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Golf 7 103TSI Highline with Discover Pro Quick impressions
Was given the chance to drive my father in law's Golf 7 in Singapore. It's basically a 103TSI Highline with a lot of options thrown in -
a. HID standard with auto swivelling
b. panoramic sunroof
c. Discover Pro (8" satnav)
d. 18" Durban rims
e. Vienna leather (including a tan/brown colour that I have not seen before in Australia)
f. Keyless Start
g. motorized closing/opening of side mirrors
Fit and Finish
Coming from both a 155TSI Tiguan MY12 with a fair bit of options loaded in and a 77TSI Golf MY11, I have to say from the driver's position, the new Golf feels pretty upmarket. I love the larger hires display and the feel of the buttons/plastics/leather/metal. In some ways, it feels more polished than my 155TSI Tiguan.
Transmission
The standard spec in Singapore comes with the 7 speed DSG. I was playing a bit in Manual mode and S mode as well as D mode. As expected, the D mode is quite lethargic in response (worse when you engage Eco mode). But the S mode is surprisingly quite usable for me. In many ways, it changes up very similar to how I would in Manual mode when driving about town, holding gears but not to extremely high revs. On my Tiguan and Golf VI, S mode always feels too "race-y" holding gears like I would driving on a track, almost.
Engine
I hate the Start Stop feature. I just wish I could disable for good, instead of manually DEselecting it every time I start the car.
But other than that, the engine feels responsive in Normal and Sport mode, losing a bit of verve in Eco mode.
I averaged about 8.3 l/100km in city traffic with occasional sprints.
Chassis
I am not as eloquent as WhiteJames so here goes my 2 cents - it drives like a Golf. I felt instantly at home in it. The steering still feels nicely weighted (even though it is electrical vs my Tiguan's hydraulic system that has a very light feel). It corners like the wife's 77 TSI, a hint of understeer but generally flat. The suspension feels harder than the Tiguan even in Sport mode on my Adaptive Chassis Control setting.
Sound System
I used a 30pin-Lightning connector to connect up my iPhone 5S to the MDI/USB as well as BT.
I was surprised I was able to use 2 different BT phones at the same time - one for MDI music and one as phones. Cover art didn't always get through in my collection - I suspect it could be due to my hires album art (I use an iPad retina as a remote control at home for the iTunes music server so I have been using very hires pics for cover art). Occasionally though, the music does skip (for a split second). It seems related to the ability to use 2 different BT devices simultaneously - because it is nigh perfect when I was using only 1 device on BT.
Sound quality seems a step up from the standard system on the Golf VI and Tiguan. Bass was surprisingly taut and the music had a holographic like character in sound stage vs the flat-tish sound I get on my own rides.
Overall Impressions
It feels like a nice step up from the older VI.
Was given the chance to drive my father in law's Golf 7 in Singapore. It's basically a 103TSI Highline with a lot of options thrown in -
a. HID standard with auto swivelling
b. panoramic sunroof
c. Discover Pro (8" satnav)
d. 18" Durban rims
e. Vienna leather (including a tan/brown colour that I have not seen before in Australia)
f. Keyless Start
g. motorized closing/opening of side mirrors
Fit and Finish
Coming from both a 155TSI Tiguan MY12 with a fair bit of options loaded in and a 77TSI Golf MY11, I have to say from the driver's position, the new Golf feels pretty upmarket. I love the larger hires display and the feel of the buttons/plastics/leather/metal. In some ways, it feels more polished than my 155TSI Tiguan.
Transmission
The standard spec in Singapore comes with the 7 speed DSG. I was playing a bit in Manual mode and S mode as well as D mode. As expected, the D mode is quite lethargic in response (worse when you engage Eco mode). But the S mode is surprisingly quite usable for me. In many ways, it changes up very similar to how I would in Manual mode when driving about town, holding gears but not to extremely high revs. On my Tiguan and Golf VI, S mode always feels too "race-y" holding gears like I would driving on a track, almost.
Engine
I hate the Start Stop feature. I just wish I could disable for good, instead of manually DEselecting it every time I start the car.
But other than that, the engine feels responsive in Normal and Sport mode, losing a bit of verve in Eco mode.
I averaged about 8.3 l/100km in city traffic with occasional sprints.
Chassis
I am not as eloquent as WhiteJames so here goes my 2 cents - it drives like a Golf. I felt instantly at home in it. The steering still feels nicely weighted (even though it is electrical vs my Tiguan's hydraulic system that has a very light feel). It corners like the wife's 77 TSI, a hint of understeer but generally flat. The suspension feels harder than the Tiguan even in Sport mode on my Adaptive Chassis Control setting.
Sound System
I used a 30pin-Lightning connector to connect up my iPhone 5S to the MDI/USB as well as BT.
I was surprised I was able to use 2 different BT phones at the same time - one for MDI music and one as phones. Cover art didn't always get through in my collection - I suspect it could be due to my hires album art (I use an iPad retina as a remote control at home for the iTunes music server so I have been using very hires pics for cover art). Occasionally though, the music does skip (for a split second). It seems related to the ability to use 2 different BT devices simultaneously - because it is nigh perfect when I was using only 1 device on BT.
Sound quality seems a step up from the standard system on the Golf VI and Tiguan. Bass was surprisingly taut and the music had a holographic like character in sound stage vs the flat-tish sound I get on my own rides.
Overall Impressions
It feels like a nice step up from the older VI.
sorry
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