« Reply #51 on: 24 July 2009, 05:26 »
Don't lose too much faith in the blokes in leather shorts. VW will quote a conservative average sort of figure to the 0-100kmh mark (0-62.5 mph) using set guidelines such as half payload etc.
Hence when Mr Magazine Tester arrives at the test track with his expensive bit of measuring equipment and gets in the VW UK Press Office car with not very many miles on the clock, he then proceeds to rev the wedding tackle off the car, side steps the clutch and power shifts up through the box to get the best possible time. He will very often beat VWs conservative figure quite easily.
How many owners will do this? Not many with a brain. VW will have to err on the conservative as A) they're German and that's the way they do things and B) they don't want to be sued by a disgruntled customer base who decide their car isn't performing as advertised.
You can read into road test figures however you chose. I like to put a bit of trust in Volkswagen Driver mag as it is a VW specific publication and I've been reading it for over 20 years (it wasn't always called VW Driver mag though) and they have more or less the same staff so the tests are consistant over the years I'd hope. They often admit that sometimes the car is a good one and sometimes not. Cars are mass produced so they do get a few that underperform a little and are quick to point that out. Don't forget they are just using VW Press Office cars that are highly specced normally and have very low mileage. A well worn in and sympathetically driven one may perform even better again.
In fact I'll have a quick word with the editor on Saturday at their trackday if I can track him down for a minute or two.
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