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The new beast arrived on Thursday afternoon after quite a bit of searching, looking at cars from Mercedes C250 wagons to Golf R wagons. We had a list of must haves that were: must be a wagon not an SUV (although I'd seriously considered a Golf Alltrack), not too large, petrol, not diesel, latest technology, auto, safe and a little bit of fun to drive. I've always had Euro cars and it's a bit hard going to a Japanese or Korean car, the just feel different.
The first car we drove was the RS169 and my wife instantly loved it, the USB ports in the rear was the clincher...see said "don't show me any other cars unless they have them"!! Who was I to argue with logic like that!
I then drove an RS245 and a 169 back to back as the prices are getting pretty close. I came to the conclusion that the 245 felt torquier and had more traction out of corners, but the wife was going to be driving about 60-70% of the time, so it would come down to what ever deal we could crank, the only other criteria was that it had to be fully optioned. I had two cars shortlisted, a Red RS245 demo that was in the Gold Coast and a new Green RS169 that was in Orange NSW, they were both listed at the same price! In the end the Green RS 169 won out as they dropped the price nearly 3K once we finished negotiating.
I finally had a chance to drive it on the weekend, my impressions are:
It feels pretty quick when you really get on it, the fake WRX soundtrack was amusing at first but is already wearing thin. I've ordered a Vibrant resonator so it can produce a bit of it's own noise. It took me a while to get a comfortable seating position, I prefer the wheel to be close and my legs to be stretched out which is nearly impossible, but Ive found a compromise. Handling is pretty good, it's no race car, but it'll do the job OK. Steering feels a bit too light and disconnected for my liking though, which is something that I didn't notice on my test drives, I'm hoping that some of the assistance can be dialled out with the OBDeleven (anyone know if this is possible). Interior and tech are amazing, maybe a bit too much tech, but i think I just need to sort it out properly so I stop playing with it all. There is more than enough space for my family and will take all our camping gear and if not there is always the roof racks. I know LOVE the colour, it may not be to everyones taste, but it really grows on you, it changes with the light, going from a bright lime green to a deeper grass green, the paintwork looks pretty good to.
Here are a few of happy snaps.
The first car we drove was the RS169 and my wife instantly loved it, the USB ports in the rear was the clincher...see said "don't show me any other cars unless they have them"!! Who was I to argue with logic like that!
I then drove an RS245 and a 169 back to back as the prices are getting pretty close. I came to the conclusion that the 245 felt torquier and had more traction out of corners, but the wife was going to be driving about 60-70% of the time, so it would come down to what ever deal we could crank, the only other criteria was that it had to be fully optioned. I had two cars shortlisted, a Red RS245 demo that was in the Gold Coast and a new Green RS169 that was in Orange NSW, they were both listed at the same price! In the end the Green RS 169 won out as they dropped the price nearly 3K once we finished negotiating.
I finally had a chance to drive it on the weekend, my impressions are:
It feels pretty quick when you really get on it, the fake WRX soundtrack was amusing at first but is already wearing thin. I've ordered a Vibrant resonator so it can produce a bit of it's own noise. It took me a while to get a comfortable seating position, I prefer the wheel to be close and my legs to be stretched out which is nearly impossible, but Ive found a compromise. Handling is pretty good, it's no race car, but it'll do the job OK. Steering feels a bit too light and disconnected for my liking though, which is something that I didn't notice on my test drives, I'm hoping that some of the assistance can be dialled out with the OBDeleven (anyone know if this is possible). Interior and tech are amazing, maybe a bit too much tech, but i think I just need to sort it out properly so I stop playing with it all. There is more than enough space for my family and will take all our camping gear and if not there is always the roof racks. I know LOVE the colour, it may not be to everyones taste, but it really grows on you, it changes with the light, going from a bright lime green to a deeper grass green, the paintwork looks pretty good to.
Here are a few of happy snaps.
I'm only getting $5K for it!!!! Full, service, DSG service, two new tyres, new rear discs and pads, new sump (old one was badly dented)...can't remember what else, but...aaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!
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