118TSI - General Discussion

[darkfriend]

Happy...

Hi all,

Have had my 118TSI for 3 weeks now and I find myself very happy. No problems with the car and a joy to drive.... I even enjoy cleaning the damn car!

My partner is so impressed by it that I'm taking her for a test-drive of the new Polo tomorrow (Wangara VW... not where I bought mine!). Hopefully we'll even meet the legendary Dermot of Wangara...

[guliver_twist]

i share the same joy everyday.. Love my car!!

[Stelex]

Went to the dealership today to pick up the loan car and was surprised to get a new Jetta - 2,500 km on the odometer. Saw my golf with the guts torn out of it (the front bumper and the the engine missing). Now about a month or so of waiting for my baby to get healthy again.

Picked up my Golf today with the new engine fitted. Didn't notice any difference in driving it, but then again I didn't drive too much, just from VW to work and then home, 20-ish minutes total. Noticed they have misalligned the front bumper so the joint between that goes from the headlight towards the front wheel well is about 1mm on one end and about 6mm on the other. Damn, have to go back tomorrow to have it realligned.

[citywok]

First 2 weeks

Only done 580km so far. Was expecting a mountain of rattles and other issues leaving the car yard when I picked it up, but guess what, none. Still not sure about the DSG, going from 1st to 2nd seems a little erratic sometimes and then there's the take off issue which has been previously mentioned, but I can live with that. The car is built like a tank and is very solid on the road. Could have bought a Mazda 3 for a lot less, but I think if you're prepared to part with the amount of money being asked for one, you shouldn't regret it (unless your engine blows up). GTI in 3 years time




Golf 118TSI DSG Sports pack Reflex Silver

[Ryan_R]

I've had my car for just over 6 weeks now. Have done over 4,000kms since then, and have fitted the RN510 and 9W3 Bluetooth myself. Upgraded from a 1992 Toyota Corolla hatch, so no surprises that I love this car.

DSG with beige leather interior.



Will have to take some more pics one day (needs a wash first)

(Excuse the bump.)

[Cossor]

Damn. That looks REALLY good.
Now really jealous. Regretting I did not order leather!
Enjoy it you lucky dog!

[cameronp]

Yeah, the beige leather looks tops. The demonstrator I test-drove had it, and made the car feel a lot brighter inside. The only weird thing that's evident in that photo is that the headlight switchgear is a different colour from the panel around it! Tsk tsk VW.

ObOnTopic: 8000km on mine and still enjoy driving it.

[Ryan_R]

Hehe thanks guys. When the owner first described it to me as 'blue with beige interior' my first reaction was more or less 'eww yuck'. It looks more cream inside. Bit like an Alfa or Ferrari (well, that's what I tell myself anyway) :p

When you unlock the car and the lights come on at night time - the light reflects really well off the beige colour (have no problems finding the ignition for example).

[kaktusdigital]

118TSI thoughts

I think it's been about a month and a half & 3,000kms since I've taken delivery of the 118tsi. So far, its been pretty much perfect aside from a few niggles which I'd love to hear from other owners if they have had the same. From the info gathered on this forum , the DSG does adapt overtime to how you drive? i remember taking it from the dealer and steping on the accel & getting a slight pause before getting quick boost into 2nd gear onwards. That has now stopped - strange? It's all very docile now.

Another issue (this is most likely driver error) I'm on a slight incline waiting to merge into a 70km road. I take my foot off the brake and apply a firm bit of pressure to move forward while turning slightly. - I find the car stutters and feels as if it's running over about a metre or two of very bumpy rocks. This smooths out once I've straighten out.

Other than those issues I'm finding handling just superb and the extra little oommf to be there at most times when you need it. If the 118 is this good, I can't imagine how much better the GTI would be! Oh, and the fact that when ideling at the lights, i find it difficult to even hear that the engine is on .thats pure bliss! Getting very excited about upgrading to Stage 1 now.

