pipsyp

Mine clean...... Its filthy now....my job for the weekend!

Fair shout Coops, TBF if it werent at least a 2.0d auto nice spec R Sport I'd not be particularly interested either. Space wise seeing as they are platform sharing be interesting to see if the rear space is any better. Jag will no doubt prove cheaper and for me the badge has a bit more kudos, not that it'll necessarily be a better or as good a car as the Rangie version but probably still my preference.

All I can say Brian, when the time is right, find a quiet road, switch it to ESC Sport and flog it to the cutout in 1st and 2nd.....you'll be impressed. Its v raw with ESC Sport enabled.

It'll probably be very good. My neighbours have a slightly older i20 that theyve had from new and its given them v little trouble. I'm v snobby when it comes to cars but I seriously considered a new Santa Fe Premium/Premium SE this time around as whilst they arent cheap really still seemed like an awful lot of big well equipped car for the money. Was only the high PCP costs (I do 30k/year) that did for it. Funny, 20 years ago I looked down on Hyundais like I would a Lada or even Skoda TBF.....my Great Aunt had a metallic Purple Lantra 1.6 auto saloon of the mid 90's generation and I was always so embarrassed of it! That it was basically a rebodied/rebadged old gen Mitsubishi Lancer meant nothing to me. But how things change! I think the new i20 is a really smart little car as well.

Rather have an F Pace :-)

I think the majority of us do speed a bit on a daily basis and most honest people would admit as much....not because we are bad people I would suggest....rather the UK speed limit vs the capabilities of most cars nowadays are rather skewed. Im not condoning it (as its against the law of course) but the fast lane of most motorways, where conditions are good and the roads are not busy.....90mph in the fast lane in a modern car I would not classify as dangerous. Just opinion but for me I think the highway code should be tweaked something like as follows: - National speed limit on single carriage roads remain at 60. Dual carriageway 70 mph inside lane, 80 outside line. Motorway/4 lane 70 inside, 80 middle lanes, 90 outer lane. Police still allow a 10% variance......if you get caught over that value then face your prosecution (be that points, fine, jailtime whatever depending on severity and circumstances). More appropriate...make these smart motorways smarter to vary these per lane limits based upon traffic volumes, weather etc......i.e the weathers bad and/or the road is heavily congested drop the limits back appropriately. People speed because nowadays unless a road is busy sitting at 70mph on a motorway 3rd/4th lane is pretty unbareable...and pretty unfeasible. Think about a time youve sat on the outer lane at 70 and how long youve done so before pulling in..... Personally I think set speed limits that are comesurate with the day and age; less people will feel the need to speed I'd wager.

Opel/Vauxhall are beginning to churn out some far better cars nowadays. The Mokka is a good car (not my cup of tea though) but the new Astra is teriffic. Runs the Mk7 Golf v close....in some areas its probably better......price particularly. I had a Zafira Tourer for a while recently.....was determined not to like it but it really stole my heart. Drove fantastically for a greal lump of MPV.....I could throw it down country roads no differently to my Mk7 GTD of old and no complaints. Even the 1.6 diesel was terrific....had no trouble hauling the weight and was quiet and frugal too. About the only bad thing I have to say about it was it didnt have Bluetooth! (It was a 15 plate Elite). A nearly new Vauxhall tends to represent a bit of a steal too. The new Insignia is on the way and dare I say it, its a bloody handsome thing if the real deal looks anything like the press shots in the flesh. Opel have been working with PSA on the Crossland X and Grandland X, also GM have been haemoraging money on Opel/Vauxhall for years so it was more of a case of when than if. Brexit may have been the final straw where Vauxhall was concerned. The irony is that much of what GM do in Europe (engine and tech wise) is replicated in the States and helps them sell cars.....god knows what their own cars will end up like without any Euro influence.....back to wood panelled station wagons and whitewall tyres probably!! I think its bound to have a far reaching impact on Elsmere Port and Luton as I doubt muchly PSA will want or need the manufacturing capability here....and yet again Brexit may well seal that fate. Dealers will probably be left alone initially but will be subtly rebranded likely with some PSA influence. TBF I think PSA can learn alot from GM Europe as much as perhaps they can learn from PSA....probably actually a good thing for them. Does make me wonder whether the Vauxhall brand will end up being dropped in favour of Opel......I dont think that'd be such a bad thing. I prefer the Opel branding myself.

