so i've had it for about a week and... i thought i might start a new thread instead of gatecrash the Sep/Oct/Nov thread each time.
i do like writing a lot, so if you're the kind of person who is 'too long didn't read', then basically to sum up, i really my car, if you're thinking of buying one and you can afford it, this is a really good car to get!
GTI 5 door, manual, optional monza shadows and luggage pack, candy white
anyway as some of you already know i picked up the new car last week. ordered it in september. a bloody long wait but finally i can drive the sucker!!!! i liked the look of the original mk5, and the mk6 although not quite liking it at first but has grown on me. i think it still looks really good in the candy white. it's a great colour to have in this car.
the monza shadows i think are a must, i think they just 'complete' the look of the car, i think the designers did a really good job not to make them too OTT. i know a lot of people say the standard 17" are faster and can ride over bumps better, but i'm fine with with the way it handles.
in terms of the drive, it's basically the best handling and responsive car i've driven. not that i have anything really to compare it with so i'm not sure how bold my statement really is.
most of the time i'm driving around town so any car will just eat up those kind of roads, but i've been round some twisty roads around where i live, and i can go into corners and the steering just directs the car where i want it and the brakes just eat up the mph nicely with a little touch. for a manual, the clutch is very light and the stick just slots into place nicely on each shift, it's not a big throw of the stick either in my opinion. i know there are upgrades where the stick doesn't have to move as far, but for me it's fine. 6th gear is really useful on the motorway, i can cruise at 70mph at about 2500rpm and it hums along nicely. i know a lot of you rave on about DSG, i did test drive it once, and i think it is a very impressive system, but i'm fairly old fashioned. i didn't want to forget how to drive a manual, one day i might have to change the car, getting used to a manual after using DSG would be a problem. so whilst i still can i'll poke the stick around. i've even tried a bit of heel+toe when down shifting, having the bigger pedal does help, still need a bit of practice though.
i'm impressed with the amount of "luxury" features. even in my relatively sparsed standard car, it's got the USB and iPod link, MP3 CD, the tinting mirror, footwell lights, the air vents at the back (presumably to direct heat or AC to the rear passengers), apparently mirrors are heated too (not really had chance to test it though), tinted windows - these are typically features i'd expect on an executive saloon car or something of that sort. i've only ever seen rear air vents on one other car i've been in, it was a Lexus. for these features to be on the GTI, it just makes it a nice place to be in whilst travelling.
it's just the standard sound system in mine. i know there is the optional upgrade, but i'm happy with any basic sound. my favourite station is BBC Radio 5 Live (news during the day, footy during the evenings!) and it's only AM radio which will play through any speakers, it'll sound the same. i do notice the lack of any external aerial, which might explain the slight loss in reception whilst going under bridges and matrix signs
i've recently been trying the USB stick to put some MP3s on and i think i'm converted to using that instead of burning the numerous CDs i had. i do actually like to buy the actual CDs, but i don't like leaving the originals in the car, sunlight and scratches will just ruin them. however now i can just convert them
i use CDex to convert CDs
http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/, it's pretty good, and perhaps just as important free, it can pull from the CDDB the track names and apply them to the properties of the MP3 file so it will show up on the screen when played in the car.
a few small niggles i have with the car
i'm not that keen on the running lights that appear to come on. is that some kind of legal requirement or something now? i still prefer the option of being as much 'stealth' as possible if i was driving in the dark. now i can't really do that, unless i put tape over the headlights or something
i've actually read in the handbook now whilst writing this they can be disabled by the workshop or something. i suppose i can ask them to do it on the next service.
also the handbrake is on the wrong side towards the passenger seat. i know the car is really designed to be a left-hand drive car and to put all the necessary controls in the correct location would increase production costs, but it does cause a little annoyance. i'm getting used to it now anyway, plus the armrest makes it a bit easier to lever my arm to pull it.
i probably use the handbrake more often than the average driver. i probably wear down the handbrake quicker than most people too i guess.
any time i'm at a junction or a traffic light, if i'm waiting for anything over 1 second i'll handbrake-on so i can get 1st gear and the clutch ready to go. also if it's a hill i don't like rolling back not even an inch, handbrake is the easiest way to do it in a controlled manner.
i suppose an advantage to having the stick on the wrong side is that if girlfriend was sitting in the passenger seat, i could sorta accidentally grope her leg and go 'whoops sorry darling tell me i'm a bad boy'
unfortunately there is no woman in my life right now so i don't expect it to happen soon.
also the steering wheel is probably a bit too 'chunky' for my personal liking. i'm not really a big guy, and my hands aren't that big either, sometimes my hand searches around the wheel when i'm trying to manoeuvre. a few times my hand seems to want to put a finger in the little square hole in the GTI trim on the bottom bit of the wheel. that's not a good thing, i don't want my finger stuck in there! somebody might think i have some steering wheel fetish or something. having said that, i can live with it, most of the time i drive with 2 hands on the wheel anyway so if one slips the other is still grabbing on, unless i need to change gear...
also the optional luggage pack that i got with mine is practically useless. i don't think much has been said on these forums about the luggage pack, i guess most people's priorities are with the turbo and the tyres and the fuel and stuff! can't say i blame you. the reason i wanted the luggage pack was i thought underseat drawers would be useful. my old car had one under the passenger seat, and embarassingly i liked to use it to hold McDonalds, i didn't like to put it on the floor where it might roll around and fall over, i'd just leave the drawer open and the bag would just sit on top and this was perfect for the Big Mac!
but these drawers in the GTI literally won't fit 2 Big Macs and 2 portions of fries. OK i've not actually tried that, but i've tried putting my old audio CDs i used to play in my old car in the drawer and it's just deep enough for discs and that's it. the drawer doesn't open out very much at all. it doesn't seem that useful really.
also i don't like this what appears to be a VW thing where if you touch the indicator stalk, it flashes 3 times. sometimes i'll check it's safe to move lanes and i'm already half into the lane anyway, so if i flick the switch i don't want it to still keep flashing when i'm fully in the lane cos other vehicles might think i want to move another lane. thankfully for me there is an option to turn this off in the settings so now it just works old skool style.
just generally driving around, i've noticed a lot more GTIs than before - mostly mk5 models - seems every journey 'ooh there's a mk5' - i never used to see them whilst in my old car, it seems mine is some kind of GTI magnet or something. i've seen one mk6 in my town, but don't remember seeing one in the metal anywhere else (except the dealer of course!) - i'm curious am I supposed to flash the headlights if i see one coming the opposite direction? if i see a mk6 i will definitely flash it.
also it's a magnet for other stuff, it seems to attract so much guy attention i feel embarassed. a few times i swear they want to race me or something. since i'm running in the engine and don't want to paste it i'll try and keep my attention at the traffic lights and ignore anybody else. it's quite an urge to surpress though - one day the tension will be so great i'll snap and race some kid in a saxo or summat and the coppers will be around the corner with their laser and give me those inevitable six-penalty-points.
As stupid as it sounds when it's parked up i just want to look at it instead of drive it somewhere. it's just a well cool car and i still can't sort of believe it. i think that if i saw that car belonged to somebody else, the owner must be such a cool guy and has really good taste and probably has a really hot girlfriend - but alas it's just me who is not really cool and as of yet has no woman in his life.
so that really sort of sums up most of my experiences with the car. mostly positive. i hope i can keep it for 10 years just enjoy it and give me some good experiences.
