RE: PH Fleet: Golf GTI Edition 35

[School boy]

alock said:

I assume it's a typo and the comfort break was 5 mins. If it was 15 minutes then maybe he should see a doctor

Could have been a ploper

[Crow555]

I don't get the hate for this article. It was obviously part of the trip to the Wolfsburg factory tour. That makes the Golf pretty apt for the task. Then there's the article about the Jag on the Autobahn. Read that instead if hatches don't interest you.

With regards the price, there does appear to be a theme of cars not being as affordable as they once were. Now, I've never bought a car from new but the cost of the things just beggers belief. Of course, maybe I'm underpaid or in the wrong job, who knows but all hot hatches at the moment, bar maybe the RS clio are silly money at the moment.

[toppstuff]

Crow555 said:

I don't get the hate for this article. It was obviously part of the trip to the Wolfsburg factory tour. That makes the Golf pretty apt for the task. Then there's the article about the Jag on the Autobahn. Read that instead if hatches don't interest you.

With regards the price, there does appear to be a theme of cars not being as affordable as they once were. Now, I've never bought a car from new but the cost of the things just beggers belief. Of course, maybe I'm underpaid or in the wrong job, who knows but all hot hatches at the moment, bar maybe the RS clio are silly money at the moment.

I know what you mean, and it is hard to put into words, but there is something not right about the evolution of the Golf GTI in my book. The world has changed and the car seems, well, pretty silly these days.

Let me explain. Some of the older folk here will remember the mk1 and mk2 Golf GTI. Awesome cars. They were fun and relatively affordable to buy and to run.

The new Golf GTI seems to have abandoned these basic virtues. VW have gone "premium" and so we now have a car that is not cheap, and not cheap to run either.

It beggars belief that this thing struggles to maintain 30mpg. And it is not good enough. VW should not be left off the hook for that.

But you would have to be old and know the older cars to appreciate this !

These days, I look at a Golf Bluemotion and think "yes - that makes sense as a car people should own". I look at the GTI and think, "why would I spend all that money on a hatchback that is barely more economical to own than a V6 or even a V8 engined petrol car."

An Audi S5 V8 does'nt drink much more fuel than the Golf. Thats just nuts.

Edited to add: and its not just the Golf that is guilty here. Too many cars in the performance petrol hatchback sector are bloated, inefficient and thirsty.

Edited by toppstuff on Friday 4th May 12:22

[Riggers]

alock said:

louismchuge said:

"The golf said it would take me until precisely 1:02pm UK time"

"I timed my stops as precisely I could and, with 15 minutes for a bite to eat, 10 minutes for fuel, and a 15-minute 'comfort break', I rolled up to my Wolfsburg hotel at 1:32 UK time. Exactly when the GTI said I should"

I assume it's a typo and the comfort break was 5 mins. If it was 15 minutes then maybe he should see a doctor

Yes - extra '1' sneaking in where it shouldn't. Now amended. Appointment with doctor postponed...

[iandews]

toppstuff said:

These days, I look at a Golf Bluemotion and think "yes - that makes sense as a car people should own". I look at the GTI and think, "why would I spend all that money on a hatchback that is barely more economical to own than a V6 or even a V8 engined petrol car."

I appreciate what you are saying, but aren't the Bluemotion Golfs also incredibly expensive just because of the gains in mpg? My bro has a Bluemotion company car, cost something like £25k to make the 60mpg gains.

I really think with this car it all comes down to practicality and what it is needed for; I looked at the Golf R not so long ago and whilst expensive (even used), it offers a lot in terms of reliability, small, powerful (ish), reasonable on fuel on long run (ish), hatchback for throwing stuff in, fun (ish) for the roads when needed, can carry 5 people easy if needed. I guess VW sell at a premium on the basis of not many cars being able to tick all those boxes.

[anonymous-user]

iandews said:

toppstuff said:

These days, I look at a Golf Bluemotion and think "yes - that makes sense as a car people should own". I look at the GTI and think, "why would I spend all that money on a hatchback that is barely more economical to own than a V6 or even a V8 engined petrol car."

I appreciate what you are saying, but aren't the Bluemotion Golfs also incredibly expensive just because of the gains in mpg? My bro has a Bluemotion company car, cost something like £25k to make the 60mpg gains.

I really think with this car it all comes down to practicality and what it is needed for; I looked at the Golf R not so long ago and whilst expensive (even used), it offers a lot in terms of reliability, small, powerful (ish), reasonable on fuel on long run (ish), hatchback for throwing stuff in, fun (ish) for the roads when needed, can carry 5 people easy if needed. I guess VW sell at a premium on the basis of not many cars being able to tick all those boxes.

I think toppstuff has missed something out. Our GTI is great fun to drive. It's not just about mpgeeeee

[va1o]

iandews said:

I appreciate what you are saying, but aren't the Bluemotion Golfs also incredibly expensive just because of the gains in mpg? My bro has a Bluemotion company car, cost something like £25k to make the 60mpg gains.

Not true, the normal Golf Bluemotion is £19,430, its only the Match/ GT BMT models that cost more. Pretty irrelevant anyway though as the majority will all be on lease. I've seen them for circa £200pm on CH.

[Jimmy No Hands]

George H said:

Because the running costs are so similar in the V8V aren't they?

St John Smythe said:

The thread is now complete. Someone has compared the price of a second hand car to a new one

What comparison was that? I making a point that if I had £31k I'd buy something that wasn't a Golf. Maybe you wouldn't, fair enough.