Oh and 38ish MPG for the whole trip wasnt bad either, considering a great deal of it was stuck in traffic!

So ran from the South Coast to St Helens for work this week.....c. 285 miles, then from there to the New Forest to spend the weekend with the wife, kids and grandparents (they went away for half term) so lots of varied driving. Impressed with its ability to be such an effortless relaxing little cruiser (particularly for something its size) one moment and become a whole heap of fun the next. As the roads became more interesting heading into Hampshire car was a blast. Sports pack makes a huge difference to the driving experience when pushing on, the throttle response is far more aggressive, the stiffened dampers whilst jittery on all bar the better roads take out a level of roll from the suspension and increase the focus.....its far better to throw around in sport. I wouldnt buy another GTI without it. On the way home I had one of my sons and the mother in law in the car so was sensible but I opened it up smoothly in the first few gears a few times whilst they slept, through Chichester a rather impatient chap in a new E220d tried to encourage me out of the way coming off one of the roundabouts onto the national speed limit part of the A27......lets just say he had no chance....the new 220d isnt a slow car either. Sadly he had to resort to a rather underhand undertake of me and the person in front of me (as we drove sensibly) at the next roundabout.....probably wasnt best pleased to have his 40-odd grand Merc whooped severely by a Polo....but in fairness its not exactly your run of the mill Polo :-) Kind of knew I would but starting to get used to the stock power now. Its massively grin inducing still but knowing how much potential there is in the Gen3 TSI, I'm seriously tempted to give a JB1 a try. With another 40/50 wheel HP it'd be bonkers quick (probably talking not leagues slower than a stock Golf R). Its going to need new tyres fairly soon and is due a service in about 6k so thinking once those are out of the way I might be hitting up the JB4Shop.

You're getting the Rob, keep it up mate. Just keep thinking of the end game...you'll end up with a rare v interesting car that'll be worth decent money by the end of it. The hard work will all be worthwhile.

I should also note that the NVH levels are also well beyond what I expected. Evident there is plenty of sound deadening (its quieter than a Mk3 Octavia for one), wind noise never really becomes intrusive (again its quieter than the Octavia) and its well resolved ride doesnt result in the rattles and bangs that can plague the stiffer sprung VAG vehicles; TBF the DCC suspension helps a great deal here with the dampers in their normal setting being a touch softer than the non adaptive setup. It is bloody crashy and jittery in Sport though, fun when using some of the performance and throwing it around a bit on the right bit of road but no good for calm cruising. Compared to a Golf GTI......I think the Golf is arguably the better, more resolved car particularly for someone wanting a relatively practical quick daily drive, but is not £5/6k better.......dare I say it, the Polo is rawer (its not quite so sophisticated) and dynamically runs the GTI v close.....performance wise its v strong mill married with pretty low kerb weight up to a decent lick its probably a touch quicker than a GTI. Its the more relevant hot hatch of the two in my opinion but the Golf makes a stronger case for itself by being fast, unshakably sorted and as practical as any other Mk7 Golf.

