Gti ordered, anyone want a A3 3.2 DSG S_line Quattro?

[Matt555]

Good day, newb first post 

Does anyone have any picks of the graphite blue with 18's?  We've currently got to wait 20 weeks to get our new motor!!!  20 weeks!!!  Nightmare, but if it was going to be the R32 then that would be a 10 month wait     Blimey are these motors popular, lovely stuff..

The motor is meant to be my wifes replacement for the A3, but I have a feeling I'll be ditching the Boxster and driving the Gti most of the time...

Current order looks like this -
3 Dr Gti
DSG
Graphite Blue
Leather
Zenons
Cruise
Sound pack/dash 6 CD
Armrest

Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated 

A couple of questions-
1 - What is the grip with the 18's like in the deepest winter? 
2 - How decent is the traction control?
3 - Average MPG?
4 - Is the sound pack any good?

Matty

[EdMass]

Hi Matt555.

Firstly welcome to the site.

Although you have a 20 week wait, believe me it will be worth it. I ordered my GTI last September for a March delivery. Although I have only had the car 8 days, I can tell you this "you will love it" or should I say "your wife will love it!".

I have all the options you have chosen, but I decided for the 5dr, DBP, parking sensors, 18" Monza. I decided not to opt for the improved sound system, as the standard system works very well & other peoples views on this site suggested "you will hardly notice the difference".

It sounds as though you have also spent a lot of money on your GTI. I think you will not regret your choices. The DSG is brilliant, as you would already know from the A3 & the leather option simply shows it's class in the GTI cabin (especially on cold morning when you can warm your ar*e!). The 18" look great & the comfort is more than acceptable.

Unfortunately I cannot help you with your other questions as I have only just got my car.

I guess it's down to individual taste & what you are prepared to spend on a car. I spent £26K & I do not regret the choices I made. I am sure you will not either.

Finally, if you have to wait 20 weeks for your car, would it not be worth hanging on for a few more & you can have the car on a 56 plate!! I would guess you would also get a little more when you decide to sell in the future.

[Neaty]

welcome to the forum mate

your new car sounds nice, the time will soon pass! 

[Matt555]

Cheers lads...   

Ed - good to know your a Vhappy driver, i can't wait!  But as to deliver and the plate, balls to that i want it tomorrow    that and the misses has her own plate....  But I think mine might be going on instead though    The heated seats will be a bonus, but I not to sure if I find them a little weird or not?   How do you find the wet/slimey driving?

Neaty - I hope so! 

Matty

[EdMass]

Matty.

The heated seats are great - Had I known the benefit they offer, I would have ordered heated leather seats along time ago. 

With regards to the wet/slimey driving, I cannot give you too much feed back at the moment as the car has only done 220 miles & I am running it in!  Having said that, I would assume the car would handle relatively well in the wet for a front wheel drive.

I had the Mk4 4-Motion & although it was 4 wheel drive, in the wet it didn't handle as well as you would have expected. The GTI on the other hand seems as though the chassis can handle the power and handling. 

Did or will you get any discount off the GTI?

[Matt555]

Hey thanks for that fella, your 4 motion thoughts views were just what I was after...

DISCOUNT!!  LOL...  I am normally the master of car deals but this was a hard crack!  We have got some though....  £250 off with the extras LOL....  And we've got them tied into the PX on the A3, it's not great but it means we'll know exactly where we are are pick up time.  My thing is now though, shall i get rid of the Box and leave the misses with the Audi?  Or stay as planned and PX the A3?  The Golf really has made a cracking impression on me, the quality was top notch and the performance awesome.

Did you get any discount yourself?  The whatcar guide price is the list price!?!  It's good to know the motor has solid residuals...

Good luck with your running in, how many miles do you have to do?

Matty

[VWmaindealer]

Good choice mate!

