My thoughts after 3 days with the GTI

[triode12]

Never a truer phrase written, but as someone that does a heap of country road driving, being able to safely overtake is very important to me, and unfortunately you do get a whole heap of people who are somehow offended at being overtaken and speed up.


And yeah Sharkie its a slightly warmed over BF Turbo so BF F6 territory ~ 270KW


Coreying - 205KW in a Golf would be sweet! Maybe I'll have to look at the stage II stuff

Dump that MKVI GTI and put in an order for the Golf R. Much better car and will give you the performance you are looking for with just a Stage 1 tune.

[Zaul]

Ah, but in that case Coreying you are practically comparing like for like in terms of power output ..205 to 195.

While there was no way of knowing whether or not the golf he passed was modded, to me there's no point in comparisons between a V6 and a 4, as in the majority of cases the 6 will always be quicker. It's like talking about a Porsche having better acceleration than a Commodore..again, in most cases, unless it's been worked, it always will be.

[Beaker]

Dump that MKVI GTI and put in an order for the Golf R. Much better car and will give you the performance you are looking for with just a Stage 1 tune.

I struggled with that decision believe me, but the Golf R isn't due for a while yet and the current lease expires soon, and the R32 is a) getting on a bit and b) a thirsty little bugger (like the Falcon).

[triode12]

I struggled with that decision believe me, but the Golf R isn't due for a while yet and the current lease expires soon, and the R32 is a) getting on a bit and b) a thirsty little bugger (like the Falcon).

June/July isn't that far away and trust me, the R is much better(more power, grip and MkV drive experience better). I've tried both (the R only two Saturdays ago) - the R blows the GTI away - no contest.

[Brendan_A]

The question was pretty conclusivley answered on the weekend. I was behind a GTI doing about 5km/h below the speedlimit (probably believed the speedo ), we arrived at an overtaking lane, so I pulled out to overtake, he didn't like that apparently and put his foot down (not going to go on about that sort of behaviour other then ), going by how it jumped it (or he) went back a couple of gears. Back to third in the Falcon and it wasn't even a contest, it just walked away from the GTI, fortunatly he realised it was pointless and gave up, before the speeds got silly.

APR is now a definate on my list of stuff to do.

I think you should just go buy another Falcon if your that worried. How can you compare a turbo 6 to a stock turbo 4??

[Corey_R]

Ah, but in that case Coreying you are practically comparing like for like in terms of power output ..205 to 195.

While there was no way of knowing whether or not the golf he passed was modded, to me there's no point in comparisons between a V6 and a 4, as in the majority of cases the 6 will always be quicker. It's like talking about a Porsche having better acceleration than a Commodore..again, in most cases, unless it's been worked, it always will be.

Sure, 195 and 205kw might be close enough - but 1300kg vs 1800kg is a MASSIVE difference. So if you convert those to power to weight ratios there is a BIG difference - and that is what's important. Power-to-weight, not straight out power!

[entice]

I thought that overtaking was just needing to pass someone who was going under the speed limit. dont know why you'd want to keep trying to overtake someone who is also speeding up when you try to pass them...on a public road

A nice guy, and Australia's father of the MX 5, said In essence, if 10Kw wont do, then 1000kw wont help you either (and I am liberally paraphrasing in this one).

[Corey_R]

I thought that overtaking was just needing to pass someone who was going under the speed limit. dont know why you'd want to keep trying to overtake someone who is also speeding up when you try to pass them...on a public road

Because they're incosiderate and dangerous @#$%s!!!!
There is nothing ruder than driving at 80kph in a 100kph zone whilst it's single lane each way with double white lines in the centre - then speeding up to 100 or even 110kph when it's an overtaking zone. But trust me, it happens ALL THE F'ING TIME!

When you're driving from Sydney to Brisbane (or the other way), if someone does this and you DONT speed to over take them, it can add HOURS to your travel time. This then means you're likely to die anyway from falling asleep

But in more seriousness, if you don't over take these @#$%s, you eventually get a situation where there are so many frustrated and angry cars queued up which can't get past either of you, and that is when the serious accidents happen

[MariusGT]

Agree with you there coreying.

On my trips south (Sydney -> bega area) the second half of that jouney is full of single lane roads with occasional overtaking lanes. The ONLY way to get by some people who find it offensive to be overtaken is to BLAST by them. The number of times some douche in a Camry has started speeding up on approach to overtaking zone..... Soooo annoying.

On the other hand there are often people in more of a hurry than me- and I couldn't care less if they overtake me!!

On my last trip some guy in a skyline overtook me- and about 10kms later I spotted him having a nice chat w a highway patrol SS driver. Oops!!

[Sharkie]

... then speeding up to 100 or even 110kph when it's an overtaking zone. But trust me, it happens ALL THE F'ING TIME!

When you're driving from Sydney to Brisbane (or the other way), if someone does this and you DONT speed to over take them, it can add HOURS to your travel time. This then means you're likely to die anyway from falling asleep

I recently did 3 trips Brisbane => Sydney (or past Sydney to Melbourne etc) and it happens all the time .... 70% of the time at least anyway.

You need to speed up dramatically and overtake at at least 20-40km/h over the limit to clear the slow traffic that speeds up when the ovetaking lane is there.

Once past its back to normal cruising, but for safe and efficient overtaking theres little that beats lots of lovely turbo power ....

[Zaul]

Yep, exactly Coreying..not to labour a point but that's what I'm saying. You're comparing two vastly different cars, no matter how you look at them. Ones a bloody a big v6 turbo, and the other is often catagorised as a small car with a 2 lt, 4cyl turbo. One weighs 1 300kg and the other is almost two tonnes!

It's apples and oranges. If he worried about the pick up when a Golf accelerates to my mind he should compare it to another hot hatch or the Cruze, or the Carolla..not a rear wheel drive, family car.

[Corey_R]

Yeah - it's really a shame that the only way to safely drive between capitals is by speeding during the overtaking lanes, but that's just the way it is. I really wish it wasn't, but unfortunately with the roads not being at least dual lane all the way, and with so many douchebags with small p3n1ses that get upset by someone overtaking them, what other choice do you have?!

[Corey_R]

It's apples and oranges. If he worried about the pick up when a Golf accelerates to my mind he should compare it to another hot hatch or the Cruze, or the Carolla..not a rear wheel drive, family car.

Or he would compare it to his current car... which just happens to be a bloody big v6 turbo
Doesn't matter what you or I say, it's just natural for someone to compare what they already have to what they are about to purchase - that's never going to change.

[Axis]

The old overtaking lane Grand Prix is so common in Tasmania. I regularly travel from Hobart to the north-west coast and it just seems a reflex that groups of cars all speed up as soon as the road widens up to include an overtaking lane (the bass highway is largely single lane with overtaking lanes provided at times).

Its always a tough call as to the appropriate way to deal with this. Generally my thought is that if I know that I am "cruising" at a faster speed than a a car in front of me then I will overtake them when it comes to an overtaking lane. In other words, if I spend a decent amount of time sitting behind them at below the speed limit then I'm not content to do that for the whole 3 hour drive. If an opportunity arises to overtake them then I'll take it and can end up over the speed limit as a result of them also speeding up in the left lane of the dual lane overtaking section of the highway.

On the one hand - I don't really want to drive over the speed limit (and will return to the speed limit as soon as possible) but on the other hand I do believe its dangerous for drivers not to maintain a speed and stick to it. Being predictable on the road is important.

[hooba]

Any other people out there that have come from another brand and willing to share their first impressions of the GTI?