So all still going well with the GTI. Really like it and glad so far I bought it. Been on a few long distance drives in it now and for a small car with a relatively short wheelbase its actually a great mile muncher. The motor is the star of the show undoubtedly, its so tractable that at times its easy to forget what gear your in...on longer runs unless having a bit of fun you can happily sit in 6th all the way down to 30mph quite happily.....its actually alot better than the Octavia and GTD's Ive had in that regard. Open it up and its deeply impressive....press sport and it just takes on a whole other persona. Its of course pretty fast but on the move it feels quicker than the book figures would suggest it is. Having the DCC suspension makes a big difference, in Normal whilst its still relatively firm the damping is brilliant. Ive heard that Bilstein make the DCC dampers for VAG for these cars...if thats true it all rather makes sense. Its more compliant than both the Octavia (Elegance on standard suspension) and GTD....in fact its the best riding VAG car Ive had in some time.....sadly if I got another VAG car I think id be forced to tick DCC as Im sold on how good it is. The interior is a nice place to be, v straightforward and well laid out. Some cheap plastics knocking about here and there but still v solid and nicely textured. The sound system is very good too. In terms of driving experience its great. The handling is excellent, as are the brakes, the steering is quick and razor sharp with not a sign of dead in the helm...lacking feel slightly but nothing unusual with a EPS rack. It certainly runs the Progressive rack used in the Mk7 Golfs v close indeed. Economy wise....I guess really I cant complain. It averaged 37/38mpg on a mixed 280 mile run yesterday, some quick driving, lots of traffic in places. Im happy with it....with a more delicate right foot I am sure low 40's is achievable....but I dont think I'll ever see 47mpg :-) Just with its relatively small 45 litre tank the range is between 300/350 miles realistically, well below 300 with enthusiastic/lots of urban driving so its range isnt fantastic. Its nice and compact so parking is a breeze and being that bit shorter and narrow than most larger cars finding decent parking spaces is all that bit easier. Downsides......trying to get kids and car seats in and out of a 3 door gets a bit annoying but I knew it would be when I bought it. The doors are enormous on it too which doesnt really help matters. The exhaust and (soundaktor supplemented) induction noise is really nice, just right I would say but on a run it can get a bit droney even in normal. Its not so bad it annoys you but its there. Its the exhaust primarily but something you live with for the lovely noise it makes the rest of the time when not cruising. Also the RVC picks up road grime v quickly....drive it on a damp road for any length of time next time you reverse the camera will be next to no good. Bit of a shame perhaps that VW didnt go down the line of putting the camera behind the boot badge ala Golf, but regardless I wouldnt want to be without it as when its clean its excellent. In an ideal world having experienced the 3 door, despite preferencing its styling I would have preferred the 5 door purely from a practical standpoint. The boot is also a bit small for my liking but 3 or 5 door its something you have to live with on a GTI. At least it has a spare wheel! I would be interested to see what a BlueGT 150 is like to drive as Id wager whilst its not as extreme as the GTI, it'd strike a v nice performance/economy balance....being slower but not light years so but being a fair bit more frugal Bigger boot too.

Probably a Lancia Delta Integrale Evo. I grew up with italian cars (my Dad ran a fleet of Alfas in my earlier years, my first cars were a Lancia Y10 then a Fiat Uno) so they kind of ran in my blood. I was also rather taken with the Vauxhall hot hatches of the days, with my brother working for Vauxhall and occasionally bringing such things home......a mint Cavalier or Calibra Turbo I wouldnt mind...though expect driving one today would be a bit of a disappointment. Golf and Corrado VR6's were cars Id swoon after alot back in my school days too. Oh......and a friends parents had a really rather nice red Ur-quattro turbo 10v which I was always really jealous of haha. I'd love a late mint condition 20v if I could get my hands on one.

Agreed.....930's do snap oversteer if you dont treat them with respect, the turbos also (in part because of the long 4 speed box) can be very all or nothing because of turbo lag. When I say mad bad and dangerous I mean that in a positive light.....sort of car that if you have no driving talent and you try to exploit it, it will almost certainly try its best to kill you :-D Nice merc by the way.....is that a 300 SEL 6.3?

Carrera 2.7 RS Lightweight as something to stare at and have as an investment......realistically a later 930 Turbo 3.3.......just a mad bad dangerous car!