These cars have fantastic residuals. To give you an idea, I tried to buy three this morning at Bristol. It was a closed auction available only to VW dealers. We all use glasses guide as our bible in the trade so armed with this I was under instructions to pay upto 500 quid ABOVE book values to get some decent stock. The bidding started at book money and all three cars sold to VW dealers for between one and two grand over book figures. We are now tempted to throw our demonstrators into auction to move them and negate any hassle with actually selling them!

Re: wet/slimy driving. The GTI is equipped with ESP3. The main difference between this and previous generation ESP systems is that it is designed for performance driving. With any other Golf (R32 excepted) if you accelerate hard from standstill in the wet, the ESP will restrict engine RPM to prevent you from spinning. With ESP3, you can wheelspin (under control from ESP) at speeds below 30mph. This stops the car from suddenly retarding engine power when you most need it (like pulling out from a junction in the wet).  Handling wise, you can't beat it. As part of our training, we go to tracks and try all sorts of cool stuff. As part of GTI launch, we did the old moose test. 40mph, hard right, left right as if avoiding stationary car and the grip is almost unnerving. It just does things you don't think can be done. Find an empty car park and try it (shouldn't say that I suppose, sorry). :embarassed:

VWmd

[Matt555]

Thanks for that info VWmaindealer. 

That is just the info I needed ref the ESP and handling, it certainly felt awesome on the test drive I took a couple of weeks back.  I'm still convincing Mrs Matt555 that she won't miss the Quattro!!  The current deal is that if she doesn't really feel reassured (i think she will), then I'll have it and we'll chop the Boxster in next year for something 4x4.  I wonder if a Gti and a R32 would be to sad   

So what about real world MPG?  Currently the Audi returns 27/28 and the Boxster 23-24 real world MPG.

Also, does the Golf DSG have a sport mode like the Audi?

Cheers
Matty

[EdMass]

Good afternoon Matt555.

I think you have done well getting anything off the GTI & you have done even better with the dealer giving you a guaranteed value for the A3. My dealer would not quote a PX for my 4-Motion even though I purchased it from them & had all the services carried out by them also.

I agree with you, at least you know how much you will need to find come delivery of your GTI. I had the uncertainty of will I have enough money to change vehicle & only got the confirmation 2 days prior to me picking the car up!

I was told that I need to take it easy for the first 500 miles & over the next 500 to 750 miles to slowly increase power. A lot of people may think you can drive the car hard from the start as the engineering has improved & can cope. My view is all the parts need to settle & if you look after the car from day one, hopefully you will not have any problems in the future.

The DSG does have the Sport option, but I have not used this as yet. My understanding is the GTI DSG is the same they use in the Audi range, so you will know how good it is.

Personally, I would be inclined to keep the Boxster & PX or sell the A3. My wife has a 1 year old Mini Cooper S Convertible & with the summer months not far away, having the roof down makes you feel glad you have a soft top!

I am currently using my GTI around town (stop/start) & my journey lasts for 30 mins each way from work & I get around 24-26MPG. When my wife travelled on the motor way (20 miles) at the weekend, she got around 34-36MPG & this was travelling around 80ish MPH. I would assume once the car loosens up, the MPG will improve.

I hope this helps.

[Matt555]

Hey Ed

I wanted more form the dealer, but ho hum there was only a decent apr on the finance to quibble over    They were decent enough and I managed to swag one of VW china mugs to seal the deal LOL 

I'm with you on the running in, i know the motor would be fine if I just got out there and drove it!  But it's nice to get everything running sweet and get used to the motor. 

As the box has the sport function as well as drive it'll be exactly the same as the Audi.  It takes me sometime to get used to the DSG, but once I've been driving the Audi for a couple of days it's fantastic.  Better MPG/Performance and emmisions are a bonus.

How do you find the Mini?  I've driven a couple of works models and many cooper/mini one QA cars, and have a real soft spot for the mini one on small rims!!  It's just such a laugh to chuck around and risk your licence....    Any thoughts on a works kit 

That's not to bad on the MPG, and it'll get better with some miles on it....  I thought 33-35 would be realistic....

Thanks again..
Matty