Month 9 running a Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk7: the oil light’s come on… Seriously, if we don’t get a terrifying Day After Tomorrow-style weather catastrophe soon, with icebergs, I’m going to be annoyed. I did not know that.Īnyway, they’re playing havoc with my GTI’s normally super-sharp handling – the confidence-inspiring ‘bite’ on turn-in has gone, and the grip feels mushy mid-corner. They made such a difference he patented the idea, and now these extra cuts in tyre blocks are called Sipes. John Sipe worked in an abattoir in 1923, the story goes, and he was tired of slipping on the wet floors, so he cut some extra thin grooves into his rubber soles.
Problem is, the chunky tread isn’t great for the handling when it’s warm and dry – blame the sipes, apparently. Still, the Golf has spent winter on top-spec Pirelli Sottozero 3s, the latest ‘high performance’ winter tyres, and on snow Pirelli reckons they’ll cut stopping distance from 30mph from 52 metres to just 12. As they say, never let the weather get in the way of a good story. Thing is, since then – in the south at least – we had some lovely sunshine and a couple of gusts of wind. They said it was going to be a weather bomb, an Arctic blast, a deadly polar vortex that would have us all spinning into a new Ice Age. Month 10 running a Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk7: we fit winter tyres. After 40 years, a verdict that says ‘the Golf GTI is good’ is hardly news, but this car has colossal appeal, and even when the GTI reaches 100, I think this Mk7 will still stand as a high point in its history. If you’re mulling over the online configurator, and you have £1000 to spend, choose the Performance Pack.Īltogether then, this is a five-star car. It costs £815, but to be honest, I haven’t used it much – Comfort’s a bit soft, I occasionally tried Sport when I was giving it beans there’s an Economy mode too, which I tried for about an hour but mostly it was left in Normal. I love the steering (speed sensitive, but you never notice) and the leather-bound wheel too.Īnother option we have is Adaptive Chassis Control, which allows you to choose between Sport, Comfort and Normal suspension settings. As well as the extra 10bhp, that £995 Performance Pack also brings a fancy limited-slip diff, which gives the Golf a wonderful precise feeling in all but the slidiest conditions. And unlike other hot hatches, this front-drive chassis feels comfortable with the power. It’s proper fast – the official 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds can’t convey the satisfaction of a second- or third-gear burst between corners, or the swiftness of an overtaking move. The 227bhp 2.0-litre turbo (my car’s fitted with the optional Performance Pack) is sharp like a diamond-tipped blade, punching with torque from low revs and singing to the redline as sweetly as a race car. But more than anything, I’ve enjoyed my GTI as a sports car. Turns out it was because I have this absent-minded habit of popping my seatbelt off to look over my shoulder – the car notices, and thinks it’s dangerous. The only glitch I did encounter was with the electric handbrake – it kept applying itself, unexpectedly, in reverse. No, the Golf just feels brilliantly designed, engineered and executed in the German style, and over the last year I haven’t found a single niggle or fault with the interior.
#UK DRIVING TEST 2015 SOFTWARE#
And it’s not just that this car is new – I recently borrowed the latest Renault Scenic, and hated the software and ergonomics.
#UK DRIVING TEST 2015 BLUETOOTH#
On cold mornings I get in, turn on the (optional) heated seat and the radio, my phone automatically connects to the Bluetooth and I tap my destination postcode into the (optional) 8in touchscreen sat-nav.
#UK DRIVING TEST 2015 FULL#
As a commuter car it’s well equipped, it’s comfortable on long journeys, and it’s full of connective tech. Over the last 12 months it’s frequently been rammed to the ceiling with baggage for family holidays or trips to the rubbish tip. It’s the epitome of the practical five-door hatch – boxy and spacious. At the other end of the scale, the average family cold porridge is no good if – like me – you want to turn the radio off every once in a while and drive home like a twit. Supercars can be a hassle – they’re amazing when you focus on them, but driving them to work, in a rush and distracted… trust me, you start to yearn for a bit of normality. The most damning thing I can think to say about it is that the Golf R is a bit better. Because over the last 12 months our long-term GTI has proved itself a great family car, a commuter car, a long-distance car, and yes, a sports car too.
Actually, I do want to drive a Golf every day – this Golf.
0 kommentar(er)
