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gregozedobe
20-12-2007, 10:48 PM
Thought I'd start the ball rolling, as I went for a few test drives today (I am thinking about buying a new car). Conditions started out wet, then gradually dried out. Feel free to ask questions, and please add your own impressions.

Golf GT TDI manual (less than 50Km) 2.0 125Kw TDI
Drove OK, some initial turbo lag, then gets going at about 2,000rpm. Plenty of torque, good acceleration (revs well), quiet at cruise. Fairly restricted rev band compared with the turbo petrol motors. (and yes, I have a Transporter with a 2.5l TDI motor, so I know how to drive a diesel on the torque band).

Golf GTI manual (1,200Km) 2.0 TFSI 147Kw
Loved the response and power of the motor, good gearchange, nice supportive seats (but might be a bit tight if you are on the "solid" side). Ride was a bit jiggly/lumpy on less smooth roads. Handles well, nice feeling of connection with the car. The most fun to drive, but also probably the one most likely to blemish my "clean" driving record ;)

Octavia RS Wagon manual (1,400Km) 2.0TFSI 147Kw
Best ride of these 4 (more absorbant, less jiggly and lumpy), more refined feeling than the others, less sporty, less involving and fun. Motor felt a bit soft, particularly at higher revs (nowhere near the zing of the GTI, despite both supposedly having the same motor). Good seats, with a bit more room but less support than the GTI seats.

Octavia manual hatch (20Km) 1.8TFSI 118Kw
Very, very impressive engine, pulls well at low revs, lifts well at higher revs, quiet the whole time. Noticed the engine seemed to lurch a bit when I backed off the accelerator a bit quick, has anyone else noticed this ? The ride was a bit jiggly (nowhere near as good as the RS), this on standard suspension and 16 wheels. Seats were pretty orinary compared with the other 3. Would be good to try out this engine with the sports suspension (supposedly the same as the RS suspension, but with 17" wheels instead of the 18" wheels the RS comes with, but the dealer said they won't get one until March 2008.

Overall impression - Cars have certainly progressed a lot in the 15 years since I last bought a new sedan ! The brakes were very sensitive in all 4 (I had to drastically re-educate my right foot). I liked the GTI best as a driving experience, but the RS wagon was probably the most practical for my purposes (and rode a lot better). The perennial head vs heart debate :D I don't do many kms per year (mostly around town) so fuel economy isn't a big deal, but I do tend to keep my vehicles for a long time (typically 10 years or more), so I try to only buy ones I like enough to keep.

I would like to try a different RS out to see if it's engine performed more like the GTI I drove (I was promised that the GTI I drove had NOT been chipped ;) ). Comments anyone ?

junior
21-12-2007, 07:24 AM
interesting comments, a few have now made similar comments on the 1.8TFSI in the Octavia. although the GTI & RS share the same powerplant, its working harder in the Skoda to lug around the extra weight.

gregozedobe
21-12-2007, 08:42 AM
interesting comments, a few have now made similar comments on the 1.8TFSI in the Octavia. although the GTI & RS share the same powerplant, its working harder in the Skoda to lug around the extra weight.
I didn't think 60Kg would make that much difference (RS1400 minus GTI1340), the GTI motor was much more willing to rev and felt more urgent. Maybe the GTI motor was a "good one" while the RS was a bit below average ?
If the 1.8TFSI was available in the RS that would be a bit tempting.

junior
21-12-2007, 10:12 AM
good point, 60kg is not a great deal more, may just be how the motors are run in, this can make an enormous difference, although with such few km's on both of them I would didn't think you would notice the difference at this early stage.

VW Convert
21-12-2007, 10:32 AM
Golf GTI manual (1,200Km) 2.0 TFSI 147Kw
Loved the response and power of the motor, good gearchange, nice supportive seats (but might be a bit tight if you are on the "solid" side). Ride was a bit jiggly/lumpy on less smooth roads. Handles well, nice feeling of connection with the car. The most fun to drive, but also probably the one most likely to blemish my "clean" driving record ;)

This sounds normal




Octavia RS Wagon manual (1,400Km) 2.0TFSI 147Kw
Motor felt a bit soft, particularly at higher revs (nowhere near the zing of the GTI, despite both supposedly having the same motor).

This does not sound normal. 2.0TFSI engine (same as my Jetta) is a gem, great response and power, no reason the Skoda should feel any different, if weight is not the factor and KMs similar they should feel similar.

Cheers

George

VW Convert
21-12-2007, 03:05 PM
Wondering why this thread seems to be duplicated :confused:

Cheers

George

gregozedobe
21-12-2007, 08:01 PM
Wondering why this thread seems to be duplicated :confused:
Hello George,
I put it in both the Golf and the Skoda groups because I figured some people would only be looking at the Golf group, while others may only be looking at Skoda stuff. There didn't seem to be a higher level general VAG group that was appropriate, otherwise I would have put it there.

It's also on http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35751 in case you are thinking you are seeing triplicate :)

I figure the more people that see it the better information we are likely to gather.

Transporter
21-12-2007, 08:33 PM
I didn't think 60Kg would make that much difference (RS1400 minus GTI1340), the GTI motor was much more willing to rev and felt more urgent. Maybe the GTI motor was a "good one" while the RS was a bit below average ?
If the 1.8TFSI was available in the RS that would be a bit tempting.

It is in the software programming of the engine's ECU. Similar cars with the same engine and gearbox, but they are built for different driving conditions: Golf is hatchback which you would drive in the city; Octavia is probably more for hwy driving. It will be faster at higher speed (you will feel that you have more torque at higher speed)
I felt the same when I compared Jeta TDi to Golf TDi. Jeta was slower than Golf.
And even Passat with 125kw TDi didn't feal as zippy as Golf TDi 103kw.

CanberravRS
27-12-2007, 03:38 PM
i found that by the end of my long trip to QLD that the Skoda had better pickup and acceleration.. a few klms run in makes a huge difference.
might be something to keep in mind

gregozedobe
03-01-2008, 08:23 PM
I decided I needed to take a Golf GTI and a (different) Octavia RS (378Km) for another drive to choose one or the other. This time it was dry and warm, and being a slow time for the salesman we were able to go for a longer drive in each, including a particularly gnarly, pock-marked, pot-holed stretch of road with lots of repairs and different textures (the southern section of the Sutton rd if any Canberrans are looking for a good test of ride and NVH).

I was again impressed with how well the Octavia rode on it's 18" michelins (significantly better than the GTI on 17" CSC2s). The GTI was distinctly "jiggly" on small, sharp undulations (but better on bigger bumps that made the suspension actually give a bit), where the same small bumps were hardly noticed in the Octavia.

The GTI gave the impression of being faster, but I don't think it was actually faster, just felt and sounded like it was because of the (nice) exhaust and engine noises. The GTI steering was possibly a fraction more responsive too.

The Octavia was definitely more relaxing to just cruise around in, but the GTI was more fun when you were driving a bit harder.

After reading this thread
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36751
I think it is quite possible the different tyres are a major contributing factor to the different handling feel of the two cars.

Conclusion. The Octavia RS wagon is the one that best suits what I want (I like the performance AND practicality of a "sleeper" wagon), but I can see why some people would prefer the GTI.

I guess now I need to jump through all the "new car purchase" hoops (including the 4 month wait for a custom built one :( )

Anyone got any Skoda dealers/salespersons (east coast of Oz) that they would like to recommend ?