Thought I would do a quick report on the GTD after the first 3 days of ownership, and compare with my previous Scirocco.
Quality - Definitely a good step up in quality from the Scirocco, but to be fair that was based on the MK5 Golf Chassis, so really dates back to 2004, so no real surprises there. Much quieter, less road and wind noise. The seats in the Scirocco were good, but the Golf's seats beat them hands down for comfort - I don't know if they are slightly longer in the cushion, or if it's the lumbar adjustment that makes a difference, but I noticed this one straight away.
Not only do the lights look way cool, but more importantly from a functional point of view, they are superb. Very bright with a long throw and a definite cut off point. The corner lights are surprisingly bright and effective as are the front LED fogs (just used for testing purposes). Finally, the rear LED's look fab, but most importantly, the indicators are very visible, even with the brake lights illuminated. Interior ambient lighting is subtle, but again looks way cool at night.
Engine is still tight (only 54 miles on it so far), but already as expected, feels much more powerful that my 140ps PD in the Scirocco, although so far I have only given it just over half revs, but did put a huge smile on my face. Fuel consumption isn't too bad at 43.5mpg for the life of the car (all 54 miles
), and considering all the miles have been urban with lots of use of the stop/start system, I don't think that's too bad for a brand new engine. Will hopefully pickup once more miles are on it and I do some journeys to stretch it's legs.
Wipers so far (touch wood) are perfect. I've had minor drizzle to extreme monsoon downpours, and they have coped admirably with no unswept or smeared areas on either sides - just a perfect clean - although I will keep an eye on this.
No rattles/ squeaks or knocks that a few others have reported - just silence, but again, maybe with a few more miles on it that will change, but so far it's 100%.
The DCC is a revelation compared to the Scirocco which was extremely subtle to say the least. On my GTD, both the wife and myself can feel a real and significant difference between "Comfort", "Normal" and "Sport". With the car in comfort mode, it rides like a limousine, or a car with much smaller wheels - very impressed and glad I chose it.
Dynaudio, now that it's settled in, is fantastic. Huge gobfuls of bass from both the door mounted woofers and the sub in the boot, but also some extreme finesse when listening to much lighter music than my preferred 80's and 90's dance music.
Downsides.
Not much really. Miss the handsome shape of the Rocco, although the Golf is by no means an un-pretty car, just not as good looking as the Rocco, although the interior of the Golf is a quantum jump forward.
The rear end of the Golf is a real water and muck magnet - much more than the Rocco, guess it's to go with the slab sided nature of the car, but I can see a lot of washes coming this car's way.
As I already pointed out, not having the ability to customize the speed dial names on the Bluetooth, seems a backwards step from the RNS-510, and it would have been nice to have the ability to upload contact photos via SD card if the phone doesn't support them (like my Iphone 4s doesn't).
Boot doesn't seem as big as I remember, but that's possibly just down to the multi height loading floor (I have mine at the highest setting).
Other than that, not a lot really. She really is everything I hoped she would be. If it's as reliable as the Rocco, and as fuel efficient, I can't see me wanted to upgrade for many a year to come.
If you got this far, then thanks for reading.
