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Just been up to my local dealer for a test drive of the new GTI.
Overall I'm impressed, its a good car and handles very well. Same level of ride as the R32 with a confidence inspiring suspension setup you would come to expect from a GTI badged VW (shame they've taken so long to get it right eh..) Put it through a few quick turns and its, taking each direction change with ease with not hint of loss of traction, even on damp roads. I did notice a touch of wheel hop however when pulling away from a junction a bit too quickly, but ESP soon saw to that without loosing too much power so as to interfere with the quick getaway.
Power delivery is sharp and quick with very, very little lag - caught me out when I planted the load pedal for the first time as I expected things to happen a bit later. It also pulls to the limiter with the same ferocity from low down, as it does at the top of the range - which is ideal for speedy overtaking if the situation arose. Similarly, chuck her in top gear and it will still pull with a noticeable slug of torque that pins you back. One thing that struck me is how comparable the power delivery is, especially low down, to the TDI engines - with one exception being that it pulls and pulls and pulls in to regions that TDI's can't quite reach [
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But... And this is where I have to disagree with some of the other comments made by others - its not worth 20k, the whole range should be lower priced. For the money you're paying, to me at least, it just doesn't seem value for money. I'm not going to digress into a debate about whats available for similar wonga but I'm sure you will get better, certainly specification level anyway.
Maybe in a years time I could pick one up but for the same money I would probably just hold on for the TDI 4motion, which, incidentally, has just been released in the A3 range so I'll be heading over to Audi for a drive of one soon to assess its potential.
Overall I'm impressed, its a good car and handles very well. Same level of ride as the R32 with a confidence inspiring suspension setup you would come to expect from a GTI badged VW (shame they've taken so long to get it right eh..) Put it through a few quick turns and its, taking each direction change with ease with not hint of loss of traction, even on damp roads. I did notice a touch of wheel hop however when pulling away from a junction a bit too quickly, but ESP soon saw to that without loosing too much power so as to interfere with the quick getaway.
Power delivery is sharp and quick with very, very little lag - caught me out when I planted the load pedal for the first time as I expected things to happen a bit later. It also pulls to the limiter with the same ferocity from low down, as it does at the top of the range - which is ideal for speedy overtaking if the situation arose. Similarly, chuck her in top gear and it will still pull with a noticeable slug of torque that pins you back. One thing that struck me is how comparable the power delivery is, especially low down, to the TDI engines - with one exception being that it pulls and pulls and pulls in to regions that TDI's can't quite reach [
But... And this is where I have to disagree with some of the other comments made by others - its not worth 20k, the whole range should be lower priced. For the money you're paying, to me at least, it just doesn't seem value for money. I'm not going to digress into a debate about whats available for similar wonga but I'm sure you will get better, certainly specification level anyway.
Maybe in a years time I could pick one up but for the same money I would probably just hold on for the TDI 4motion, which, incidentally, has just been released in the A3 range so I'll be heading over to Audi for a drive of one soon to assess its potential.