Volkswagen Golf GTI TDi PD 150 Review

Overall Rating

This car gives you your cake and you can eat it! Its great for economy, I've had over 600 miles out of a tank when driving on the motorway down to Devon from London when cruising at 80mph, yet when you want to stick your foot down and rag the car you can still get 400 miles out of a tank, which is 55 litres. There are very few cars that can out-accelerate this car on the motorway up to about 100mph.

I got this car from auction at 60k miles and it needed a new cam-belt which cost a few hundred pounds with the main dealer, I then managed to blow the head on the car around 65k miles. That cost a £1k having persuading VW to contribute 70% of the cost because it needed a new turbo along with the head. However despite driving cars very hard this isn't because it's ragged when cold, I always wait till the engine is up to operating temp before unleashing it. I think this was a design fault simply because the new head had a different part no to the original which indicates a modified part. Some VW dealers can't be bothered for giving you the time of day but as car sales are down in 2006 and up to April 2007 as I write this I expect their attitude of the cars selling themselves will change as they find it harder to sell.
Suspension is a bit to soft for my liking compared to MK2 Golf GTI which drives like a go kart.

Best car to date was a 1991 Golf GTI MK2 last of the Mk2 which was a fantastic car despite blowing the engine up several times I had that car for nearly 10 years and I kept it when I got a top of the range Saab 95 Aero which was quick but very juicy. So I flogged the Saab and stuck with the MK2 until I got the MK4 GTI with the TDI150 engine because fuel economy and performance is important for me. The Mk 4 is a nice car and if you switch the ESP (aka traction control) off you can get more out of it especially round corners. In all I like the fact I can drive the car very hard and still get way way better fuel economy than the petrol GTI Mk4 and Mk5 or many other cars for that matter and its quicker at accelerating from 30mph than both the Mk4 and Mk5 Petrol GTI although probably a good match with the edition 30 Golf GTI.

I would consider getting the diesel Audi TT when its released with the DSG gearbox because the DSG is made for the diesel engine although ideally I would like to get a 3door Golf 170bhp diesel with DSG but VW only do the 170bhp diesel in 5door format.

Creature comforts are nice I have the winter pack with 6 disc CD but no cruise control or leather. TBH cruise control is only worth it if you have the radar controlled CC like in the Mercedes because on busy motorways the traffic flow is always changing so CC is only worth it on empty or near empty motorways unless your a centre lane cruiser. Leather is hot and sticky in the summer even with Air Con so would only go for a half leather seat like that in the GTI Mk5 or just fabric.

Its a great car ideal for busy London streets, yet good on the open roads. City driving gives me over 400 miles to a tank and long road trips will give me over 600 miles to a tank which isn't to be sniffed at if you claim a fuel allowance. A tip to keep the fuel economy up, run the air con on economy, except in the summer when its really needed and you'll gain about 50-75miles out of a tank.