I am looking at getting a new car for the wife

Guess bottom line is we want a diesel
Not "so" much for ecomony but for torque

Wife REALLY likes a New Beetle

I have driven a
2.0L Golf DSG and REALLY liked it
1.9L Golf auto and wasnt THAT impressed

I see the new 1.9L only come with DSG

Has any one driven one of these??

Hoping to get a bargain buy with the Mk 6 comming out.

We will be keeping this one for a while
Kids are almost gone - so space isnt a REAL issue

That said - the Polos just sound "tinny" and dont look "phat" like a golf or beetle

So.............just looking for general comment on who has what or driven what

I drove two different Jettas last November / December, both with the DSG box. The diesel one left me cold, power is fine once it arrives, and overtaking torque and pick up was impressive, but what I assume was the turbo lag on initial take off drove me mad. It was the car of our payroll lady and she threw me the keys and told me to disappear for an hour, so I was driving the streets of Burwood and Croydon before taking a fang down the M4 through Homebush and back again. Every T intersection and round-a-bout I came to I had my heart in my mouth as I went for the pedal and puttered out into the middle slowly, then the turbo kicked in and away we went, but I really, really hated that feeling of being in the middle of the intersection and the car thinking about what it wanted to do. Even the owner said she found it really discomfiting for quite some time.

About 5 days later I drove the Jetta that has the same engine as the Golf GTi. Only one thing to say . Both my wife and I gave it a fang around Parramatta and the M4, and it was great, still a little turbo lag, but nothing like the diesel. We both regularly broke traction and smiled all the way.

Sadly the trade in they offered on my existing car was nowhere near the residual on my lease so after much consideration the Jetta was left at the dealership

As Phil has pointed out in recent posts, VW have been going gang busters over the last year or two, unlike Holden or Ford, so they didn't quite have the deals I might have got walking into a different make's dealership.

BTW the Jetta boot is HUGE. Bigger than a Commondore or a Foulcan.

Craig

We were going to buy the TDI Golf with DSG but after driving (and taking for two day extended test) I found it disconcerting to drive, the power delivery and hesitation was not to my liking, we then drove the GT (the twinspinner 1.4) I think its called the TSI now with the DSG and thought it was absolutely fantastic. The old man and I drove it from Sydney for Valla and have since done a couple of trips to Melbourne and Queensland, it's fuel economy round town is great, but I can get from Sydney to Melbourne comfortably on one tank (with a roof box on, two adults and two kids) and it's a fantastic tourer, I found with the supercharger then turbo, the power delivery is great. We've now had the golf for almost a year and it has been perfect, cheap to run, fun to drive and suprisingly quick and roomy enough for most things involving two kids . Really happy with it so far.


stu

dunno about this dsg, ive got a mk5 TDI 6 speed manual, goes very well, love it.. don't have any problem with power or torque.. just hit 60000k with no real issues.. a week after i got it took it to Adelaide and back, great drive!..

My wife has a petrol V5 Bora with DSG, and it goes like shit off a shovel. I love it.

My brother has a diesel Jetta, and although I havn't driven it, he reckons it stunned him how well it goes. He hasn't mentioned turbo lag though. They traded a Commodore wagon for it, were were actually after another wagon, but when they saw the Jetta boot, they bought it. They reckon they can get more in it that in the Commodore wagon.

I have driven my daughters petrol 1.8L turbo new beetle, and it goes hard - no turbo lag that I had noticed.

My son in laws' petrol V6 Passat with DSG and 4-motion also goes very well.

Hmmm.......wife seems keen on a TDi Beetle and thinki have found one

My dad owns a 06 TDi Jetta 6 speed manual. Awesome car to drive. The only lag I found was just as you were taking off at around 1000-2000. After learning to take off differently, no problems.

Manual

The NB only comes in a manual in the TDi

mmmmmmmmmm................deal done (i think)

Will post pics in a couple of weeks

Well looky what i picked up today!!

To say the wife is happy is an understatement

REALLY happy with the torque of this this (especially compared to a 1.6L Golf) and i just really like it

The down side
2 things

a) my wife has said "i like the wheels - touch em and i will castrate you"

b) in true VW form the rear passenger light was busted. You could feel where the sticky tape had been. When i tried to disconnect it it busted in my hands.
Hopefully it will still be covered by warranty

On the up side
Full tank when i picked it up!
NEVER has that happened.
Remember picking up a ford once and it was EMPTY - i mean EMPTY

Anyway - i am off to collect my rewards

yep - no mags

She didnt say you couldnt drop it on its guts.....

wahoo, congrats bizarre..
your wife is gonna love driving this car..
love the new beetles in black

Come on barry, get some fatties like these I saw in Japan

or some Porsche cups with big reds behind them....

mmmm........... like the roof rack

Baz i dont mind the caps on it they look nice what about some moon discs?

I got a set of these for the TT



But not a fan of the red as it will clash with the yellow anyone know where i can get them re painted?

Hi!

1st post on this section!

Modern diesels: are they worth the extra dosh?