I like DSG too....I had a Fabia vRS estate a few years ago too and really loved the gearbox and drivechain.....mine was CAVE engined and bar a minor misfire issue which was resolved with an ECU update it was no bother....didnt even use much oil (maybe a litre every 4.5k miles which I gather was good for a CAVE twincharger). I drove it pretty hard from the moment we got it though (though only when warm) so I think my running in approach (or lack of) may have contributed. Only issues I had with it were that for its relative performance I didnt think it handled that great and the brakes werent particularly adequate...I found they faded after a few harder stops even on the road. Felt like a semi sporty normal Fabia with lots of motor up front and not like a sorted hot hatch but thats just opinion. Nothing some springs, an ARB and 312mm front disc conversion wouldnt have sorted but I dont tend to modify my cars. Really good otherwise, particularly its standard spec which in some respects betters the current GTI (notably the inclusion of curtain airbags and a passenger airbag switch). Thats one area Im not so keen on with the new GTI.....the base spec should be better and VAG UK have been a bit tight fisted. If I were buying one new (and I really am not one to go adding options to a car) absolute must-haves would have been convenience pack, cruise and park, app connect, curtain bags and passenger deactivation switch but I think really these things should be standard equipment on the GTI. Probably wouldnt have killed them to include the sport pack too given thats standard spec on the Ibiza Cupra. Despite my cars strong optional spec it doesnt have curtain bags or a passenger deactivation switch and that is slightly disappointing given it was easily a 22k car new. I do like the manual....I do alot of long distance driving so arguably a DSG would have suited me better but the extra torque and inordinately long gearing in the manual do make it v relaxing to drive and its not a car than requires lots of cog swapping. Whilst its arguably not quite as clever or "characterful" as the twincharger unit, the EA888 1.8 is a better motor I think, whilst its not leaps and bounds faster I am sure it feels a damn sight stronger in-gear and has no flat spots in its delivery like the CAVE did...only tapers off a reasonable bit past 6k rpm. I think VAG were rather forced to drop the twincharger ongoing but given how impressive the 1.8 is, its actually no bad thing. Your MPG is better than mine.....Im getting maybe 36/37 on a mixed run but its perfectly acceptable...my car has done near 31k miles now too so well run in. Is a cracking little car though....its not the most hardcore hatch out there but as an all round package, particularly where quality and grown up feel are concerned it cant be beaten. The Ibiza Cupra "might" be the slightly better hot hatch from a drivers perspective but Im not sold on the looks and the interior still feels desperately cheap compared to the Polo...when you spend alot of time in a car this sort of thing matters.

Agreed Keith, rather contributes to the cars Jekyll and Hyde character IMHO. In Normal the cars ride is firm but very compliant, the steering weight and throttle response ideal for normal driving. Its still a hoot to hammer around in normal. But in Sport it just adds a dimension to the drive...the throttle mapping is aggressive and well judged.....its a personal thing of course but I actually also like the extra noise thats piped into the cabin from the soundaktor too. It sounds nice from the outside but without it you dont hear too much on the inside. The ride in sport is too firm for day to day driving though. Id wager a non Sport pack car strikes a great balance between the two settings and the loss of noise and sharper throttle arent the be all and end all but nice to have. My one was a used purchase so I benefited from alot of additional spec I probably wouldnt have added if Id bought new but having had it the Sport pack would be something Id want to have again. How do you find the DSG in yours?

Pics......apologies for the number plates edited on my phone (but with a stylus haha). Note the lack of switch blanks in the dash.....this one is pretty loaded up! Probably not that obvious from the photos but its Pure White, not Oryx. Can't believe that would have cost nearly 300 quid to have as a special colour.....Ive gone white with my past few purchases as it had always been free!

Oh forgot I also added RGM sill protectors as the sills on the Polo are made of toffee and the OEM GTI ones didnt really do much to protect them. They actually look OEM and better than without....cheap purchase too. I also enabled refueling quantity on the MFD.....not v accurate (seems to count down in 5 litre segments and last time it was about 5-10 litres out ahah) but kind of handy all the same. Gonna try and add some photos.......

