I'm shopping for a new car. To help sort out the decision I'm putting down my test drive notes 'on paper'.
2006 Volkswagen GTI
Trim tested
2.0T MT
First impressions:
A giant sneaker, with a silly grin and red lipstick.
But a good looking giant sneaker.
Interior
Almost, but not quite Audi-grade. Very good overall, most trim has a quality feel to it.
Instrument cluster shares mostly the same design as Audi, including the overall color scheme and graphical display. Beautiful blue lighting with red needles make this almost, but not quite as eye-catching as the 2006 Honda Civic instrument cluster. Missing a boost gauge though!
Center console is very good, with cigarette-lighter-socket inside the center armrest storage bin. On the back of the center armrest are air vents to send A/C to the rear passengers. Nice.
Steering wheel is nicely contoured and leather wrapped giving an excellent feel.
Seats are contoured sport seats with side bolsters, but leather finish makes them too slippery to be effective in hard cornering. Go for the cloth interior.
Rear seating is comfortable and spacious. Lots of headroom.
Exterior
Unique, definitely looks miles better than the previous generation GTI - the MKIV.
Love the honeycomb grille with red line around the edge.
Split exhaust tip implies this car is faster than it actually is.
Lacking a garish hood scoop and giant spoiler, it easily blends in with other traffic. But it still looks good while doing so.
Road Test
Awesome.
The 2.0T that was completely pointless and wasted in the Audi A3 is a completely different animal in the GTI. It revs easily and power is always there with almost no detectable turbo lag. And because you don't have 20 feet of padding completely insulating you from the outside world as you do in the Audi, you can hear the engine. And boy does it sound good, with a slightly-angry hum that never gets buzzy, whiny or old.
The gearbox is a real treat, with smooth precise shifting action and smooth clutch.
Steering is a tad light, but still gives enough road feel to communicate what is going on underneath the wheels. Turning is sharp and accurate
The GTI is extremely nimble with a tight turning radius. It takes hard cornering with little body lean and lots of tire squeal -- this is definitely a FWD car and the GTI never lets you forget it. When you drive the GTI hard the car will understeer and go wide, but it's never frustrating when it does -- the car telegraphs miles ahead of time what is going to happen before it actually does happen. It is easy to swing the back wide, and just as easy to recover.
Road and wind noise is muted, but thankfully the engine is not. The ride is smooth but firm, you could drive cross country in a GTI and never get sore or stiff.
Overall, the GTI is easily one of the best handling FWD cars i've ever driven.
However, it's not the fastest. You won't be street racing a stock GTI, that's for sure. But that's not quite the point.
While the GTI has plenty of power, it's not the kind that grabs you by the throat as the car pushes you back into your seat like an STI or Mazdaspeed6 will. No, the GTI is far too refined for that kind of nonsense.
The whole GTI driving experience is delivered smoothly and refined with just the right measure of sportiness. Sort of like the perfectly balanced strawberry lemonade -- sweet, but not too sweet. Tart, but not too tart.
This defines the GTI well - a perfectly balanced driver's car. Never overpowered or underpowered, neither too rough nor too soft, neither garish nor mundane.
The GTI delivers its acceleration and handling in a way that can only be described as "happy" and "alert".
And a happy car makes for happy driver. I like that.
Conclusion
After a 10 years in cryogenic storage, Fahrvergnügen is back!
Bani new car shopping: 2006 Volkswagen GTI
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Pimped by german engineering! What more do you need to know? 
Last edited by Fusen on Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mortis
- Posts: 360
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As a family man on an *extremely* unimpressive salary, I have to live within my means. Nevertheless, I have never been disappointed in my 13 year old slightly modified Probe GT. I bought it for $3500, and it runs like a champ. It still has less than 100,000 miles on the motor. If it had a six speed it would be the perfect car.
1993 Ford Probe GT
200 HP @7000 RPM (164@6500 stock)
2.5L 24 valve Mazda built all aluminum V-6
0 to 60 in around 7 seconds flat
Now here's the kind of dash that I like. Simple. Analog. 140 MPH.
Fat tires, Borla cat-back exhaust
1993 Ford Probe GT
200 HP @7000 RPM (164@6500 stock)
2.5L 24 valve Mazda built all aluminum V-6
0 to 60 in around 7 seconds flat
Now here's the kind of dash that I like. Simple. Analog. 140 MPH.
Fat tires, Borla cat-back exhaust
If you're going for the GTI (which is awesome by the way) try to get one with the DSG gear box. My uncle has one of these and I drove it on a track once, simply amazing.
On the other hand, the Audi S3 is coming soon
.
On the other hand, the Audi S3 is coming soon
.Our servers now run on 64 bit steroids. Point your ET to:
- Forgotten Ground StopWatch Server with occasional wolfrof 1
- Fraggle Rock ETPub Server - Mix up ET/UT & Duke Nukem
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If he get's himself a Manta I'll call him Snellen Bani
.Our servers now run on 64 bit steroids. Point your ET to:
- Forgotten Ground StopWatch Server with occasional wolfrof 1
- Fraggle Rock ETPub Server - Mix up ET/UT & Duke Nukem
- Forgotten Ground StopWatch Server with occasional wolfrof 1
- Fraggle Rock ETPub Server - Mix up ET/UT & Duke Nukem
I suppose he earns a lot of money at microsoft ! so m3 is the way to go !
deej:
Day by day : http://w.twwwo.be/
