luggage, elicited no complaints from the back-seat passengers and was as at home barrelling along the autoroute as it was dodging around the traffic and demented scooter-riders of Paris.

Riggers gets excited about a big boat
Riggers gets excited about a big boat
This is thanks in large part to an effective DSG gearbox that makes traffic jams less of a pain on the left foot while being good enough (with judicious use of the paddles and 'S' mode) to amuse during more 'press-on' moments. The only irritating part of the trip, from the point of view of my passengers, was me, as I kept telling anyone who would listen that I'd decided the Golf was 'the best car in the world ever' (a rather big call but, for my personal circumstances and tastes at the moment at least, a valid one).

I also got over-excited by the fact that we sailed on the new-and-massive P&O Spirit of Britain ferry and tried repeatedly to force my fellow travellers to enjoy aniseed balls. The short of it is that if you wish to make a high-speed, four-up continental jaunt, you couldn't do much better than a Golf GTI. Just don't take me with you, as I am clearly a thoroughly irritating travelling companion.

'Arty' shot an excuse to avoid unloading
'Arty' shot an excuse to avoid unloading
But despite my over-enthusiasm for the car, it isn't quite perfect when I try hard and put a bit of an objective head on. It could do with sipping a wee bit less petrol, for a start.

I haven't tried 'proper' measurement of the car's fuel consumption, but even the trip computer (which you sense may be a touch Pro-VW) doesn't really ever tip into anything better than 30mpg. That's not too bad when, like me, your previous ride has been an Infiniti that manages 25mpg on a good day, but it's still short of the 35mpg that VW claims as a combined figure...

The other minor niggle concerns those darn winter tyres that, despite the recent cold snap, have spent most of their time outside of their optimum operating conditions (ie when the ambient temperature is above 7 degrees, which it has been for most of my time with the car so far). This is as much a surprisingly warm winter's fault as it is the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4Ds' problem, but I am looking forward to getting the full-fat 18-inch wheels on the car for the first time.

Other than those two niggles, it's the best car in the world...


FACT SHEET
Car:
 2011 VW Golf GTI Edition 35
Run by: Riggers
On fleet since: December 2011
Mileage: 7000 miles
List price new: £31,030 (inc. £1770 infotainment pack and £440 for parking sensors front and rear)
Last month at a glance: It's been too warm for winter tyres, but Paris trip was a triumph


Previous report:
Golf GTI Edition 35 arrives, complete with wintry rubber



Author
Discussion

Unlight

Original Poster:

486 posts

179 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Lovely car, undoubtedly a great all rounder but I can't get over the price of the latest generation of hot hatches!

toppstuff

13,698 posts

246 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Its nice.

But it is nearly THIRTY FOUR THOUSAND POUNDS !!!

That is an obscene, ridiculous amount of money for a mildly swift hatchback.

Company car users or business lease deals only IMO.

You would have to be a bit mental to put your own money into that..

In PH journalist land it is easy to think how nice a loan car given to them is. But what i would like to know, is that if the writer had £34,000 in his bank account right now, how differently would he feel about it ?

BoostMonkey

569 posts

184 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
£30,000+ for that, madness!

Nice write up though

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
sounds just like a golf

sanctum

191 posts

174 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Price says it all realy, and it's no better if you look at it on as a company car either attracting a hefty £277 per month off your payslip if you're in the 40% tax bracket! £10000 lost to the tax man over 3 years of ownership? No, I don't think so.

Yorkshirepud

136 posts

183 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
I just don't see what new hot hatches add over mid 2000's hot hatches for the massive extra cost?

va1o

16,028 posts

206 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Want that car so much!

Lucas Ayde

3,534 posts

167 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Still too early for the VAG-slagging 'general chat' bandwagon to arrive?

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Yorkshirepud said:
I just don't see what new hot hatches add over mid 2000's hot hatches for the massive extra cost?
generally more toys a big jump in material quality but the biggest gain is in emissions and fuel economy, i got 31mpg from a petrol 2.0 turbo A5 in heavy london traffic!!! and that does mid 6's my R32 only managed 15mpg in the same traffic frown

the mkVI also handles vastly better than the MKIV gti which is pretty well accepted as the worst golf platform




Cassius81

279 posts

188 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Good write up. Don't like the colour (a personal taste thing) but otherwise am a fan of these. Will stick with the Mk V for the moment though.

Interested in that economy figure - I get circa 32-34mpg out of mine in mixed use, and I thought the newer cars were meant to be more efficient? Heavy right foot on the autoroute perhaps?

uncle tez

529 posts

150 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
8 inch wheels ?

