mindless ramblings

I had some time to burn today so Esther and I headed over to a nearby Volkswagen dealer to check out the new Golf GTI. So far I’m pretty impressed with its non-driving qualities. I especially like the neat touches that give a shoutout to the MkI GTI, like the red trim around the grill and the plaid pattern on the seats. Having said that, I don’t like the red car as much, as the red grille trim blends in instead of being a “stealth” sign that the car you are driving isn’t just a regular Golf.

The car comes very well equipped considering it starts at under $30,000. It has Xenon headlights with intergrated washers, heated seats (even the base cloth ones), in-dash 6-disc cd changer with MP3 support, 10 speakers (I couldn’t find them all) and 6 airbags (8 if you get rear side airbags on the 4 door model). Even though I had previously complained about the high price of the car, it’s not bad value compared to what’s on the market right now.

Unfortunately, the car sits far too high on the stock springs. The pictures I used don’t show this, as they are of the Euro-spec cars. The increased height is due to the fact that VW wanted a better crash test rating against SUVs. Lowering the car is no problem as the struts are identical to the Euro-spec car so swapping in the Euro springs will fix the problem. An aftermarket solution wouldn’t hurt too! Otherwise the car feels very well-built, doors closed with a solid thunk. The trunk feels extremely heavy (due to the damping?), and it actually took a lot of force to close. I can just see someone smacking their chin on the trunk edge when they don’t use enough force. I do like the fact that the VW logo on the trunk is also the handle to open the trunk. Nice touch! We went over to a Honda dealer later to check out the new Civic sedan and coupe, and it just felt so hollow.

The interior was the bit I liked the most. The interior ergonomics are great. Everything is laid out logically and it just works. The flat bottomed steering wheel is just fantastic. Moreover, there were plenty of little touches like rear reading lights, a dampened glove box motion (I like it!) and a little compartment on the top to hold your sunglasses. I’m sure other cars have this, but it’s a big step up from the spartan but functional Protege5. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of rear space available too. The rear looks awfully cramped when you look back, but get in there and there’s tons of room for your legs, head and other extremities. Contrast this to the Civic’s interior, which looks like a freakin spaceship. Dual-layer dash, weird curves all over the place and a steering wheel from the year 2030 make me feel like I stepped into some nightmare time machine.

There’s a huge waiting list for these cars. This VWVortex thread indicates that orders placed now will only arrive in June! Moreover, with the 4 door GTI and various other options only available after July, I think this car will be a hot seller for quite a while. I’ll have mine in Candy White, 4-door with the luxury package and DSG.