General Comments:
This is a nice car. I bought it as a commuting car doing about 250k/d and so far (I have had it only week) it has performed extremely well (as it should). It is remarkably punchy even though I don't flog it (yet) as it needs to be run in yet).
The DSG transmission is very quick indeed, and even though it is -on paper- slower than my previous car (a V70 turbo), this Golf feels much stronger. The DSG -in ordinary drive setting- gets to the tallest gear fairly early and can make it feel a bit laboured (say between 1200-1500 rpm), but will respond with a down shift very eagerly if you push the accelerator pedal.
The seats (leather) have plenty of travel (I am 6'6"), but the sport seats have fairly high side bolstering, and have relatively short under leg support, making them less comfortable than my Volvo's seats.
The car is very quiet in dry weather, but I find the Bridgestones fairly noisy in the wet. I would have much preferred the Continental Sportcontacts, which are great tyres (and quiet).
Fuel economy, the reason I bought a diesel, is not disappointing; 1 liter on average (this is a brand new car, and I have not done a lot of highway kms yet) has yielded 16km, (so mainly city driving). One trip of 250km showed as average fuel consumption of 4.5L/100k!
The steering wheel controls are very effective, and informative and quite useful, such as trip time, trip distance, average fuel consumption etc, all through a scroll down menu from the steering wheel controls.
The stock standard radio is very impressive and very easy to use with good adjustability. Radio reception has not been a issue. I haven't had the chance yet of using the iPod integration as yet. You will need a separate $700 AUD blue tooth integration in order to use your phone through the steering wheel controls.
The sunroof has a fair bit of buffeting at full opening at speeds between 50-80kph, but easily adjustable.
The sunroof position knob is awkward. There is no clear indication to say the roof is closed. This I feel needs improvement. I guess you will get used to it, but I have left my roof open a little on one occasion.
The car seems very stable, and tracks extremely well, with good suspension control, even though I have the standard suspension (not sport).
Happy with the interior, although there are still some hard plastics about.
The automatic wipers are not as accurate as on my 330Ci from 2001, and can be a little annoying as they wipe an almost dry window.
The auto dimming rear vision mirror is a handy feature.
A little disappointed the external rear vision mirrors don't fold, seen as this is a European car. They do have heating, which is pretty useless in Australia.
All up a very good car -so far- and the diesel engine is so much fun to drive.
I also like the looks compared with the Mark V Golf.
The extra cost for the leather seats ($3000) is stupid really, and disappointingly doesn't come with electric adjustment (but does include electric lumbar support and heating).
27th Feb 2011, 11:59
I used to work in VW service department, and you are not alone in your observation that the speedometer is slightly "optimistic". VW's official position on this before I left was that gauges should read accurately within +/- 7% of one-another: that is, in comparison to an identical car with identical instrumentation. They will not recognize speed readings from aftermarket GPS systems as valid points of reference for speedometer comparisons.
Dealers are usually reticent about ordering replacement gauge clusters unless they register a fault code in the diagnostic computer or they are grossly and obviously malfunctioning. This is because clusters are usually special-ordered coded to the specific car they will be installed on, and are not returnable thereafter. If the subsequent warranty claim is rejected, the dealer is stuck footing the bill and the customer's concern probably won't be resolved to their satisfaction either. Thus, they tend to approach clusters with caution, especially when they seem to be working within the manufacturer's specification.
The 2.5 is a lovely, torquey motor, but it is a pig in city driving returning abysmal mileage (in the 12-15 liters/100km range). On the highway though, it is quite impressive given its displacement and consumption under 7.0 liters /100km is the norm. Overall, these motors are trouble-free with only the occasional knock-sensor or secondary air pump setting a check engine light.
Besides these issues, I feel that the wiper mechanism on these cars is a little delicate, and care should be taken to clear the windows of snow BEFORE turning them on. Also, the door locks seem to go quite frequently on VW products since 2006, with a significantly higher percentage of Mexican-built versions experiencing this problem than German-built. If your VIN starts with '3' (Jettas and Wagons-hecho en Mexico) then you probably already know what I mean. If your VIN starts with 'W' (Rabbit and Golf 2.5 and TDI regular hatchback models after 2010-made in Germany) then you might end up changing one or two door locks (the driver's door is usually the one that breaks on the German-production cars) but probably not. Either way, great car, great drive. Enjoy it!