Few things........ Pretty much any VAG group car will have "characteristics"......you'd be dead lucky to get one that doesnt make any funny noises or rattle in some minor shape or form. This is coming from someone who has had several new/nearly new VAG cars in recent years. I had a Mk7 GTD that rattled from new, was mis-built and went wrong a fair bit too. My Mk3 Octavia was among the most reliable VAG car I had but it wasnt rattle free, also had a v annoying buzz at certain RPMs eminating from behind the sat nav screen from practically new until the day I got rid. I lived with it as I didnt want a dealer taking my dash apart and potentially making it worse. I have a Polo GTI now, great little car but the speakers make the tops of the door trims vibrate when the music is turned up....also the MIB2 nav is quite buggy...but it was on my Mk7 too. The soundaktor makes my sunvisors vibrate in Sport mode too but cest la vie.....its something ive come acustomed to with newer VAG vehicles. Probably amongst the most solid VAG car ive had was a Mk6 Golf.....though VAG made huge efforts to improve the interior and perceived quality as it was never a strong point on the Mk5 (which ive also had). Engine wise....sure the mapping may have changed a bit but its unlikely to be faulty. My experience of VAG CR diesels, even the latest gen ones (I've had 140, 170, 150 and 184 variants) need alot of miles to open up fully and become efficient. I had a 19k mile Mk7 GTD briefly before getting a brand new one....went like a rocketship and was efficient....got the new one with 80 miles on the clock and it was dire. 10k miles later (and alot of enthusiastic driving) it was much like the previous car. The start stop procedure on these has changed for some reason. The engine dies before the car has actually stopped...god knows why. But its normal. Ive only ever had manual cars with stop start......I rarely stick in neutral and drop the clutch so it barely ever kicks in.

Skoda have definitely overstyled the front end, rather a shame. Not sure if it will even be a grower. Redesigned headlamp clusters (to accomodate LEDs and perhaps some subtle changes to the front bumper styling was all they really needed to do.

The Special Edition gets the Performance Pack, probably sans vented rear brakes. Its the new 230 basically. The new Mk7 configurator is live now, mention of the Performance Pack is a bit odd as its currently not available to spec on the configurator. Does look as though the higher end models might get the Active Info Display dash as standard though which is a surprise, unless the inital specs listed are wrong. Wonder if this will eventually trickle down to the Octavia?

I had a 1.6 CDTi 136 Zafira Tourer Elite a while ago (my last company car after a couple of Mk7 GTD Golfs); it drove brilliantly and the engine was great, lots of torque and very quiet/refined. Only downside was AdBlue, topping it up was a bit of a pain. Vauxhall do make a good car, they tend to get a bit of unfair treatment IMHO. The Insignia Elite is extremely well equipped and a nice car, just a shame the residuals are so poor (still makes it a very good nearly new/used buy). Enjoy it MDK1

Not too much to add on this. I've put red GTI badgeskins on the badges so they look just like the OEM badges fitted to the Golf PP. Look so much better, great quality and alot cheaper/less hassle than changing the badges themselves. Ive updated the Discover Nav to 2017 maps, also added PGPSW speed camera POI's. With PGPSW's CamerAlert android app a good alternative to a detector. I've used Carista to code a few neat things:- * Alarm chirp on/off in MIB * DRL on/off in MIB * Convenience open/close adjustment in MIB (I always turn this off) * Auto locking (anti-hijack) on/off in MIB * CH lights on with door open (rather than column stalk pull) * CH lights on for 90 seconds Good product....works with a ELM 327 dongle and the support team are great. Im on their BETA program and they v quickly got anti-hijack working for me. Pricing is goid too. Dont get me wrong VCDS is far more powerful but I couldnt justify £££ for just a handful of coding changes. Ive bought OEM rubber floor mats and boot liner for it and looking to change the OEM conti rubber for Eagle F1 Assy 3's. Great car, bar a few occasional glitches with the MIB2 (had the same with my Golf and mine is running earlier fw) it running like a dream.

The Cypriot spec cars are a bit different to the UK ones. In some respects better (Columbus, Leather, footwell lighting) but in others no so (no seat heating, lane assist, drive mode selection, smaller wheels...in some cases no OEM alarm). An extended family member bought a rather nice Golf GTI PP from Motorpoint, really nice car and paid reasonable money for it but there are some spec differences for sure. The funniest is that his has 19" Santiagos with the sunroof....that is not possible here in the UK due to CO2 emissions.