First road trip in my GTI

Started by benpaul12, September 01, 2017, 05:48:22 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

benpaul12

A week ago got my new toy, very proud to own a '14 DSG GTI. Headed down to the bach in Turangi, heading to Hawke's Bay for a day trip then back to Auckland.





1st leg:

Joined the motorway south just after the Waterview tunnel at Maioro Street, switched on the adaptive cruise control which managed to stop the car completely when joining the Southern at the ramp signal queue. I've never experienced a system like this and it was eerie and incredible. While the traffic was surprisingly good, by the time we got to the Tahuna road - it felt like I'd not driven yet. With lane assist (keeping me in the middle of my lane and doing much of the light turning) it was mostly up to the Golf. 

Heading on to the Tahuna Road gave me a few opportunities to get the speed up. Not used to the cornering style I wasn't going too quickly but the cornering felt very flat, tight and in control. The response of the engine out of the corners was stunning and a few times I had to overtake and the acceleration was brisk, but smooth. Many reviews have called out that it's not the fastest hot hatch, but when you're experiencing it in the moment, it feels quick. This was my take too. It's just the right balance between slow and stupid.

Onto SH27 and through to Tokoroa was largely uneventful, sitting on adaptive cruise and passing in passing lanes the relaxing "car in control" feel made the trip feel short. At this point we'd only used about 1/6th of the tank and according to the computer 6.9L/100km.

Onto the western side of the lake, ACC off. This is when the car really showed its A game. Cruising around corners well above speeds I've done in my BMWs and cruising along straights in total comfort at high speed this thing really nailed it. In really windy parts using the flappy paddles, the GTI was kicking ass. Immediate response, incredible grip and surprising speeds we arrive into Turangi not feeling exhausted, I was energised and impressed. I wanted more.

Final fuel economy was 7.2l/100 about 65% left.

What I loved:

- The tech in Auckland on the motorways. The car essentially can drive it self as long as you keep your hand lightly gripped on the wheel.
- The engine response.
- The firm but comfortable ride.
- Comfortable, wide seats.
- Pace and agility in higher speed sections.
- Power during overtaking.
- Amazing high beam lights (has lighting package).
- Decent fuel economy.

What I didn't like so much:

- Both Golfs I had don't have the greatest road feel through the steering wheel.
- Sound system lacked a bit of mid-range despite constant tinkering, needs to be played loudly.
- Tyres on this (decent condition Turanzas) are loud and spin easily.
- Exhaust could be louder.

Love it!

Hawke's Bay tomorrow...

VW'n

Nice hope you're taking the Gentle Annie to Hawkes bay.
One of the great driving road's.
06 B6 Passat Wagon 2L Turbo (Family Wagon)
87 Mk2 Golf silver (the toy)
95 mk3 gti rusty ABF (Sold)
86 Mk2 Golf red (sold)
89 Mk2 Golf blue (sold)
85 Mk2 Golf GTI silver (parted)

benpaul12

Quote from: VW'n on September 01, 2017, 07:38:01 PM
Nice hope you're taking the Gentle Annie to Hawkes bay.
One of the great driving road's.

I wish! We've got too much time pressure. Have done it before, stunning drive.

Naekyr

#3
To address some of your complaints:

* Surprised you have those tyres on, should look at getting sport tyres over touring tyres - that will increase the grip and provide less wheelspin, but they will increase road noise over your touring tyres as well (only a little bit) - if your GTI has DCC put it in comfort mode to reduce road noise, otherwise its in sport mode all the time which is more noisy
* You will still have wheel spin even with sport tyres, you can further reduce the spin by installing a dogbone mount insert under the car - this will further reduce wheelspin and put more power down, but this will add a fair bit of extra vibration noise into the cabin at idle and pullaway, however at over 20kmph the extra noise will totally go away and it will sound like stock

However while the above does help a lot (it did for my GTI) you'll still get spin in certain conditions, like using too much throttle from pullaway and going uphill, especially going uphill when its raining, it's just the side effect of a FWD car with a lot of torque

* Exhaust: Yes the stock exhaust is pathetic, for a sport vehicle I would have expect VW to offer a better option here and well those options are coming, VW now has a partnership with Akrapovic and you'll be able to buy option packages which includes an upgrade to a Akrapovic stainless steel sport exhaust system, this is coming to the 2018 Golf R first but I'm sure the GTI will get an option in the future as well

In the meantime there are many options out there to make the GTI's exhaust sound better - the cheapest would be to just cut out the rear resonator and most expensive would be a full turbo-back system

Max Power

Quote from: Naekyr on September 03, 2017, 10:05:49 AM
* Surprised you have those tyres on, should look at getting sport tyres over touring tyres - that will increase the grip and provide less wheelspin

I have to agree. OEM are Potenza S001, just had the fronts replaced and they're awesome.  While they're not cheap I'd suggest that's the first place to start

benpaul12

Thanks for the info guys.

Yeah interesting tyres on there, but will have to wait until they're a bit more worn before dropping a load of cash!

Might look at doing something with the exhaust next year.

benpaul12

Trip to the Hawke's Bay was horrible, not because of the car but it rained the whole way, so that trip was quite uneventful in terms of any performance to report on. I was tempted to drive the Gentle Annie back, but leaving HB at around 4pm was a bit late to do so.

Drove back to Auckland via Taupo/Matamata - this time was an eco-trip - trying to see how low I could get the fuel economy! I set the driving mode to 'eco' which essentially limits heavy acceleration and it drops into lower gears earlier, had the fan instead of AC. Managed to achieve a 6.1L/100kms which is impressive and only around 0.2 worse than my '05 Golf GT when doing eco runs.

Things I noticed over the rest of the trip:

- Fuel economy worsened on SH27 at a constant cruise-control 104 speed, before turning onto it at Tirau I was getting about 5.9 - usually I've experienced the best fuel economy when speed was constant.
- I had a sore neck and back when coming into Bombay. This was either because I was tired (had done some tough long walks over the weekend) - or the seats aren't actually that comfortable. Next trip will be interesting...
- Your right elbow doesn't have a great place to sit. The sill is too high and not flat enough and the right arm-rest is too low.
- There are a heap of potholes around - damn rain!

Great car, very happy with it!!