Edited by Jimmy No Hands on Friday 4th May 13:52

[Crow555]

Jimmy No Hands said:

What comparison was that? I making a point that if I had £31k I'd buy something that wasn't a Golf. Maybe you wouldn't, fair enough.

Edited by Jimmy No Hands on Friday 4th May 13:52

To be fair, the likely buyer of a GTi is probably going to get it on hire purchase or as a company runaround. I would find it very surprising if they use all their savings on a car like this. Either way, as others have said the 2 cars are vastly different with vastly different utilisation and running costs. No one in their right mind is going to compare the 2.

[Jimmy No Hands]

Deary me, this is difficult. I'm expressing my awe at the small fortune a Golf costs. There's no comparison going on, be it with age, running costs, mpg, size, speed, breast size etc.

[Crow555]

Jimmy No Hands said:

Deary me, this is difficult. I'm expressing my awe at the small fortune a Golf costs. There's no comparison going on, be it with age, running costs, mpg, size, speed, breast size etc.

Indeed, I do agree with you on that. I would extend that to the GTi's competitors however now that I look stuff like the Focus RS and Mazda 3MPS look like bargains compared to the Edition 30.

[anonymous-user]

Megane RS costs 25k+ ! New cars are expensive I'm afraid, and no amount of moaning will change that

[Stew2000]

St John Smythe said:

Megane RS costs 25k+ ! New cars are expensive I'm afraid, and no amount of moaning will change that

MG6 isn't
And the Nissan GT-R depreciates faster than Platos body panels

[anonymous-user]

Stew2000 said:

St John Smythe said:

Megane RS costs 25k+ ! New cars are expensive I'm afraid, and no amount of moaning will change that

MG6 isn't
And the Nissan GT-R depreciates faster than Platos body panels

Ah, I forgot about the MG6. I'd have one based on looks alone, regardless of the price

[Riggers]

St John Smythe said:

Ah, I forgot about the MG6. I'd have one based on looks alone, regardless of the price

I borrowed one for the evening once. I would have written about it on PH, but I was too embarrassed....

[PK0001]

I have had a 'normal' 210bhp MK6 GTi for 2 and a half years now and have done 35k miles in it. I have an App for logging the mileage and the average is 31.5 mpg. Thats all city driving. If I take it on a run the average rises to 45mpg.

I know that I could easily get 50mpg if I drove gently. That is pretty amazing for a car that will also hit 60 in 6.5 secs and reach 150mph. The engine is superb, very quiet, smooth and refined. Nothing has gone wrong with it either.

The lease on my Gti is coming to an end and I am looking for a replacement car that can do all of the above. There is nothing else out there that comes close.

I could save some Tax money by going diesel, the new BMW 125d performance figures look amazing, but I want to enjoy the car I am in and enjoy looking at it on my drive. I don't aspire to own a BMW any more, been there already.

The Ed35 has the engine from the MkV and a larger turbo, ( I forget the engine EEAXXX numbers and Garret Tx version )the official mpg figures are lower than the standard Gti as well.

These GTi's are fun to drive even at 4/10th's of their ability. You don't necessaily buy or drive them to achieve high mpg. Its the comfort of knowing that you are driving a quality product with over 35 years of development and that when you want to push to 8/10 or 10/10ths of the cars ability the car will respond.

[toppstuff]

PK0001 said:

I have had a 'normal' 210bhp MK6 GTi for 2 and a half years now and have done 35k miles in it. I have an App for logging the mileage and the average is 31.5 mpg. Thats all city driving. If I take it on a run the average rises to 45mpg.

I know that I could easily get 50mpg if I drove gently.

You reading this, Riggers?

How on earth do you manage to get 30mpg? Only using the first three gears ? Maybe you are towing a caravan and don't like to admit it to people? Or are there bodies in the back of the car?

This chap above is clearly a much better driver than you.

[Riggers]

toppstuff said:

PK0001 said:

I have had a 'normal' 210bhp MK6 GTi for 2 and a half years now and have done 35k miles in it. I have an App for logging the mileage and the average is 31.5 mpg. Thats all city driving. If I take it on a run the average rises to 45mpg.

I know that I could easily get 50mpg if I drove gently.

You reading this, Riggers?

How on earth do you manage to get 30mpg? Only using the first three gears ? Maybe you are towing a caravan and don't like to admit it to people? Or are there bodies in the back of the car?

This chap above is clearly a much better driver than you.

The EA113 (as opposed to the EA888) does seem to use a little more fuel, but I'm currently in the midst of a super unleaded-only 'proper' test, rather than relying on the trip computer, so we shall see how that comes out

[anonymous-user]

Riggers said:

toppstuff said:

PK0001 said:

I have had a 'normal' 210bhp MK6 GTi for 2 and a half years now and have done 35k miles in it. I have an App for logging the mileage and the average is 31.5 mpg. Thats all city driving. If I take it on a run the average rises to 45mpg.

I know that I could easily get 50mpg if I drove gently.

You reading this, Riggers?

How on earth do you manage to get 30mpg? Only using the first three gears ? Maybe you are towing a caravan and don't like to admit it to people? Or are there bodies in the back of the car?

This chap above is clearly a much better driver than you.

The EA113 (as opposed to the EA888) does seem to use a little more fuel, but I'm currently in the midst of a super unleaded-only 'proper' test, rather than relying on the trip computer, so we shall see how that comes out

Our mk5 GTI averages 30mpg and that's a mixture of town and motorway driving (plus a lot of start stop traffic on the wife's commute). I don't think that's bad at all.

[Stew2000]

I'm stuck in the 90's and average 39 mpg