2005 Volkswagen Golf Turbo Diesel from UK and Ireland - Comments

Passenger seat occasionally squeaks.

Car is too new for any major faults to have appeared.

Ride quality is absolutely appalling. The car absorbs minor surface imperfections on smooth tarmac reasonably well, but on all other normal roads in the UK, every bump transmits itself into the car. The ride quality is noticeably jarring and its almost as if you're driving a car that has no suspension travel or is running on solid rubber as opposed to pneumatic air filled tyres. For example, I have one those SatNav PDAs which is attached to the windscreen using a suction mount. During a 300 mile round trip from Yorkshire to the East Midlands (motorways, A and B roads etc) the ride was so bad that the suction mount fell off twice and on some occasiosn, the PDA screen jiggled about so much that it was difficult to see the screen properly. That never used to happen on my previous car, a Mazda 6 which had much better ride quality.

Not sure why the ride quality of the 2.0 TDi Golf is so bad. It has the standard VW factory alloy wheels and factory standard low profile tyres, but I suspect its more to do with the suspension being very poor and simply not setup for ride comfort as a priority. A 10 year old Citroen Xantia is lightyears ahead of this car in terms of ride quality. Anyone who has ride quality high on their list of priorities should take this car for a long test drive (and not just a few miles) before buying.

The Golf 2.0 TDI handles well, has good fairly good grip, good road-holding and good torsional rigidity (if you hit a pothole or bump midway through a bend, the car doesn't feel as if its flexing in several directions). The car also resists roll and under-steer fairly well.

The 2.0 TDi engine has quite a lot of power for a diesel, but its power delivery is frustrating for keen drivers - you get a huge waft of torque between 2000-3500rpm and then practically nothing on either side of that rev range. Driven enthusiastically, this car's characteristic is to lurch forward in the midrange of each gear as the torque/turbo comes on tap. The non-linear nature of the engine's power delivery makes this a very frustrating driver's car as its far more difficult to modulate the power (the turbo decides and not you). 1st gear also has a very short ratio. 6th gear is a useful addition to motorway cruising though.

Engine still has that noticeable diesel 'clackety clack' noise when idling or stopping at traffic lights.

Economy is disappointing. On a hard driven run from Leeds to Birmingham, I averaged about 28-30mpg. There is no turbo boost gauge, so its difficult to tell precisely when the turbo is on part/half/full boost. On gentler runs, economy will undoutbedly improve, particularly those involving part-throttle conditions.

Car is screwed together very well and feels very solid.

There is nowhere to rest your right arm during motorway runs (armrest is too low and window sill too high).

The Golf has some lovely 'lifestyle' touches - if you unlock the car with the remote central locking, the headlights and interior come on to help you get into the car. Interior alarm (not the theft alarm) sounds if you drive off without putting your seat belt on. Xenon headlights are excellent and really help with night driving. Interior lights are also good.

Overall, quite a nice car ruined by its hugely disappointing ride quality.

The 2.0 TDi (all the 2.0 TDi Golfs are GT spec) has lowered sports suspension which lowers the standard suspension by approximately 15mm.

15mm doesn't sound like much, but maybe its the lowered suspension which is causing the poor / crashy ride quality?

The GT 2.0 TDi has:

1. 16" alloys compared to the standard car's 15" items.

2. Low profile tyres

3. Sports suspension (lowered by 15mm)

All of which are going to degrade the ride quality. A few people have commented on the hard ride quality on the What Care? website owner reviews section.

Might be better to look for a Golf with 15" wheels and standard tyres and see if that improves matters.

What family hatchback has a turbo boost gauge fitted? By driving the car day to day you get to know when the turbo kicks in anyway so why would you need a boost gauge? I presume you have a sports model, so it will be fitted with sports suspension, this would explain the ride quality issues you are complaining about, did you not notice this when you test drove it? I've found the Golf to have the best ride quality in it's class.

What is your av mpg for the Gold TDI?

Perhaps your poor ride quality is due to the dealer forgetting to remove the suspension spacers that the car was shipped with from the factory. This would cause an unusually harsh ride, as the suspension would have little travel.

Its me the original reviewer again. I asked my local VW garage to check the suspension to see if there was anything wrong with it, or whether spacers had in.

Whilst they were doing the checks, I test drove a petrol Golf with standard suspension, 15" alloys and standard (non-low profile) tyres. There was considerable improvement in ride quality compared to my car. I also tried out a Polo 1.4.

The garage said my car was fine, but they wouldn't have sold the TDI with low profile tyres. They suggested getting smaller wheels and getting rid of the low profile tyres. However, they wanted to charge me £1,000 was a set of normal wheels and tyres which seems absolutely ridiculous.

If you swap the wheels of your car, it will probably de-value it unless you swap them back when you come to sell it. I think you bought the wrong model - you should of gone for a non-sport model with the smaller wheels and standard suspension.

I drove a GT back to back with an A3 sport on 17" wheels and a Seat Leon sport DSG (all 2.0 TDi's). The Seat had a terrible ride, however the golf and A3 were fantastic. I did 300 miles in each model and the fuel consumption was good. Perhaps this contributor has a bad example?

This is the trouble with the big wheel/low profile tyre combos that manufacturers seem to be punting their cars with recently. They look great, but the ride and handling go to pot.

In fact, I can't remember the last car I drove that had a supple ride and decent handling. It's a lost art. Come to think of it, I believe it was a Peugeot 306 GTI-6 from the late 1990's.

I cannot believe the comments about poor ride quality in the Golf 2 litre TDI.

I am absolutely thrilled with mine in all respects especially ride quality. On a long run the car achieves over 50 miles to the gallon.

Hell, even "Car" magazine mentions how the 2.0 rides poorly. Can't wait to see how the the new "Twincharger" runs (1.4 direct injection turbo/super charged.

I've not driven the new one. But I own a 150 TDi mk iv. My car has a torsion beam rear end. It handles poorly, but has good comfort. My old 306 was the other way around, great handling, but poor comfort.

The new mk v has a multi link rear, meaning that the roll stiffness can be tuned separate to the bump absorbtion (not possible on a torsion beam).

So the mk v should have the best of both worlds really. I know that Skoda tune their cars with more comfort and Audi and Seat with more sporty settings. VW are somewhere in the middle.

Look...the suspension ride quality isn't the best because the suspenion is tighter... so it holds the road better... drive any sports car and you'll see what I mean. get a clue when you get a car that handles well on the road it has poor ride quality. It's a trade off, and if you don't like it, don't buy it.

I have an 05 1.9 tdi sport. I don't find the ride particularly hard given that the suspension is lowered and stiffened over the lower spec golfs. What I do find very annoying is the amount of road noise which transmits in to the cab. I drove an SE before getting the sport and found the ride much smoother and quieter. I prefer the handling on the sport, but it is the noisiest car I have ever owned and I've had 14 in my time. It sounds as if the tyres have been inflated to 50 psi.

Although I have little to say about your experience with your VW, I would like to mention that it is unfair for you to compare any car to a Citroen. This is the same company that came out with adjustable air-ride suspension in the 50's. The DS, SM etc etc were decades before the time. Of course they usually failed but still, the idea was brilliant for the time. Just keep that in mind.