starfighter
26-08-2008, 10:09 PM
As stated elsewhere, I ordered a Golf Match Bluemotion in April and have now had it a week. Here are my initial thoughts.
Specification
Steel Gray Metallic with Anthracite trim - The Metallic paint actually dropped the lease cost per month and my dealer showed my both interiors and my Kids would kill the lighter grey.
Storeage Pack - This has the draws under both seats, usefull for notebooks etc that I need for work and a lugguage net to stop stuff sliding around in the back. I like a tidy car.
The Dealer
The car is a Lex lease and was delivered by Blade in Gloucester. They had the decency to give me a test drive in a standard 1.9TDI and return my calls. Thanks Peter! I have no concerns at all about the service from them which was great from start to finish. The car had 29 miles at delivery, built in Wolfsberg and registered in Peterborough for some reason.
First Impressions
There is very little noise from either the engine or the tyres. Cold idle has a soft rattle for about 2 minutes when standing, but this becomes almost inaudable after about half a mile. Hot starts are quiet from the off. The ride is very quiet at speed and once warmed up there is vertually no sound when at idle (to the point I thought I'd stalled it).
The low rolling resistance tyres fitted are a 65 profile and would appear to suit the car. The suspension is firmer than the standard Match I test drove but not enough to cause any excessive vibration or discomfort. I did notice some shake when driving over a short section of concrete on the A1/M but it was not a real problem.
The gear ratios are fine. The gap between 2 and 3 is not that large and suits my driving style anyway. Fisrt does tent to flat spot at around 2500rpm but that might just be my foot work as the throttle pivots from the bottom and I'm not used to it.
The gear shift indicator appears fairly close to where I'd change anyway. I've driven to what it says and it gets it right most of the time. It doews appear to be aware of throttle possition as well as road, engine speed and doesn't just indicate early shifts as I have seen on the Civic VTec-E. Obviously it cannot predict the road ahead to it inicates shifts when using gears for flexibility when dealing with multiple hazards.
Real World Economy
5 mile commute from cold, half at 70 - 55mpg
150 mile motorway run from cold including 20 minutes stop/start - 62.8mpg
Running In Plan
I was told that any plan for running in would be OK so long as I didn't treat it like a race engine. With plenty of power and the low revs at cruising speeds there is no need to do anything really special.
I will be getting the oild and filter swapped out at around 1000 miles as I have some speciallised knowledge of machining and bearing surface textures.
The body has had 3 coats of Autoglym Super Resin Polish and 2 coats of Extra Gloss PRotection. This went on quickly and water now runs off rather than pooling.
General Stuff - Not specific to Blumotion
The near side door mirror could do with having the split on it for a wider range when pulling in or manouvering. I could retrofit this but will make that call later.
The iPod connection does not have adapters for the current Nano - Come on VW, this has been out for 12 months now and all I want is a bit of plastic! The lack of ID3 data is well documented which is a real shame as this works great on MP3 disks.
Why are ther 6 cup holders in a car with 5 seats?
The coat hook on the B pillar blocks the rear window when taking a life-saver check of the blind spots. The one on the grab handle is fine though.
More comments to follow when I get more miles on the car. I'll monitor and see if I can answer questions.
Jeff
Specification
Steel Gray Metallic with Anthracite trim - The Metallic paint actually dropped the lease cost per month and my dealer showed my both interiors and my Kids would kill the lighter grey.
Storeage Pack - This has the draws under both seats, usefull for notebooks etc that I need for work and a lugguage net to stop stuff sliding around in the back. I like a tidy car.
The Dealer
The car is a Lex lease and was delivered by Blade in Gloucester. They had the decency to give me a test drive in a standard 1.9TDI and return my calls. Thanks Peter! I have no concerns at all about the service from them which was great from start to finish. The car had 29 miles at delivery, built in Wolfsberg and registered in Peterborough for some reason.
First Impressions
There is very little noise from either the engine or the tyres. Cold idle has a soft rattle for about 2 minutes when standing, but this becomes almost inaudable after about half a mile. Hot starts are quiet from the off. The ride is very quiet at speed and once warmed up there is vertually no sound when at idle (to the point I thought I'd stalled it).
The low rolling resistance tyres fitted are a 65 profile and would appear to suit the car. The suspension is firmer than the standard Match I test drove but not enough to cause any excessive vibration or discomfort. I did notice some shake when driving over a short section of concrete on the A1/M but it was not a real problem.
The gear ratios are fine. The gap between 2 and 3 is not that large and suits my driving style anyway. Fisrt does tent to flat spot at around 2500rpm but that might just be my foot work as the throttle pivots from the bottom and I'm not used to it.
The gear shift indicator appears fairly close to where I'd change anyway. I've driven to what it says and it gets it right most of the time. It doews appear to be aware of throttle possition as well as road, engine speed and doesn't just indicate early shifts as I have seen on the Civic VTec-E. Obviously it cannot predict the road ahead to it inicates shifts when using gears for flexibility when dealing with multiple hazards.
Real World Economy
5 mile commute from cold, half at 70 - 55mpg
150 mile motorway run from cold including 20 minutes stop/start - 62.8mpg
Running In Plan
I was told that any plan for running in would be OK so long as I didn't treat it like a race engine. With plenty of power and the low revs at cruising speeds there is no need to do anything really special.
I will be getting the oild and filter swapped out at around 1000 miles as I have some speciallised knowledge of machining and bearing surface textures.
The body has had 3 coats of Autoglym Super Resin Polish and 2 coats of Extra Gloss PRotection. This went on quickly and water now runs off rather than pooling.
General Stuff - Not specific to Blumotion
The near side door mirror could do with having the split on it for a wider range when pulling in or manouvering. I could retrofit this but will make that call later.
The iPod connection does not have adapters for the current Nano - Come on VW, this has been out for 12 months now and all I want is a bit of plastic! The lack of ID3 data is well documented which is a real shame as this works great on MP3 disks.
Why are ther 6 cup holders in a car with 5 seats?
The coat hook on the B pillar blocks the rear window when taking a life-saver check of the blind spots. The one on the grab handle is fine though.
More comments to follow when I get more miles on the car. I'll monitor and see if I can answer questions.
Jeff