Mark 7 GTI, GTD or A3 s-line?? Help please

[monkeyhanger]

The same line up for me also Simon, but i'm coming from an A1 S-line Black Edition 185, and trying to save a few pounds on fuel, so will have to be one of the oil burners.

In the running is Golf GTD DSG(driven both GTD and GTI, and the GTI is awesome) and the A3 Sportback S-line S-tronic 2.00 TDI 150.

But just to throw a spanner in the works, the A3 is available to order with 2.00 TDI 184 S-tronic and Quattro!

http://www.audi.co.uk/new-cars/a3/a3-sportback/specifications.html

Bottom line though will come to price and feel, and after owning the previous A3 sportback (which i got bored with driving after 3-4 months), and an R32 and Mk5 Golf 2.00 TDI 4-motion, will be hedging towards the GTD.

At least the golf is heavily specced, unlike the A3 which you always have to add the basic stuff like parking sensors and cruise control.

Are you a fan of DSG/S-tronic, or have you just been pushed into it by Audi tending to sometimes offer certain engines with auto only? Not a fan myself, but if you are, my dad is struggling to do 50mpg in his new GTD DSG right now, the DSG box seems quite thirsty! You can't beat GTI/GTD for equipment - Audi will cost you quite a bit more to spec similarly. How is the A1 S-line? The missus has her eye on the A1 S-line with 1.4TSI 140 (cylinder on demand).

[Bill_the_Bear]

Is that the DSG or just the way he drives it! Didn't you previously say he has a heavy foot?

Will be a shame if the DSG noticeably cuts economy.

[TDI-line]

Hi Monkeyhanger,

My wife will only drive an auto now, so the spec has to be DSG, had quite a few now in various Audi's and VW's but i have now been converted over the last 7 years.

The A1 185 is only available in DSG, so was pushed into that one, if they had done a 2.00 TDI in DSG then i would of bought that, but manual only. But when launching to 60 in 6.9 seconds in the 185, 2 hands on the steering wheel is best. It's funny how 185 bhp is so different in diesel GTD and the A1, but a compromise has to be made lol.

In S-line the spec is good, and comes with 17"s as standard, mine is the black edition, which was only about another £1100 at the time, which is personally easily worth the extra kit. But i have found the tyres are not a standard size and cost a bloody fortune (£250 at Kwikfit in an emergency, and no spare 225 35 R18).

The A1 does drive really well, the build and quality is excellent. Probably worth asking some questions about the COD engine on the A1 forum.

http://www.a1-forum.co.uk/a1forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7672&hilit=tdi+grey+edition

[DougL]

Is that the DSG or just the way he drives it! Didn't you previously say he has a heavy foot?

Will be a shame if the DSG noticeably cuts economy.

I think it is a given that it will cut econmomy given that the CO2 ratings are 10 higher for the manual in the petrol version anyway.

[monkeyhanger]

Is that the DSG or just the way he drives it! Didn't you previously say he has a heavy foot?

Will be a shame if the DSG noticeably cuts economy.

He does like to cruise the motorway at 90mph if he doesn't stand out doing it. Even on paper though the GTD DSG is about 10% thirstier than the manual version (similar for the GTI also) and kicks out more CO2 as a result. The GTD DSG seemed to be geared up the same as my manual Scirocco (2200rpm@80mph) - perhaps the manual is geared a little taller given it's power and torque gains over the 170TDI (probably same in the GTI given it's large torque increase over the MK6).

You've got to consider some running in gains, but I do think it's something VW like to fall back on when you mention that fuel economy isn't as good as you'd have hoped. On the Demo GTD DSG test drive last week I did a round trip of 64 miles, some strictly to the speed limit driving of a few miles at each end and about 2 x 25 miles of dual carriageway cruising at up to 80mph, no aircon or ADC on and the car achieved 50.3mpg indicated. I'd have easily done 56mpg for the same journey in my manual 170TDI Scirocco which has no eco-tech on it. Allowing 10% DSG penalty, the demo GTD performed comparably to my Scirocco, so i'd take the published mpg values (initially at least) with a pinch of salt - the demo had just under 900 miles on it.

The S-line A1 interior is great - especially those seats, the GTI/DSG seats look very ordinary in comparison.

[Andy B]

We got to the bottom of the DSG thirst on another thread.

Basically, there are two types of DSG box. The first is a 7 speed 'dry' box which is only fitted to the lower power cars (up to 150 PS I think), and the second is a 6 speed 'wet' box which can take more power. The former, being dry, is more like a traditional clutch which doesn't drain power due to fluid friction like the latter does. The former also weighs about 20kg less, in part due to not being full of oil! You can see this in the figures. Both on the Audi and Golf, the 1.4 140PS engine with cylinder deactivation mated to a DSG gives better economy than the manual, whereas, for the higher power variants, the opposite is the case - the manual is more efficient (though probably slower in real life due to us all being a bit crap at changing gears most of the time!)

What is a bit odd though is that even this wet DSG was listed as being more economical than the manual in the Mk5 gti, something I can't really explain.

[TDI-line]

A little more on the A3 TDI 184 Quattro.

http://fourtitude.com/news/Audi_News_1/lowest-co2-and-led-light-for-new-184ps-audi-a3-tdi/

[monkeyhanger]

A little more on the A3 TDI 184 Quattro.

http://fourtitude.com/news/Audi_News_1/lowest-co2-and-led-light-for-new-184ps-audi-a3-tdi/

Worth considering in 3 door, but 5 door guise looks like an estate car (I suppose it is!). LED pack is quite the premium - £2000, for a 5W/11% saving vs 45W Xenons. S-line interiors on Audi's are great, but you'll probably be an easy £5k more than a GTD for similar equipment levels.

[Andy B]

The other thing that surprised me is that the standard A3 has less space than the golf. To get 'golf like' space, you have to go for the A3 sportback. (So unlike the golf, where the 3 door and 5 door both have the same space).

Originally, I'd thought about the sportback as an alternative to the golf with 'just a bit more space', but that isn't how it works...

[TDI-line]

Hi guys,

well i've made the decision not to wait for build on a GTD, but have gone for a new A3 Sportback TDI 184 Quattro S-line S-tronic.

This will happen on the 1st September for a 63 plate, the car is already built, so just had to ring around a few dealers and check colour spec and haggle for discount (thanks to Carwow). So only a 1 week wait.

She will be in Glacier white, with sat nav and heated seats.

Got to say the drive was excellent, and maybe worth considering for potential GTD or even GTI drivers, with the extra grip from the 4 wheel drive, and 0-60 in 6.9 seconds, so not too shabby from the 184.

I'll still be nipping in, love the banter and the BMW threads, nice choice Bill.

Laters,

Dan.