I'd love to hear from other 118 owners any particular niggles or cool things which make you smile.

[prise]

Another issue (this is most likely driver error) I'm on a slight incline waiting to merge into a 70km road. I take my foot off the brake and apply a firm bit of pressure to move forward while turning slightly. - I find the car stutters and feels as if it's running over about a metre or two of very bumpy rocks. This smooths out once I've straighten out.

The way you describe it, it could be wheelspin with the traction control cutting in. The DSG has a lower first gear than most cars and with the torque of the supercharger I find it will chirp and try to spin the front wheels if you give it a firm prod on the right foot, particularly if the car is on a uphill or transverse gradient.

I've been very happy with the combination of the twincharger engine and DSG and once the gearbox had fully adapted to the clutch characteristics, the lag reported by some road testers just isn't an issue, it just keeps getting better as I get more k's on it (I have 14000 now after 10 months)

Performance is great (I got a 7.6 sec 0-100 average measured both ways using a data logger with TCS off), fuel economy with a rotten commute has averaged 6.3 l/100km from new, high speed stability is excellent, its impressively quiet on the freeway - the list of positives is pretty long.

I pretty much use 98 RON fuel all the time now. It seems to give slightly better economy on the highway than 95 RON, however I don't see much if any difference around town (probably because the extra octane rating won't save you fuel at idle).

The only downside is that the interior is more prone to interior trim noise than the previous 2 cars I've owned (both mazdas) and the seats could provide more lateral and lumbar support (mine is a bog standard comfortline spec car).

[Ryan_R]

Aparantly the car adapts every 60km from what I've heard, which honestly is one of the features I could do without. The APR Stage one helps by removing the DSG lag in first gear (although can be a bit rough/jerky if you're not used to it). The other benefit is if the car adapts to slow-paced driving in traffic, you can reset it back to its most responsive state by switching programs (you can switch to Program 2 while still in the adapted Program 2), you just need to pull over and turn off the car to do it.


Your description of the car statturing sounds like TCS is responding to wheelspin as well, although I occasionally have felt the DSG stutter when accelerating hard whilst I've been doing very slow speeds (i.e. overtaking a truck doing 30 up a mountain).

The seats I have come with lumbar which is good, I often find that mid-way through a long journey I will adjust it's position as I slump further

[mr gee]

46000km on mine (half of which with bluefin stage 1) and apart from the infamous supercharger clutch squeak, has been uterly reliable

[redondo]

Hi,
I'm looking at purchasing a 118tsi with sports pack n stuff & would like some advice from current owners.

My questions are:

sports cloth or leather? (will eventually have little ones in the back) I prefer the look of sports cloth but is leather easier to clean? How does leather look after 1 or 2 years?

are golfs roomy enough for a baby seat (or 2) in the back & pram n crap in the boot?

If there is a seperate thread for family golf owners, please direct me! I'm over reading threads about gti's & R's and mod chips n crap. No offense to them intended.

[Corey_R]

Hi redondo, welcome to the forums.

There is a thread called Is the Golf R a practical family car? which I recommend you have a look at. Whilst it was about the Golf R, the 118TSI offers the same amount of room as the Golf R, except in the boot, where the 118TSI has an additional 100 litres due to 10cm additional floor depth (not having AWD taking up space there and all).

As you can see from that thread, there is different opinions on what consistutes "enough space".

As for leather, I'm off the opinion that it is easier to keep clean, and that it wears pretty well if you take care of it. You can spill food or drink on it and then just wipe it up with a damp cloth (or a baby wipe!), whereas liquid will start immediately soaking into cloth seats, food and chocolate gets into the fibres and stains the cloth etc etc (scotchguard and new nano fabric sealants help here though). About the only thing you have to be careful with when you have leather is not to scratch the surface or "stretch". So having kids take off their soccer boots before they walk over the back seat is a good idea

Anyway - hope the info helps

[redondo]

Much appreciated Corey