Golf R Line

[Exonian]

The GTD is just as much fun as a GTI on the daily grind I reckon. I've done a fair few miles now in both and aside from I still can't get on with DSG I do like the GTD just as much as my GTI.

One of the guys I work with has an XE Jag, or at least I think he's got that model. One with a big diesel engine anyway and goes really well but is a bit of a barge in the corners. A nice bit of kit if you want to show off at the local Golf club which I'm sure is the only reason he has one.

[mcmaddy]

You don't quite get the same on a vrs as a gtd but nearly. Some options are not available from skoda like dcc either.

[Exonian]

You don't quite get the same on a vrs as a gtd but nearly. Some options are not available from skoda like dcc either.

They do come in a nice shade of blue though.
I'd think a vRS would be a great company car purchase?

On a side note, they're not planning on making a face lifted Fabia vRS which is a shame.
A nice blue one with the 190PS Polo GTI engine would be a cracking car.

[mcmaddy]

Cheaper to lease probably but slightly higher co2's I think than VW.

[drisser]

slightly off topic maybe, but considering cars for the daily grind etc..

I drove the new Mini Cooper 1.5 T 3 cylinder yesterday as the Mrs has a 1.6 Cooper she is thinking of changing.  Was expecting sluggish wheezy and slow, god was i wrong.

If anyone is after a small runabout, go and drive one of these, its a simply amazing engine, similar to the I8 the dealer was saying albeit in higher output.  It pulls like a diesel from 1000 rpm (max torque I think at 1250 rpm - in a petrol !?), 136 BHP or so, 0-60 under 8 seconds, sounds fizzy and great, 45 MPG, £20 road tax.  Really well built too, feels bigger than the previous mini, great fit and finish.  £15k basic price and yes you can go silly on options but add a couple of nice bits and bobs, would be a cracking little car. 

I drove the Cooper D straight after and was left confused how a 1.5 petrol has nearly as much torque for a small engine.  I was in 6th gear, 35mph going uphill, put foot down and it pulled no problem.  Absolutely brilliant little car.

[monkeyhanger]

slightly off topic maybe, but considering cars for the daily grind etc..

I drove the new Mini Cooper 1.5 T 3 cylinder yesterday as the Mrs has a 1.6 Cooper she is thinking of changing.  Was expecting sluggish wheezy and slow, god was i wrong.

If anyone is after a small runabout, go and drive one of these, its a simply amazing engine, similar to the I8 the dealer was saying albeit in higher output.  It pulls like a diesel from 1000 rpm (max torque I think at 1250 rpm - in a petrol !?), 136 BHP or so, 0-60 under 8 seconds, sounds fizzy and great, 45 MPG, £20 road tax.  Really well built too, feels bigger than the previous mini, great fit and finish.  £15k basic price and yes you can go silly on options but add a couple of nice bits and bobs, would be a cracking little car. 

I drove the Cooper D straight after and was left confused how a 1.5 petrol has nearly as much torque for a small engine.  I was in 6th gear, 35mph going uphill, put foot down and it pulled no problem.  Absolutely brilliant little car.

Could be one of these or a Polo GTI for the missus when she finally commits to getting on with her test. She'll have no choice shortly if she doesn't want to get the bus to work, as i'll be in a job that's unlikely to have compatible hours and be not far from her place.

So is this 1.5T a replacement engine for the old Cooper 1.6, or  will it slot in just below?

[drisser]

funnily enough we were also looking at the Polo GTi..  however the mini running costs will be way lower I think.. for starters the insurance group I think is 17 for mini and 30 ish for Polo.

This is the replacement for the 1.6 cooper - both the cooper and cooper D now have 3 cylinder engines that I believe will also drop into the revised 1 series lower end BMW models.  I drive my gf's 1.6 cooper all the time and believe me this 1.5 T is 100% better, it feels like a cooper S in comparison.

Go and drive one, trust me if you aren't impressed I will be very surprised.  The low down torque for a small capacity small cylinder petrol engine is simply amazing - and that was the 5 door I drove as they didnt have the 3 door, and it is even lighter.. 

To be honest it has gone straight to the top of our "runabout to work and back car" list.  When you factor in the performance, economy, low insurance and tax, superb build quality, residuals and sensible list price (just add pepper or chili pack, some better wheels and you pretty much have all you need) its pretty hard to see anything else as better value.  I think they also do the 5 year service pack on mini's for about £150.

[drisser]

stats -

136 BHP
0-60 7.9
max 220NM torque at 1250 RPM !
107g Co2
61 MPG combined (yea ok ! - dealer said he gets 45-48 real world all day long)
basic price £15,300

Very compelling combination

[fredgroves]

today, I walked into the local Skoda dealer and looked at the diesel Octavia VRS. Well, that was really smart too. Missing some little chrome bits of the GTD and the lined door pockets but other than that, it was all standard VW fare inside. It would b £2.5k cheaper tan a GTD of the same spec.

Or you could have an Audi, which at the same spec as the GTD base spec is 5k more expensive...

Or a SEAT with similar GTD spec for, ironically, more than the GTD (about 3k more)

[monkeyhanger]

Drisser,

MPG wouldn’t be massively up the list of priorities for the wife’s car if my next job (following redundancy in June) isn’t so far away that I consider splitting the mileages between 2 cars. On the assumption I’m close enough to be driving the R all the time, she’d be going 9 miles to work and back, and maybe popping to her mam’s 16 miles away once a week in it. I doubt it would do more than 7k miles in a year.

I did have a look in a Mini Cooper recently (in the Mini shop by Leidesplein in Amsterdam (we were there for New Year). It looked massive when I was next to it, I had to do a double take and make sure I wasn’t standing next to one of the fat Mini variants. Funky layout, but the one thing that I didn’t like (such a daft little thing) – plastic door catches for opening the door from the inside. From a tactile point of view it felt like it wouldn’t last 5 minutes before it would snap in your hand, opening the door to get out (yes it sounds really daft to me too once I see it typed out). Everything else seemed reassuringly solid, and I’m sure it’ll drive more composed than a Polo that probably isn’t more than 3 years from moving to MQB and all that brings (better handling and composure, but really thin body panels).

I looked into the costs of the Mini at the start of the year, and a lack of decent discount with lower residuals (presumed, based on GFV – perhaps BMW’s have low GFVs but higher equity for actual p/x?) made the Polo GTI look better value (I couldn’t believe the Polo GTI had a GFV of around 50%, Polos used to have quite poor residuals for a German brand car). There wasn’t much in the actual costs of expected depreciation between the 2, but it was like comparing a £16k car to a £19k car and them coming out at the same cost to run…you’d think you were getting better value for money losing £7k over 3 years on a £19k car that cost you £16k (due to discounts and dealer contribution), than losing £7k on a £16k car that cost you £15k (if you’re lucky – I couldn’t find more than £800 off a Mini Cooper, perhaps that has changed 3 months down the line).

I would have to drive both to have an opinion on whether I’d rather be driving (albeit occasionally) the Mini or the Polo. Could the better handling (presumed) overcome the 55ps deficit? Still puzzled by the DCC being a £300 option on the GTI. If it’s as all singing and dancing as the the MK7 version, it may well tidy up the pre-MQB Polo chassis. Been trying to get a test drive in a Polo GTI to find out but absolutely no-one has one as a demo.