To be honest I've got my doubts! Based on RELIABILITY.

Granted, I'm speaking from the Japanese experience, & they have been MUCH bigger than what's in the VW class! We have had diesels for pony club service for about 20 years (now finished thank God!) & to be perfectly honest they have been a real pain in the Khyber. Despite a barn-door petrol Landcruiser doing 450k needing only consumables, I was seduced by the dark side & went to diesels for the economy.
And they have been dismal!
The Pajero cracked its cylinder head 3 times in 3 years & the latest beastie, a Jackaroo (Isuzu) with a common rail motor has been misfiring since 100,000 km & GMH don't know why & its pretty damn common accoring to the 'net. Toyota are not immune. Try 750+ posts on the world Prado forum re a mysterious loud knock in their new D4D engine!

As I read somewhere, Rudolph Diesel must currently spinning in his grave! The wonderfully simple, efficient & reliable engine- it can even run under water given a supply of fresh air- that he invented 100 years ago has evolved into a complex, cantankerous monster with the reliability of a Morris 850 on a rainy day (before they put those nifty condom-thingies on the distributor.)

So, what is the VW diesel experience? They early Golfs were legendary! Are they common rail now? Although this technology (the injectors open via the pressure of the engine oil) was invented by the Italians (Alfa?) the Americans seem to be the only ones to get it to work properly: Caterpillar. Going by MY experience, the Japanese haven't got it right yet!

BTW my reason for asking is because those Caddy-thingies look very interesting! They remind me of those quirky Citroen 2CV baker's vans!

Japanese diesels =glorified boat anchors. You cant beat the germans in this game. Just compare the power/torque/economy in a comparable sized jap engine, no contest. They arecatching up fast (koreans too) but they still have a way to go . A 2 litre tdi will go all right in my bay dualcab I reckon. I had a drive of a golf 5 gti with dsg and found it had a 1-2 second delay when punching the throttle. The time slips from warwick all show slow reaction/60ft time with high mph terminal speed, I reckon it was initial delay in the dsg not the lack of boost

i drive a jetta 2.0T with a dsg... there is a lot of hesitation from take off from the dsg as it is supposed to sit in neutral while you have the brake pedal pressed. for drag racing etc there is a launch control that you can use and take off is instant. i have found that since chipping the ecu it has improved the lag at take off. getting a smooth take off seems to be the impossible thing with the dsg unless you floor it. once moving the dsg is a great box. smooth changes etc and the option of manual override to change gears yourself. golf GTI has the paddles on the steering wheel.
before buying one i would seriously suggest to anyone that they take it for a LONG drive in stop/start traffic etc... drive it up hills from a standstill (roll back is a little weird until you gain faith that the box will halt it and move forward) and use reverse also. test every part of driving modes with it and see if you like it.
personally i would've bought a 6 speed manual in the jetta if one was offered... but most of the top end petrol turbo models now only come with dsg... pity.

Hi Baz

Nice car. Whats the service interval on the Diesel? What is the price difference between the petrol and Diesel models

Steve

Surprised me that the first service is 15,000kms

As for price the diesel on paper is $3k more than the petrol - but i bought it cheaper than what a Sydney person would sell me a petrol one for.

2 different cars though
The diesel has grunt

I will say i am VERY happy with it
Only put 3 tanks through it - we have done about 2,000 kms
Averaging 600kms for 40L around town

cant complain about that

So does your driveway look like this photo of my daughters new beetle and my L bug?

Or maybe this one, with the photo actually attached.

My girlfriend and I bought a Mk V Golf 1.9TDI manual. I love the torque. When you're dribbling around town and changing gears at about 2000rpm and you suddenly need a squirt to over take or change lanes - it delivers! It'll also leave a nice cloaking pall of smoke behind in the process

I had the opportunity to drive a new MK VI 2.0TDI DSG and was very impressed with the decrease in the NVH. The 2.0 also had noticably more torque than the 1.9 (90Nm on paper I think) and about 30Kw more too... The fuel consumption in the MK VI is .1L/100kms better than the MK V 2.0 TDI as well...

Currently, in our 1.9, we'll get about 5L/100kms on a long freeway trip (100-110kph and rolling hills). If I keep it at 85kph in sixth gear, I'll get low 4's/100kms (like Berwick to the Westgate Bridge). nice! My 'kms to empty' was reading 1200kms on a full tank ))) That's why we bought the diesel!!!

WOW!!

VERY impressive economy.

BUT, any equally impressive longevity stories? Say, 2 or 300,000 km (or more) with NO major work??

I've got a mate with a Land Rover TDI & he constantly berates me over how long they last vs the Japanese stuff! Apparently 400,000km without major work is common but it's absolutely critical the rubber bands get changed on schedule.

bump for pics Baz

OK - not the best shots
Got a few things on my mind at the moment and had to grab a couple when i had the chance.

Got these from Costa and bloody happy with them.

Wanted VW mags - not Audi or after market and these came up

Wife now agrees they look the biz