^^ Nice! Which TDI is in it? Looking forward to more pics and your impressions.
It's a 1.6 TDI. The other option is a 2.0. It appears the 2.0 TDI's come with the "2.0 TDI" on the rear, at least here in Germany.
I've added some pics below.
Interesting. I wonder how well the TDI will keep up with bahn traffic.
We had a loaded-to-the-gills 328i MSport (N20) in Germany and absolutely worth the 10EUR/day upgrade over whatever the heck we originally rented.
The 1.6 TDI has 110 hp and 250 lbs torque. It has a wide torque band, but you do feel like it's sluggish in terms of gaining speed. If you want to pass on the Autobahn, you need to downshift a gear or two. With the DSG in "D" mode, it seems very reluctant to down shift. Maybe because of the programming? Fortunately, this trim came with paddle shifters. Once I discovered that, I would always "click click" to downshift a gear or two to pass, and ride the wave of torque. Very fast shifts. With that, absolutely no problem on the Autobahn.
I'd been on the Autobahn before, but never as long and with long stretches with no speed limit. What fun! When there was no speed limit, my average speed was 130-140 km/ h. There are sections where the limit is 100 or 80. The truck drivers appear very disciplined. They all stay in the farthest right hand lane (slowest lane). The farthest left lane is really just for passing, and cars zoom by like crazy. I felt nice and comfortable driving in the middle lane for the most part, doing 130-140 on average.
The Mk7 Golf feels like, in sum, a further refinement of the Golf 6. It is most noticeable in the interior. It feels more Audi-esque than the Mk6, at least in this mid-level trimline (more about that below). If you had replaced the VW badge with an Audi one in the interior, I would have thought, "Ok, it's an Audi." I know it's lighter, but it felt just as substantial in terms of its composure at high speeds. Which is one of the things I really love about the Golf/GTI. Very button-down'd driving. The car felt like it "glided" along the roads (very smooth) with very little cabin noise. In fact, unless the revs are high, I can't hear the sound of the diesel from the interior.
The trimline I discovered is a special, mid-trim called the "Cup". It's for the World Cup. It's similar in price to the Comfortline. It's got a moderate level of upgrades. Cloth seats but with special looking surfacing. Leather wrapped steering wheel and shifter with a light-grey stitching. It's got Nav, parking sensors, side mirrors that fold in, and I think "self-park" (haven't tried it yet!) But it doesn't have other things like push button start, rear view camera, or HIDs.
The interior is slightly bigger inside and in the hatch area. One of the reasons the interior feels slightly larger (in width) is because the doors kind of "slim" in the middle - so for instance you can't rest your arms at the bottom of the window sill because it's been thinned out. As someone who typically rests her arm at the bottom of the window sill as I like to sit up high, it was less than ideal for me. But that is the only thing I didn't like about the interior.
The seats are comfortable and ergonomic. Didn't really notice a difference with my GTI seats (except that the latter are more bolstered), but they're supposed to have won some kind of award for being kind to backs. The range of seat and steering wheels adjustments felt the same as in the Mk6.
The steering doesn't really have any feel. It's quite precise/ accurate though, weights up well, and firms up nicely as the speeds increase, so it feels stable at high speeds. Because of these characteristics, it's better than most econo-cars I've driven. My GTI's steering is a little heavier and feels quicker, but I assume the newer GTI has better steering compared to the regular Golf.
As compared to the BMW 118d hatch with M-Sport package, the BMW's steering although electric felt notably better. I'm not sure if the M-Sport package had anything to do with it. And I drove with the settings set to "sport", "sport", "sport". Our rental Golf does not have the option to change steering and suspension settings.
I am glad we got a diesel 'cause we are driving lots and fuel is expensive in Europe. We drove over 550 km yesterday, and the car's computer is saying we averaged 5.0L/ 100 km. The 550 km felt like fun rather than a chore though. I think it's because we were able to drive at high speeds and traffic flowed well.
Pics - next post.
EDITED: for typos.