RedWater

485 posts

165 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Nice car but too expensive as already said.

It also doesn't look quite right on those wheels, or should I say those wheels don't look quite right on it!?

Yorkshirepud

136 posts

183 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Dave Hedgehog said:
generally more toys a big jump in material quality but the biggest gain is in emissions and fuel economy, i got 31mpg from a petrol 2.0 turbo A5 in heavy london traffic!!! and that does mid 6's my R32 only managed 15mpg in the same traffic frown

the mkVI also handles vastly better than the MKIV gti which is pretty well accepted as the worst golf platform



Yeah I suppose you're right. I would like some more toys in my LCR without having to rip out the OEM stuff.

aka_kerrly

12,415 posts

209 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Lucas Ayde said:
Still too early for the VAG-slagging 'general chat' bandwagon to arrive?
Nicely put.

So the general story is the car gets a great write up, is quote "brilliant" does absolutely everything that you need from a car well enough that you don't need to have cars for all occasions, it won't depreciate massively, offers more than enough real world performance with comparatively low service costs yet because it is a VW Golf it WILL get slated left right and centre.

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Cassius81 said:
Good write up. Don't like the colour (a personal taste thing) but otherwise am a fan of these. Will stick with the Mk V for the moment though.

Interested in that economy figure - I get circa 32-34mpg out of mine in mixed use, and I thought the newer cars were meant to be more efficient? Heavy right foot on the autoroute perhaps?
white cars need a lot of black to contrast against, the golf looks very tasty with black rooms

Scottie - NW

1,282 posts

232 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
uncle tez said:
8 inch wheels ?
I assume he means width not diameter.

Otherwise it must have saucer sized brake discs!

Reardy Mister

13,754 posts

221 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
toppstuff said:
In PH journalist land it is easy to think how nice a loan car given to them is. But what i would like to know, is that if the writer had £34,000 in his bank account right now, how differently would he feel about it ?
Absolutely this. ^^

mooseracer

1,819 posts

169 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Write up matches exactly why I enjoyed my 3 years of MK5 GTI owenership so much.

Motorrad

6,811 posts

186 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
My problems with this car: from the perspective of someone who owned a MKV DSG GTi

The price- a joke and not a funny one. In saner markets a GTi very similar to this would cost about 16 grand sterling

The DSG box-good in traffic yes, ultimately this car is meant to be a hot hatch and presumably part of it's remit is to deliver driver enjoyment. The DSG box mitigates against this, you're never fully in control.

Not sure about MKVIs over in the UK but when I owned the MKV it needed to be run on super unleaded fuel, expensive and not unversally available.

VED in the UK- I'm presuming this is costing well north of 200 quid these days.


Looking at it logically you'd be better off in a slightly more boring diesel Golf and spending the several thousands of pounds saved on hookers and cocaine.

Riggers

1,859 posts

177 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Scottie - NW said:
uncle tez said:
8 inch wheels ?
I assume he means width not diameter.

Otherwise it must have saucer sized brake discs!
Nah, it's a Euro-look thing... *cough*

(Fixed now... biggrin)


Motorrad said:
My problems with this car: from the perspective of someone who owned a MKV DSG GTi

The price- a joke and not a funny one. In saner markets a GTi very similar to this would cost about 16 grand sterling

The DSG box-good in traffic yes, ultimately this car is meant to be a hot hatch and presumably part of it's remit is to deliver driver enjoyment. The DSG box mitigates against this, you're never fully in control.
The DSG, for me, is a lot better than it used to be. I presume it's a case of VW's engineers learning to get the best from the system rather than any major changes to the tech, however. I am a manual fan, but for most of the time I feel sufficiently incontrol of the DSG for it not to bother me.

As for the price, someone asked if it was my £34k what I would do with it.

Well, firstly, that price includes the listed extras, so the basic price is actually £28,820, and that's only a grand-and-a-bit more than a Megane Renaultsport with Cup chassis and Recaro seat pack.

So yes, it's expensive, but It's kinda what brand new hot hatches cost nowadays that's the issue rather than the specific car, as far as I'm concerned.

Secondly, I would always go with secondhand were it my own money - If I had the budget for a £30k new car on finance (for eg) I would probably rather go for something considerably cheaper and secondhand (Mk1 Focus RSes are occupying a lot of my brain at the moment).

Given the market's perception of VW as a 'premium' brand (not just the enthusiast end of it), the price of hot hatches in general, and the general excellence of the VW, if I were in the market for a brand-new C-segment hot hatch, it would get my most serious attention...

Oh, and it'll cost you £27,560 if you want a three-pedal version...